Zinedine Zidane said Cristiano Ronaldo was happy to claim his 100th European goal in Real Madrid’s 2-1 win at 10-man Bayern Munich, but insisted the quarter-final is far from decided.
Ronaldo, the four-time World Player of the Year, volleyed Real level at the Allianz Arena, then reached his milestone by slotting home the winner 13 minutes from time.
“He was happy of course, but he wasn’t too happy as he had chances to score more goals,” Real coach Zidane said. “We’re all content, because it’s never easy to win at Bayern.”
Photo: AP
Ronaldo said it was a moment to savor.
“I wanted to reach this record. To be able to reach this mark is an honor and against a team like Bayern it is even better,” Ronaldo told BeIN Sport Spain.
Arturo Vidal headed Bayern into the lead, but then skied a penalty on the stroke of halftime, before Ronaldo volleyed the defending champions level after the break.
Bayern played the final half an hour a man down after centerback Javi Martinez was sent off for two fouls on Ronaldo within three minutes.
Real pressed home the numerical advantage as Ronaldo tapped the ball between the legs of Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer for the winner on 77 minutes.
However, Zidane warned that the slender lead might not be enough in Madrid in the Spaniards’ bid to become the first club to defend the UEFA Champions League title.
Bayern hope to have top-scorer Robert Lewandowski fit having missed the first leg with a bruised shoulder.
“You never decide a tie like this in the first leg, but we created our chances and we could have scored more goals,” Zidane said. “We’re happy with the game we played. We showed patience and we showed the willingness to get the right result. Even another goal would not have made that much difference.”
The Frenchman is hoping Welsh winger Gareth Bale will be fit for the return having gone off in the second half with a leg injury.
“Gareth felt something at halftime and I didn’t want to take any risks, he didn’t feel very well, we hope it’s nothing major, nothing big,” Zidane said.
The Real coach said his side were lucky to have only been a goal down at the break after Vidal’s penalty miss.
“We could have been 2-0 down at halftime, which could have changed the match, but we managed to show some patience and get the equalizer,” he said. “It was a different game after the break, we showed more personality and stole some ball off Bayern. Their goalkeeper made a lot of saves. We played 11 against 10 for the final 30 minutes and had a lot of possession, which changed the match and the result.”
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Jannik Sinner continued his quest to become the first man in history to win five Masters 1000 tournaments in a row with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Danish qualifier Elmer Moller at the Madrid Open on Sunday. The world leader extended his winning streak to 19 matches, a run that began early March in Indian Wells, and he has captured 24 consecutive victories at the Masters 1000 level, dating back to the Paris Masters last October. Searching for a maiden title at this level on clay, Sinner advanced to the round of 16 at the Caja Magica with a 77-minute performance against
When Paddy Dwyer arrived in China in 1976, crowds jostled to catch a glimpse of him and his companions — the first Western soccer team to play in the country. China was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and on the brink of market reforms that would take the country from economic stagnation to explosive growth. “All we could see was lines of people running beside our bus, trying to look in the windows, to see their first visual of a white person,” he said. “It was all bicycles,” he said. “There were very few cars to be seen.” Dwyer,
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
RSS