1) So to Cardiff for the Champions League final. Juventus have won four of their last five knockout games with Real – with the notable exception of the 1998 final, settled by one Predrag Mijatovic. Juve have lost the big one a record six times – with heartache spectacularly served by Dortmund’s Lars Ricken one year earlier. That denied the Italian side a double triumph after victory over Ajax in 1996 – a milestone Real could reach in Cardiff. Real have won 11 European Cups already – 70 years of that dominance is condensed into 150 seconds here, and there’s more from their 4-3 win in the first ever European Cup final, 1956, here. Or, if you’d prefer to watch them lose, here’s the last time they did so in a European Cup final. Take a bow, Alan Kennedy.
2) Barcelona, meanwhile, have a new manager. Former player Ernesto Valverde may not have the pedigree of Pep Guardiola or Luis Enrique, but he knew where the net was. And here’s his new working environment: player-cam footage of Barça’s Copa del Rey celebrations.
3) The NBA finals begin on Thursday, with the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers meeting for the third year in a row. Last year, the Cavs won an epic seven-game series and ended 52 years of Cleveland pain in three and a half incredible minutes. And here’s how it all looks behind the scenes.
4) Back to football: a tidy compilation of the worst goals of the season. Features Lord Bendtner. And here’s arguably the worst dive of the season: pure drama from Danko Lazovic. There’s some strong competition in that category, mind.
5) Looking ahead, meanwhile, Huddersfield Town make the big step up next season. But while they’re new to the Premier League, the Terriers have plenty of top-level pre-1992 history. They won three titles in a row in the 1920s and brought the FA Cup home in 1922. Like Monday’s play-off success, it was secured from the penalty spot. Here’s a superbly soundtracked visual history, and a reminder of why David Wagner’s side may want to avoid Manchester City early doors.
6) And finally, here’s the match ball arriving for the Portuguese Cup final, carried by a man standing on a spider-style drone in the pouring rain. It’s a lively entrance, joining other high-key arrivals such as this helicopter-based delivery at Thomond Park in 2008, another in 2007 at Brunton Park and this one at the King Power in 2015; Navy SEALs showing off while doing the duty at a Cincinnati Reds game in 2010; a helmet-cam view of sliding in to the 2012 US Army All-American Bowl; and this decent effort, parachuting the ball in to a DC United home match.
Highlights from last week’s blog
1) Scott Dixon walked away from this crash at the Indy 500 unscathed. “I’m OK, I was just a little beaten up there. I’m bummed for the team, man,” he said afterwards. “It’s just a wild ride and you have to hold on and believe in the safety progress that we’ve made over the last many years.”
2) Tampa Bay’s Steven Souza Jr came so close to pulling off a spectacular catch. So close. Watch and learn.
3) Blink and you’ll miss it. Sechew Powell v Cornelius Bundrage in 2005: a double knockdown and a knockout inside 22 seconds.
4) And finally to Belgium for the Impossible Hill Climb. Self explanatory, really:
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