• Cristiano Ronaldo is targeting Real Madrid over a potential return, say reports
• The Juventus forward has been linked with a move away from Serie A this season
• Ronaldo cut off all ties with Real Madrid when he moved to Juventus in 2018
• But the ties are being remade with Ronaldo ‘showing his love for Madrid online’

Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly made enquiries into a potential return to former club Real Madrid.

The Portuguese striker has been linked with a move away from Juventus at the end of the season amid growing financial concerns at the Serie A club.

Paris-Saint Germain are believed to be keen on landing Ronaldo’s signature should he leave Turin, but it appears the 35-year-old has other ideas.

According to Marca, Ronaldo has been in contact with his old club in a bid to ‘build bridges’ and facilitates his return.

Madrid received £100million from Ronaldo’s sale in 2018, but would be able to re-sign him for a fraction of that with Juve looking to cash-in before his contract expires.

When the forward left Madrid though, he made a clean break, keeping in touch only with close friend Marcelo, who at one stage was linked with joining him in Italy.

However, back in March, Ronaldo paid a visit to the Bernabeu as a spectator for Madrid’s El Clasico meeting with Barcelona – a request he had made to the club’s president Florentino Perez, who was more than happy to oblige.

Since then he has been pictured catching up with several of his old Madrid colleagues while on international duty with Portugal, fuelling the rumours he could go back for a second stint.

Ronaldo is tied to Juventus until 2022, but there are no plans in place for his stay to be extended.

Juventus are feeling the pinch of the coronavirus pandemic and are prepared to let Ronaldo leave for the right price to get his £540,000-per-week salary off their budget.

Madrid are hardly awash with cash at present either though, making a deal unlikely unless it becomes financially viable for the Spanish club.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo is set to achieve a new milestone at Juventus this weekend, as he is in line to captain the club for the first time against Cagliari.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho talked down his team’s chances of being title contenders after a 2-0 win over Manchester City sent the North London club top of the Premier League on Saturday.

It is the first time since August, 2014 that Spurs end the day top of the table and the first time they have done so after at least nine top-flight games since 1985.

But Mourinho, always a manager wary of creating pressure, played down the significance of their two-point advantage over next week’s opponents Chelsea.

“It feels good (to be top), but maybe tomorrow we are second again and honestly that would not be a problem for me, I am just happy with the evolution,” he said in the knowledge that a Leicester City win at Liverpool on Sunday would send the Foxes above Spurs.

“People cannot expect us to come here and after one season we are fighting for the title. We are not fighting for the title, we are just fighting to win every match. But we are going to lose matches, we are going to draw matches,” he said.

“Dinner tonight will be nice and relaxed and I will watch Atletico Madrid v Barcelona and sleep like an angel. But no problem if Leicester wins and we are second again,” he said.

The Portuguese, however, couldn’t hide his pride at an accomplished performance from his side.

“Big team, big hearts, big solidarity, a proper team, a team that I believe makes Tottenham fans proud. Players going to the limits of their energy, sacrifice for the game plan, coping well with let’s say a new pressure of ‘If you win the match, you go top of the league for a 24 hours’. I’m very proud. They deserve big applause and lots of respect,” he said.

City, who are 10th, have a negative goal difference after scoring only 10 goals in nine games, 17 less than at this stage last season.

“The stats speak for themselves,” said manager Pep Guardiola.

“We were better in many departments but we didn’t score. The team defended so deep and were waiting for a mistake. We found some moments but the reality is we are struggling to score goals this season. That can happen,” he said.

Daniil Medvedev fought back to beat US Open champion Dominic Thiem and win the biggest title of his career at the ATP Finals in London.

The Russian dug deep to claim a 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 victory over world number three Thiem at the O2 Arena.

Thiem led the second-set tie-break but Medvedev reeled off seven points in a row to force a decider and came through a tight final set to ensure victory.

The 24-year-old will finish the year fourth in the world rankings.

Medvedev is the only player to beat the three highest-ranked players at the season-ending event, following his earlier victories over Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

He did not beat a single top-10 player from November 2019 to October 2020 but has now beaten seven in the space of four weeks.

It was the last year the tournament was being held in London, with the event moving to Turin, Italy, from 2021.

With no crowd in the stadium because of coronavirus restrictions, Medvedev’s celebrations were muted before he and Thiem had a lengthy hug at the net.

Despite the loss, Thiem can still reflect on a solid year in which he has reached two Slam finals, losing to Djokovic at the Australian Open before claiming his maiden major title in New York.

Machine Medvedev clicks into gear

Medvedev, who went unbeaten in the group stages, is credited as one of the men’s tour’s quickest problem solvers.

A gangly player who has been jokingly nicknamed ‘the machine’ by his competitors, he is capable of changing the direction of rallies with ease and his own forehand – while flatter than Thiem’s – is equally effective.

His repeated moves to the net as the match progressed allowed him to hurry through his service games and surprise Thiem with a change of pace.

However, the Russian let the opening set slip. Having been in control in the early stages and racing to 40-0 on his own serve, Medvedev lost four points through a series of sloppy forehand errors before double-faulting to hand Thiem a crucial break.

His recovery in the second-set tie-break changed the tone of the match and Medvedev gritted his way through a tough fifth game in the third set, converting his ninth break point to take the crucial lead.

He was the stronger of the two players as the match progressed, drawing more errors out of a tiring Thiem’s backhand, and he claimed victory when Thiem sent a return of serve into the net.

Thiem just misses out again

While there will be obvious disappointment for Thiem in losing in the final for a second consecutive year, the 27-year-old has improved his all-round game in another solid year.

Once thought of as a solely clay-court player, Thiem’s biggest career title came on a hard court, and he too beat Djokovic and Nadal in London to progress to the final.

Thiem prospers through his big groundstrokes and an increased confidence in his serve. With Medvedev having the better of the longer rallies, Thiem kept the points short, using his slice to stop Medvedev unleashing his own heavy shots.

He staved off two break points in his opening service game, finding an inside-out forehand and an ace at the key moments in a 10-minute game.

When Medvedev’s level dipped in the next game, all Thiem had to do was get the ball back into play, capitalising on his opponent’s mistakes before rushing through a tidy service game of his own.

He took the first set in fortunate style, a net-cord winner almost hitting Medvedev, but both players smiled and laughed at the changeover before resetting for the second.

Thiem had a chance to take the second set, racking up two break points in the seventh game thanks to his deep hitting. However, Medvedev was able to find his first serve when he needed it most, and that missed chance led to the tie-break that the Russian ran away with.

Thiem reeled off five straight points to overturn a 0-40 deficit early in the third set but the Austrian grew more frustrated as he was outwitted by Medvedev.

ATP Finals say goodbye to London

Tournament organisers estimate around 2.8m people have attended matches at the O2 Arena since London first hosted the competition in 2009.

The first edition was also won by a Russian and Medvedev thanked 2009 winner Nikolay Davydenko for “being an inspiration for kids like me”.

World number one Djokovic has won the most titles in London. He won the competition for four consecutive years from 2012 to 2015, beating Roger Federer twice, Nadal once and once via walkover in 2014.

Djokovic also played in London 11 times and reached the final six times.

However, Britain’s Andy Murray ended Djokovic’s run in 2016, in a victory that confirmed his status as year-end world number one.

Given the performances that have been on show in the past, it was a shame there was no crowd to say a fond farewell to the ATP Finals’ London run.