1 May 2002 - The Clasico Is Not Always A Classic

On 1 May 2002, Real Madrid and Barcelona met in the second leg of their Champions League semifinal match-up. The game ended as a 1-1 draw, which was enough to see Madrid through to claim their ninth European Cup/Champions League trophy.

The fierce rivals had faced off twice before in the competition, with Madrid winning both legs of their semifinal meeting in the spring of 1960 and going on to win the Final. The next fall, it was Barcelona who advanced, winning 4-3 on aggregate in the first round en route to the Final, which they lost to Benfica.

By May of 2002, they had already played each other three times. Madrid won twice, including a 2-0 victory in the semifinal's first leg (the other match was a 1-1 draw in the league). Playing before a crowd of 75,000 at the Bernabéu, Barcelona pressed for the needed goals, but it was Madrid who took the lead with a left-footed shot from Raúl in the 43rd minute.

Barça were finally rewarded in the 48th minute when Madrid defender Iván Helguera deflected a cross into his own net. The visitors continued to press for chances, but wasted them as shots from Javier Saviola, Patrick Kluivert, Luis Enrique, and Geovanni all shot wide.

The match ended 1-1 and Madrid went on to the Final in Glasgow where they beat Bayer Leverkusen, 1-2.

30 April 1949 - Sorry, Larissa Riquelme Wasn't There

On 30 April 1949, Paraguay secured their record victory, beating Bolivia 7-0 in the Copa América.

Dating back to 1910, the national team of Paraguay had finished as runners-up in the tournament three times, but had never won it. By the time they played Bolivia in 1949, they were again in second place, just behind Brazil, after losing to Uruguay ten days earlier.

Playing before a crowd of 45,000 at Rio de Janeiro's Estádio São Januário, Paraguay looked determined to maintain their title challenge with a first-half hat-trick from Jorge Benítez. Forward Dionisio Arce added a fourth before the break. They contributed another goal each in the second half, while Pedro Fernández joined them on the scoresheet. It was a crushing defeat for Bolivia, but not their worst of the tourney--they had already lost to Brazil 10-1 earlier that month.

Paraguay went on to beat Brazil 2-1 in the last scheduled match. The win drew the teams level in the table, forcing a playoff. That match ended 7-0, but Paraguay were on the wrong end that time as Brazil claimed their third Copa América title. Paraguay did eventually win the tournament in 1953 and again in 1979.

In 2010, Paraguay matched the 7-0 scoreline with a win over Hong Kong in a post-World Cup friendly.

29 April 1996 - The Return Of The Kaiser (Again)

On 29 April 1996, Franz ("Der Kaiser") Beckenbauer returned to Bayern Munich for a second stint as manager and collected another piece of silverware in his two months in charge.

Beckenbauer, who won four league titles and three European Cups with Bayern from 1964 to 1977, originally returned to the club for the second half of the 1993-94 season. After lifting them to the 1994 Bundesliga title, he stepped aside as manager, handing the reins to Giovanni Trapattoni. Beckenbauer remained with the club as president.

Otto Rehhagel was their manager for the 1995-96 season, but despite some success on the pitch, he had a difficult relationship with the team's players, who considered his tactics and style to be too old-fashioned. Bayern cut ties with him in April 1996, just as the team was preparing to contest the UEFA Cup Final.

Once more, they turned to Beckenbauer, who took over for the last two months of the season. His first match in charge was the UEFA Cup Final, which ended as a 2-0 victory over Bordeaux. Bayern proceeded to win one and draw one of their last four matches to secure a second-place spot in the Bundesliga. Beckenbauer stepped down once again, and once again turned the club over to Trapattoni.