With the EPL season now done and dusted, attention now turns to Spain for the final week of La Liga and Saturday night’s blockbuster between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid to decide the title. With Real Madrid now out of contention, it all comes down to this game with Atletico needing either a win or a draw to cap their stunning season while Barcelona can steal it at the death should they claim all three points.
Ironically, the last time a Spanish season came down to a final day “winner takes all” clash was back in 1951 when Atletico proved victorious over Sevilla. Barcelona’s home ground advantage will see them start firm favorites and should they win it will be a devastating blow for the “other” Madrid club who have led the league for the past nine weeks but wasted two golden opportunities to seal the title in the past fortnight with a loss to Levante and a draw against Malaga. However, the fact that a side other than Barca or Real Madrid is now contesting the title can only be a good thing.
The other big game this weekend is the FA Cup final at Wembley where Arsenal are huge favorites to win their 11th Cup over surprise packets Hull. Having knocked over defending champions Wigan in the semi-finals, the Gunners can put the disappointment of their EPL slide behind them and claim their first piece of silverware in nine years should they live up to expectations.
The eyes of the tennis world turn to Rome for the latest lead-up event to the French Open. Rafael Nadal scored a confidence-boosting win in Madrid at the weekend but this week will provide a much more accurate guide of where he is at following the return of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer who were both late withdrawals in Madrid.
On the women’s side, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will be favored to meet in the final but can expect some tough competition from the likes of a resurgent Ana Ivanovic as well as China’s Li Na who became one of the first players through to the third round when she beat Casey Dellacqua overnight.
And Marc Marquez will be looking to make it five from five to start 2014 when the MotoGP season heads to Le Mans with the challenge now on his rivals to see who can halt his charge. In just his second season of MotoGP, Marquez already sits 16th on the all-time list for race wins and can become the youngest ever rider to win five in a row in the premier class should he take the chequered flag on Sunday. We’re not game to bet against him.
Good luck and good punting.
