The World Cup has come and gone but the world’s best players haven’t had much of a chance to enjoy some rest and relaxation with the big guns from England, Italy, Spain and Greece all in the United States this week for the pre-season Champions Cup.
This fascinating mini-tournament sees two groups of four teams battling it out with the winner of each group facing off in the final on 4 August. Group A consists of Inter Milan, Roma, Real Madrid and Manchester United while Group B boasts Manchester City, Liverpool, AC Milan and Olympiacos. Aside from looking a lot like a UEFA Champions League quarter-final draw, it will also be fascinating to see how each club is shaping up following an interesting few weeks in the transfer window.
Manchester City and Liverpool will resume their battle of last season this week
The Commonwealth Games start in Glasgow, Scotland this week with more than 4,500 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and territories taking part. Among those Asia-Pacific nations sending athletes over are Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand with Australia the red-hot favorites to top the medal counts. The Games will feature 17 sports over 11 days of competition with Badminton, athletics, swimming and table tennis amongst the highlights.
The Super Rugby semi-finals are here with two cracking games to be played this weekend to determine which two sides meet in the finals. The first sees South Africa’s Sharks head to New Zealand to face the mighty Crusaders who are experts when it comes to finals pressure, having won the Super Rugby title seven times. The other game is an all-Australian derby as the NSW Waratahs look to continue their quest for a maiden title against the ACT Brumbies. It promises to be a bruising encounter but we can’t go past the Waratahs to host the Crusaders in next week’s final.
And the Formula 1 circus heads to Hungary this weekend for the latest round of the Championship fight between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Rosberg’s win in Germany last week saw him open up a 14-point lead over Hamilton although the Brit boasts a tremendous record at this track, having won here the past two years and four times over all. We like those odds.
Good luck and good punting.
