Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday broke the record for the most goals ever scored in a Champions League season or in the tournament’s predecessor, the European Cup, by hitting the net twice in his side’s 4-0 semi-final second-leg victory over Bayern Munich.
Ronaldo picked up his 15th and 16th goals of the campaign to help put the Spanish giants into the Champions League final in Lisbon on May 24 as Carlo Ancelotti’s side humiliated the defending champions from Germany.
The Portuguese forward’s two goals saw him eclipse the previous highest tally of 14 in a season first set by Jose Altafini of AC Milan in the 1962-1963 campaign and equaled by Barcelona’s Lionel Messi in the 2011-2012 tournament.
The FIFA World Player of the Year set the new record in just 10 appearances in the competition this season, with his tally including a hat-trick against Galatasaray in the group stage, as well as braces against Copenhagen, Juventus and in both legs of Real’s last-16 tie against Schalke 04.
Ronaldo has now scored 66 Champions League goals and is closing in on legendary Real striker Raul’s club record for most goals in the competition, 71.
The Portuguese’s goals helped take Los Blancos through to their first Champions League final since they last lifted the trophy in 2002, when France’s Zinedine Zidane inspired his then-club to a 2-1 win over Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Glasgow, Scotland.
Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke, 29, has died, the NBA team said in a statement on Tuesday, while the family of Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in a major US pro sports league, announced the former Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets player had died after a battle with brain cancer. “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke,” the Grizzlies said in a statement posted on social media. “Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten.” The statement did not provide
Taiwan’s top male badminton player, Chou Tien-chen, on Saturday bowed out in the men’s singles semi-finals at the Thailand Open after losing in straight games to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The world No. 6 Chou, seeded fourth at the Super 500 tournament, lost to the world No. 2 Thai 21-7, 21-19 in 53 minutes. The victory improved Vitidsarn’s head-to-head record against Chou to 3-5. Chou, 36, trailed throughout the opening game after the score was tied 2-2. His relatively passive approach allowed the 25-year-old Thai to capitalize on Chou’s defensive clears with powerful smashes while committing few unforced errors. The Taiwanese
FRUSTRATION: Gauff smacked herself on the head with her racket before storming down the tunnel, emerging afterward to have a heated discussion with her coach Elina Svitolina on Saturday won the Italian Open after beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 to claim her third Rome title, while Jannik Sinner set a date with Casper Ruud in the men’s final. Ukraine’s Svitolina had not claimed a WTA 1000 title since her last victory at the Foro Italico eight years ago, but prevailed over the ever-erratic Gauff to claim her 20th tournament triumph. Saturday’s win over Gauff was her third in a row against a player in the top four of the world rankings — including Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina — ahead of the French
West Ham United’s 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday left Tottenham Hotspur realistically only needing one more point to win the battle for English Premier League survival, while Bruno Fernandes made history in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. Spurs can avoid dropping out of the English top flight for the first time in nearly 50 years with victory at Chelsea today, but a draw would also likely suffice thanks to their much superior goal-difference over West Ham. “Overall bad performance. Too many things [went wrong], I think we gifted them the goals,” West Ham head caoch Nuno Espirito Santo
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