Five-time Champions League winner on Saturday’s final with Dortmund, life after retirement and his role with Underrated Golf

Gareth Bale’s boyish complexion suggests he could well be participating in Saturday’s Champions League final. Instead, a decade on from winning the competition for the first of five times with Real Madrid, the 34-year-old will gladly watch on from the Wembley stands. Almost 17 months have passed since Bale announced the end of a decorated playing career. His contentment is immediately obvious.

“It will be nice, not going in with all that pressure and expectation,” he says of the final. “So something I’m not really used to. I’ll enjoy the occasion without being in that pressure cooker.”

This dramatic conclusion to the Old Firm’s season was to prove a tale of two former England goalkeepers. For Joe Hart, glory in his last match as a professional. Hart cried tears of joy as the whistle blew. Jack Butland had little to occupy him over 98 minutes; the Rangers ­custodian’s error in the dying seconds of regulation time afforded Celtic the sole opportunity they needed to claim the Scottish Cup. Butland was the most despondent figure of all as Celtic partied.

This felt cruel for Butland, who has been Rangers’ stand-out performer in this campaign. His form led to talk of an ­international recall. But there is no ­denying the 31-year-old was at fault when only parrying Paulo Bernardo’s drive to the feet of Adam Idah. The Norwich loanee etched his name into Celtic folklore by returning the ball past Butland with interest. Brendan Rodgers has secured a domestic ­double in the first season of his second Celtic tenure.

Rangers have won the Cup only twice in 15 years and fell away in the league to leave their manager needing Hampden win

Anybody who sniffily asserts that a meeting of Celtic and Rangers in a Scottish Cup final is about as remarkable as Thursday following Wednesday has not been paying attention. A Rangers victory via the odd goal in five from a Hampden epic in 2002 marks the last time the Old Firm squared off in Scottish football’s showpiece occasion. The noisy neighbours will be belatedly reunited on Saturday.

Of more concern to Rangers than fixture quirks should be the list of triumphant finalists since they lifted this trophy in 2009. The Scottish Cup has been housed at Ibrox on one more occasion during the intervening years. St Johnstone have won it twice in this period. Celtic’s seven successes in 14 seasons emphasise a period of dominance but the ribbons of Hearts, Hibs, Inverness and Dundee United have draped over the Cup as often as those of Rangers since Falkirk were narrowly seen off, 15 years ago.

LIV golfer’s final-round charge captured viewers’ imagination and provided so many of the major’s memorable moments

Xander Schauffele won the 106th US PGA Championship but ­Bryson DeChambeau brought the ­thunder. Four days at Valhalla served as a reminder of ­DeChambeau’s star ­quality in a sport which has been ­fractured, possibly beyond repair, by the arrival of the Saudi ­Arabian‑backed LIV tour. Some shrugged when DeChambeau departed the PGA Tour for LIV; in Kentucky, he proved he has lost none of his ability to command attention. DeChambeau fell one stroke short of a playoff after ­Schauffele nervelessly holed out from 6ft on the 72nd green.

“I felt like I had my ‘B’ game pretty much,” DeChambeau said. “My putting was A+, my wedging was A+, short game was A+, driving was like B. I shot 20 under par in a major championship. Proud of myself for the way I handled adversity. Definitely disappointing, but one that gives me a lot of momentum for the rest of the majors. I said this was closing time, but it will be closing time hopefully over the next couple of majors.”

• American makes a birdie at final hole to claim a first major
• Bryson DeChambeau second on -20; Victor Hovland third

It seemed appropriate that this staging of the US PGA Championship played out in the home city of Muhammad Ali. Viktor Hovland swung and missed at Xander Schauffele all afternoon. Bryson DeChambeau, with typical force, did likewise. Schauffele is golf’s nearly man no more. He withstood immense pressure to claim the Wanamaker Trophy.

Bare statistics disguise epic sporting theatre during what quickly became a three-horse sprint. Schauffele, at 21 under par, saw off DeChambeau by one, breaking the record score to par in majors by the same margin. Hovland, such an integral part of the Valhalla story, closed at minus 18.

• Californian Schauffele looking for his first major
• Shane Lowry races up leaderboard with a 62

It was only going to take something special to switch discussion around this US PGA Championship away from Scottie Scheffler and his brush with Louisville law enforcement. The world No 1 unravelled on day three here, which was entirely understandable given the strain associated with four charges, including one for assaulting a police officer.

Shane Lowry took it upon himself to create a fresh and uplifting storyline. The Irishman stood on Valhalla’s 18th green over a putt of 11ft 6in which could have created history. If he found the bottom of the cup with his birdie attempt, he would have posted the first 61 in major history.