The most important sporting events to follow in May

May is all about sport! And so is STATSCORE. Let us review all the key sporting events that you can not miss before the summer starts. 

FOOTBALL – WAITING FOR THE FINAL ANSWERS

We are entering a  key period in football (soccer) competitions. The fans couldn’t wait for May when almost every top league and international tournament comes to a conclusion. This year there is one exception, and the one is believed by many fans to be the most important – The Champions League Final. It will take place on the 1st of June. But before the final, we need to complete the semi-finals. They kicked off at the end of April and beginning of May, with the first leg played on the 30^th April, when Tottenham lost 0:1 to Ajax and then on the 1^{st of} May Barcelona FC beat Liverpool 3:0.

We are also waiting for the Europa League semi-finals and final (29^th May), the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium (18^th May) and the season-ending matches for most top European leagues.

TENNIS – FRENCH OPEN IN PARIS

The second of the four tournaments that make up the four Grand Slams. Roland Garros will last until the end of May and start of June. Because of the surface and the number of rounds needed to complete the tournament, the French Open is known as the most physically challenging tennis tournament in the world. This tournament has been dominated by Rafael Nadal in recent years (11 wins since 2005). However, you need to remember that he has not won any Grand Slam tournaments for a year. On the other side we have – Novak Djokovic who has won the last 3 tournaments at this level. So who’s favourite? Djoker or The King of Clay?

ICE HOCKEY – MEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, SLOVAKIA

This annual event will be played at two venues in Slovakia – the Ondrej Nepela Arena in Bratislava and the Steel Arena in Kosice. Sweden is the team that will be defending the title they have held for the last two years. They are also the 4^th team on the general medal classification. The most gold medals have been won by Russia (including the achievements of the Soviet Union) but Canada and Sweden have more overall medals.

CYCLING – GIRO D’ITALIA

The second biggest cycling race, after the Tour de Frace of course, is starting on the 11^th of May. There will be 21 stages with a total distance of 3518,5 km. This year start will take place in Italy, in Bologna and will finish in Verona.

FORMULA 1 – SPANISH AND MONACO GRAND PRIX

Another two races in this top class of single-seater motorcar racing. Will Lewis Hamilton, with his amazing form going to continue his campaign for another winning season? There shouldn’t be any problems in Barcelona (12^th May) where he’s won the two last races, but in Monaco (26^th May) the last time he won was in 2016. Since then Sebastian Vettel won in 2017 and unexpectedly Daniel Ricciardo did it last year.