SPORTS REVIEW 5/6/26
By Macpherson Alderman, Patrick Vitale, Liam Cepler, and James Bartlett
This is going to be a weekly series released every Wednesday where Patrick, Liam, James and I cover the sports action from all over the world from the previous week.
Soccer:
The world of soccer was a busy one this week. As the end of the season approaches, many important games are being played, and the ones this week did not disappoint. To start, the UEFA tournaments had the first leg of their semifinals played Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. An all-timer went down in Paris as PSG beat Bayern Munich 5-4. Both teams gave it their all and went back and forth for 90 exhilarating minutes. It was described as “a basketball game” for its excitement and end-to-end action. Kvichka Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele both scored twice for PSG, with Joao Neves scoring once, and Luis Diaz, Dayot Upamecano, Harry Kane, and Michael Olise all got on the scoresheet for Bayern in a game that will live long in the memory. The other game, Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal was not nearly as entertaining as viewers would have hoped. It ended 1-1, both goals coming from penalty kicks by Julian Alvarez and Viktor Gyokeres. Both sides have received criticism for their negative style of play, and it shone out Wednesday night as they both looked hesitant to attack. The Europa League, UEFA’s second tier European tournament, also had semifinals taking place. Sporting Braga of Portugal beat Freiburg of Germany 2-1, with Mario Dorgeles scoring the late winner. Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest squared off against each other in an all Premier League clash, with a boring game settled by a Chris Wood spot kick for Forest. In the Conference League, Rayo Vallecano beat Strasbourg 1-0 in Madrid and Crystal Palace of England beat Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine 3-1. All of the second legs will be taking place next week, with the team scoring more goals over the home and away fixtures going through to the final. In the Premier League, Liverpool lost 3-2 to Manchester United in a tense Northwest Derby settled by a Kobbie Mainoo goal, while Arsenal won a big game in the title race against Fulham 3-0. Their title rivals Manchester City, potentially threw the Premier League away, drawing 3-3 away to Everton in a thrilling encounter, with Jeremy Doku scoring two brilliant goals. In La Liga, Real Madrid’s 2-0 win over Espanyol with Vini Jr. scoring both goals delayed FC Barcelona’s championship, yet Barca are still expected to win, with a mind-boggling 99% probability to do so. When the two teams play next weekend, Real Madrid need to win to prevent Barcelona from taking the title. PSG had a minor stumble against Lorient on their rampage to the French title, tying 2-2 in a dramatic match. In England’s second tier, the final round of games took place in an epic race for promotion to the Premier League. Ryan Reynolds-owned Wrexham could not continue their fairytale rise up the English pyramid, finishing seventh and confirming they will take part in the promotion playoffs. Ipswich Town secured the second automatic promotion slot. In the German second tier, Schalke 04 got promoted, led by 40-year old legend Edin Dzeko. In transfer news, Orlando City signed Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid. Griezmann is Atletico’s record scorer and will be a good addition to the Orlando squad. Javier Mascherano left Inter Miami on his own terms, citing personal reasons and broken relationships.
Baseball: It’s back! Major League Baseball is in full swing as the season is around a month in. One of the local teams is excelling, while the other is down in the dumps. The Yankees are leading the AL East, going 8-2 in their last 10, while the Mets are last place in the entire league, struggling to incorporate their newly acquired superstars into the team. Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien are both off to terrible starts, and the pitching has been shambolic. Meanwhile, two teams fired their managers, with the Phillies firing Rob Thomson and bringing in Don Mattingly. The team has surged up to second place in the NL East under Mattingly, yet he was apparently their second choice behind Alex Cora, who the Red Sox fired. They brought in interim Chad Tracy, and the team has improved since, notching series wins over the Orioles and Tigers. The Atlanta Braves have developed into the best team in the league, boasting the best record at 26-11. The Cubs have created an amazing atmosphere at Wrigley Field, where they have won 11 on the bounce. Pete Crow-Armstrong is having an excellent season and is central to this unprecedented rise. In other news, AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is out for 2 months with an elbow issue, straining the Tiger’s rotation deeply. The monthly awards are out for April, and there are some shock winners that none would have predicted at the start of the season. Yordan Alvarez won the AL Player of the Month, leading the league in OPS and home runs. Ildemaro Vargas won the gong in the NL after a searing start in which he posted a .387 batting average. Jose Soriano’s wild 0.84 ERA gave him the AL Pitcher of the Month, while star Dodger Shohei Ohtani won the NL version. Rookies Kevin McGonigle and Sal Stewart won the Rookie of the Month awards, while Louis Varland and Mason Miller won the Reliever of the Month. Miller has turned into the most unhittable pitcher in baseball, allowing just 7 hits in 16.1 innings pitched.
Basketball Playoffs: This week was wild as all of the series wrapped up by Sunday. It featured dominance by the Thunder, beating the Suns 4-0, and the Spurs beating the Trailblazers 4-1. The Knicks set several records, including the largest playoff lead at halftime (47), beating the Hawks by 51 to win the series in 6. Out west, the Timberwolves, down two stars in Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo, took care of the Nuggets at home and beat them 4-2. This disappointment of a series for the Nuggets raised many questions about if Nikola Jokic has it in him and his teammates to make another deep playoff run. Jokic has some decisions to make this offseason, but is expected to sign a massive extension to become a Nugget for life. Like the T-Wolves, the Lakers won in 6 with some key injuries. They got Austin Reaves back for games 5 & 6, but Luka was out the whole series. He might return in the next series where they will face the Thunder. Overall, a big disappointment for the Rockets, who played well during the regular season; KD battled injury through the entire series. In the northeast, there was a stunner in Boston on Saturday night, as the 76ers came back from down 3-1 and took game 7 on the road! Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey were firing on all cylinders and punched their ticket into the next round where they will face the Knicks. A surprising late scratch, Jayson Tatum didn’t play due to left knee stiffness. It proved to be pivotal as the Celtics lost by nine. Tatum, coming off of an achilles tear in last year’s playoffs, came back late in the season and played the first six games of that series. For the 76ers, Joel Embiid was getting banged up the whole game, he hurt his knee several times and was coming off an appendix removal not too long ago!
Round two which starts on Monday will feature the matchups:
Pistons (1) vs Cavaliers (4)
Knicks (3) vs 76ers (7)
Thunder (1) vs Lakers (4)
Spurs (2) vs Timberwolves (6)
Hockey Playoffs: We aren’t exactly the biggest of hockey fans, but we know that you need to score more goals to win, and that is exactly what the Colorado Avalanche did in round one. They swept the Kings in what was probably a best vs. worst watchup compared to all the other playoff matchups. The Avalanche finished with the most points (119) and the Kings barely made the playoffs with 90pts. Meanwhile, the Sabers from Buffalo won their first playoff series since the stone age and the Hurricanes swept the Senators. The Flyers took care of Penguins in six and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in 7 in what was an extremely thrilling series. As for the Western Conference, the Utah Mammoth won their first ever playoff game, but the Golden Knights took the series in 6. The Ducks beat the Oilers and the Wild eliminated the prolific Dallas Stars, who didn’t score a goal 5v5 in the entire series!
Kentucky Derby: The 152nd Kentucky Derby took place on Saturday, and a historic comeback win from Golden Tempo and jockey Jose Ortiz. Golden Tempo’s trainer, Cherie DeVaux, was also the first ever female trainer to win the Derby. Golden Tempo came back from a very deep position early in the race, yet surged through the second half to surpass Renegade and Ocelli in second and third respectively.
