Chelsea won UEFA Europa League Final 2019

Chelsea scored four goals in a devastating second half display to beat Arsenal 4-1 and lift the Europa League Trophy. The win in the all-English Final, played at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan gave Italian Manager Maurizio Sarri a major trophy in his first season in charge and Chelsea a first European title since the 2013 Europa League.

After a tepid first half, former Arsenal striker Giroud put Chelsea ahead in the 49th minute with an angled header. The Blues doubled their lead 10 minutes later when Pedro diverted a cross from Hazard beyond Petr Cech.

With Arsenal on the ropes, defender Ainsley Maitland-Niles collided with Giroud to concede a penalty that Hazard stroked home after 65 minutes. Alex Iwobi clawed a goal back for Arsenal but Chelsea restored their three-goal cushion in the 72nd minute when Hazard swapped passes with Giroud to score his second.

After the match, the Belgian star confirmed that he was likely to leave the club this summer, amid widespread speculation about a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid. By contrast, Arsenal has lost five of their six major European finals, with their only victory coming in the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup against Parma.

Valencia won Copa Del Rey 2019

By the end here in Seville they could take it no more, but the suffering was worth it and they made it. Somewhere in the madness a whistle blew and Valencia became Copa Del Rey winners. For the first time in 1456 days, Barcelona are not the cup winners.

There will be consequences at the Camp Nou, changes. Lionel Messi’s second-half goal was not enough to cancel out strikes from Kevin Gameiro and Rodrigo Moreno and a league title is not enough for a club like this. For Valencia, the cup is certainly enough. There was wild celebration; this was the culmination of a centenary year that for so long had been one to endure, but it ended in elation. What an occasion this turned out to be: on a knife edge, nerves shredded all around this stadium.

As the final minutes slipped by and players fell, exhaustion gripping everyone; the tension was unbearable with Barcelona throwing everything at Valencia. So much so that their goalkeeper, Jasper Cillessen, who had gone up for the last corner, was among those running back when Gonçalo Guedes ran through all alone.

It was the second time it had happened, players, staff and coaches leaving the bench convinced that this was the moment. It was not – Guedes shot wide of the open goal – but eventually it was over. Halfway through this season Valencia were only four points off the relegation zone and their manager, Marcelino García Toral, was under pressure. But the players backed him, the club’s director general too, and patience paid off. They clinched a Champions League place on the final day and now they are the cup winners too.

F1 2019: Lewis Hamilton wins Monaco Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton endured a frantic afternoon in Monaco to secure the 77th win of his career, and his third in Monaco, finishing ahead of Ferrari Sebastian Vettel and his Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton, wearing a special Niki Lauda tribute helmet, enjoyed a near race-long battle with the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, as he struggled to extend the life of medium tyres put on during a Safety Car period caused by a puncture for Charles Leclerc that would eventually force Ferrari’s local driver intro retirement on Lap 18. Despite finishing just behind winner Hamilton on the road, Verstappen was eventually classified fourth, having been given a five second penalty for an unsafe release earlier in the race.

Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly finished 10 second behind the front four in fifth, while McLaren’s Carlos Sainz drove a fantastic race to finish ahead of the two Toro Rosso’s of Daniil Kvyat and Alex Albon, with 2018 Monaco winner Daniel Ricciardo and the Haas of Romain Grosjean completing the top 10.

Verstappen crossed the line second but fell to fourth thanks to his penalty, despite having driven a brilliant race that earned him the Driver of the Day accolade. That meant that Vettel and Bottas – who’d both played bit parts to the action at the front during the race – got promoted up to second and third, Vettel thus effectively being the driver to end Mercedes’ five-race streak of one-two finishes.

Gasly took useful points in fifth, plus an extra one for fastest lap, while Sainz held on to take sixth – maintaining his 100% point’s record in Monaco with a sensational drive – ahead of a fine showing for Toro Rosso, with Kvyat holding off Albon. A late surge for Daniel Ricciardo in the Renault, meanwhile, saw him benefit from a five-second penalty for Romain Grosjean for crossing the pit lane exit line, meaning that last year’s winner ended up in a strong ninth place, to claim just his second point’s finish of the year, as Grosjean came home 10th.

Further back, meanwhile, George Russell drove a brilliant race to finish 15th for Williams, keeping the likes of Racing Point's Lance Stroll and Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen at bay to give the Grove team something to cheer about.

French MotoGP 2019: Marc Marquez wins

Reigning World Champion Marc Marquez of Honda secured another win this season after a dominant run in the 2019 MotoGP French Grand Prix at Le Mans. The Japanese factory team secured its 300th premier class win, 53 years after taking Jim Redman took it’s first-ever at Hockenheim. While Marquez made a strong run right from the opening lap, it was Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso who showed immense grit through the race to finish at P2, despite some close competition with teammate Danilo Petrucci in the final stages. Dovizioso fended off Petrucci by 0.158s to take second, while Pramac Ducati's Jack Miller and Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi rounded up the top five.

The 2019 French GP opened with Marquez on the pole with Petrucci second and Miller third, while Dovizioso started from P4. Petrucci had the better start but it was Marquez who had the better line on the first turn and took the race lead. Meanwhile, Franco Morbidelli if Petronas Yamaha and Pol Espargaro of KTM had moved up the order while Dovizioso was pushed down to seventh ahead of Honda's Jorge Lorenzo. Petrucci tried passing Marquez once again on the opening lap but failed at it and was soon pushed down to fifth fading away after the initial run. The move allowed Miller to shine who was now hot on the Honda's tail.

The Pramac rider finally found an opportunity to pass Marquez on Lap 5 pushing the latter to P2. The Honda rider was looking to re-take what was lost and opportunity and Marquez finally found the gap two laps later as Miller ran wide allowing the seven time world champion back in the first place. It was no looking back for Marquez from hereon who started to build the gap by over a second on Miller.

By the halfway point, Dovizioso was climbing his way back to the top and was placed third behind Miller. The factory Ducati rider passed his teammate soon after and was now battling to retain P2 with Miller and teammate Petrucci breathing down his neck. Marquez was a good 3 seconds off by now, almost impossible for the Ducati riders to catch at this pace. With five laps remaining, Petrucci managed to pass Dovi to take P2 but couldn't hold on for long and ride wide on the Dunlop chicane handing the position back to the rider.

It remained a close encounter for the Ducati’s at the chequered flag, while Marquez was 1.984s clear of Dovi in his third victory of the season. Finishing behind Miller and Rossi were Espargaro and Morbidelli, while Yamaha teammate Fabio Quartararo took P8. LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow finished ninth while Argentina GP winner Alex Rins of Suzuki took P10.

Lorenzo finished 11th after running in top 10 for most of the race, and was followed by Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro and KTM rider Johann Zarco. Tech3 KTM rider Hafizh Syahrin finished 14th followed by teammate Miguel Oliveira. Suzuki's Joan Mir was the last of the racers to complete in 16th place after falling on the warm up lap.

F1 2019: Lewis Hamilton wins Spanish Grand Prix

Having been well and truly outgunned in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix by team mate Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton hit back in emphatic style on race day to claim his third win of the season, as Mercedes stretched their current record of consecutive one-two finishes to an incredible five.

After beating Bottas to the first corner, Hamilton then led the race throughout, to net his third Spanish Grand Prix win in a row. The Mercedes duo were joined on an identical podium to 2018 by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, with the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc fourth and fifth, Verstappen maintaining his record of having finished ahead of at least one Ferrari at every race this season.

Pierre Gasly was P6 in the second Red Bull, while a late-race Safety Car – after McLaren's Lando Norris and Racing Point's Lance Stroll clashed in the first corner sequence – set up a dramatic finish behind, with Kevin Magnussen eventually claiming a fine seventh place and his first points since Australia.

Haas team mate Romain Grosjean claimed his first point of the year by finishing P10, despite dropping from P8 in a dramatic final few laps after being passed by the McLaren of Carlos Sainz – who maintained his record of scoring at every Spanish Grand Prix of his career – and the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat, who finished P9.

Spanish MotoGP 2019: Marc Marquez wins

Reigning MotoGP Champion Marc Marquez dominated the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, becoming the first repeat winner of the 2019 campaign. Marquez grabbed the lead off the line and swiftly escaped from the chasing pack, his job made easier when rookie Fabio Quartararo – who had succeeded him as MotoGP youngest-ever poleman on Sunday – retired out of second place with a mechanical issue.

Having locked out the top two in qualifying, the Petronas Yamaha riders were immediately passed by Marquez off the line – and looked set to drop behind Andrea Dovizioso too, only for the Italian to be forced wide exiting Turn 1. This left Marquez leading Franco Morbidelli and teammate Quartararo, and while the Honda rider towed the Petronas pair along over the opening few laps, he soon began to make a break. All of a sudden, the Spaniard was a second and a half clear, with Morbidelli pace dropping dramatically behind him but the Italian still managing to keep Quartararo at bay.

The Frenchman finally found a pay past on lap 11, overtaking Morbidelli as the latter ran wide into the recently-renamed Pedrosa corner. Unlike Morbidelli, Quartararo could still just about keep pace with Marquez, which allowed the Frenchman to hold a clear second place, only for his Yamaha to get stuck in gear on lap 14, ruling the rookie out of podium contention. By that point, Suzuki rider Alex Rins had charged through from ninth place, gaining three places right away before picking off Dovizioso and then Maverick Vinales to come up on Morbidelli. Just as Quartararo bike expired, Rins found a way past Morbidelli for what was now second place – but by then Marquez was already almost four seconds clear.

The win allowed Marquez to move into the lead of the championship, aided by Dovizioso finishing only fourth, the Ducati rider unable to find a way past Vinales and deny the Yamaha man his first podium of the season in the closing laps. Danilo Petrucci took fifth place behind teammate Dovizioso, recording his best result yet as a Ducati works rider after three consecutive sixth-place finishes. Valentino Rossi, who had started 13th, spent much of the race stuck behind Jack Miller, but made speedy progress once he'd cleared the Pramac Ducati rider and eventually claimed sixth.