Weekly Digest: From Juventus' eighth straight Serie A title to Dhoni's blitzkrieg

Here's a recap of all the major happenings in the world of sport from the week (April 15-21) that's gone by: From Juventus' eighth straight Serie A title to MS Dhoni's blitzkrieg against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

FOOTBALL

Juventus  swapped Champions League heartbreak for  Serie A  joy as it sealed the title with a 2-1 win over  Fiorentina  at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday. [ RELATED ]

Paris Saint-Germain  wrapped up the Ligue 1 title without having to kick a ball on Sunday as second-placed Lille drew 0-0 away at Toulouse, leaving it 16 points behind  PSG  with just five games remaining. [ REPORT ]

PSG won its eighth Ligue 1 title on Sunday.

 

Premier League

Liverpool  maintained its pursuit for a first  Premier League  title in 29 years with a battling 2-0 victory over relegation-threatened  Cardiff City  on Sunday. [ REPORT ]

Phil Foden  scored his first Premier League goal as  Manchester City  beat Tottenham 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium to bounce back from Champions League heartbreak and move a step closer to retaining its domestic crown.

Phil Foden celebrates putting Man City ahead against Tottenham Hotspur.

 

Everton  compounded a miserable few days for  Manchester United  with its biggest ever Premier League win over the sorry Red Devils in a 4-0 rout at Goodison Park. [ REPORT ]

Bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund  kept pace with Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich by comfortably defeating Freiburg 4-0 at Schwarzwald-Stadion on Sunday. [ REPORT ]

Bayern Munich  laboured to what could be a vital win in the  Bundesliga  title race as Niklas Sule's goal saw off 10-man  Werder Bremen  1-0. [ RELATED ]

La Liga

Clement Lenglet's first La Liga goal for  Barcelona  helped the side take another step towards back-to-back titles with a 2-1 win at home to  Real Sociedad. [ REPORT ]

A hat-trick from  Karim Benzema  saw  Real Madrid  beat  Athletic Bilbao  3-0 in  La Liga  on Sunday to bounce back from a disappointing draw at Leganes last time out. [ REPORT ]

 

Thomas Lemar  scored late as  Atletico Madrid  kept its slim  La Liga  title hopes alive with a 1-0 win at  Eibar. [ RELATED ]

CRICKET

Indian Premir League

M.S. Dhoni went from 27 off 23 balls to 84 off 48 — his highest T20 international score — but couldn't prevent Chennai Super Kings from slipping to a one-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2019. [ REPORT ]

So close yet so far: M.S. Dhoni took Chennai Super Kings agonisingly close to a win against Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2019 on Sunday.

 

David Warner and Jonny Bairstow ensured their fourth century partnership this season as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets. [ REPORT ]

On a comeback trail after serving a one-year suspension, Steve Smith taking over the captaincy from Ajinkya Rahane led Rajasthan Royals to a five-wicket win over Mumbai Indians with a match-winning knock of 59 not out. [ REPORT ]

Presenting the best relay catches from the Indian Premier League since its inception in 2008. [ REPORT ]

International

Team India squad for ICC World Cup 2019: Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Vijay Shankar made India's 15-member squad for the World Cup, while Rishabh Pant missed out. [ REPORT ]

Pakistan has left out experienced pacer Mohammad Amir from its 15-member provisional World Cup squad while including batsman Abid Ali. [ REPORT ]

Australia won; India lost, and Sachin Tendulkar won. It was quite a complicated climax to a drama that revolved around just one actor - Tendulkar. Remembering the desert storm. [ REPORT ]

It is true that real masters choose the right stage to perform. All the great 'live' performers are known to reserve their best for the big occasions and Tendulkar is no different.

 

England batsman Alex Hales has gone on an indefinite break due to personal reasons, thus putting a question mark over his availability in the World Cup slated to begin from May 30. [ REPORT ]

Picked in Pakistan’s World Cup squad, opener Abid Ali sought advice from Sachin Tendulkar ahead of the showpiece and said he wants to hug the Indian batting great . [ REPORT ]

TENNIS

Italy’s  Fabio Fognini  thrilled a crowd composed mainly of his countrymen as he defeated  Dusan Lajovic  6-3, 6-4 to win the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday. [ REPORT ]

Fabio Fognini poses with the Monte Carlo Masters title on Sunday.

 

Australia powered into its first  Fed Cup  final since 1993 on Sunday as Ashleigh Barty  and  Samantha Stosur  clinched the deciding fifth rubber in Brisbane against Belarusian pair  Victoria Azarenka  and  Aryna Sabalenka. [ REPORT ]

Prajnesh Gunneswaran's Kunming Open title defence fell flat on Sunday as he slipped to a 4-6, 3-6 loss to Britain's Jay Clarke. [ REPORT ]

Maggie Amritraj, mother of former Indian tennis players Anand, Vijay and Ashok, breathed her last on Saturday morning after prolonged illness. [ REPORT ]

OTHER SPORTS

Youth Olympics gold medallist  Jeremy Lalrinnunga  went on a record-smashing spree in a power-packed performance to secure second place in his group at the Asian Weightlifting Championship in Ningbo, China on Sunday. [ REPORT ]

Terence Crawford  retained his welterweight world title and remained undefeated with a sixth-round TKO after  Amir Khan  could not continue following an accidental low blow. [ RELATED ]

 

Telangana’s A.S.S. Siril Varma and AAI’s Malvika Bansod won the men’s and women’s singles titles in the Yonex-Sunrise Mathrubhumi Senior National-ranking Badminton tournament at the V. K. K. Menon Indoor Stadium on Sunday. [ RELATED ]

Pro Volleyball League franchise  Chennai Spartans  cruised to quarterfinals of the Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship after defeating Qatar’s Al-Rayyan Club in its last Pool C encounter of the Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship on Saturday. [ REPORT ]