Ronaldo: Cristiano Ronaldo scored a wonderful, backheeled goal to give Real Madrid a 1-0 win over neighbours Rayo Vallecano yesterday. The second half was eight minutes old when the Rayo defence failed to clear a corner. Ronaldo, facing away from the goal, then backheeled the ball so powerfully from 15 yards out that it evaded at least four Rayo defenders on its way into the left hand corner of the net. It was his 29th league goal of the season.
Stojkovic: An explosive device was thrown into the yard of Yugoslav football great Dragan Stojkovic’s family house but the blast caused no injuries or damages. Stojkovic said he was “shocked” by the incident, in his hometown of Nis, that occurred while only his mother was in the house as he is presently in Japan where he coaches top team Nagoya Grampus.
A-League: Central Coast Mariners’ poor recent run con-tinued as the A-League leaders slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Mel-bourne Heart. Eli Babalj struck the only goal of the game as the Mariners suffered their third loss in their last five games. The result means the Mariners are now just three points ahead of second-placed Brisbane Roar.
Guardiola: Spanish newspaper Marca claimed last weekend that Inter are ready to offer €20m per season to lure Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola to their fold. According to the influential sports daily, Inter have already prepared a package in order to tempt Guardiola towards the Serie A next season.
Basle: In-form Basle maintained their six-point lead at the top of the Swiss Super League with a 1-0 home win over rivals FC Zurich. Basle, who beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in midweek, had Alexander Frei to thank for scoring the winner in the 56th minute.
Kurz: Kaiserslautern coach Marco Kurz’s job is not under threat despite the 4-0 derby defeat to Mainz, club chairman Stefan Kuntz has assured. “I would warn against pointing the finger at any individual,” Kuntz said. “We are convinced that we can avoid relegation with this squad, and that includes the coaching team. We continue to be convinced by them.”