Following one of the most stunning comebacks in Champions League history, Real Madrid have returned to the pinnacle of European soccer after a relatively short rebuild.

Down 5-3 on aggregate to Manchester City entering the 90th minute of the semi-final’s second leg, Rodrygo’s two goals in two minutes sent the match to extra time — where mainstay Karim Benzema’s penalty put Real through to a record-extending 17th final appearance in Europe’s most prestigious competition.

Rodrygo is part of a young, inexpensive core that has combined with several holdovers from the club’s recent glory years to shore up an attack that lost Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018.

• Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior, and Eduardo Camavinga — all 21 or younger — came to Madrid for transfer fees totaling $133.1M. By comparison, a 19-year-old Joao Felix transferred to Atletico Madrid for $139.9M in 2019.
• The trio have recorded eight goals and nine assists in 2021-22 UCL play.
• Benzema, 34, leads the UCL in scoring this season (15), while fellow veterans Luka Modric and Toni Kroos have combined for two goals and four assists.

And while many remember only Zinedine Zidane at the helm when Real won four UCL titles from 2014 to 2018, including three straight, current manager Carlo Ancelotti presided over that first championship.

After handing Man City boss Pep Guardiola another shocking defeat, Ancelotti can set his sights on another of the world’s best managers — Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp. Real are +280 underdogs to Liverpool’s -110 on the moneyline.

The Lightning specialize in bouncing back — which will make them a hard postseason out as they seek a third consecutive Stanley Cup.

On Wednesday, Tampa defeated the Maple Leafs 5-3 to even their series at one. The Bolts are now 15-0 following a postseason loss, a streak going back to the 2020 playoffs.

On a team with the NHL’s highest payroll ($108M), the Bolts’ big-money stars played a big part in righting the ship — especially netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has been in goal for all of Tampa’s bounce-back wins. 

• He notched postseason win No. 50, joining Marc-Andre Fleury (91) and Braden Holtby (50) as the only active goalies with at least 50.
• Vasilevskiy ($9.5M cap hit, T15 in NHL) has a 1.31 goals-against average, .948 save percentage, and five shutouts following a playoff loss since 2020.
• Nikita Kucherov ($9.5M, T15) added a goal and two assists to his 130 points (45 goals, 85 assists) over 115 postseason games.
• Victor Hedman ($7.9M, 47) set a franchise record for points by a defenseman in a playoff game (goal, three assists) and leads active blue-liners in the postseason (134).

The Lightning now enjoy home-ice advantage for Friday’s Game 3 as they look to become the first team to win three Cups in a row since the 1980-83 Islanders. 

But the Bolts haven’t quite bounced back yet with oddsmakers: Tampa is the sixth-favorite (+1100) to win the championship, just behind Toronto (+900).

It isn’t often that a team’s most important player comes off the bench, but Miami’s Tyler Herro is challenging that wisdom with his game-changing heroics. 

On Wednesday, this season’s Sixth Man of the Year finished with 18 points and seven rebounds against the 76ers, leading a Heat bench that outscored Philly’s 52-19 on the way to a 2-0 series advantage.

Herro, who’s earning only $4 million this year — the seventh-highest-paid player on a Miami squad with a $140.8 million payroll — rode a landslide to become the second-youngest player to win 6MOTY. 

• Herro scored the most points for Miami in the regular season (1,367) and averaged the second-most PPG (20.7).
• His bench unit led the NBA in PPG (40.5) and is second behind the Warriors (43.1) in the postseason.
• In Game 1, he became the first in Heat postseason history to score 25 points and with five assists off the bench.

The 22-year-old’s contract provides some breathing room for a Miami team with $133 million already on the books next season — he’s owed a mere $5.7 million next season, and the Heat can wait until 2023 to offer him a five-year, $184 million rookie max extension.

With Joel Embiid uncertain to play in Friday’s Game 3 in Philly, the Heat have a chance to go up 3-0 and make the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons.

History’s on their side: The Heat are 16-0 when up 2-0 in a best-of-seven series, while the Sixers are 0-13 when trailing 2-0. Miami is the third-favorite (+475) to win the title.