Sports-On this day... April 24

ON THIS DAY -- April 24 April 24, 1997

SOCCER - Barcelona's Pep Guardiola celebrates scoring his side's second goal in a 2-0 victory over Fiorentina in their European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final second-leg match at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence. After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, goals from Fernando Couto and Guardiola sealed a 3-1 aggregate victory that took Barcelona to the final, where they beat holders Paris St Germain 1-0.

Guardiola retired in 2006 and took charge of Barcelona two years later, going on to become his boyhood club's most successful manager, winning 14 titles in four seasons. April 24, 1997

BASEBALL - Baltimore Orioles' third baseman Cal Ripken Jr dives for a hard grounder hit off the bat of Boston Red Sox's Tim Naehring in the sixth inning of their Major League Baseball game, which Boston won 2-1. Ripken, a 19-times All Star, holds the record for most consecutive games played -- 2,632 over 17 years -- and also won the Gold Glove award twice as a shortstop in 1991 and 1992.

Nicknamed 'The Iron Man', he retired in 2001 having made over 3,000 appearances for the Orioles in 21 seasons. April 24, 2004

BOXING - Ukraine's Vitali Klitschko lands a right hand on South Africa's Corrie Sanders en route to an eighth round technical knockout victory that gave him the vacant WBC and The Ring heavyweight titles at Staples Center, Los Angeles. Klitschko had dropped the belts after being beaten by Lennox Lewis the previous year. Lewis vacated the titles upon his retirement and Klitschko, the mandatory challenger after his victory against Kirk Johnson, beat Sanders to regain the titles.

A three-times world heavyweight champion, Klitschko retired in 2013 having won 45 of his 47 fights - 41 by knockout. April 24, 2004

CURLING - Canadian skip Colleen Jones celebrates winning the World Women's Curling Championships with an 8-4 victory over Norway in Gaevle, Sweden. Jones, who won two World Championships and six Tournament of Heart gold medals, is considered one of the greatest Canadian curlers of all time.

She became the youngest skip to win the Canadian women's curling championship at the age of 22 and held the record for most victories as a skip (140) at the event until Jennifer Jones broke it in 2019. April 24, 2005

CYCLING - Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan celebrates as he wins the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race in Ans, Belgium. Vinokourov and Germany's Jens Voigt broke away from the pack 72 km from the finish line and the Kazakh held off the German in the final sprint to win the event for the first time.

Vinokourov, a two-time winner at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege, also won four Tour de France stages and gold in the 2012 London Olympics road race. April 24, 2005

Formula One - Renault's Fernando Alonso celebrates after successfully holding off Ferrari's Michael Schumacher to win the San Marino Grand Prix by two-tenths of a second at the Imola circuit in Italy. Schumacher began the race from 13th on the grid but quickly moved up the field and challenged race leader Alonso over the final 12 laps of the circuit.

However, the Spaniard, who won the Malaysian and Bahrain Grands Prix earlier that season, held his nerve to claim his third successive race and first at San Marino. April 24, 2010

SOCCER - Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates scoring Barcelona's final goal in a 3-1 win over Xerez in a La Liga match at the Camp Nou stadium, Barcelona. Goals from Jeffren, Thierry Henry and Ibrahimovic sealed a comfortable victory and ensured Barcelona stayed top of the league, four points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid.

Ibrahimovic finished the campaign with 16 league goals and Barcelona won the title, but he joined AC Milan on loan in the close season after his relationship with manager Pep Guardiola deteriorated. April 24, 2011

SOCCER - Celtic fans show their support for manager Neil Lennon during their 0-0 draw with Rangers in a Scottish Premier League clash at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow. Lennon, his lawyer Paul McBride and Labour politician Trish Godman were sent parcel bombs in the months leading up to the game. Two packages were intercepted by the Royal Mail and a third delivered before suspicious staff contacted the police.

Two men in their forties were later arrested, found guilty of conspiracy to assault and jailed for five years each for the crime. April 24, 2012

ICE HOCKEY - Eisbaeren Berlin captain Richard Regehr celebrates with the trophy after his side's 3-1 victory over Adler Mannheim in the final game of their best-of-five series in the German Ice Hockey League Finals in Berlin. After trailing 2-1 in the series, Eisbaeren triumphed in the last two games to win their second consecutive Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) title.

Regehr, who won three championships in four seasons with Eisbaeren, left the club after their 2012 triumph to join Swedish side Modo Hockey. April 24, 2018

SOCCER - Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores the first of his two goals in a 5-2 win over AS Roma in their Champions League semi-final first-leg clash at Anfield, Liverpool. Liverpool lost the second leg 4-2 but progressed to the final 7-6 on aggregate. Salah, however, was substituted in the first half of the final after injuring his shoulder and Liverpool lost 3-1 to Real Madrid.

The Egyptian scored 44 goals in all competitions in his first season with Liverpool and went on to win the Champions League the following year when they defeated Tottenham Hotspur in the final.