Ronaldo wins in return to Old Trafford
Cristiano Ronaldo was walking off the field, a winner once again at Old Trafford, when two young fans brandishing cell phones attempted to get to the Portugal forward.
One was rugby-tackled to the ground by security staff; the other was forcibly held back. The five-time world player of the year hung around and, with a broad smile, eventually gave them the selfie they craved.
Ronaldo, who is facing a rape allegation against him in Las Vegas that he has denied, certainly enjoyed his return to former club Manchester United on Tuesday.
Juventus, Ronaldo’s new team, beat United 1-0 for a third straight win in the Champions League, moving the Italian club to the brink of qualification just halfway through group play.
Ronaldo, who played from United from 2003 through ’09, didn’t score but he was involved in the only goal, sending in a cross from the right wing that eventually was swept home by Paulo Dybala in the 17th minute.
This was another chastening loss — a fourth of the season — for United, which is second to Juventus in the group. More Champions League: In other highlights, Real Madrid registered its first win since Sept. 22, though it was only 2-1 against Viktoria Plzen; and Bayern Munich continued to steady the ship after ending a four-game winless run last week, beating AEK Athens 2-0.
The game between Roma and CSKA Moscow — which Roma won 3-0 — was overshadowed by an incident that left 20 people injured — most of them visiting fans — after an escalator broke in Rome. Videos showed they were traveling on an escalator that accelerated, causing passengers to pile up at the bottom. Italian officials said seven sustained serious injuries.
Manchester City has bounced back in style after losing to Lyon in its opening Champions League fixture, beating Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0. FIFA proposes new tournaments: FIFA President Gianni Infantino is doubling down on his Club World Cup plans with a proposal for an expanded annual tournament despite European soccer’s resistance to any competition that challenges the supremacy of the Champions League, according to a person with knowledge of the talks.
The revised proposal amends an initial plan to play a 24-team Club World Cup every four years. The new format will be discussed at the FIFA Council meeting in Rwanda on Friday. UEFA has stymied Infantino’s attempts since March to gain approval for the new FIFA competitions, which would have $25 billion of income guaranteed by an international consortium including Japan’s SoftBank.
The proposals, which include a global Nations League as a mini-World Cup every two years, were formed by FIFA to eliminate two little-regarded competitions: the current annual seven-team Club World Cup held in December and the Confederations Cup for international teams held every four years. Atlanta coach quits: Tata Martino is leaving Atlanta United at the end of the MLS season after guiding the second-year expansion franchise to unprecedented success — on the pitch and in the stands. The former FC Barcelona manager and Argentina national coach is reportedly in line to become Mexico’s national coach.
United said that Martino, 55, turned down an offer to extend his two-year contract beyond 2018. Atlanta has tied an MLS record with 69 points (21-6-6) and can win the Supporters’ Shield for best regular-season mark with a victory Sunday at Toronto. Atlanta has essentially sold out every league game since entering MLS, averaging a league-record 53,002 fans this season. United has the seven largest crowds in MLS history — all more than 70,000. O’Hara hurt: U.S. women’s national-team defender Kelley O’Hara, a Stanford graduate, is expected to be out eight to 12 weeks after surgery on her right ankle. U.S. Soccer said O’Hara had arthroscopic surgery Tuesday in Atlanta to remove “loose bodies” in the ankle.
O’Hara said in a statement: “This is just the best time to get the procedure done so I’m 100 percent heading into 2019 and physically ready to perform at the level I want to and need to.”