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Off The Record: sport stories you might have missed this weekend

Tennis balls, Belle and Sebastian and Paul O’Connell all feature this week.

1. #CELEBRATION Xabi Alonso was a happy man this weekend, as he starred in Real Madrid’s surprise 2-1 victory over Barcelona. The win all but guaranteed Madrid the La Liga title, and a jubilant Alonso took to Twitter and provided a link to an appropriately upbeat Belle and Sebastian number below.

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2. #VIOLENCE The basketball player formerly known as Ron Artest was embroiled in controversy recently. Playing against Oklahoma City Thunder, he celebrated a dunk in an unusual manner – by purposefully elbowing a player in the face. Ironic, given that his new name is Metta World Peace. World Peace is now likely to be hit with a lengthy suspension as a result of his actions.

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3. #TROUBLE A controversial Serie A match took place between Siena and Genoa at the weekend. Siena were 4-0 up when a number of frustrated Genoa fans decided to violently express their anger, leading to the game being delayed for half an hour due to crowd trouble.

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4. #PROTEST Sevilla fans weren’t happy that the time of their match was changed from 10pm to 10.30pm to accommodate Barca-Real and Prime Time TV at the weekend. In fact, they were so annoyed that they chucked numerous tennis balls on the pitch before the game, in addition to unveiling a banner that read: “Stop the match, Mourinho is talking.”

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5. #FREEDOM It hasn’t been the happiest of times for Paul O’Connell recently, with Ireland’s Six Nations disappointment and Munster’s Heineken Cup exit, but the big man finally received some good news, as he was awarded the Freedom of Limerick City. In the video below, O’Connell speaks of his pride at receiving the accolade.

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h/t balls.ie

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