Live Blog: 2016-17 A-League Grand Final

The A-League is the premier association football club competition in Australia and New Zealand. Sponsored since its inception by Hyundai, the A-League Grand Final is the league showcase event. The Sydney Football Club is managed by Graham Arnold and have been clinical in the home-and-away season, losing only once to run away with the Premiership Plate. The Melbourne Victory Football Club is managed by former team captain Kevin Muscat and finished a respectable second in a league whose talent base continues to improve to the point where it is comparable to Major League Soccer in its mix of competent overseas talent and local rising stars. The Grand Final takes place on Sunday night at the confines of the Sydney Football Stadium, known under sponsorship as Allianz Stadium, located in the Eastern Suburbs of the largest city in Australia, Sydney. Also known as the home of the Sydney Roosters of the National Rugby League, Allianz Stadium has been a fortress for the Sky Blues and this weekend's Grand Final is sure to bring fans from around Sydney, from the neighboring state of Victoria and across the country, as two clubs who have been among the most storied in the competition battle for the A-League Championship Ring, a trophy designed to be shaped like a laurel wreath. Both Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory have already qualified for the 2018 AFC Champions League Group Stage so this match can be seen as a glorified litmus test in terms of their success against the best in East Asia and elsewhere. This is the Big Blue, the premier rivalry in the competition between two proud sporting cities whose enmity and ties run deep, richly woven in the history of one of the best sporting nations in the world. The 2016-17 Hyundai A-League Grand Final begins at 12 a.m. PT/3 a.m. ET on Sunday, but the Stoppage Time's Live Blog of this match begins on Saturday, May 6 at 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET. Hashtags are #BigBlue and #ALeagueGF. Keep it right here on The Stoppage Time, powered b