In 2015, a battling Juventus side fought its way to a Champions League final. Overachieving in Max Allegri’s first season as manager, they were roundly beaten by Barcelona. Domestically, the club was enjoying a renaissance. Winning back-to-back-to-back titles, the 2015 final put them well ahead of their post-Calciopoli schedule (the 2006 Italian football scandal that saw Juventus relegated to Serie B).
Cristiano Ronaldo, the all-time leading scorer in Champions League history, added another two goals to his tally to lead Real Madrid to UEFA Champions League glory, the Spanish side securing back-to-back titles with a commanding 4-1 victory over Juventus.
Ronaldo becomes the 1st player to score in 3 Champions League finals to give Real Madrid the lead. #UCLfinal https://t.co/JLygGZfq1I
As far as friendlies go, this was about as productive as they come for both Mexico and the Republic of Ireland. El Tri will now return to Mexico City for two key World Cup qualifiers (against Honduras and the United States) at the Azteca brimming with confidence after thrashing Ireland 3-1.
For Ireland, manager Martin O’Neill got a good hard look at his fringe players before a crucial World Cup qualifier against Austria in Dublin — not many of them would’ve passed this difficult litmus test.
The United States matched their biggest-ever triumph on the U-20 World Cup stage, and Mexico scored a game-winner in the 89th minute as North America sent two representatives into the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup quarterfinals — just as many as South America and one less than Europe.
Wolfsburg have had a rather embarrassing season, but on the last day it proved not to be disastrous. Wolfsburg will be in the first division next season after winning their promotion/relegation playoff against Eintracht Brauschweig 2-0 on aggregate.
Vieirinha supplied the goal that put the matter to rest with a thundering strike in the 49th minute.
It had been over 10 years since Chivas last captured a Liga MX title, but the final 20 minutes of the 2017 Liga MX Clausura Final must’ve seemed an even longer period for supporters in Guadalajara.
Much like the first leg, Chivas built a 2-0 lead behind goals from Alan Pulido and Jose Vazquez only to surrender a late goal to Ismael Sosa in the 87th. With the likes of Andre-Pierre Gignac, Jurgen Damm, Javier Aquino and Jesus Duenas desperately searching for a Tigres equalizer, long-suffering fans of Mexico’s most popular team were made to sweat over the match’s final minutes.
Arsenal defeated Chelsea 2-1 in the 2017 FA Cup Final after Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a truly awful goal, and Aaron Ramsey secured the victory after Diego Costa had equalized for 10-man Chelsea. Victor Moses was sent off in the 68th minute for a sad, not even remotely believable dive.
Chivas were on the verge of taking a 2-0 lead back to Estadio Chivas for the second leg of the 2017 Liga MX Clausura Final, but Andre-Pierre Gignac scored two remarkable goals, in the 85th and 88th minutes, to level the tie for Tigres.
For Chivas, the first 45 minutes in Estadio Universitario really couldn’t have gone any better. For Tigres and goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman, it was a disaster.
The opening 20 minutes were no indicator of what was later to come as Tigres saw Gignac, Jesus Duenas, Lucas Zelarayan and Ismael Sosa all fire shots at Rodolfo Cota in the Chivas goal.
With four points from the opening four matches of their debut Copa Libertadores campaign, Chapecoense traveled to Argentina to face Lanus, the 2016 Primera Division champions, needing perhaps the most famous result in the club’s history to continue their improbable quest for the competition’s round of 16.
After Wellington Paulista, on loan from Fluminense, gave Chapecoense an unexpected early lead, Lanus equalized from the spot with only 10 minutes remaining. But the moment of magic arrived for Chape through Luiz Otavio, a defender who’s on loan from Luverdense.
After years of internal turmoil and flirtation with relegation to Ascenso MX, Guadalajara are on the verge of regaining their status as one of the top clubs in Mexico with a two-legged Liga MX final against Tigres this week. This will be the first league final for Chivas in just over 10 years.