Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated turning 36 in style as his early goal helped Juventus to see off Roma 2-0 in Saturday's Serie A contest.
A day after his 36th birthday, Ronaldo continued his stellar form in an exceptional performance at Allianz Stadium with a fantastic strike to open the scoring.
It was a match of few clear-cut chances – Roma failing to register an attempt on target until the 61st minute – though Ronaldo, who had all of Juve's three efforts, went close to a second when he rattled the crossbar.
A flurry of Roma pressure midway through the second half proved fruitless and, on the counter-attack, Juve had a decisive second when Ibanez turned into his own net.
Ronaldo avoided any risk of going four league games without a goal for the first time since 2017 as he thumped Juve ahead in the 13th minute, dispatching a left-footed snapshot into the right-hand corner.
Bryan Cristante was inches away from restoring parity in spectacular fashion seven minutes later – his wicked volley arrowing just wide.
The woodwork came to Roma's rescue in the 22nd minute, Ronaldo's deflected strike clattering down off the underside of the bar.
Ronaldo almost turned provider with an exquisite cross to Alex Sandro but the full-back was just unable to take it under control, before Pau Lopez denied Juve's rampant number seven.
With the onus on a toothless Roma attack, Juve frustrated their visitors after the restart, retaining 63 per cent possession in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
Wojciech Szczesny was finally called into action just after the hour, easily dealing with Henrikh Mkhitaryan's dipping effort before making a routine stop from Carles Perez's volley.
Yet Roma's comeback hopes were swiftly ended – Ibanez only able to divert Dejan Kulusevski's cutback into Roma's net to seal a Juve win which moved them within five points of leaders Inter.
What does it mean? Juve back in the running
Inter beat Fiorentina 2-0 on Friday to move top of Serie A, though Milan will retake pole position if they overcome bottom side Crotone on Sunday.
Juve have a game in hand on both Milan clubs and, with the Bianconeri having kept three successive league clean sheets for the first time under Andrea Pirlo, who also has Ronaldo on top form, you would not bet against them going on to clinch a 10th straight Scudetto.
Age is just a number
In an Instagram post to mark his 36th birthday on Friday, Ronaldo said: "I'm sorry that I can't promise you 20 more years of this."
While two more decades is beyond the reach of even the superhuman Ronaldo, the Portugal captain displayed his remarkable quality in another inspired showing. He has now scored 16 times across 17 Serie A appearances this season, while he has been directly involved in more goals than any other player (84) since making his debut in the competition.
Roma blunted
With Edin Dzeko starting on the bench after failing to secure a move away in the transfer window, Roma lacked a focal point until the forward's introduction just after the hour.
Paulo Fonseca's side had scored seven times in their previous two league outings yet had to wait over an hour for their first attempt on target and never truly came close to testing Szczesny, despite ending with 14 efforts on goal.
What's next?
Juve have a Coppa Italia semi-final second leg coming up on Tuesday, with Pirlo's team holding a 2-1 advantage over Inter. Roma, meanwhile, host Udinese a week on Sunday in their next league game.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
