Tennis legend Rafael Nadal on Thursday withdrew from the French Open and revealed that 2024 is likely to be his final season after a career that has yielded 22 Grand Slam titles...

Carlo Ancelotti has seen a heavier defeat for Real Madrid in a European Cup semi-final. Indeed, he has scored in one. Their record continental loss came at San Siro, to Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan in 1989, with the first of the Rossoneri’s five goals scored by Ancelotti. That Milan side were perhaps the greatest the club game has ever seen; until, many would argue, Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. The Real team of the late 1980s, however, was less distinguished than the class of 2023 who were destroyed 4-0 by Guardiola’s Manchester City. But, in the time between Guardiola’s Barcelona triumphing in 2011 and the Catalan perhaps securing his third Champions League in Istanbul next month, Real were kings of Europe five times. The club with the indelible association with winning left the stylistic awards to others. They simply won. Their greatness was proved in the trophy cabinet. They played by their own rules. The unique dynamics at the Bernabeu are such that ending a campaign with neither La Liga nor the Champions League somehow compels them to sack the manager, whether or not it is actually the right decision or if the replacement will be an upgrade. Until now? Ancelotti insisted so. “Next season I will be here, to fight to win another Champions League,” he said. “No one doubts me. The president has been quite clear two weeks ago: there are no doubts about my staying on.” Often the amiable realist, the most decorated manager in the history of the European Cup may benefit from the inside track. But, for once, he sounded like a man in denial. “I don’t think we have to make a drama out of it,” Ancelotti added. “These things happen in football. They were better than us today. It has been a good season; to get to the semi-final of the Champions League is a success.” All of which would have sounded perfectly reasonable sentiments if expressed by the manager of many another club. But this is Real. It is a club where every Champions League exit is a drama, where the manager is the prime target for a symbolic sacrifice, where a seismic setback demands change. The last time they lost 4-0 in England, to Liverpool in 2009, they responded with a record spending spree, on Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso and Karim Benzema. Fourteen years, 645 games and 352 goals later, Benzema is still there. Real have turned experience into an asset; at times, it has seemed their trump card. They could outmanoeuvre opponents; until, suddenly, City made Real look old by outrunning them. Maybe it was summed up by the sight of Luka Modric trudging off with half an hour remaining, replaced by a defender, in Antonio Rudiger, so the more youthful legs of Eduardo Camavinga could be unleashed in midfield. Seven minutes later, his long-time sidekick followed, with Toni Kroos also replaced; he had hit the bar and so even in an emphatic defeat, Real could wonder what might have been, but those are emotions they have invoked in others over the years. Jude Bellingham may have been Real’s marquee signing this summer anyway, but if it felt a piece of future planning, it was tempting to wonder if the future arrived as a 37-year-old and a 33-year-old finally showed their age. The end of an era or a lone bad night against the side who are probably the best in Europe now? “I don’t think it is the end of a chapter at Madrid,” Guardiola said. Real have a team of two generations; in Camavinga, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior, they have champions who were born in the 21st century. They have evolved. They have lost to City before and responded: eliminated by Guardiola’s side in 2020, they won the competition again in 2022. The Champions League, Ancelotti argued before this game, was their “special power”; until it deserted them amid a 90-minute demonstration of City’s running power. If it spoke to the Premier League’s greater physicality and intensity, it feels as though Real have been defending mainland Europe against the English invasion in recent years. They have used their history, their pedigree, their ability to trail in games and win major moments, the seeming timelessness of Modric and Benzema and the explosiveness of Vinicius. They saw off Chelsea, City and Liverpool last season, repeated the feat to eliminate Liverpool and Chelsea this. And then they were blown away at the Etihad, in such a manner that it was not just the scoreline that brought back memories of Anfield in 2009. “They are an extraordinary team,” Guardiola insisted. “It doesn’t mean they are a bad team or Carlo is a bad manager.” If that is transparently true, Ancelotti appears inimitable, his Zen calm rendering him best suited to this competition’s rhythms. But it is always the case that he looks in effortless control when his sides win and passive and powerless when they lose. When Bernardo Silva scored his second goal of the first half, the manager drummed his fingers against his top lip in impotence. He could take off Modric and Kroos but Real, last season’s comeback kings, instead conceded two more. He has four games left but, at perhaps the only club that could sack a quadruple Champions League winner, it felt like the endgame.

The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Mets split the first two games of their three-game set this week, leaving a rubber match on Thursday afternoon.New York will send Tylor Megill (4-2, 4.02 ERA) to the mound against Rays rookie Taj Bradley (3-0, 3.52 ERA) in this game.This is just the fourth sta...

The Bucks fired Mike Budenholzer, just two years after he helped lead them to a title. Now, they may turn to Frank Vogel, another recent title winner.According to Marc Stein, the Bucks could be replacing Mike Budenholzer with a former Lakers coach — Frank Vogel is their top choice for the ...

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Man City’s Champions League final opponent Inter Milan could be sponsored by a porn website. Inter Milan will face Pep Guardiola’s men in the showpiece game next month. But the Italian football giants don’t have a kit sponsor. Despite signing a deal worth £75million with DigitalBits, the cryptocurrency firm failed to pay to have its logo on their kits They beat city rivals AC Milan on Tuesday (16 May) 1-0 in their semi-final thanks to a Lautaro Martínez strike. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter They won 3-0 on aggregate, with City beating Real Madrid 5-1 over two legs. The Sky Blues won 4-0 last night (17 May) and are on course to win the treble. But the iconic blue and black striped shirts of Inter Milan will be sponsorless on when they meet in the final on June 10th. Now My.Club - an OnlyFans-style adult premium subscription website has offered Inter £80million to have its logo on the shirt. Its tongue-in-cheek offer is proposed to run until 2029. Mike Ford, vice president at My.Club said: “We want to sponsor them as they conquer Europe. “We can increase their visibility along the way and help drive interactivity, engagement and ultimately boost their authentic communication with fans.” He joked: “We’d love to see Lautaro Martínez sharing his exclusive footage on My.Club after the final CL game vs Man City.” The final takes place in Istanbul on June 10. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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