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AMMAN — Round 3 of the Jordan Drift Championship kicks off on Friday with the participation of 56 drivers at the Service Park of the Dead Sea area, with drivers from Palestine, Egypt, Iraq and Jordan taking part.

The event will see Othman Takriti, winner of the second round battling it out with winner of the first round Mohammed Kukhen.

Takriti is currently leading the standings with 47 points while Kukhen is trailing with 45 points and Ra’fat Haroun is in the third spot with 30 points. 

Jordan Motorsport CEO Othman Naseef told The Jordan Times that the third round will carry lots of challenges to drivers.

“Due to its criticality and closeness to the final round, drivers will have to take extra measures to gain points. We have witnessed many drivers with improved skills and this is reassuring as they know what they have to do,” he said.

“The event will consist of three rounds with the third dedicated for the best 13 results of drivers,” he added.

Drifting is a kind of driving technique used by drivers through oversteering and causing a loss of traction whether in the rear wheels or all tyres while controlling a certain entry to exit of a corner; drivers will be judged according to speed, angle and perfect track line (90 points), showmanship (5 points) and smoking tyres (5 points).

AMMAN — Jordan’s delegation to Rio Olympics has increased again after triathlete Lawrence Fanous booked his place, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) News Service.

The Arab Triathlon Champion narrowly missed out on an automatic qualification, but his performances impressed enough to secure an invitation as the first-ever Jordanian triathlete to compete in an Olympic Games, which get under way on August 5.

“So happy and it’s hard to put into words right now just how much,” said Fanous. “What I will say is that after breaking my leg seven years ago and having such a terrible season last year, I’m a living proof that you can achieve your ultimate goals despite major setbacks in your life.” Fanous joins boxer Hussein Ishaiash and taekwondo star Ahmad Abu Ghaush who have also booked their Rio spots.

Swimmer Khader Baqleh has one foot on the plane after making the B time for the 200m freestyle, but he is awaiting his confirmation letter in July. The JOC applied for Fanous to be considered for Rio and have supported the 30-year-old through its Olympic Programme for the past 18 months.

JOC secretary general, Lana Al Jaghbeer, said: “Triathlon is developing here in Jordan and we hope that Lawrence can inspire the next generation of triathletes. We finalise our delegation in the coming weeks with opportunities for more invitations and more qualifications.”

As 3-pointers fell at historic rates through the first two rounds of the postseason, LeBron James’ message never changed: The Cleveland Cavaliers are not just a team of jump-shooters.

In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, James and the Cavaliers proved it. On a night when the Toronto Raptors did their best to take away the 3-point arc, the Cavs instead attacked the paint and stormed their way to a 115-84 victory Tuesday and a 1-0 series lead.

It was the most lopsided postseason win in Cavs history and marked their ninth victory in as many play-off games this year.

The Cavs are rolling, and James and Kyrie Irving are a big reason why.

James scored 24 points and Irving had 27 as the Cavs made just seven 3-pointers but shot 55.4 per cent and scored 56 points in the paint.

“Tonight they wanted us to be in the paint,” James said. “We tried to take advantage of that. I keep telling you we’re not a jump-shooting team. We’re a balanced team. We’re able to do whatever the game dictates, and we’re able to adjust to that.”

Kevin Love had 14 points and four rebounds, his first game in this postseason without a double-double. The Cavs rolled anyway, becoming the first team to win their first nine postseason games since the 2012 San Antonio Spurs, who won their first 10 before losing four straight to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

DeMar DeRozan scored 18 points for the Raptors, but only six after the first quarter. Fellow All-Star Kyle Lowry scored eight points on a tough 4-of-14 shooting night after scoring a career-high 43 against the Cavs in a February victory at Air Canada Centre. Neither Lowry nor DeRozan attempted a free throw on Tuesday.

“We’ve got to come out of the gate with that mindset, being aggressive like we usually do,” Lowry said. “I think we didn’t try to do that until later on in the game.”

After sweeping through the first two rounds of the play-offs by setting records with their 3-point shooting, the Cavs instead attacked the heart of the Raptors’ defence.

Each of James’ first nine baskets came near the restricted area. Cleveland went inside after averaging nearly 17 3-pointers per game through the first two play-off rounds.

The Raptors scored the game’s first seven points, although the Cavs had the lead within about seven minutes. Cleveland extended it to double figures within the first two minutes of the second quarter and rolled the rest of the night. The Cavs led by as many as 35 in the fourth quarter.

Raptors coach Dwane Casey thought the defensive rotations broke down once the Raptors denied the Cavs 3-point looks.

“We’ve got to continue to keep those [3-pointers] down, work to keep those down, and also at the same time make sure we understand and be disciplined as far as how we take away their roll guy,” Casey said. “Because I thought that hurt us, especially in the second quarter.”

The sweeps in each of the first two rounds meant the Cavs played just eight games in the last 33 days, while the Raptors were stretched to seven games in each of their first two series. All the time off has done little to disrupt Cleveland’s rhythm.

The Cavs beat the Atlanta Hawks by double figures in each of the first three games following an eight-day layoff, and nine days between games certainly didn’t bother them Tuesday.

The Raptors have been in this position before. They have now lost the first game in each of their three series, although they fought back to win the first two. This will be their toughest test yet.

“I thought they were quicker than us tonight, and the reasons are not important. It’s not an excuse,” Casey said. “It’s one game. But they were the quicker team tonight and we’ve got to make adjustments of how we want to combat that quickness.”

BANGKOK — English Premier League champions Leicester City will probably need to buy three or four players over the summer to compete in the European Champions League, Vice Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha told Reuters on Wednesday.

He declined to say how much money he and his father, club owner and duty free magnate Vichai, would spend to meet the challenge of a new competition and additional matches — but said there would be signings.

"We know we are going to play a lot of games next season," said Aiyawatt. "We have to add some players Maybe we will add three or four."

Manager Claudio Ranieri said any new signings would no be expensive superstars.

"It's not so important to bring superstars but to bring players like ours, that play with the heart and the soul," Ranieri told reporters in Bangkok as the Thai-owned team began an end-of-season tour.

Leicester's stunning success, built on a team that before the season began included few household names, has captivated football lovers everywhere. Ranieri said Leicester had their eye on several new players, but bringing in big-money signings would destroy the team ethos.

"I don't want to lose the team, this is a family team and we need to find new brothers."

So far Ranieri said none of his players had requested a transfer. "It's better for them to stay and have the experience of the Champions League," he said.

Next season, in addition to defending their Premier League title, Leicester — who were playing in the second tier of English football when Vichai's King Power Group took over in 2010 — will compete in UEFA's lucrative Champions League.

Ranieri and star players including captain Wes Morgan and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel received a rock-star welcome at the Bangkok headquarters of King Power, the duty-free franchise that made Vichai one of Thailand's richest men.

"Drinking sessions," joked Morgan, when asked the secret of his team's success. "That and all the times on the training field and the pitch, when you learn to love each other and fight for each other."

Some of the team's top stars were absent, including striker Jamie Vardy, who has just been named in England's squad for the summer Euro 2016 tournament.

Premier league football is popular in the Southeast Asian nation, but most fans follow more storied big money rivals such as Manchester United and Liverpool.

Although success has brought more Thai fans, the "Siam Foxes" support base remains relatively small and many follow the club as their second team.

Only a few dozen fans showed up to greet the team's early arrival on Wednesday at Bangkok's main airport. In contrast, around a quarter of a million ecstatic fans lined the streets of Leicester on Monday for the team's victory parade.

With the world's media focused on the players, the club will be keen to avoid a repeat of last year's end-of-season tour in Thailand which resulted in the club sacking three players for their roles in a racist sex tape filmed on the tour.

Ranieri said he planned to visit the temple of the Thai monk who had blessed the team during their astonishing rise.

"Good energy had helped,” he said.

Vichai is a regular devotee of Phra Prommangkalachan, the 63-year-old assistant to the abbot of Bangkok's Traimitr Temple, and took the monk to Britain to bless the stadium and the team.

In a light-hearted media session, Ranieri sang and joked that instead of pizza, he would have to buy lobster for the team when they keep a clean sheet next season.

"But only one lobster for the whole team," he said.

AMMAN — Jordan has a new world champion after professional kickboxer Amer Abdallah knocked out Britain’s Daniel Hughes to win the World Kickboxing Association (WKA) Cruiserweight World Title in Lockport, New York, according to a statement from the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Abdallah needed just 1.19 minutes into the second round to claim his title in front of a “home” crowd, with the Jordanian now in the New York State city which was hosting its first ever world title fight.

He was supported by thousands of local fans as well as Jordanians who travelled across the country to support.

“I’m proud, excited, happy, grateful, humbled, accomplished — you name it and I feel it,” he said. “I dedicate this title to HM King Abdullah II. It was a great moment when I saw Jordan’s flag high at the hall, and an honour to win in front of my family and friends.

The former amateur national champion Abdallah, 38, improved to 17-0 as a professional with a lethal array of leg kicks that sent the WKA British cruiserweight champ down to a knee in the first half of the first round of their scheduled 10-round world title bout.

Hughes withstood that onslaught and went to his corner for instructions from his life-long trainer, his father Christopher.

But the end was near, as Abdallah, as focused as ever, sent a variety of blows the Englishman’s way, connecting with solid, booming leg kicks to the body, then sent him down for good with a solid left leg to the midsection.

Abdallah, said he appreciates all the support he’s received from family and friends.

“My parents flew in from Jordan and my brother flew in from Dubai, and I had family here from San Francisco and Florida, friends, Dewey Cooper and Baby Joe Mesi, Jim Andrello, Kevin VanNostrand, were here — I’m surrounded by the best. We’re loyal. We’re the family,” Abdallah said.

Abdallah said he would defend his world title this November against an opponent who will be determined by the WKA. Retirement, he stated emphatically, is out of the question at this time.

“It’s up to the WKA to tell me who I’m going to fight,” Abdallah said. “I can no longer pick and choose. It’s up to the sanctioning body to determine who the number one contender is.”

In the meantime, Abdallah, who has switched recently to Las Vegas and trains at the Mayweather Gym, said he plans to stay in his hometown of Lockport for a few more weeks to celebrate his world title with family and friends.

He is expected to travel to Jordan for a visit during Ramadan where he will receive a hero’s welcome.

BARCELONA — Juergen Klopp, who has breathed new life into Liverpool in his seven months in charge, would seal his place in the hearts of the club’s supporters if he pulls off victory over Sevilla in Wednesday’s Europa League final.

It would bring Liverpool’s first European trophy since the famous fightback against AC Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul in 2005.

Klopp conjured up the spirit of that historic win in the extraordinary quarter-final performance over his former club Borussia Dortmund when the Reds turned a 3-1 halftime deficit in the second leg into a stunning 4-3 victory in stoppage time.

Sevilla, current holders, might be a different matter though. Klopp will be up against coach Unai Emery, whose side have won the last two editions of the tournament and hold a record four UEFA Cup/Europa League triumphs, all in the last decade.

Sevilla had an easier path to the final, beating Shakhtar Donetsk 5-3 on aggregate in the semis, although they needed a penalty shootout to overcome fellow Spaniards Athletic Bilbao in the last eight.

Sevilla have endured a disappointing domestic campaign, finishing seventh in La Liga and failing to win a single away game, the only team in Europe’s top five leagues to do so.

Liverpool’s season has not been dissimilar.

Klopp’s team have ended in eighth place in the Premier League, their lowest finish since 2012.

The charismatic German has proved a master of the big occasion, however, knocking out Manchester United and Villarreal as well as Dortmund with his trademark game plan of high intensity pressing.

He will be looking for the same high octane performance against Sevilla.

“There will be challenges all over the pitch. There will be a lot of fight, for sure; you cannot win a cup with just a little bit of playing football,” Klopp told UEFA.com.

“You have to show that you’re really ready for the big moments.”

Klopp must decide whether to start with captain Jordan Henderson, who only returned from a knee injury by playing half an hour as a substitute in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion.

Emery, who has no new injury concerns from the semifinal, is banking on his team’s mental resilience to become the first coach to win three consecutive Europa League trophies.

“The fact that this is our third consecutive final demonstrates how focused and hungry we have been to do well in the Europa League, and win it,” he said.

“That means competing — standing up to be counted throughout the 90 minutes.”

Oklahoma centre Steven Adams converted an errant pass by teammate Russell Westbrook into two critical free throws with 1:01 left on Monday to short-circuit a Golden State rally and help the Thunder to a 108-102 Game 1 victory in the Western Conference finals.

Westbrook overcame a slow start to score a game-high 27 points. Kevin Durant added 26, including a lead-extending jumper with 30.7 seconds left, as the Thunder stole home-court advantage from the top-seeded Warriors.

The Thunder overcame a 13-point halftime deficit.

Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday in Oakland, where the Warriors absorbed their first loss of the postseason on Monday.

Adams’ free throws came after the Warriors rallied within 101-100 on an interior hoop by Harrison Barnes with 2:02 to go.

After an exchange of possessions, Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka recovered a missed jumper by Durant, giving Oklahoma City a second crack with 1:12 to play.

Westbrook then drove towards the hoop and lobbed a pass that smacked hard off the backboard and deflected towards the free-throw line, where Adams retrieved it and took off for the hoop.

He was fouled on a shot attempt, and he made both free throws to increase Oklahoma City’s lead to 103-100.

The Thunder were able to win despite relatively poor shooting by Durant (10-for-30) and Westbrook (7-for-21).

Each contributed in other areas, with Durant grabbing 10 rebounds and Westbrook dishing off 12 assists.

Adams played a key role in the win, recording a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double. Ibaka also had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Warriors star Stephen Curry had 26 points to go with team-highs in rebounds (10) and assists (seven).

He hit six of his 14 3-point attempts, but the Warriors struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 11-for-30 and outscoring the Thunder (8-for-17) by just nine despite taking 13 more attempts.

Klay Thompson had 25 points and Draymond Green 23 for the Warriors, who lost just twice at home during the regular season.

The Thunder had not led since 10-9 midway through the first quarter before Durant buried a 3-pointer and Westbrook a driving hoop in the first 90 seconds of the final period, pushing Oklahoma City into a 90-88 advantage.

The lead grew to as much as 101-93 with 4:42 to play as the Thunder defence took control of the game, limiting Golden State to just two field goals in the first 7 and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter.

A 3-pointer by Curry, the Warriors’ first of the fourth quarter after seven consecutive misses, ended the Golden State drought and got the Warriors within 101-96 with 4:28 to go.

Green and Barnes converted interior hoops as a desperation Golden State surge continued, closing the gap to 101-100 with 2:02 to go.

However, Green then failed to convert on a drive to the hoop, and Adams came up with his key play for the Thunder, allowing Oklahoma City to finish off the upset victory.

The Thunder trailed by 13 at halftime and 66-52 in the third minute of the third quarter before riding a Westbrook surge to within 88-85 by period’s end.

Westbrook had missed nine of his first 10 shots before pouring in five of seven, including a pair of 3-pointers, over the final 7:02 of the third quarter.

After a three-point first half, Westbrook had 19 in the third quarter, almost single handedly shooting the Thunder back into the game.

The Warriors got an unexpected boost from Barnes early on to take a lead they extended to 13-point advantage by halftime.

The teams played to an 11-all tie before Barnes’ first of two first-quarter 3-pointers capped a 9-2 run that propelled Golden State into a 20-13 lead.

The margin reached 13 on two occasions in the second quarter, including 1.5 seconds before the halftime horn when Curry buried his second 3-pointer of the night.

Curry’s first 3-pointer, which came earlier in the period, extended his streak of making at least one to 45 straight play-off games, breaking Reggie Miller’s record of 44.

Thompson led all scorers in the half with 19. Westbrook, meanwhile, had only three points on 1-for-8 shooting.

Westbrook’s refusal to bow down to league darling Stephen Curry helped Oklahoma City to stand tall and send a strong opening message in their Western Conference finals clash.

Curry has gathered a legion of fans as the NBA’s two-time MVP and most popular jersey seller, but Westbrook resisted becoming one of them in the lead up to Monday’s meeting.

“It’s not nothing I haven’t seen,” Westbrook told reporters of Curry’s offensive prowess. “Just [have to be] be physical.”

Westbrook proved good on his word as he snatched control of Game 1 to push the Thunder to a comeback victory.

TORONTO — Less than two weeks ago, Kyle Lowry was a struggling so badly that he stayed past midnight to work on his game after a tough play-off loss.

Now a red-hot Lowry is carrying the Toronto Raptors into their first ever Eastern Conference finals.

Lowry scored 35 points, DeMar DeRozan had 28 and the Raptors reached the conference finals by beating the Miami Heat 116-89 on Sunday. They play in Cleveland on Tuesday night.

“I missed some shots I could have made, but we won the game,” Lowry said. “That’s all that matters. I’m going to keep pushing and try to be better, and do things to keep helping my team get wins.”

After Toronto’s overtime loss to Miami in Game 1, when Lowry scored seven points and missed 10-of-13 shots, he stayed behind for more than an hour to practice his shooting alone while work crews picked up garbage from beneath the Air Canada Centre seats.

Things were a lot different in Sunday’s Game 7 when Lowry topped 30 points for the second straight game and the third time in the series. A standing-room-only crowd of 20,257 cheered every one of Lowry’s baskets, roared in appreciation when he was subbed out with the game winding down, and then chanted “We want Cleveland” as the final seconds ticked away.

“That’s just what he does,” DeRozan said of Lowry. “He has  been doing it all year, he won us countless games.”

Checking out early gave Lowry a chance to sit on the bench and soak in the scene as Toronto set franchise records for play-off points and margin of victory.

“It was just a time to relax and just think about the things that we’ve done, and we have to continue to do,” Lowry said.

Toronto will need both Lowry and DeRozan to continue pouring in points to have any chance against the Cavaliers, who are unbeaten so far this postseason.

The two Raptors All-Stars have been inconsistent so far in the play-offs but seem to be finding their form at the right time. They’ve combined for more than 50 points in three straight games.

“They’re our guys,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “They carried us all year. There were some moments of ‘Are they ever going to make a shot?’ But deep in your heart, you believed that those guys were going to come around.”

Toronto won two of three against the Cavaliers in the regular season, with both victories coming at home by a combined six points. Toronto’s defeat was a lot more lopsided: they lost 122-100 in Cleveland on January 4.

Scouting booklets for the Cleveland series were sitting on the chair of each Raptors player inside their locker room less than an hour after Sunday’s game.

“We know we’ve got a tough task ahead,” Lowry said. “It’s always a challenge going against those guys.”

Casey declined to say whether centre Jonas Valanciunas, who sprained his right ankle in Game 3 against the Heat, would be available against Cleveland.

“He’s still limping around but he’s doing therapy 24/7 so we’ll see,” Casey said.

Whether or not Valanciunas plays, Toronto must control Cleveland’s All-Star trio of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. They’ll also have to defend the 3-point shot — the Cavs have averaged an NBA-best 16.8 3-pointers per game this postseason.

“Obviously we know they’ve got three All-Stars, they have a supporting cast around those three that make shots,” Toronto guard Cory Joseph said. “We’ve all seen them play in this postseason and they’ve been making a lot of 3s.”

Toronto’s last consecutive defeats were road losses at Boston on March 23 and at Houston on March 25.

“This group is hungry,” Casey said.

It’s also a historic one. Toronto, now in its 21st season, had never won a seven-game series before these play-offs. Now they’re the 15th team to win two in the same postseason.

By knocking out Miami, the Raptors left Charlotte, the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans as the only NBA teams to never reach a conference final.

“We aren’t satisfied,” Lowry said. “It’s just our mentality. Our goal is to play as long as possible. Everyone is excited and, yes, we’re excited, but we want to continue to get four more wins and get to the finals.”

AMMAN  — Jordan’s national football team regrouped on Monday to start a new phase of regional competitions after putting behind its elimination from 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

The national team coach Abdullah Abu Zam’eh, who assisted Harry Redknapp in the interim period, has recalled mainly younger players for the training camp which will run until May 28 in midst of preparations for the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers starting in March 2017.

Abu Zam’eh has included Olympic team players and excluded stats like goalie Amer Shafie, Anas Bani Yasin, Hasan Abdul Fattah and Odey Saifi. 

Jordan will play in the King’s Cup, an international football tournament organised in Thailand by the Football Association of Thailand June 3-5. The tournament has been played since 1968, with the exception of 1983, 1985, 2008, 2011 and 2014. South Korea won in 2015. Jordan will play the UAE while Syria plays Thailand with the winners playing for the $50,000 grand prize. During the training camp players from Wihdat and Faisali will take time off for their teams Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup second round matches on May 23-24.

The Kingdom was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup after a dismal 5-1 defeat to Australia. The qualifying journey ended in Round 1 after an inconsistent year that saw the national team lose 1-0 to Kyrgyzstan 3-0 to Tajikistan and scoring an 8-0 win over Bangladesh in Leg 2. In Leg 1, Jordan was held to a disappointing 0-0 draw with Kyrgyzstan, beat Tajikistan 3-1, Australia 2-0 and Bangladesh 4-0.

The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots and one slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup. 

Jordan is still 82nd in latest FIFA World Rankings and 9th in Asia trailing Iran (42), Australia (50), South Korea (54), Japan (57), Saudi Arabia (60), Uzbekistan (66), the UAE (68) and China (81). Argentina took over the world’s top spot as Belgium dropped to second trailed by Chile, Columbia Germany, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Uruguay and England.

It has been an inconsistent year for Jordan’s squad who has seen three coaches leading the vital qualifying process. The line-up was led by Briton Ray Wilkins under whom the team failed to advance past the quarters of the 16th AFC Asian Cup in 2015 before Ahmad Abdul Qader took over in the transitional phase under whom the team played the first qualifier. Belgian Paul Put took over in July 2015, but his tenure was also suspended when he was caught in the midst of a court case over match fixing in the Belgian league. Harry Redknapp led the team in the last two qualifiers with a focus on reaching the Asian Championship and keeping World Cup qualifying chances alive.

The Kingdom had the most memorable World Cup qualifying journey in 2013 when it lost a possible chance to play at the World Cup for the first time and advanced to play then World’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie for a place in the 2014 World Cup. It lost the home game 5-0 and held the former World Cup champs 0-0 in the away match. Jordan had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since taking part in the qualifiers as of 1985. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times in the qualifiers.

In the Asian Cup, Jordan reached the Championship three times since first taking part in qualifiers in 1972. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th in August 2004. In 2011, Jordan again reached the quarter-finals.

BARCELONA — With Barcelona celebrating yet another Spanish league title, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are already looking forward to an even bigger prize.

After pushing Barcelona to the end in the Spanish league, the Madrid clubs quickly switched their focus to the Champions League final in two weeks in Milan.

One will return home as the European champion, the other will end the season without a title.

But no matter what happens in Italy, both teams will take solace by having finished the league with their heads up, taking the title fight to the final days and making Barcelona work hard for the trophy.

Real Madrid won its final 12 games to finish only one point behind Barcelona, while Atletico won seven of its last eight, finishing three points behind. They were denied the trophy by a late charge by Barcelona, which won five straight to secure its second consecutive title, and sixth in eight seasons.

Although neither Madrid team won the league, fans were more pleased than frustrated when it was all over this weekend. And it didn’t hurt as much to watch Barcelona celebrate knowing there’s still a chance to win football’s top club competition.

“We did what we had to do and we’re now thinking about our last remaining game,” Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “Now it’s important to rest up, spend a few days with the family and forget about football. We’ll come back raring to go in preparation for the final.”

The European title would give Madrid a sensational ending to a season that appeared to be lost not long ago.

Before its impressive final run in the Spanish league, Madrid season’s had been marked by a demoralising 4-0 home loss to Barcelona, a result that left “Los Blancos” in crisis and led to the eventual firing of coach Rafa Benitez. There was also the embarrassing disqualification from the Copa del Rey for using an ineligible player, and a signing ban handed down by FIFA for breaching rules registering players under the age of 18.

At one point in the league, Madrid trailed Barcelona by 12 points and many fans had given up hope of a comeback. In the Champions League, a shocking 2-0 loss at Wolfsburg put the team on the brink of elimination in the quarter-finals, and only a hat trick from Cristiano Ronaldo saved the team from an embarrassing early elimination.

Finishing the league on a high helped boost the team’s confidence ahead of the final in Milan.

“Our aim was to put the pressure on and we’ve done that. It’s great for us in terms of morale heading into the Champions League final,” Madrid defender Sergio Ramos said. “We had hope, which is the last thing you want to lose. Now we have a beautiful Champions League final that we want to win to make it an unforgettable year.”

The result of the final should help determine how successful Madrid’s season will actually be.

“I don’t think that it has been a bad season,” Madrid defender Dani Carvajal said. “Right now, I would give a positive assessment, but on the 28th we’ll be able to judge whether the season has been a good or bad one.”

Atletico will be hoping to avenge the hurtful result from two years ago, when it lost to Madrid in extra time despite leading until the final minutes of regulation.

Regardless of the result in Milan, Atletico again showed its worth this season both against Spanish rivals and top European clubs.

Atletico eliminated Barcelona and Bayern Munich on its way to the Champions League final, and was the team that challenged Barcelona the most in the Spanish league, staying in second place from early in the season until a disappointing late loss to last-place Levante last weekend.

“The reason Barcelona struggled was because we were right there to be able to fight until the end,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. “It makes us happy to be fighting with the best in the world.”