Last week, April 8-14, was a busy one, especially for the football fans.
From the Bundesliga to the Premier League, from the UEFA Champions League to Europa League, from cricket to all other sports, here we wrap up everything that happened last week , April 8-14, across sports in this piece
Last week, April 8-14, was a busy one, especially for the football fans.
The first leg of UEFA Champions League quarter finals took place on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Premier League saw some dramatic results, further heating up the title race. We also had the last eight of the Europa league battling with each other. However, the biggest moment of the week was Bayer Leverkusen's Bundesliga victory, a first in their 120-year history.
In cricket, the main attraction again was the Indian Premier League (IPL) and now no team remains unbeaten in the tournament. Last week, we also had the IPL version of El Clasico which definitely lived up to its hype.
Indians faced disappointment in badminton and hockey after the week started on a high note with tennis ace Sumit Nagal scripting history at the Monte Carlo Masters.
We will go into the details of all this and much more as we wrap up everything that happened last week , April 8-14, across sports in this piece.
Bayern Leverkusen have been in existence 120 years and yet the Bundesliga crown had eluded them. But this finally was the year when not just the teams in the German league but even the history could not defeat them as the side managed by Xabi Alonso went undefeated to clich the title. A resounding 5-0 win over Werder Bremen on Sunday helped them create history as they ended an 11-year reign of Bayern Munich at the top of the German football. Delighted fans stormed the ground making for remarkable pictures after the historic moment.
The last eight of the Champions League fought hard and made for an intriguing battle at the quarter finals of the showpiece event. Real Madrid drew 3-3 at home against defending champions Manchester City and Bayern Munich were held 2-2 at Arsenal on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we saw Barcelona winning 3-2 at Paris Saint German and Atletico Madrid winning 2-1 at Borrusia Dortmund.
All four matchups are pretty much alive as the return leg of the competition starts this week.
In the Premier League, advantage now finally rests with Manchester City as Arsenal and Liverpool both went down to their respective rivals in some dramatic results on Sunday . City had earlier jumped to top after their resounding 5-1 win against Luton Town. Arsenal and Liverpool both missed the chance topple City from the top of the table on Sunday. Liverpool lost 0-1 to Crystal Palace and Arsenal were handed 0-2 to defeat by Aston Villa.
With six rounds left now, Man City are at the top with 73 points while Arsenal and Liverpool stay behind them at 71.
Elsewhere in Europe, Real Madrid continue to lead the La Liga table while PSG also comfortably sit at the top of the Ligue 1 standings.
In the Europa League quarter finals, Liverpool were shocked by Atlanta 0-3 while Benfica earned a 2-1 victory over Marseille. Roma beat Milan 1-0 and Leverkusen defeated West Ham 2-0.
The second leg of the quarter finals begins Friday.
In India, the I-League came to a conclusion and Mohammedan SC are the club that will be going to the Indian Super League in the upcoming season. Talking of the Indian Super League, the title decider takes place on Monday with the table-toppers Mumbai City FC in need to avoid a defeat against Mohun Bagan to lift the League Shield.
In cricket, the IPL bandwagon rolled on and finally we saw the scores coming down.
Rajasthan Royals, the only unbeaten team till last week in the tournament, were handed their first loss by Gujarat Titans in a thrilling encounter that went to the last ball. Despite the loss, the Royals continued to rule the table.
Punjab Kings lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals in last over thrillers, meaning five out of their six games this season have been decided in the final over.
The week ended on a high note as the IPL El Classico entertained thoroughly. Fans first witnessed a hat-trick of sixes from MS Dhoni and then an IPL century from Rohit Sharma came after around 12 years as Mumbai Indians lost to Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs.
In England the County Championship's First Division begin with only one match producing a result where Essex defeated Nottinghamshire by 254 runs.
In international cricket, USA defeated Canada 4-0 in the five-match T20I series that concluded Saturday.
In women's cricket, South Africa are leading three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka 1-0 after the first match was abundant and the hosts won the second match. Third match of the series is on Wednesday.
The Kookaburras remained an unbeaten challenge for the Indian hockey side as the visitors went down 5-0 in the test series Down Under. While the scoreline suggests total demolition, a closer look showed India kept improving game after game but that was not enough to even draw a game against Australia.
India would like to see this as a learning opportunity in a bit to upgrade their medal at the Paris games.
In tennis, Monte Carlo Masters was the big attraction and we had Novak Djokovic entering the semi finals of the event for the first time 2015. However Djokovic's run was halted by Casper Ruud who eventually lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Men's Single Final.
For India, the event was bitter sweet. The number one pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden was knocked out in the first round but India's number top singles player Sumit Nagal made history when he stunned world number 38 Matthew Arnaldi in the first round to become the first Indian in the history of Montee Carlo to get past the opening hurdle.
Nagal's challenge eventually ended as he went down fighting to world number 7 Holger Rune in the second round.
India had a disappointing outing at the badminton Asia Championship 2024 where only PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy could manage to get through the first round and even they lost out in second.
For India, it's star shuttler PV Sindhu's form remains a big concerns ahead of Olympics later this year.
The men's singles title went to third-seeded Jonatan Christie of Indonesia and the women's singles winner was Wang Zhiyi of China.
The Asian Wrestling Championships 2024 is taking place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and India has had a mixed bag from the tournament so far.
Anju and Harshita helped India win two silver medals on Sunday while world championships bronze medallist Sarita Mor returned empty-handed.
Radhika grabbed a silver whereas Shivanee Pawar , Manisha and Antim had to settle with bronze.
Among men, India's Udit bagged a silver in 57kg freestyle while Vicky won a bronze in the 97 kg division.
In golf, Scottie Scheffler won the 2024 Masters tournament, his second Masters title in three years.