The Champions League resumes with a mouthwatering meeting of the aristocrats and the disruptors of European soccer. The hosts: Real Madrid, the indisputable kings of the continent with 12 titles led by five-time world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo. The visitors: Paris Saint-Germain, the upstarts who bulldozed soccer's transfer record to hitch Neymar to the Qatari-funded mission to join soccer's elite. The Santiago Bernabeu is the stage on Wednesday for Neymar's return to Spain six months after the heir to Ronaldo's throne was prized away from Barcelona for 222 million euros. "(Neymar and Ronaldo) are both quick, very strong…

Tracers lit up the night. Explosions rocked the stadium, and the acrid smoke that followed the rockets' red glare left some in the crowd coughing and choking. By the time it was all over, giant flames licked toward the sky as the envoys of two enemy governments watched warily. It rained fire into Olympic Stadium for parts of two hours on Friday night, and no one panicked - not the North Koreans, not the South Koreans, not the Americans. In fact, everyone seemed thrilled. All Olympics opening ceremonies are about optics, about intense visuals - and often about meticulously calibrated…