ENGLAND The race of the three most powerful English football clubs - Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea - for the title of Premier League winner is nearing a denouement. On April 3 and 4, the matches of the 31st round will take place. Chelsea will play in London against Tottenham, Arsenal in Portsmouth against the local club of the same name, and Manchester United will host Charlton, which is trying to qualify for the Champions League.
Arsenal - Liverpool. This exquisite dish for football gourmets was presented by the organizers of the English football championship in the 32nd round. Its matches will take place on April 10, the most interesting of which will be the aforementioned one. Manchester United will meanwhile play in Birmingham against the club of the same name, and Chelsea - at home against Middlesbrough.
Two days later - on April 12 - the English Premier League teams will take to the field again. Arsenal will again face a difficult test - in Newcastle against Sir Bobby Robson's team. Chelsea will play away against Aston Villa, and Manchester United against Leicester, several players of which were accused in Spain last week of committing gang rape.
On April 16, the 34th round of the English championship will start with the match Arsenal - Leeds. The next day the remaining teams will play: Manchester United away to Portsmouth, Chelsea at home to Everton.
The 35th round (April 24-25) will be marked by the match Manchester United - Liverpool. Other matches involving the leaders also promise to be very interesting: Newcastle - Chelsea and Arsenal - Tottenham.
BAHRAIN In this exotic Arab country, in the desert south of the capital Manama, a brand new race track called Bahrain has been built. This year it will make its debut in the Formula 1 World Championship and will become the third stage of the current season. All attention of the world's leading racing drivers and motorsport fans will be focused on Bahrain, where on April 2-4 the king of Formula 1, Michael Schumacher, and his entourage will continue the fight for the championship title.
HUNGARY The women's tennis tournament of the fifth category in Budapest last year brought Ukrainian fans many pleasant moments: in the doubles final, Ukrainians Elena Tatarkova and Tatyana Perebiynis found themselves on opposite sides of the net. The more experienced Tatarkova won. On April 26 of this year, the tournament in Budapest with a prize fund of $110,000 will start again.
GERMANY On April 3-4, the 27th round of the Bundesliga football championship will take place. Werder Bremen, which has a chance to become German champion for the first time since 1993 and for which Ukrainian Viktor Skripnik plays, will play at home against Freiburg. The main rival of the Bremen team, Bayern Munich, will play away against Kaiserslautern. Cologne of another Ukrainian, Andriy Voronin, will host Eintracht from Frankfurt.
A week later, Werder will have to meet the Frankfurt team - at the Eintracht field. Bayern in this round will have a difficult meeting with Schalke and their former coach Jupp Heynckes.
In the 29th round on April 17, Bayern will face the principal rival of the last decade - Borussia Dortmund at their home Westfalenstadion. Werder in this round will play at home against Hannover, Cologne - against Bochum, which surprises many experts with their competent play.
The Munich derby Bayern - Munich 1860 will become one of the brightest events of the next round in the Bundesliga (April 24-25). Werder will play away against Bochum.
Munich will not be left without big sports next week either. On April 26, a men's tennis tournament with a prize fund of $375,000 will begin, which will run until May 2.
SPAIN The 31st round of the national football championship is scheduled for April 3-4. During these days, Real Madrid will visit Albacete, one of whose coaches may become Ukrainian Oleksandr Golokolosov. Barcelona will battle at home with Villarreal, Deportivo - with Betis, and Valencia - with Murcia.
In the 32nd round, whose main match day will be April 11, the paths of the leaders will also not cross. Real Madrid will test Osasuna in Madrid, while Barcelona, Deportivo and Valencia will play away.
In Valencia, from April 12 to 18, a men's tennis tournament with a prize fund of $395,000 will take place.
In Madrid on April 18, the central match of the next round will take place - Atletico will host Real. In addition to the Madrid derby, fans will certainly be attracted by the game in Valencia between the local 'Bats' and Real Sociedad.
Real - Barcelona. The battle of two titans of European and Spanish football will take place on April 25 in Madrid at the famous Santiago Bernabeu as part of the 34th round. Valencia will play in Bilbao against Athletic, Deportivo - in Malaga against the local club of the same name.
And in Barcelona on April 26, the competition at the men's tennis tournament with a prize fund of $990,000 will begin. It will end on May 2.
ITALY On April 4, a very serious match of the national football championship will take place, which may predetermine the fate of the gold medals in advance. Inter will host Juventus from Turin in Milan, which retains hope of catching up with Andriy Shevchenko's Milan, which has broken away. Milan itself in this, the 28th round, will play away against Modena. Another contender for the championship title - the capital's Roma - will play away against Lecce.
In the next round (April 10-11), Milan will host Empoli at home. Roma will meet Chievo at home, and Juventus faces another difficult match - at Turin's Delle Alpi against Lazio from Rome.
A week later, the hardest meeting again goes to Juventus - away against Parma. Milan will settle for a date with Siena, and Roma - with Modena.
The match Inter - Lazio will most likely be saved for dessert in the 31st round. The games Roma - Empoli, Juventus - Lecce and Udinese - Milan will serve as simpler dishes.
CANADA On April 4 the NHL regular championship finishes, after which the playoffs will start, and the League's leading clubs will compete for the Stanley Cup.
MOROCCO In Casablanca on April 5 the women's tennis tournament with a prize fund of $110,000 will begin, ending on April 11. A year ago, Ukrainian Elena Tatarkova in doubles with Slovak tennis player Nagyova lost in the final.
MONACO The men's tennis Masters series tournament will be the most interesting event in the tiny principality from April 19 to 25. Many modern tennis stars will gather to contest the winner's title (in the last two years it has been held by Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero) and the $396,000 that go with it. The total prize fund is $2,425,000.
POLAND $585,000 is the prize fund of the women's tennis tournament, which will take place in Warsaw from April 26 to May 2.
PORTUGAL The Estoril Open invites tennis players from around the world from April 12 to 18. Men will compete for $519,000 in prize money, women for $110,000.
RUSSIA Kazan, which is rapidly progressing in sports, will host the men's Final Four in the FIBA Europe basketball league. By April 23, local UNICS, Perm's Ural-Great, Greece's Maroussi and Tel Aviv's Hapoel will gather in the Russian city.
SAN MARINO In this tiny state, perhaps only one major sporting event is held per year. This is the San Marino Grand Prix in Formula 1, which traditionally takes place at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola. This track is one of the oldest in Formula 1: it was built back in 1950 and is located in a wooded area parallel to the Santerno River (in the 1st century BC there was a Roman settlement here, where chariot races were regularly held). Unfortunately, the Imola circuit gained an unkind reputation 10 years ago. In 1994, one of the greatest drivers on the planet, Brazilian Ayrton Senna, was killed here.
SLOVENIA From April 15 to 18, the European Gymnastics Championships will be held in the capital Ljubljana.
USA As early as March 22, one of the largest modern tennis tournaments will start in Miami. Its official name is NASDAQ-100 Open. The prize fund in the men's tour will be $3,450,000 (in the women's $3,060,000). Most likely, from Ukraine in the women's singles, the experienced Yulia Vakulenko, who is in the top hundred of the world's tennis players, as well as the young Victoria Kuznetsova, will compete. The tournament, last year's winners of which were the titled Americans Andre Agassi (he won it six times, three times in a row) and Venus Williams, will end on April 4.
On April 5-11, a women's tennis tournament with a prize fund of $585,000 will be held at Amelia Island. Its last year's winner is Russian Elena Dementieva.
Another major tournament, the women's The Family Circle Cup, which is part of the Super Nine series, will start in Charleston on April 12 and end on the 18th. Its prize fund is $1,300,000. A year ago, Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne celebrated victory there.
In the same days, a less prestigious men's tournament with a prize fund of $380,000 will be held in Houston, Texas.
On April 14, the NBA regular championship finishes, after which the basketball playoffs will start.
TURKEY On April 8, the World Sailing Championships in the Mistral class will begin in the town of Cesme. It will finish on April 14.
The largest city in Turkey, the historical capital of the country, Istanbul, will host the best European freestyle wrestlers from April 23 to 25.
And a few days later, on April 30-31, the European Chess Championship will be held in Antalya.
FRANCE April 3 is the main match day in the 31st round of the French football championship. The central match of the round will take place in the city of weavers, Lyon. Local Olympique will host Marseille's Olympique. There should be a good game in Paris between PSG and Nantes.
A week later, the most memorable match will be in the north of the country, where Lens will host Monaco, the main contender for the title, under the leadership of the famous recent footballer Didier Deschamps.
The second stage of the Grand Prix II in athletics will be held in the town of Fort-de-France on April 24.
On the same day, most matches of the 33rd round of the national football championship will take place. The most interesting of them will be in Monaco (Monaco - Nantes) and Paris (PSG - Marseille).
CZECHIA Prague and Ostrava will become the capitals of the men's Ice Hockey World Championship. The Ukrainian national team is again among the participants in the strongest division. The matches of the world championship will begin on April 24 and stretch until May 9.
SWITZERLAND Big badminton will come to the shores of Lake Geneva. The European Championship in this sport will be held in the Swiss capital and will take place from April 16 to 24.
SWEDEN On April 17-25, the World Cycling Championships will be held in the city of Gavle.