May 2023 Sports Preview : City Out to Reach Champions League Final

Last Updated : 26th April, 2023 By Steve A

Can you believe it's May already?  Another massive month of sport is on its way even if we haven't got the FA Cup final to look forward to. That's in June this year but May is going to be massive with the World Snooker Championship final. world titie boxing, the first two classics of the flat racing season and the three European competitions all play their semi-finals. What a month and plenty of opportunities to be using your free bets.

The Bullet or The Jester?

Mark Selby bids to win a fifth world snooker title. He faces Belgium's Luca Brecel who has been quite the comeback kid in this tournament. He had never won a match at the Crucible before this year but on May 1 he'll be facing Selby in the second day of this best of 35 frames final. Brecel trailed both Ronnie O'Sullivan and Si Jahui but stormed back to get the win. He won the last seven frames against the defending champion and 12 of the last 14 against the new Chinese sensation as Dennis Taylor will call him.

Selby is one of the best match players ever seen in snooker. His semi-final against Mark Allen proved that but the match wasn't exactly the most attacking snooker seen at the Crucible this year. He'll do his best to nullify the non-stop attacking that Brecel has employed so far. Selby has the experience though and he should be able to win another world title.

A Classic Renewal

May 6 and 7 sees the first two classics of the 2023 flat racing season take place at Newmarket. There'll be plenty of clues for who may well go on to win the Derby and Oaks this summer. On May 6, it's the 2000 Guineas and the favourite is currently Auguste Rodin trained by Aiden O'Brien. Beaten into second on his debut, this contender went on to win three races last season. That included a Group 2 and then winning the Group 1 Futurity Stakes at Doncaster. 

It's close in the market with the second favourite also being trained by O'Brien. Little Big Bear also failed to win on his debut but has made up for that with four wins in a row,  last time out winning a Group 1 race at the Curragh.

Who can stop O'Brien winning again?  Andrew Balding runs Chaldean who won in Group 3 and 2 last season before landing the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes. He has had a run as a three-year-old but that didn't go well as he unseated Frankie Dettori when being bumped early on in the race. As long as that hasn't upset him, he could be a serious challenger. Also fancied is Group 2 winner Sakeer trained by Roger Varian.

May 7 sees the 1000 Guineas take place and again it's Aiden O'Brien who has the favourite in his yard. Meditate won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Stakes last season and had seven races as a two-year-old winning five and finishing second in the other two. One of those second place finishes was behind Tahiyra who is the second favourite at present for this classic. The Dermot Weld runner won both of her two races last year and one was a Group 1 at the Curragh with Meditate two-and-a-quarter lengths behind. That was on soft going so if the rain started to come down on Newmarket, no one associated with this horse is going to complain and could well win this race.

Can Manchester City Reach the Champions League Final?

It's never easy to predict football results but we know two Champions League certainties. There will be a team from Milan in the final and the winners of Europe's top club competititon will come from a city that starts with the letter M. Also only three grounds will be used for the semi-finals. That's because Inter take on Milan and both play at the same stadium.

Now it gets more difficult in predicting who will reach the final. Of the four remaining teams, only Manchester City are yet to lift the trophy. They are on course for a treble this season aind are up against defending champions Real Madrid in the last four. City have been winning game after game of late and scoring plenty of goals. It's not just been Erling Haaland either with Riyad Mahrez scoring a hat-trick in their FA Cup semi-final win over Sheffield United. 

City aren't always at their best on their Champions League travels and will be glad the first leg is in Madrid. A good result in Spain should set them up for the home leg and they can reach only their second Champions League final.

Italy could have a team in all three European competitions this season. They will definitely have one in the Champions League. It's going to be close between Inter and Milan but the latter did knock out Napoli in the last eight and are the slight favourites to reach the final.

Tough Task Ahead for Ryder

Britain's John Ryder has his second shot at winning a world title on May 6. He travels to Mexico to take on Saul Alvarez for the WBO, IBF, WBA and WBC world super middleweight titles. It's a big ask for him to return home with four title belts. There has been criticism of Alvarez for taking this fight instead of facing a more high profile opponent. Ryder deserves this title shot though after winning four successive fights and winning the WBO Interim title. His last defeat was a shot at the WBA super middleweight title losing a unanimous decision to Callum Smith. That was his fifth professional defeat and it's hard to see him beating Alvarez.

The champion last fought in Mexico 12 years ago. His last bout was against Gennadly Golovkin winning on points. He still wants a rematch for the light heavyweight title after losing to Dimitri Bovel last year. He's not been at his very best in recent fights but he hasn't returned home to lose has he?  Ryder beat Callum Smith in 2020 and this looks like being another win for Alvarez and he'll retain his world title.