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Atletico slip up in La Liga battle
5/4/2014 8:08:35 PM
- Atletico Madrid falter in La Liga title race losing 2-0 at Levante
- NEW: Real Madrid held 2-2 by Valencia in late match
- Chelsea's EPL title hopes dashed by goalless draw
- Juventus seal Serie A after challengers Roma lose
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(CNN) -- Atletico Madrid had one hand on the La Liga trophy but an unexpected 2-0 defeat Sunday at Levante has thrown the three-way title race in Spain wide open again.
At the end of a momentous week which has seen Atletico reach the Champions League final for the second time, Diego Simeone's men came unstuck against the mid-table team based in Valencia.
Even now, hopes of a first domestic championship in 18 years remain in the hands of the Rojiblancos if they win their remaining two games -- at home to Malaga then crucially away to defending champions Barcelona.
Read: Atletico sink Chelsea to set up dream Madrid final
City rivals and fellow Champions League finalists Real Madrid later failed to take full advantage of Atletico's defeat and needed an audacious late equalizer from Cristiano Ronaldo in a 2-2 draw against Valencia in the Bernabeu.
Real twice trailed to goals from Jeremy Mathieu and Dani Parejo only for Sergio Ramos and Ronaldo with a backheel from a Angel Di Maria cross in injury time to rescue their title hopes.
Barcelona, whose 2-2 draw at home to Getafe appeared to have ended their chances, will be hoping Real slip up again in their remaining three matches and that they can achieve a last-day win over Atletico in the Nou Camp to claim the title again.
Earlier, Levante went ahead against Atletico after seven minutes through a Filipe Luis own goal but were indebted to goalkeeper Keylor Navas for a string of fine saves to deny the visitors.
Read: Life ban for fan who threw banana at Alves
Desperately searching for an equalizer, Atletico were caught out with a quick break midway through the second half when David Barra converted from Victor Casadesus' cross.
Adrian Lopez, a hero in the midweek win at Chelsea in the Champions League semifinal, hit the post to sum up Atletico's day in front of goal, but they now face a nervous run-in.
In the English Premier League, the three-way title race effectively became two as Chelsea stumbled to a goalless draw at home to relegation haunted Norwich.
Read: Chelsea dent Liverpool's title charge
The draw at Stamford Bridge does little to help either side, with Chelsea now trailing leaders Manchester City and Liverpool by a point, but having played a game more.
It was a lackluster display by Jose Mourinho's men after the 3-1 setback against Atletico, although they were unlucky when Andre Schurrle and David Luiz hit the woodwork with efforts.
Norwich battled hard and had a first half penalty appeal turned away, but they are two points from safety and have played a game more than Sunderland, who are safe in 17th after a 1-0 win at Manchester United Saturday.
In the other match in the EPL Sunday, fourth-placed Arsenal beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 with Olivier Giroud scoring the only goal in the first half.
Read: Benfica stun Juventus in Europa League
The title race in Spain and England will almost certainly go down to the last round of matches, but in Italy Juventus wrapped up their third straight Serie A crown with three games to spare.
Juve did not need to take to the pitch as closest rivals Roma suffered a shock 4-1 defeat at Catania Sunday.
It left Roma eight points adrift of the leaders with only two more games to be played. Mariano Izco's double for Catania put them on the front foot before Roma skipper Francesco Totti pulled one back before the break.
Goals from Gonzalo Bergessio and Pablo Barrientos wrapped up the win for Catania in the second half to lift them off the bottom of the table.
Antonio Conte's newly-crowned champions will celebrate their latest Scudetto success and 30th in all with a home game against Atalanta Monday.
Read: Man City take charge of EPL title race
Djokovic hit by fresh injury worry
5/4/2014 5:16:18 PM
- Novak Djokovic forced out of Madrid Masters with injury
- Right arm problem flares up again
- Injury first hit Djokovic at Monte Carlo Masters
- Rafael Nadal is top seed at clay court event
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(CNN) -- Novak Djokovic's preparations for the French Open later this month have suffered a worrying setback as the world number two was forced to withdraw from this week's Madrid Masters.
Djokovic has suffered a recurrence of the right arm injury which hindered him at the Monte Carlo Masters three weeks ago, but was apparently healed. He is still hoping to be fit for the Rome Masters which starts next Sunday.
"I am very sorry for the Madrid tournament and all the Spanish fans to have to pull out of the Mutua Madrid Open," said Djokovic told the official ATP Tour website Sunday.
Read: Djokovic set to be a father
"I did everything possible in order to play in Madrid, which is one of the biggest events of the year, but unfortunately my right arm injury has flared up again.
"Now I will take some time to recover and heal my injury, hoping I will be ready for Rome. I look forward to returning to Madrid next year."
The Serbian won in Madrid three years ago during his triumphant 2011 season and was looking for a repeat at Caja Magica in the Spanish capital.
His absence may pave the way for world number Rafael Nadal to make a successful defense of his Madrid title but he has also been far from dominant in recent weeks.
Read: Djokovic loses to Federer in Monte Carlo
Defeats to fellow Spaniards David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro in Monte Carlo and Barcelona were unexpected, but Nadal is shrugging them off.
"I've already said it several times. I didn't try to win Monte Carlo 12 times or Barcelona 12 times. Maybe that isn't normal. This is the reality of the situation," he said ahead of the Madrid tournament.
"Maybe it's normal to lose three times in the quarterfinals. Maybe what's not normal is what happened during the past nine years."
Read: Nadal goes out in Barcelona
Nadal beat Monte Carlo winner Stanislas Wawrinka in last year's final and believes he can go all the way again this year.
"I'm here to fight and to try to play even better," said Nadal.
"I don't think I have to change many things. I think I can change very small things, and the change can be quite drastic and quite big. That's what I'm working on right now. "
Meanwhile in the WTA event in Madrid, Maria Sharapova continued her superb recent form as she routed Klara Koukalova in the first round.
Sharapova, who won her 30th WTA Tour title in such impressive style in Stuttgart last week, beat Koukalova 6-1 6-2.
In the women's doubles tournament, Martina Hingis rolled back the years again as she paired with Germany's Sabine Lisicki to beat seventh seeds Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova in a first round clash.
They were a set then 4-1 down in the match tie-break before going through 3-6 6-2 10-6 victory.
Read: Sharapova hat-trick in Stuttgart
Fan critical after Italian Cup final
5/4/2014 5:16:04 PM
- Napoli beat Fiorentina 3-1 in Italian Cup final
- Kick off was delayed after pre-match violence
- Three Napoli fans shot and one remains in critical condition
- Barcelona held 2-2 by Getafe in La Liga to hit title hopes
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(CNN) -- Three Napoli fans received hospital treatment and one remains in a critical condition Sunday after violence marred the Italian Cup final between Napoli and Fiorentina in Rome.
Reports from domestic news agency ANSA said three Napoli supporters suffered gunshot wounds in clashes before Saturday's match in the Olympic stadium, while another from Rome was hospitalized with injuries.
The condition of one of the Napoli fans, a 30-year-old, remained "critical but stable" after an operation to remove a bullet from near his spinal cord, doctors said.
There have been conflicting reports of exactly who was responsible for the incidents and who fired the shots, but with almost 30,000 fans from each club arriving in a capital already boasting two other clubs, Roma and Lazio, the potential for violence was high and sadly this proved the case.
Uneasy standoff
After news of the pre-match shootings filtered through to Napoli's fans in the Curva Nord (North End), the match was delayed and no official reason given.
An uneasy stand off followed between the authorities and Napoli's ultras -- the club's hardcore, organized fan group -- who pelted the pitch with burning flares as the match was initially suspended.
At one point Napoli's Slovakian striker Marek Hamsik appeared to remonstrate with the ultras in a bid to calm the situation down before being ushered away.
"These incidents are simply unacceptable," said Maurizio Beretta, the president of Lega Serie A, according to AFP.
"We appeal to the fans who are here for the final to treat it as it should be -- an evening of sport and football and not one that should give rise to episodes of violence."
The match eventually kicked off at 19.45 GMT, 45 minutes late.
"A football match shouldn't be about battles between two sets of supporters," said Italian Senate president Pietro Grosso, as quoted by AFP.
"We're here to see a final, to enjoy the game in a festive and sporting atmosphere. I'm saddened to see that this kind of thing is still going on."
Napoli triumph
After the delay a fine game of football finally broke out.
Napoli's players, visibly effected by the atmosphere surrounding the game, raced out of the blocks and into a two goal lead.
Twenty two year old Italy international Lorenzo Insigne, who was born and raised in Napoli, scored twice and could have had a hat trick.
But Fiorentina fought back with Peruvian Juan Manuel Vargas and were then denied what appeared to be a legitimate goal that was called offside right before half time.
The second half was a much cagier affair as Napoli coach Rafa Benitez, looking for a trophy in his first season at the club, tried to close the game down.
Everything had gone to plan for Benitez and Napoli but a second yellow card for Swiss international Gokhan Inler with just over 10 minutes to go set of a frenetic end to the match.
But Napoli broke away on the counter attack and Belgian international Dries Mertens made it 3-1, securing the club's fifth Coppa Italia success.
Barca's title setback
Meanwhile, in Spain, Barcelona's hopes of defending the La Liga title suffered a serious setback after conceding an injury time equalizer against Getafe.
Lionel Messi and Alexis Sanchez had twice given Barcelona the lead. But on both occasions Angel Lafita scored, his second with only minutes remaining to make it 2-2.
There had been emotional scenes before the game at Camp Nou as a gigantic banner was hoisted to honor Tito Vilanova, the club's former coach who died last week of throat cancer.
The banner read Tito Per Sempre Etern; Tito, always eternal. A minute's silence followed.
The result left Atletico Madrid in prime position to win the La Liga crown with city rivals Real Madrid also still challenging.
Atletico play Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the last game of the season in what still be a title decider.
Read: Atletico slip up in La Liga, Real held
Four-up for Marquez in Jerez
5/4/2014 5:14:25 PM
- Marc Marquez wins Spanish MotoGP at Jerez
- Fourth straight win for reigning world champion
- Valentino Rossi finishes in a fine second
- Marquez leads world title race by 28 points
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(CNN) -- Marc Marquez held off a resurgent Valentino Rossi to win his fourth straight MotoGP race since start of the season with first victory Sunday at the Spanish circuit of Jerez.
The Repsol Honda rider is the first man since Australian great Mick Doohan in 1992 to win the opening four rounds of the season in motorcycling's premier class and he was never headed after starting from pole.
He had built up a four second lead by lap 12, but a charging Rossi on his Yamaha had closed up the finish in Andalusia.
Seven-time world MotoGP champion Rossi was picking up his second runners-up spot of the season and held off Marquez's teammate Dani Pedrosa on the final corner.
Read: Marquez matches Agostini with hat-trick
Rossi's teammate and two-time champion Jorge Lorenzo finished fourth.
Defending champion Marquez has a 28-point lead over Pedrosa in the title race after his 36th Grand Prix victory from just 100 starts.
"I'm really happy, it's a different kind of victory, " Marquez told the official MotoGP website.
"In the beginning I was able to open a gap and push. I know that Dani and Valentino are so strong at the end of the race so I pushed very hard at the start," the 21-year-old revealed.
Read: Marquez: The new king of MotoGP's Spanish empire
Rossi, who was winning his 149th podium finish in MotoGP, was delighted to be a factor again at Jerez, which is one of his favorite circuits.
"Since 2010 I have not been on the podium here, so it's great to be back," said the Italian.
Earlier, Finland's Mika Kallio took the Moto2 race ahead of Switzerland's Dominique Aegerter and Jonas Folger of Germany.
Italian Romano Fenati won the Moto3 race ahead of Spanish pair Efren Vazquez and Alex Rins.
Favorite wins Kentucky Derby
5/4/2014 5:16:13 PM
Favorite California Chrome is an emphatic winner of the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby for jockey Victor Espinoza.
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