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Sydney FC are in search of the last piece of a record-breaking puzzle for the 2016/17 season, but arch-rivals Melbourne Victory will be standing in their way come kickoff on Sunday.
All the wash-up from the A-League grand final
» Recap: Sydney are champs, as they deserve
» Five talking points from the match
» Player ratings: Melbourne Victory
» Player ratings: Sydney FC
» Georgievski wins Joe Marston Medal
» Full match report
» Re-live the live blog
The top two sides of the regular season will battle it out of the title this week, but who? Where? When?
We’re here to answer all your A-League grand final questions.
The ‘Big Blue’.
Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory are the original A-League rivalry. They’ve competed over premierships, championships, players, coaches and shirt colours in the competitions short but packed history.
The Sky Blues make the final off the back of the greatest A-League season of all time, bagging a host of records on their way to the Premiers Plate, including most wins, points scored, goal difference, winning streaks, clean sheets, fewest goals conceded.
You get the point.
After a week off for the prelims, Sydney brushed aside Perth in a controversial 3-0 semi-final win, one that brought the new goal referral technology right up to the surface.
For the Victory, they too found success after a week off, sneaking past the Brisbane Roar thanks to a second half goal to Besart Berisha, securing a 1-0 win and a passage into the final.
The game will be played inside Allianz Stadium in Sydney.
The A-League grand final isn’t like the AFL, where the big game is played at the same place every year regardless of who’s playing.
The A-League has a home-and-away system that not only runs through the preliminary finals, but also into the big dance.
Sydney’s top spot finish at the end of the regular season means they had rights to all finals being played at home.
So, despite finishing second on the ladder, the Victory will have to cop that and make the trip north.
This will be the fourth time the grand final will be played at Allianz, but just the second for Sydney FC, following up their 1-0 win over the Mariners in the first ever A-League final in 2006.
May 7 is the date to mark on the calendar this year.
Like last year’s decider between Adelaide and Western Sydney, the game is on a Sunday, however, the start time will be a little different.
The 4pm (AEST) kickoff time of last year has been shuffled back one hour. The 2016/17 grand final at Allianz will kickoff at 5pm.
If you’re looking to watch the game on TV, online or catch the radio broadcast, then you can check out our full viewer’s guide here.
In short, Foxtel will broadcast the game live, with a pre and post-show on either side of the contest.
SBS Viceland will show the full game as well, but on a one-hour delay for free TV.
Sydney FC
1.Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 4.Alex WILKINSON, 5.Jordy BUIJS, 6.Joshua BRILLANTE, 7.Michael ZULLO, 8.Milos DIMITRIJEVIC, 9.BOBÔ, 10.Milos NINKOVIC, 11.Bernie IBINI, 13.Brandon O’NEILL, 14.Alex BROSQUE (c), 17.David CARNEY, 18.Matt SIMON, 19.George BLACKWOOD, 20.Danny VUKOVIC (GK), 21.Filip HOLOSKO, 22.Seb RYALL, 23.Rhyan GRANT.
(two to be omitted)
Melbourne Victory
2.Jason GERIA, 4.Nick ANSELL, 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Marco ROJAS, 8.Besart BERISHA, 10.James TROISI, 11.Mitch AUSTIN, 14.Fahid BEN KHALFALLAH, 15.Alan BARO, 16.Rashid MAHAZI, 17.James DONACHIE, 19.George HOWARD, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 21.Carl VALERI (c), 22.Stefan NIGRO, 23.Jai INGHAM, 40.Matt ACTON (GK).
(two to be omitted)
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