This week in sport: 10-16 May 2010

This is likely to be the last “This week in sport” for 3 months, as domestic football in the major European leagues has finished. Don’t worry, sports fans, there will likely be World Cup, Wimbledon and Formula 1 reports to tide you over til next season! Cup contests were decided and league champions were finally crowned in Spain and Italy. Meanwhile, Monte Carlo played host to a spectacular Grand Prix and England actually won something!

GOOD WEEK

Mark Webber and Red Bull: The Aussie continued his dominant form to produce another pole to flag victory on the streets of Monte Carlo. Webber never looked flustered, despite the rest of the field dropping like flies in an incident-packed race.  An understandably delighted Webber led the pack home behind a 4th safety car of the afternoon to give his team a 1-2 finish. He now leads the driver’s championship standings alongside his teammate Sebastian Vettel.

England cricket team: Paul Collingwood’s men ended the week in style to clinch their first international trophy in the World Twenty20. England ended up as deserving winners, combining tight bowling with explosive batting all through the tournament. Sri Lanka were easily dispatched in the semi-final before the old enemy Australia were blasted aside in the final, with Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen (they’re English, really!) starring.

Atlético Madrid: Liverpool’s semi-final conquerors ground out an extra-time victory against a limited but determined Fulham side to capture the Europa League in Hamburg. Atlético had Diego Forlán to thank (yet again) as he provided both the opener and extra-time winner that spelled the end of Fulham’s fairytale. They could yet complete an improbable cup double, with the Copa del Rey final coming up against Sevilla on Wednesday.

Honourable mentions: Barcelona, Inter, Chelsea, Amir Khan, Rafael Nadal and Robert Kubica.

BAD WEEK

Lord Triesman: The FA chairman and 2018 World Cup bid leader Lord Triesman was forced to resign this week after a tabloid sting. Triesman was recorded while speculating about various conspiracies involving other potential World Cup hosts Spain and Russia. He alleged that the Spanish authorities were looking to bribe referees with the help of Russian money. The scandal has caused considerable damage to the England bid, which was submitted only a few days before the news broke.

Real Madrid: Spain’s capital club must be feeling extra distraught this week as they watched hated city rivals Atlético lift the Europa League before Barcelona clinched the league title on the final day of the season. That they finished in second on 96 points would be particularly painful, but in truth, Barcelona were clearly superior to Real’s expensively-assembled collection of galácticos. Manuel Pellegrini looks to be out of a job, with José Mourinho seemingly lined up to replace him. Conveniently, the Inter Milan manager will be at the Bernabéu on Saturday for the Champions League final which might serve as some kind of audition.

The FIA: Even though Mark Webber led home a Red Bull 1-2, all the headlines were about Michael Schumacher’s sensational last corner move on Fernando Alonso. Schumacher capitalised on Alonso’s shaky exit from Rascasse, after the white safety car line, to pass him at Anthony Noghes. At the time, the commentators agreed that it was a supreme display of opportunism from the veteran, but the FIA called the move into question and Schumacher was eventually punished with a 20-second penalty and so demotion from 6th to 12th. The controversy was to do with the ambiguity over whether the race finished under the safety car, and the moving of the overtaking line from the start/finish line to the new white line. Nevertheless, the marshals, under instruction from Schumacher’s bitter rival Damon Hill, decided the overtake was in breach of regulations.

Honourable mentions: Michael Ballack, Jenson Button, Roma, Portsmouth, Real Mallorca and Bobby Zamora.