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Goal's Miguel Churruca said: "There were some doubts about Cristiano Ronaldo's fitness but the Portuguese star was in rude health during Real Madrid's huge win 4-0 win against Osasuna. 

"After an average performance in the Champions League clash versus Bayern, the Portugal star scored two superb goals from distance to make it 2-0 and lead his side to victory.

"The two times Ballon d'Or winner now has a great challenge, as next Tuesday Madrid will be facing Bayern Munich once again in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final. Will he be ready for another show?"

When Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona clinched a second Champions League win in three seasons with an exhibition of passing football against Manchester United in 2011, fans and pundits far and wide took the opportunity to speculate whether the Blaugrana were the greatest club team of all time.

Wind forward three years and Chelsea are aiming to emulate the feat. Except, the Blues are hoping to do so with a brand of functional, pragmatic football that relies heavily on defence. It is not the type of play that will have people rushing to proclaim Jose Mourinho’s side to be the best team ever.

In truth, they are not the only club to be relying on such a style right now. Chelsea’s semi-final first leg fixture against Atletico Madrid was notable for both sides’ ambivalence to possession. Two teams intent on winning with counter-attacking football ended up cancelling each other out completely.

We should all have expected as much, though. Atletico have reached the top of La Liga at this late stage of the season thanks largely to an excellent counter-attacking game. Captain Gabi even joked to reporters before the first leg that “If Chelsea give us the ball, we’ll instantly give it back to them.”

When Real Madrid beat Bayern Munich 24 hours later, they did so despite having ‘enjoyed’ only 28 per cent of possession. Guardiola’s attempts to turn Bayern into his old Barca, with sparkling football their modus operandi, had met a defensive obstacle they just could not negotiate.

Bayern’s players later spoke as though they had won 5-0. Philipp Lahm proclaimed: “I don’t remember a Bayern side coming here and dominating like that.” Arjen Robben added: “I have to give a big compliment to the team. We played at the Bernabeu and we were so in control.”

Yet it was Madrid who had the three best chances of the game, and took one of them. It is Madrid who are within 90 goalless minutes of the Champions League final. And it is Madrid who proved to be excellent proponents of the new fine art.

Chelsea drew great consternation once more on Sunday. Their 2-0 victory at Liverpool moved them right back into the Premier League title race, but the way in which it was achieved was again used as a stick with which to beat them.

While Mourinho revelled in what he called a “beautiful victory”, opposite number Brendan Rodgers made the assessment that Chelsea had “parked two buses, rather than one.” He added: “From the first minute they had 10 men behind the ball. We were the team trying to win but we just couldn’t make the breakthrough.”

It seemed an unusual reaction to claim that Liverpool were the only team trying to win a game when Chelsea had picked up the three points. The Blues had had their smallest share of possession in any Premier League game all season, but with that 27% they carried out their game plan to perfection.

Liverpool had executed 353 successful passes in Chelsea’s half, whereas their visitors had only attempted 226 in total during the whole game. But what did that matter? Mourinho’s plan had not been to win more of the ball, rather to win the game.

He knew that the league leaders had scored a large number of goals through transition plays this term, and sought to narrow their opportunities to do so again. He realised that Liverpool’s aerial presence in open play is negligible and forced them into delivering from wider positions. What coach wouldn’t want to neuter an opponent’s threat?

And with three-quarters of the Champions League semi-finalists set to back themselves to deliver further such structured and opportunistic tactics this week, football across Europe is currently going through one of its most pragmatic phases in decades.

In 2011, attacking football was king. But it 2014, defences are on top.

source : http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2014/04/28/4775459/chelsea-parked-two-buses-not-one-mourinho-leads-defensive

Having seen top-four rivals Everton lose to Southampton on Saturday, Arsenal knew a win would see them extend their lead over the Merseyside club to four points

And the result never looked in doubt after Laurent Koscielny's simple finish sent the hosts into a 26th-minute lead at the Emirates Stadium, with Mesut Ozil doubling the advantage before the break.

The NBA is reeling from the release of an audio tape this weekend that allegedly recorded Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling making racist remarks to his girlfriend, including disparaging comments about Magic Johnson.

The scandal has unleashed a torrent of condemnations from celebrities and politicians including President Obama, as well as an intense focus on Sterling and his past. Today, CarMax announced that it was ending its nine year sponsorship of the Clippers because Sterling's alleged comments were "completely unacceptable."

Here, ABC News breaks down the scandal for you.

Key People

Key Allegations

What Might Happen Next

Reaction and Condemnation

Keep up with the latest on the Donald Sterling scandal at ABCNews.com

source : http://abcnews.go.com/US/donald-sterling-scandal-audio-lawsuits-reactions/story?id=23497322&singlePage=true

Legendary singer-songwriter Paul Simon and his wife Edie Brickell appeared in a Connecticut courtroom this afternoon after the couple had been arrested over the weekend for disorderly conduct.

The couple requested no orders of protection while in Norwalk Superior Court after police told ABC News there had been signs of physical violence and minor injuries stemming from the incident on Saturday night.

"He's no threat to me at all," Brickell told the judge, requesting that the case be dismissed.

Read: What Oscar Nominee is a Huge Paul Simon Fan

Simon added, "We're going to go home. ... We're going to watch our son play baseball."

Both Simon and Brickell were charged with one count each of disorderly conduct.

Simon, 72, and Brickell, 47, were arrested at around 8:20 p.m. Saturday when police officers in New Canaan responded to the couple's home to investigate "a family dispute," authorities said.

"Investigating officers gathered information and found probable cause to arrest the below individuals," police added.

Simon is a 12-time Grammy Award-winner and has been married three times. Brickell is his third wife; they have three children together.

Before Brickell, Simon was married to actress Carrie Fisher and Peggy Harper.

Simon is best known for hits like "Mrs. Robinson" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water." He was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for his work as half of the duo Simon and Garfunkel in 2003.

He's also a member of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Simon and Garfunkel and as a solo artist.

The couple's next court date is set for May 16.

source : http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/paul-simons-wife-edie-brickell-hes-threat/story?id=23498319

"an arrow to my heart, the pain I suffer when I hear that name," Kevin O'Leary told ABC News.

O’Leary remembers Copa Di Vino as the one that got away.

“I’m very frustrated with that guy,” O’Leary said. “Whatever he’s doing, I could make it twice the size.”

See the full story on ABC News' "'Shark Tank': Swimming With Sharks," Friday, May 2, at 8 p.m. ET, and watch a sneak peek HERE

Copa Di Vino founder James Martin is one of the most disliked entrepreneurs of ABC’s hit show "Shark Tank," but he is also one of the most successful.

WATCH: How One Product Swam Away from the 'Shark Tank' Sharks

Martin created Copa Di Vino, a portfolio of seven different types of wine that come in a patented glass-like container made out of recycled plastic with a pull-off and resealable lid.

Copa Di Vino promises an on-the-go premium glass of wine without worrying about wasting wine or dealing with a stubborn corkscrew.

Martin’s Oregon-based and family-owned winery struggled for years before making a profit. When the opportunity arose to appear on the second season of "Shark Tank," Martin jumped at the possibility for potential investors and additional expertise.

“At that point we had just started the company and we’re desperately in need of some cash,” Martin told ABC News. “We thought it was a perfect fit for the show and we were really excited to do it.”

WATCH: Mark Cuban on the No. 1 Reason Entrepreneurs Fail

Martin asked for $600,000 in exchange for 30 percent of his business.

Kevin O’Leary expressed interest, but wanted Martin to separate the patent for the container from the process of bottling the wine. Martin wouldn't budge, telling O’Leary the wine glass was the “special sauce.”

“I was so confident in my product that I thought for sure I would get the biggest deal that anyone got on this show,” Martin told ABC News. “Instead, I got totally demolished.”

The situation was tense in the shark tank after Martin walked out on the offers and brushed off their advice, Shark Barbara Corcoran told ABC News.

“He was arrogant, he didn’t listen,” Corcoran said. “Everyone was giving him good suggestions. He just dismissed it as though he was talking to no one. He made every shark hate him within minutes.”

However, within minutes after his episode aired, Martin said his phone wouldn't stop ringing with people pitching him with offers to invest in his company.

"Today, at what shares trade in the business, that investment would be worth $12 million,” Martin said. “That's a 20-times return on investment that they would have received in two and a half years.”

READ: Mark Cuban in the Hot Seat: ‘Shark Tank’ Star Reveals 9 Little Known Facts About Himself

The show producers took notice of Martin’s overnight success, and offered Martin a rare second chance to go back in the tank.

The standoff between the sharks and Martin went into its second round when neither side budged on the very same point they were stuck on the first time around.

Martin was "the most obnoxious and most stubborn” entrepreneur they had on the show, shark Daymond John told ABC News.

“He was the first gold digger that we ever had,” Mark Cuban told ABC News. “It was so obvious and that was when I said I’m out, this makes no sense.”

READ: 6 Billionaires Who You’d Actually Want to Work For

Even though Martin walked away, again, without any of the sharks’ investment, the chance to promote his product on national television had huge payoffs.

“The first time I was on the show, we had done about $500,000 in revenue,” Martin said. “Today we’ve done over $25 million in revenue.”

Although the sharks were left with distaste for wine bottled in a glass, there’s no question of its popularity nationwide.

“We’re on track to serve more wine than McDonald's serves cheeseburgers,” Martin said.

Copa Di Vino now employs 150 employees and harvests 400 acres in the largest planting area in Oregon of Pinot Noir, he said.

“Stick to your vision, know your plan, know your business, and know your game,” Martin offered as advice for budding entrepreneurs who may next step into the tank.

“Make sure no one undersells you even if they’re a shark.”

source : http://abcnews.go.com/Business/multi-million-dollar-product-shark-tank/story?id=23051424

It's official: Jay Z and Beyonce announced this morning that they will be touring together for the "On the Run Tour" beginning this summer.

"On the Run Tour: Beyonce and Jay Z is coming this summer!" Jay posted on his Facebook page today.

Chase, the sponsor for the tour, also tweeted, "Beyonce and Jay Z are taking the stage together."

Read: Beyonce Tops Time Magazine’s 2014 ’100 Most Influential People’ List

Pre-sale for the show starts Tuesday morning.

Rumors had been wild all month that the super couple would be touring together for the first time. They took the stage together in February for the Direct TV Super Bowl Party in New York City, as well as the Grammy Awards.

Related: Beyonce Reveals Secrets Behind the Making of Her Chart-Topping Album

Beyonce posted tour dates on her site. The tour kicks off in on June 25 in Miami, Fla., and runs 

source : http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/jay-beyonce-announce-run-tour/story?id=23496563

Beyonce and Jay Z will spend the summer touring North America. The pair's On The Run Tour begins on June 25 in Miami and ends on Aug. 5 in San Francisco. All told the couple will play 16 shows during the six-week trek, with stops in Atlanta, Philadelphia, East Rutherford, New Jersey, Houston, New Orleans, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle and Los Angeles.

Monday's official announcement comes two weeks after it was first rumored that Beyonce and Jay Z would tour together. According to those first reports, the tour was supposed to be called the Mr. and Mrs. Carter Tour. Instead, the concerts will file under the "On The Run" moniker, a reference to the pair's collaboration on Jay Z's most recent album, "Magna Carta ... Holy Grail." Check out the tour's artwork and schedule below; ticketing details can be found at Beyonce's website.

source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/28/beyonce-jay-z-on-the-run-tour_n_5225638.html

(CNN) -- Singer-songwriter Paul Simon said Monday that he and wife Edie Brickell "had an argument" before they were arrested Saturday.

Officials say up to three deaths have been reported in Alabama and Mississippi as a massive storm system that has spawned at least three tornadoes destroyed homes and businesses and injured an unknown number of people across the South. 

People in the path of the huge system were on edge as the National Weather Service posted tornado watches and warnings around Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. Forecasters said the system is the latest onslaught of severe weather that triggered deadly tornadoes in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa on Sunday, killing at least 18 people.

In north Alabama, Limestone County Emergency Director Rita White told the Associated Press  two deaths had been confirmed in a twister that caused extensive damage west of the city of Athens. Separately, Limestone Commissioner Bill Latimer says he has reports from a worker of at least four deaths in the county, but those had not been confirmed. 

In Mississippi, Lee County Coroner Carolyn Gillentine Green confirms a woman died Monday when her car either hydroplaned or blew off a road during the storm in Verona, south of Tupelo.

The storm was so huge it was visible from space, photographed by weather satellites that showed tumultuous clouds arcing across much of the South.

Injuries were reported in Tupelo, a community of about 35,000 in northeastern Mississippi; and in Louisville, the seat of Winston County about 90 miles northeast of Jackson, Miss., where about 6,600 people live, said Mississippi Health Department spokesman Jim Craig. He said the number and seriousness of the injuries were not known because relief efforts were still underway. Television footage showed trucks being flipped over on state roads.

Bruce Ridgeway, vice president of North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, said that hospital received six people with non-life-threatening injuries. Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton said damage was extensive in neighborhoods in the city. Authorities sent teams to the region even before the storm system's arrival.

A tornado damaged the Winston Medical Center in Louisville, Miss., said Jack Mazurak, a spokesman for the Jackson-based University of Mississippi Medical Center, which received a trauma patient from the county and was sending personnel to help triage patients on the ground.

A strong storm barreling through southeastern Kentucky damaged homes and businesses and left more than 6,000 customers without power, said Harlan County Emergency Management Director David McGill. No injuries were reported.

Residents and business owners were not the only ones seriously rattled by the tornadoes.

NBC affiliate WTVA-TV chief meteorologist Matt Laubhan in Tupelo, Miss., was reporting live on the severe weather about 3 p.m. when he realized the twister was coming close enough that maybe he and his staff should abandon the television studio.

"This is a tornado ripping through the city of Tupelo as we speak. And this could be deadly," he said in a video widely tweeted and broadcast on YouTube.

Moments later he adds, "A damaging tornado. On the ground. Right now."

The video then showed Laubhan peeking in from the side to see if he was still live on the air before yelling to staff off-camera to get down in the basement.

"Basement, now!" he yelled, before disappearing off camera himself.

Later, the station tweeted, "We are safe here."

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency Monday in advance of the storms, which sent emergency officials rushing to put plans in place.

In Memphis, Tenn., officials declared a state of emergency in a county southwest of Nashville because of flash flooding. Authorities urged people there to seek higher ground after several homes and some business were flooded in Maury County and school leaders worried that some school buses might not be able to get schoolchildren home over swamped roads.

"If it's unsafe, certainly the drivers are not going to chance it," said Maury County emergency official Mark Blackwood.

More than 50 school systems shut down early in Alabama's northern half as a precaution against having children and workers on the road in buses and cars when the storms arrived. Several cities closed municipal offices early.

The threat of dangerous weather jangled nerves a day after the three-year anniversary of a historic outbreak of more than 60 tornadoes that killed more than 250 people across Alabama on April 27, 2011.

George Grabryan, director of emergency management for Florence and Lauderdale County in northwest Alabama, said 16 shelters opened before storms even moved in and people were calling nervously with questions about the weather.

"There's a lot of sensitivity up here," Grabryan said. "I've got a stack of messages here from people, many of them new to the area, wanting to know where the closest shelters are."

Forecasters said the system moving into Alabama could generate tornadoes with strength ratings of EF-3 or higher and damage tracks 30 miles long or worse.

Elsewhere, forecasters warned Georgia residents of a threat of tornadoes in northern and central counties in coming hours.

source : http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2014/04/28/tornado-touches-down-in-mississippi/

Emergency officials and rescue crews are searching for survivors after a powerful storm system moved through the central and southern United States Sunday, spawning multiple tornadoes that killed at least 17 people.

On Monday night, Matt DeCample, a spokesman for Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe's office, confirmed a 15th fatality from the powerful tornado that carved an 80-mile path of destruction through suburbs north of the state capital of Little Rock, Ark.

“Just looking at the damage, this may be one of the strongest that we've seen,” Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said Monday. “And preliminarily -- we haven't done any records checking -- but it looks like this is the largest loss of life that we've seen in one tornado incident since I've been governor.”

Beebe said he suspects it will take days to estimate the total amount of damage, but as of now, the primary focus is on search and rescue efforts and then security “for the rest of the people to ensure that people that don't need to be messing around in an area where they could loot or something.”

Brandon Morris, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, said crews were sifting through the rubble Monday in the hope of uncovering survivors and to assess the full extent of the destruction.

"Right now, the main focus is life safety," Morris said. "We're trying to make sure everyone is accounted for."

A spokesman for Faulkner County released the identities of the 11 people killed in the two towns. The victims included eight people in Vilonia, including two children, and three people in Mayflower.

A father and his two daughters were killed in the same storm system on the Pulaski-Saline county line near Little Rock, while a 55-year-old woman died in White County in northern Arkansas.

The tornado, which grew to be a half-mile wide, turned buildings into rubble and stripped the leaves and smaller branches off of trees.

"There's just really nothing there anymore. We're probably going to have to start all over again," Vilonia Schools Superintendent Frank Mitchell said early Monday after surveying what had been a $14 million intermediate school set to open this fall.

An Oklahoma county sheriff's dispatcher reported that one person had died in the town of Quapaw, near the state's borders with Kansas and Missouri. Fox News has also confirmed that another person died when a tornado hit Keokuk County, Iowa.

The Arkansas tornado touched down about 10 miles west of Little Rock at around 7 p.m. local time and moved northeastward for at least 30 miles, the National Weather Service reported. 

The twister shredded cars, trucks and 18-wheelers stuck along Interstate 40 north of Little Rock. After the storm passed, tractor-trailer rigs tried to navigate through the damage to continue their journeys, while gawkers held smartphones to their windows to offer a grim glimpse of the destruction.

State troopers went vehicle-to-vehicle to check on motorists and said with genuine surprise that no one was killed.

"About 30 vehicles -- large trucks, sedans, pickup trucks -- were going through there when the funnel cloud passed over," said Bill Sadler, a spokesman for the Arkansas State Police.

Karla Ault, a Vilonia High School volleyball coach, said she sheltered in the school gymnasium as the storm approached. After it passed, her husband told her their home was gone -- reduced to the slab on which it had sat.

"I'm just kind of numb. It's just shock that you lost everything. You don't understand everything you have until you realize that all I've got now is just what I have on," Ault said.

The National Weather Service in North Little Rock said it was virtually certain that the Mayflower and Vilonia storm would be rated as the nation's strongest twister to date this year.

"It has the potential to be EF3 or greater," said meteorologist Jeff Hood. EF3 storms have winds greater than 136 mph. "Based on some of the footage we've seen from Mayflower and where it crossed Interstate 40, things were wrecked in a very significant way."

From communities west of Little Rock to others well north of the capital, emergency workers and volunteers were going door-to-door checking for victims.

"It turned pitch black," said Mark Ausbrooks, who was at his parents' home in Mayflower when the storm arrived. "I ran and got pillows to put over our heads and ... all hell broke loose."

"My parents' home, it's gone completely," he said.

Becky Naylor, of Mayflower, said she and her family went to their storm cellar after hearing that tornado debris was falling in nearby Morgan. Naylor, 57, said there were between 20 and 22 people in the cellar and they were "packed like sardines."

"Everyone is welcome to come into it," she said. "In fact, people were pulling off the highways and were just running in."

She said the men held the cellar doors shut while the tornado's winds tried to rip them open.

"It sounded like a constant rolling, roaring sound," she said. "Trees were really bending and the light poles were actually shaking and moving. That's before we shut the door and we've only shut the door to the storm cellar two times."

The White House issued a statement in which President Barack Obama promised that the federal government would help in the recovery and praised the heroic efforts of first-responders and neighbors.

"Your country will be there to help you recover and rebuild as long as it takes," Obama said.

The Arkansas tornado was one of several that touched down Sunday as a large storm system moved through parts of the Plains, Midwest and South.

Less than two hours before the Arkansas tornado struck, a twister hit the small northeastern Oklahoma community of Quapaw, killing at least one person and injuring six others, Ottawa County sheriff's dispatcher Kelli Soechs said. Earlier Sunday, another Ottawa County sheriff's dispatcher reported that two people were killed. Soechs declined to explain the discrepancy.

Five of the six injured in Quapaw were treated and released from Baptist Regional Health Center in Miami, Okla., said hospital spokeswoman Kristie Wallace. The sixth, who was in fair condition with a broken bone, was kept overnight, she said.

Ottawa County Emergency Management director Joe Dan Morgan said Quapaw, which has about 900 residents, was heavily damaged by the tornado.

"Looks like about half of town got extensive damage as well as the fire department," Morgan said.

After hitting Quapaw, the tornado moved northward into Kansas and struck Baxter Springs, a city of about 4,200 residents about 5 miles away. Cherokee County, Kan., sheriff's dispatcher Josh Harvey said the tornado that hit Baxter Springs injured several people and caused extensive damage, but that no deaths had been reported. He said first responders were going from house to house checking on residents' wellbeing.

Tornadoes also touched down Sunday in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, including one northwest of Joplin, Mo., where a massive tornado in May 2011 killed 161 people, injured many others and leveled a large swath of the city. Sunday's twister didn't hit Joplin.

The first reported tornado Sunday touched down in a rural area in central in Nebraska. The weather service said it remained on the ground for only a short time, and there were no immediate reports of damage.

Gusts of up to 60 mph were registered during a storm that hit southeastern Iowa on Sunday that damaged several buildings, including a barn that injured someone when it was blown over.

Earlier Sunday afternoon, a strong line of storms moved through west-central Missouri, bringing winds that reached 70 mph hour near Chillicothe, Mo., that toppled some trees.

The Missouri Highway Patrol also reported a tractor-trailer was blown onto its side on Interstate 70 about 30 miles east of Kansas City about 1 p.m. No one was injured. The weather service received a report from Plattsburg, Mo., where an anemometer measured 58 mph before it blew away. Golf ball-sized hail was reported at Overland Park, Kan., and Trimble, Mo.

Sunday was also the third anniversary of a 122-tornado day, which struck parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia and killed 316 people.

source : http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2014/04/28/tornadoes-leave-at-least-5-dead-in-oklahoma-arkansas/