Léon Marchand and Victor Wembanyama break records, Teddy Riner rehearses his ranges several months before the 2024 Olympics, the numerically inferior PSG wins the “classic” against OM, and Bayer Leverkusen overthrows Offenheim to take the lead in the Bundesliga.
Published on: 01/04/2024 – 16:13
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The sporting events that should not be missed, the summary of the five major football championships and the image of the weekend… Here is the France 24 sports recap.
A Victor Wembanyama record in NBA: the French prodigy shone again this weekend by breaking his points record with 40 points to help the San Antonio Spurs dominate the New York Knicks on Friday in the NBA (130-126 after overtime). Victor Wembanyama, aged 20, even became the first “rookie” (beginner) to accumulate more than 40 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Shaquille O’Neal in 1993.
Nothing can stop Jannik Sinner: the Italian tennis player continued his fantastic start to the season by crushing Grigor Dimitrov (6-3, 6-1), Sunday, in the final of the Masters 1000 in Miami, in the United States, taking advantage of this victory to seize the second place in the ATP rankings ahead of Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. Winner of the Australian Open in January then the ATP 500 in Rotterdam in February, Jannik Sinner has lost only one of the 23 matches he has played in 2024. A third Tour of Flanders for Mathieu van der Poel: the Dutch cyclist became the seventh rider in history to win the Tour of Flanders for the third time in Oudenaarde by winning in apocalyptic conditions, after a solo 44 km raid. Mathieu van der Poel promises to be the big favorite for the next Paris-Roubaix. Les Bleues win against Scotland in the Six Nations Tournament: second victory in a row for the French women’s XV. The Blues, almost unrecognizable against the valiant Scots in the lead at half-time, managed, not without difficulty, to win (15-5) on Saturday in Edinburgh. They have a second consecutive victory in the Six Nations Tournament after a first success against Ireland. Teddy Riner wins the Antalya Grand Slam: in his quest for a fabulous Olympic hat-trick among heavyweights, Teddy Riner once again made his mark by winning the Antalya Grand Slam, gaining an advantage over the Japanese Tatsuru Saito, beaten in the final four months before their big meeting Parisian. If he meets the Japanese again at the Paris 2024 Olympics, the French judoka will inevitably arrive with a psychological advantage – he now leads 2-0 against Tatsuru Saito after having already dominated him in the quarterfinals in Doha in 2023. Léon Marchand beats his own breaststroke record: the French swimming star won the 200-yard breaststroke (183 meters) of the NCAA university finals in a new record time on Saturday in Indianapolis, United States. Four months before the Paris-2024 Olympics, where he is the big favorite in several disciplines, Léon Marchand dominated the event in 1 min 46 sec 35, surpassing his own NCAA record (1 min 46 sec 91 in 2023).
PSG wins the “classic” against OM, Brest clings to 2nd place
And yet another “classic” which works in favor of PSG. The Parisians offered themselves, on Sunday, at the Vélodrome stadium, a victory against Olympique de Marseille (2-0), winning in the process the twelfth of the last fifteen confrontations between the two teams. Although reduced to ten during a half after the expulsion of Beraldo (40th), Paris scored two counter goals in the second act thanks to Vitinha (53rd) and Gonçalo Ramos (85th). This victory allows the capital club to remain comfortable leader of Ligue 1, while OM still occupies 7th place in the ranking.
In the shadow of PSG and its 12 point lead, Brest clings to second place in the standings. The Finisterians, trailed by one point by AS Monaco (3rd), went to get three points in Lorient (1-0) to resume their irresistible march forward this season. Seven days before the end of the championship, the Bretons are still keeping pace to qualify for the next Champions League. A performance that would be sensational.
Juventus no longer advances, AC Milan continues
Nothing is going well for Juventus Turin. The “Old Lady”, catastrophic for two months, lost on Saturday (1-0) against Lazio Rome, led for the first time by Igor Tudor, a former Bianconeri player. Juve remains 3rd in the Italian championship, but with seven points in nine matches, since the end of January it has had the performance… of being relegated. And beware of the returnees, with Bologna (4th) which is only two points away after its victory against Salernitana (3-0).
AC Milan is, for its part, in a completely different dynamic: the Rossoneri scored a fourth consecutive victory on Saturday at Fiorentina (2-1) to temporarily reduce the leader’s comfortable lead to eleven points, Inter Milan, which will close the 30th day of Serie A this Monday.
Arsenal and Manchester City leave each other back to back, Liverpool benefits
Arsenal resisted pressure from Manchester City (0-0) on Sunday at the three-time reigning champion, a result which however does the business of Liverpool, the new Premier League leader with two points ahead of the Gunners. The Londoners suffered the domination of the Mancuniens without interruption, without giving in, and they leave the Etihad stadium with one point more than last season – where they lost 4 to 1.
This draw puts Liverpool at the top of the Premier League. The Reds, despite a bad start, got the better of Brighton (2-1) on Sunday at Anfield, taking first place in the championship. With 67 points, Liverpool takes two points ahead of Arsenal and three over Manchester City before entering “money time” for Jurgen Klopp’s last matches on the Reds bench.
Real Madrid easy against Athletic Bilbao, Girona resists
Still intractable at home, Real Madrid won without forcing on Sunday in the clash of the 30th day of La Liga against Athletic Bilbao (2-0) thanks to a double from the Brazilian Rodrygo and maintains a comfortable lead at the top of the championship. With this 23rd victory of the season, Real (1st, 75 points) is eight steps ahead of its rival FC Barcelona (2nd, 67 points) and ten ahead of Girona (3rd, 65 points), both victorious this weekend. -end.
The small Catalan club, for its part, is hanging on to stay on the podium. Girona snatched a victory at the end of added time on Sunday against Betis Sevilla (3-2) to stay in contact with Barça and keep nine points ahead of Athletic Bilbao (4th). Left behind in the title race, Girona is however getting closer to a first qualification in its history for the Champions League.
Leverkusen stunning against Offenheim, Bayern overthrown by Dortmund
Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen are invincible, even when they are in difficulty. Trailing for 55 minutes, the German club snatched victory in three minutes, at the very end of the match, on Saturday, on its home pitch against Hoffenheim (2-1), a result which brings it a little closer to a first title. German champion. Seven days before the end of the season, Bayer Leverkusen has 73 points, 13 more than its runner-up Bayern Munich Leverkusen, which continues its series of 39 matches without defeat in all competitions this season (34 victories and 5 draws). ).
Bayern Munich, for their part, experienced their first defeat in 10 years in a Klassiker played at home on Saturday against Borussia Dortmund (2-0). The Bavarians let Bayer Leverkusen soar in the rankings and perhaps end a decade of hegemony over German football – which began in the spring of 2013 with 11 consecutive titles. For its part, Dortmund performed very well in the fight for fourth qualifying place for the next Champions League, taking a three-point lead over RB Leipzig – held in check by Mainz (0-0).
Originally from the Paris region, judoka Valentin Houinato hopes to qualify for the 2024 Olympics under the colors of Benin. Not easy when you lead a double life as a journalist and a high-level athlete. However, the 27-year-old hangs on and believes in it.
PortraitJudo, work, Olympics? The time trial race of Franco-Beninese Valentin Houinato
