It’s official – Atletico Madrid are the new kings of Spanish football! After a tense final day in La Liga that saw the stranglehold that Barcelona and Real Madrid have held for so many years finally loosened, Atletico needed only a draw against Barca to claim the title but it looked like they had blown their chance when the Catalan giants took a 1-0 lead thanks to a cracking strike from Alexis Sanchez. But Diego Godin headed home shortly after the break for 1-1 and the visitors held on to win the league for the first time since 1996.
There were celebrations in London too as Arsenal ended their nine-year title drought with a dramatic 3-2 win over Hull City in the FA Cup final at Wembley. The Gunners trailed 2-0 inside the opening 10 minutes as Hull shot out of the blocks but Santi Cazorla’s stunning free kick after 17 minutes closed the deficit before Laurent Koscielny sent the game into extra time. Aaron Ramsey then netted the winner for Arsenal to record their 11th FA Cup title.
Miami is going to have to do it the hard way if they are to make it three NBA championships in a row after losing the first game of their Eastern Conference finals 107-96 against Indiana. Despite strong showings from LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, the Pacers led wire to wire as they rediscovered the form that saw them dominate the first half of the season.
Novak Djokovic ensured the intrigue will continue heading into the French Open after beating Rafael Nadal in three sets to win the Rome Masters. Nadal won the first set but couldn’t keep up with the relentless Serb who rallied to claim his 19th Masters title with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win.
Marc Marquez did it again at Le Mans to make it five wins from five races in 2014. Despite a poor start that saw him slip to 10th on the opening lap, Marquez quickly hauled in the leaders before passing Valentin Rossi for the lead and easing to victory. Rossi finished second with Alvaro Bautista third.
And Australia’s Adam Scott has ended Tiger Woods’ 60-week run as world number one on the golf rankings. Despite not playing last week’s Byron Nelson Classic, Woods’ injury absence has enabled Scott to move past him at the top – making him just the second Australian after Greg Norman to enjoy the number one ranking.
