It was a weekend of plenty sporting action as football continued across Europe and Formula One finally zoomed off after a four-month delay with the first race of the season in Austria.
Busybuddiesng.com looks at the top sporting stats from the weekend.
1. Phew! Cristiano Ronaldo Scores A Freekick At Last
No one quite embodies the old saying “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” like the Portuguese superstar who didn’t allow a failure to score from 42 previous freekick attempts stop him from trying.
After blasting previous attempts at defenders and into stadium stands, the 35-year-old was finally rewarded with a first free-kick goal for Juventus from his 43rd attempt as the Serie A leaders beat city rivals Torino 4-2 on Saturday.
Ronaldo has now scored 46 free-kick goals at club level, with 32 for Real Madrid and 13 for Manchester United.
A record-setting machine, Ronaldo also became the first player to score 25 Serie A goals in a season for the club since Omar Sivori in 1960-61.
A special mention to the ever-green Gianluigi Buffon whose record-breaking 648th Serie A appearance took him past Paolo Maldini’s previous record.
2. Assist Master Lionel Messi
Another day another record for the diminutive Argentine master who broke his own assists record in LaLiga on Sunday.
Messi set up goals for Luis Suarez and Antoine Greizmann in the 4-1 defeat of Villarreal to record his 18th and 19th assists of the season – the most of any player since he reached 18 assists in 2010-11.
The 33-year-old also leads the scoring charts but all the individual accolades will make for scant consolation if Barcelona misses out on the title. They trail Real Madrid by four points with four games left.
3. Robert Lewangoalski
Is there a hotter striker anywhere in the world than Polish forward?
Lewandowski, Europe’s leading marksman, took his tally for the season to 51 goals in 43 games with a brace in Bayern’s 4-2 defeat of Bayer Leverkusen in the final of the German Cup.
The 31-year-old sits on top every goalscoring chart in all competitions he’s played in for Bayern this season.
The game which saw the Bavarians claim a record 20th German Cup and 13th domestic double was also notable for several other records.
4. Maiden Podium For Norris
Young British driver Lando Norris bagged his first podium finish as the 2020 Formula One season finally got underway after a four-month delay with the Austrian GP on Sunday.
The 20-year-old benefitted from two safety car incidents to hold off Lewis Hamilton to cross the finish line in third place – becoming the youngest British driver in the history of the sport to register a podium finish since Hamilton finished third in his debut race at Melbourne GP in 2007 as a 22-year-old.
Overall, Norris became the third-youngest podium finisher ever after Max Verstappen (18 years and 228 days) and Lance Stroll (18 years and 239 days).
5. Martial & Rashford Cole & Yorke Reincarnated?
United’s downward slide since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson has been stark and depressing but it appears Red Devils fans have something to smile about again.
By scoring a goal a piece in the 5-2 thrashing of Bournemouth on Saturday, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford became the first two United players to score 20 goals in a season since Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez.
There could be further cause for joy at Old Trafford with the prodigiously talented Mason Greenwood setting fans’ pulses afire.
The 18-year-old is currently on 15 goals and if he hits five more, it would the first time three United players have breached the 20-goal mark since 1964-65.
