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Cristiano Ronaldo breaks Lionel Messi's Champions League record
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo on Tuesday broke the record for the most goals in a European Cup or Champions League season 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 side into the final in Lisbon on May 24 as Carlo Ancelotti's side humiliated the defending champions.
The Portuguese forward's two goals helped him eclipse the previous best of 14 in a season registered by Barcelona's Lionel Messi in 2011-12 and Jose Altafini of AC Milan in 1962-63.
The World Player of the Year has reached the new record tally in just 10 appearances in the competition this season, his tally also including a hat-trick against Galatasaray in the group stage and braces against FC Copenhagen, Juventus and in both legs of the last-16 tie against Schalke 04.
He has now scored 66 Champions League goals and is closing in on former Real Madrid striker Raul's overall record for the most goals in the competition of 71.
His goals helped take Real through to their first Champions League final since they last lifted the trophy in 2002, when Zinedine Zidane inspired them to a 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in Glasgow.
They will now play either Chelsea or Atletico Madrid, who meet in the second semifinal on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge after the first leg finished 0-0.
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UEFA Fine Manchester City, PSG 60m Euros, Cap Champions League Squad
Nyon, Switzerland: UEFA on Friday fined both Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain 60 million euros (82 million dollars, 49 million pounds) and capped their Champions League squad to 21 for falling foul of financial fair play rules.
Newly-crowned English Premier League champions, Manchester City enjoyed a massive spending spree under billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi.
And French Ligue 1 champions PSG have benefitted from similar investment in top-drawer players after their takeover by Qatar Sports Investments in late 2012.
But both clubs have paid for that with massive fines, 40 million euros of which will be repaid should the clubs fulfil the "operational and financial measures agreed with the UEFA CFCB (Club Financial Control Body)".
UEFA said other clubs to have failed the financial fairplay rules were Turkish trio Buraspor, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor, Russian sides Zenit St Petersburg, Anzhi Makhachkala and Rubin Kazan, and Levski Sofia from Bulgaria.
Both City and PSG battled UEFA through to the end, the former arguing there had been "a fundamental disagreement" over the interpretation of the FFP regulations on players purchased before 2010 but that it had "decided to enter into a compromise agreement with UEFA".
They agreed, the statement read, to limit their net spending on new players to 60 million euros.
"The club's expenditure on new players for the upcoming summer transfer window, on top of income from players it might sell, will be limited to 60m euros. This will have no material impact on the club's planned transfer activity," City said.
"The MCFC Champions League squad for the 2014-15 competition will be limited to 21 players. In 2013-14 the club registered 23 players for the competition and used 21.
"The wage bill of the whole club (playing and non-playing staff) for 2014-15 will need to remain at the same level as that of 2013-14 season.
PSG said: "After due reflection, Paris Saint-Germain has taken the decision to accept the measures imposed on it in spite of the tremendous handicap they represent in terms of the club's ability to fully compete on an equal footing against Europe's biggest teams."
PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi added: "Our ambition to build one of the best and most competitive European football clubs will not be undermined by these measures.
"In pursuing this ambition, all our teams will continue to work even more with all their talent and energy to increase the club's revenues around the world and build the Paris Saint-Germain into one of the leading global sport brands.
"We will continue to invest in developing a highly competitive team and will continue our investments in our stadium and training infrastructures while at the same time remaining, as we are today 'debt free'."
UEFA's Investigatory Chamber, which led the inquiry, has powers to impose sanctions, including heavy fines and a wage cap on the squads to appear in next season's Champions League.
- Sudden death -
The sanctions package is understood to be part of a settlement offer to the clubs, which they can accept or reject or try to reach an amicable settlement.
But if a club refuses to comply with the Chamber's ruling, their case would go to a tribunal which would rule on the matter in June.
The sanctions are designed to restrict expenditure on players by clubs who have breached the rules and help them in their efforts to comply with the limits on losses in future seasons.
The ruling came after a week of uncertainty over the timing of the announcement and marked by the sudden death of the man who led the investigation as head of the CFCB, former Belgian prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene, on Thursday.
Dehaene, 73, had been diagnosed with cancer earlier this year but died after a fall in France.
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said on Tuesday at an Executive Committee meeting in Turin, Italy, that delays in announcing punishments for breaches of Financial Fair Play were 'normal'.
"The procedure is clear and is following its course. It is a normal delay due to legal procedures," said Infantino.
"If the decisions have not been taken when the media expected them to be, then it is simply because the procedure is not finished."
The announcement had been expected several days earlier.
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Champions League Final: Cristiano Ronaldo Fit to Play Against Atletico Madrid
Lisbon: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti insisted Cristiano Ronaldo will start the Champions League final on his return to Lisbon on Saturday, but has worries over the fitness of Karim Benzema and Pepe.
Ronaldo has been plagued by muscular injuries over the past few weeks, but the World Player of the Year returned to training earlier in the week and will be joined by Gareth Bale in the Real attack.
However, it is unclear whether the world's two most expensive players will be joined up front by Benzema as he and Pepe hadn't trained at all this week until taking part in a light session with their teammates on Friday evening.
"Cristiano is fine and has no problem," said Ancelotti.
"We have to check situation with Pepe and Karim because they have not trained this week and after training we have to take the decision for tomorrow."
Real are looking to end a 12-year wait for their 10th European Cup and haven't even made it to the final since they last won the competition in 2002.
However, despite losing out on La Liga to Atletico, they justified their tag as favourites for the competition by destroying holders Bayern Munich 5-0 in the semi-finals.
Ancelotti could become the first man to win the competition three times as a coach in the Champions League era with victory at the Estadio da Luz and the Italian is looking for a repeat of the performance against Bayern.
"I am calm. In these games you don't have to work so hard in the preparation because the players are already so motivated. You just have to keep them calm and give them very clear instructions for the game.
"I would love to see a repeat of the game against Bayern. If we play like that again we will have a great chance of winning."
One of the heroes from the last time Real won the Champions League was captain Iker Casillas as he came on as a substitute to make a number of key saves late on to deny Bayer Leverkusen.
Victory at Hampden Park in Glasgow against the Germans sealed a second Champions League triumph in three years for the then 20-year-old Casillas and he admits winning the trophy for a third time after such a long wait would be extra special.
"There are times when you don't realise what you have achieved," said the Spanish captain.
"This time we have reached the final after 12 years and therefore we value it a lot. Behind everything there is a lot of work. The team has known how to win and overcome disappointments. We deserve to be in the final."
Defender Sergio Ramos was one of the heroes of the triumph over Bayern as he scored twice early on at the Allianz Arena to seal Real's place in the final.
Ramos has won every major trophy on offer at club and international level bar the Champions League and is desperate to add European football's biggest prize to his honours list.
"After so many years the reward is to enjoy moments like this. At times football doesn't allow you to enjoy the moment, but this is like a dream. We have worked so hard to get here and we need to bear that in mind tomorrow.
"We will give everything we have to bring the Champions League home."
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