Lionel Messi scored the 50th free-kick goal of his Barcelona career to fuel hopes of a stunning LaLiga title triumph.
Messi's two goals in a 3-2 victory at Valencia on Sunday took him to 28 league strikes for the season, and that also meant the record six-time Ballon d'Or winner stayed ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in their friendly long-distance rivalry.
Barca captain Messi's seasonal tally is one more than Juventus' former Real Madrid talisman Ronaldo has managed in the current Serie A campaign, after the Portuguese netted twice in a win at Udinese earlier on Sunday.
Both are leading the way in their respective leagues, and only 36-goal Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski has scored more times than Messi in the top five European leagues in the current campaign.
Of Messi's stunning set-piece career haul, 39 of his free-kicks have come in LaLiga but few will have been as important as the curling strike that ultimately made sure of the points at Mestalla, giving Barcelona a 3-1 lead that was trimmed when Carlos Soler hit an excellent consolation.
Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman was a free-kick specialist himself, but he was absent from the touchline against Valencia.
That was because Koeman received a two-match touchline ban for the remonstrations during Thursday's shock defeat to Granada that saw him sent off.
In his place, Koeman's assistant Alfred Schreuder led the team, and it was down to the former Hoffenheim boss to dampen down excitement about this coming Saturday's clash between Barcelona and current leaders Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou.
Barcelona would go top of LaLiga by one point, for a little over 24 hours at least, should they win that game.
There are just four rounds of fixtures to come, and next week's games appear highly significant, given Real Madrid and Sevilla, the other two teams in title contention, also go head-to-head.
"We are all close," said Schreuder. "But we are there. We don't look at other teams, only at ourselves. Next week isn't a final, we have four matchdays in which we have to try to win.
"Yes, we trust our players to win LaLiga. We have reduced the gap to Atletico since January. We have competed well in these last three months."
The loss to Granada was a juddering result for Barcelona, but they had enough to fend off Valencia.
Messi missed a penalty but scored seconds later as the ball pinged around the Valencia 18-yard box, while Antoine Griezmann was also on target as Barcelona reacted positively to going behind early in the second half.
"We have shown character," Schreuder said. "We believed in what we were doing."
Gerard Pique predicted there will be major twists to come in LaLiga's title race after Barcelona beat Valencia 3-2 to crank up the pressure on Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
The Barcelona defensive stalwart said there is a determination within Ronald Koeman's squad to secure a league and cup double after already securing the Copa del Rey title.
Pique believes that would be a major statement by the current set of players, but it will take a big effort from Barcelona, who must face leaders Atletico at Camp Nou this coming Saturday.
Atletico hold a two-point advantage over Barcelona going into that game, while Real Madrid are also two points back from their city rivals. Sevilla, too, are clinging to the hope of fighting their way past the big three to snatch only their second Spanish league title. Sevilla and Madrid face each other next Sunday.
"We hope to be leaders after the next match day, but even if we are leaders, I would not put my hand in the fire that whoever comes out leader will win LaLiga," Pique told Movistar Plus.
He added: "It is not in our hands, but I think that if we win the four games that remain, we have many chances to win LaLiga. It would be a shame if after the effort we made in this second half of the season we wouldn't end up fighting for LaLiga until the end."
Lionel Messi's double strike took his haul to 28 goals in LaLiga this season, and it came despite him missing a penalty when Barcelona were 1-0 behind, just as he also did in the home game against Valencia in December.
As in that first match, Messi made amends by finding the net just seconds after failing from the spot.
Whereas Barcelona could only draw 2-2 at Camp Nou, in this Mestalla clash Messi's equaliser was the cue for a flurry of goals for the Blaugrana, with Antoine Griezmann prodding them ahead. Messi curled a stunning free-kick in off the right post to make it 3-1, before Carlos Soler hit a brilliant consolation for Valencia.
Messi's second goal was the 50th direct free-kick he has scored in his Barcelona career, with 39 of those coming in LaLiga, five in the Champions League, three in the Copa del Rey, two in the UEFA Super Cup and one in the Supercopa de Espana.
The penalty miss, meanwhile, signalled the first time that Messi has missed consecutive spot-kicks for Barcelona in all competitions, after previously failing to convert against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Pique acknowledged Barcelona "had to suffer a little" after Soler's strike ramped up the pressure in the closing minutes.
Pique added: "We've shown ourselves and our fans that we want this league title. Winning the Copa was a first step, but we now want LaLiga. It would be a great message for this season and next season."
Denis Shapovalov relished feeling much better on court as he impressively bounced back from two consecutive defeats to win at the Madrid Open.
The number 11 seed brushed aside the challenge of Dusan Lajovic on Sunday, winning 6-1 6-3 in the first round.
Shapovalov had suffered disappointment on Thursday when he was knocked out in the second round of the Estoril Open, an event where he was the number one seed.
He has not reached the quarter-finals in his previous two ATP Tour events but won 90 per cent of his first-serve points against Lajovic, hitting 21 winners to his opponent's five.
"Just definitely felt a lot better - I felt very good on the court," Shapovalov said after a 63-minute win in which he did not lose serve.
"I'm just happy to get the first win.
"Not much can change in the span of a couple of days, but Madrid is a place where I have had a lot of success, from back in juniors to making semis here in the Masters [1000 event] and finals of Davis Cup.
"It's just a place where it kind of feels like home to me and I just feel so comfortable."
Shapovalov will face Alexander Bublik – who saw off Marton Fucsovics in straight sets – in round two.
Tommy Paul, meanwhile, will play Andrey Rublev after defeating Pedro Martinez.
In the only match of the day to go the distance, Australian Alex de Minaur battled back to triumph 4-6 7-5 6-1 against Jaume Munar.
He will play either Lloyd Harris or Grigor Dimitrov, who are scheduled to do battle on Monday.
Barcelona withstood a scare to beat Valencia 3-2 and set up a grandstand Camp Nou clash with LaLiga leaders Atletico Madrid next weekend.
Lionel Messi missed a penalty but scored twice, including a sublime free-kick, with Antoine Griezmann also on target at Mestalla.
The Barcelona goals came after the jolt of conceding early in the second half when Gabriel Paulista headed in from a corner to give the hosts the lead, with visiting boss Ronald Koeman banned from the touchline after his dismissal in the shock defeat to Granada.
Carlos Soler drove in a spectacular late second for Valencia, but Barcelona's success means they are back to just two points behind Atletico, and level again with Real Madrid, as the saga of the title race heads for a thrilling conclusion.
Pedri wasted a great chance in the third minute as he shot wide of the right post after being teed up by Frenkie de Jong, and Ronald Araujo's effort on the stretch from a teasing Messi free-kick was blocked away by goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.
Valencia's Goncalo Guedes should have scored early in the second half but allowed Marc-Andre ter Stegen to push his shot wide for a corner. However, Gabriel made no mistake when Soler swept the set-piece delivery across from the left, heading in at the far post.
Barcelona drew level in the 57th minute through Messi, despite him failing from the spot. Toni Lato conceded the spot-kick after jabbing his right arm at a floated Messi pass, and although the Argentinian saw his tame penalty parried by Cillessen, Pedri's shot as the ball pinged around the box was deflected to Barcelona's record scorer, who netted from close range.
The visitors went ahead six minutes later when De Jong's powerful header from Jordi Alba's cross was well saved by Cillessen but palmed only as far as Griezmann, who tucked home.
Messi's second goal was a 69th-minute curling free-kick from a central starting point that found the back of the net via the inside of the right post, giving the goalkeeper little chance, a speciality of Barca's captain.
It was arguably topped by Soler's brilliant long-range finish in the 83rd minute, but Valencia could not find a leveller.
Andrea Pirlo acknowledged his Juventus players are mentally drained but urged them to secure Champions League football next season "at all costs".
A late double from Cristiano Ronaldo helped Juve fight back from a goal down to beat Udinese 2-1 on Sunday as they climbed up to third place in Serie A.
The Bianconeri are level on 69 points with Atalanta in second and Milan in fourth, and two points above fifth-placed Napoli, with four games remaining.
Juve's performance against Udinese lacked intensity but the win eased some of the pressure on Pirlo's position as head coach as he explained the reason behind their struggles.
Pirlo told Sky Italia: "When you are not used to fighting for the Champions League, but you have always been used to the Scudetto, something changes in everyone's mind.
"There is a bit of everything. Tiredness, mental fatigue. But now the goal has changed for a few weeks now and we have to reach Champions League qualification at all costs.
"It will be tiring, but we must get there. The team knows what it wants, it's united to reach the Champions League goal. That's the most important thing."
No team has won more points from behind than Juventus in Serie A this term (17, alongside Sassuolo) and Pirlo praised his players for their capacity to fight back on the day Inter secured the Serie A title.
"This victory came with difficulty, with pride," he added. "It was also important in view of the results of the afternoon to win. We had complicated our lives for the umpteenth time by giving away a goal with big carelessness.
"But there was a great desire to bring home the result, right up to the end, so this is the most important thing.
"My congratulations to Inter and Antonio Conte – they had a great season and they deserved it.
"For us, a cycle of nine straight league titles comes to an end and another one begins. We want to fight for the Scudetto again."
Ronaldo has scored 16 of his 27 goals so far this season on the road, and no player has scored more away goals in the top-five European leagues.
He has also scored seven goals against Udinese in his Serie A career, and only against Cagliari (eight) has he done better in the competition.
"Ronaldo is a champion, he always wants to improve," Pirlo said of the Portugal forward.
"He gave the team positivity and made good plays. Today we clung to him, but the whole team did well reacting in the best way to get to three big points."
After the high of Saturday’s victory over three-time champion Johan Kristofferson, Jamaica’s Fraser McConnell had to settle for third place in today’s (May 2) round of competition at the 2021 RallyX Nordic Supercar competition in Denmark.
Lewis Hamilton is relishing his Formula One title fight with Max Verstappen and expects the battle to go to the wire, by which point the pair are "going to be sick of each other".
Defending champion Hamilton landed another blow at Sunday's Portuguese Grand Prix, winning ahead of Verstappen to stretch his championship lead to eight points.
The Mercedes and Red Bull rivals have been the top two in all three races so far this season, with Verstappen boosted by the apparent superior pace in his car.
That superiority was less apparent in Portimao, where the Dutchman repeatedly complained of a lack of grip, even telling Sky Sports: "I hope we don't come back."
But Verstappen was still Hamilton's nearest challenger and the Briton is enjoying a "great fight".
"It's very tight," Hamilton told a news conference. "I saw that he'd gone in for the fastest lap and got it but obviously Valtteri [Bottas] ended up with it at the end.
"As you can see, it's a great fight between Mercedes and Red Bull – I'm sure also down the field.
"It's clear that we just have to continue. We're going to be pushing each other right until the last race.
"We're going to be sick of each other, I imagine, or at least sick of racing, because there are so many races."
Verstappen responded: "It's close. I wish it was closer. But it's a long season and we can't afford to have any retirements or silly mistakes, so we have to keep on doing what we're doing."
Hamilton won the championship by 124 points in 2020 and even then Silver Arrows team-mate Valtteri Bottas was the man in second.
Although he suggested Red Bull's standards slipped this week – seemingly relating to the grip issue – Hamilton welcomed the competition.
"I'm massively excited and driven," Hamilton said. "I think we all are, as a team, to be in the fight with Red Bull.
"This weekend I feel like Red Bull lost a little bit of performance, because I don't think we improved. From the last race to here, I think they took a slight step closer to us for whatever reason.
"But this is great. This is what we all live for. This is what we live and breathe for, to get up and fight and try to pull out the smallest bits of performance to be able to fight a great competitor."
Despite his own complaints, Verstappen acknowledged Red Bull cannot afford to make excuses if they plan to beat Mercedes.
He added: "Clearly we still have to improve and do better because we should be fast on every single track in every single condition, because the track is the same for everyone."
Delhi Capitals piled on the pain for Punjab Kings and KL Rahul by racing to a seven-wicket victory in the Indian Premier League and going top of the table.
It was revealed earlier on Sunday that Kings captain and star batsman Rahul faces surgery after being diagnosed with acute appendicitis, and he was in hospital while this match played out at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
In his absence, stand-in skipper Mayank Agarwal made a dominant 99 not out in a total of 166-6, helming the Kings innings and cutting loose when he saw fit in a terrific 58-ball knock that contained four sixes and eight fours.
Shikhar Dhawan produced the key innings for the Capitals in response, making an unbeaten 69 and finding the sort of support that Agarwal lacked, helping Delhi to 167-3, winning with 14 balls to spare.
Agarwal had required five from the final ball of the Kings innings to post what would have been just the second IPL century of his career, but he could only crunch a four down the ground rather than clear the ropes.
Kagiso Rabada had earlier taken two wickets in his first two overs, the second coming when he bowled Kings veteran Chris Gayle with a full toss immediately after being cracked for six by the West Indies batsman.
That was the first of three sixes off Rabada's bowling, but the South African paceman also removed Prabhsimran Singh and Chris Jordan while taking 3-36 in his four-over allocation.
Dawid Malan made 26 but it was ostensibly a one-man show as Agarwal contended with a revolving cast of batting partners.
Delhi had more about them, with Prithvi Shaw making 39 in a 63-run first-wicket stand alongside Dhawan, before Steve Smith added 25.
Shimron Hetmyer launched Riley Meredith for two consecutive sixes followed by a cover drive for four in the 18th over, leaving Delhi just two short of their victory target.
Neither Hetmyer nor Dhawan had the privilege of finishing the job, however, with a pair of wides from Meredith carrying the Capitals over the line.
Agarwal deserved better
Not only did he take over as captain, Agarwal also led by proud example, just as Rahul as so often done. His innings was the standout performance of this match, but where he rose to the occasion, others in the Kings ranks wilted. Gayle, with 13, was the team's third highest scorer, and it is almost impossible to win matches that way.
Getting all Het up
Hetmyer's late care-free cameo of 16 from four deliveries would likely not have happened without his team-mates laying solid foundations. They did so in the face of largely unthreatening bowling from Punjab, who sit sixth with three wins from eight games, amid doubts over whether their leader will be back in action this season.
Nikoloz Basilashvili won a fifth ATP Tour title as he triumphed at the BMW Open on Sunday.
The Georgian completed an impressive week in Munich by beating Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to clinch the trophy without dropping a set in his five matches.
The win continued what has been a solid 2021 for Basilashvili, who won the title in Doha in March after defeating Roger Federer in his second match following his return from injury.
After retiring from his opening match in Monte Carlo last month before losing to Jeremy Chardy in Barcelona, the world number 35 had looked in fine form in Munich before battling to victory against Struff in just under 86 minutes.
"It wasn't easy and I was super-tight at the end," said Basilashvili. "It was very difficult. It's never easy playing Jan, he's a very big fighter and serves really well.
"I am super happy. It seems like German conditions suit me. This is my fifth [ATP Tour] title and it will give me confidence for the upcoming tournaments."
At the Estoril Open, Albert Ramos-Vinolas emerged victorious from a marathon final against Cameron Norrie.
The 33-year-old was a set and a break down but rallied to win 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in two hours and 44 minutes in Portugal.
It was the Spaniard's third Tour title and took him to a 16-5 record on clay this season. He has at least seven more wins on the surface than any other ATP player this season.
Naomi Osaka suffered a shock second-round exit to Karolina Muchova at the Madrid Open, but there was no such trouble for Simona Halep as she held off Zheng Saisai.
Second seed Osaka was playing just her second match on clay since the 2019 French Open due to injury issues and became the latest big name to fall at the hands of Muchova.
The world number 20, who had already defeated two top-five players this season, prevailed 6-4 3-6 6-1 in a time of one hour and 49 minutes in the Spanish capital.
Osaka has now lost two of her last three matches, having been eliminated from the Miami Open quarter-finals by Maria Sakkari at the end of March.
"I think today for me it was quite different from the last time I lost in Miami, and I actually think I played much better here, so I'm very happy about that," Osaka said.
"I think what I can take away from this is that I tried my best throughout the entire match. I think tennis-wise, I felt I was too defensive in the first set.
"I wouldn't say I’m happy that I lost, but I think I learned a lot. So that's all I can hope for."
Two-time champion Halep has yet to drop a set in this year's tournament after seeing off unseeded opponent Zheng 6-0 6-4.
Halep took nine games in a row at the start of the match but, like in her opening-round win over Sara Sorribes Tormo, she had to hold off a late surge from her opponent to advance.
Next up for Halep is a last-16 showdown with Elise Mertens, who beat Elena Rybakina 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 in the last of Sunday's matches.
Fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka safely advanced earlier in the day thanks to a 6-3 6-3 win against Daria Kasatkina, while Sakkari beat Anett Kontaveit 6-3 6-1.
Sabalenka was on course to face Victoria Azarenka for a place in the quarter-finals, but the Belarussian withdrew from her match with Jessica Pegula because of a back injury.
Elsewhere, Jennifer Brady, who knocked out fellow American Venus Williams in the first round, eased past Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-1.
Brady faces a tricky test in the next round with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated sixth seed Karolina Pliskova 6-0 7-5, seeking another scalp.
A late Cristiano Ronaldo double gave Juventus a 2-1 win over Udinese in Serie A on Sunday which boosted their hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
Udinese went into the break ahead when Juve's defence switched off after a free-kick was awarded and Nahuel Molina's low shot found its way beyond Wojciech Szczesny.
Juventus fleetingly showed moments of quality but equalised with an 83rd-minute spot-kick from Ronaldo, awarded after the Portugal forward's free-kick moments earlier struck the arm of Rodrigo de Paul.
Ronaldo added a second with one minute left when he headed in Adrien Rabiot's cross at the back post to secure a dramatic late win for Andrea Pirlo, who raced down the touchline to celebrate with Juve's players.
Kemar Roach took career-best figures of 8-40 and 10 wickets in the match as Surrey defeated Hampshire by an innings and 289 runs in their English County Cricket match that ended on Friday.
Roach began the match taking 2-40 in Hampshire’s first innings of 92 all out. However, it was Jordan Clarke who did the bulk of the damage taking 6-21. Lewis McManus top-scored with 31 for Hampshire in their innings that lasted just 34.3 overs.
The situation would only become even direr for Hampshire as 215 from Hashim Amla, 131 from Ollie Pope 131 and knocks of 80 and 78 from Jamie Smith and Roy Burns, respectively, propelled Surrey to 560 for 7 declared.
Roach then moved in for the kill.
Getting prodigious swing both ways, the Barbadian took three in eight balls towards the end of his first spell, two in seven in his second, and three in 13 in his third as Hampshire folded for 179 in their second turn at-bat.
“It was going conventionally, not reversing," Roach said.
"The way I gripped the ball was a little looser today. It was overcast conditions so the ball was going to do something once you put it in the right areas and stayed strong at the crease. The guys worked incredibly well on the ball and the information I got on the field about different batsmen and their weaknesses worked fantastically."
Once again, McManus was Hampshire’s top scorer with 51.
Roach’s 10-80 was also a career-best for the veteran West Indies pace bowler.
Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli congratulated Inter on their Serie A triumph but promised his club would make every effort to win back the Scudetto.
After nine consecutive league titles, the long reign of Juventus was officially ended on Sunday as Inter wrapped up the 2020-21 championship.
Atalanta's failure to beat Sassuolo – that game finished 1-1 – meant Antonio Conte's Inter were home and dry with four games to spare.
Juventus, meanwhile, face a battle just to secure a top-four finish and Champions League football next season.
For all their defending of Andrea Pirlo, the first-time head coach has not made the impression that Juventus would have wanted this season.
They followed up last season's Scudetto by winning the Supercoppa with a win over Napoli in January, but it has been a largely disappointing campaign for the Turin giants.
"For ten years in a row we have won a trophy ... not bad, but the best will always be the next!" Agnelli wrote on Twitter.
In an apparent message to Inter chairman Steven Zhang, Agnelli added: "Well done Steven! Happy for you and proud of being your loyal opponent on the pitch and friend off the pitch. We’ll be back..."
Agnelli was one of the main protagonists behind the recent failed Super League project, with Inter and Milan having also been lined up to join that now apparently quashed competition.
Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici mixed praise for triumphant Inter with reflection on what the Bianconeri achieved in past seasons.
Paratici told Sky Sport Italia: "I congratulate the club and Conte. We know that behind every success there is passion and sacrifice.
"We know how much effort we have given to win and be top of the class for 2,382 days. We have accomplished a historic feat, unique in Italian football and, probably, also in world football. Congratulations to Inter for a well-deserved Scudetto."
La Rochelle earned a convincing 32-23 victory over Leinster at Stade Marcel Deflandre to reach their first European Champions Cup final.
The French side, who had never previously made it as far as the last four, will now face fellow Top 14 club Toulouse at Twickenham on May 22.
Leinster have won the competition on four previous occasions and started Sunday's contest brightly through Tadhg Furlong's eighth-minute try.
The hosts were a man short at that point after Wiaan Liebenberg was sin-binned for an offside infringement, but they hit back thanks to a penalty and drop goal from Ihaia West.
West was successful from a couple more kicks before half-time, but only after Ross Byrne had added six points from the boot for Leinster in a tightly-contested opening period that ended with the visitors ahead by one.
That kicking battle ensued in the early stages of the second period when Byrne responded to West edging La Rochelle in front for the first time in the contest.
Leinster were a point to the good at that point but lost James Lowe to a yellow card for not rolling away in what proved to be a pivotal moment in an entertaining clash.
West split the sticks once more to restore his side's advantage and Gregory Alldritt found a way over the line 15 minutes from time, which West inevitably added to with the extras.
La Rochelle pushed for another try to seal the win and they found it as Will Skelton broke away from the driving maul to start the celebrations.
Byrne had the final say in terms of the scoring by finding a gap and dotting down late on, but La Rochelle comfortably held on to set up an all-French final at Twickenham.
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