Champions League Final 2017, Juventus vs Real Madrid
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane must decide whether to choose between Gareth Bale and Isco in what seems like his only selection issue ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final.
Bale has not played since 23 April but is fit, while in-form Isco has scored five goals in his last eight games.
“They’re both very important players and everyone can give their opinion but it won’t influence me,” said Zidane.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s four-year reign as UEFA Champions League season top scorer looked over going into the quarter-finals, but now he needs just one goal in Cardiff to catch Lionel Messi.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s four-year reign as UEFA Champions League season top scorer looked as good as over going into the quarter-finals. But five goals across the two legs against Bayern München and a hat-trick at home to Atlético Madrid in the semi-finals put him right back in contention. He now needs just one in the final against Juventus in Cardiff to match the 11-goal haul of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo had mustered two goals from his first eight outings of this continental campaign, and ahead of the quarter-finals he was nine adrift of frontrunner Messi. Yet a sensational return to scoring form promptly made him the first man to net 100 goals in European competition, and then the first to hit 100 in the UEFA Champions League, putting his great rival from Barcelona back in his sights. He has even now matched Messi’s record of seven UEFA Champions League hat-tricks.
Champions League: Firms pitch future football technology
Ten start-up companies will pitch to global sports and tech brands in Cardiff for their football innovations to become a reality.
Representatives from Uefa, Barcelona, Adidas, Amazon and Microsoft will hear bids at the Hype Foundation event.
Ideas include nano-technology in shirts to measure a player’s blood pressure.
The winner will go to Saturday’s Champions League final and attend a special workshop at Uefa headquarters in Switzerland.
Cardiff University is partnering the Hype Foundation for the event at the university’s business school.
Amir Raveh, chief executive of Hype, said: “We’ve had a huge number of start-ups applying with great innovations including wearable tech, analytics, fan engagement and broadcasting.
“It’s a fitting warm-up for the Uefa Champions League final.”
Bernd Wahler, a former chief marketing officer for Adidas and and ex-president of German club VfB Stuttgart, is leading the judging panel.
“The quality of the start-ups is outstanding,” he said. “We all want to maintain the beauty of the fascinating game and at the same time welcome meaningful and exciting innovations.
“That’s what this event is all about – showing the world the future of football.”
A similar event ran for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
