Category: Football

BARCELONA: La Liga 2022/23 champions Barcelona put on a dominant show amid their 3-0 triumph over 10-man Mallorca while also saying goodbye to two club legends Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.

Ansu Fati gave Barcelona the best possible start as he struck the opener within the first minute of the action after a great passing sequence down the middle, Robert Lewandowski found Gavi with a delicate backheel flick, who then gave Fati an easy finish.

The home side enhanced their domination over the 12th-placed Mallorca, who were reduced to 10 men after Amath Ndiaye was sent off for a horrific tackle that injured Alejandro Balde.

Spain international Fati then doubled Barcelona’s lead in the 24th minute at the back of an excellent passing by the home side. Barcelona veteran Robert Lewandowski once again played his part in his side’s goal as he set up Fati for an easy finish with a stunning assist.

The La Liga champions went into the break with a 2-0 advantage over Mallorca with Fati leading the chart with twin strikes.

The second half of the fixture featured almost similar domination by Barcelona as the hosts relentlessly made several attempts and created plenty of significant chances against depleted Mallorca’s defence but failed to convert their domination into the third brace.

Barcelona then finally got the reward in the 70th minute of their outstanding show after a brilliant pass from Ousmane Dembele that found Gavi inside the box, who fired a left-footed rocket into the top corner to finally give Barcelona a much-deserved goal.

Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets and defender Jordi Alba also played in their side’s 3-0 win over Mallorca at home for the last time, in the club’s penultimate fixture of the ongoing season, and received warm farewells from the crowd.

Meanwhile, in other La Liga fixtures, Real Sociedad succumbed to a 1-2 loss against Atletico Madrid and yet sealed Champions League qualification for the next season as Villarreal lost 1-2 against Rayo Vallecano.

Whereas, Espanyol was relegated from the top division as a result of Valencia’s Samuel Lino scoring a dramatic equaliser in stoppage time to draw the game level at 2-2.

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PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain clinched a French record 11th league title on Saturday as Lionel Messi scored in a 1-1 draw away at Strasbourg.

Messi’s opener was cancelled out by a Kevin Gameiro equaliser, but the result gave PSG an unassailable four-point lead over second-placed Lens with one match of the season remaining.

PSG moved ahead of the previous record of 10 titles set by Saint-Etienne in 1981 and which they equalled a year ago under former coach Mauricio Pochettino.

It is PSG’s ninth title in the last 11 seasons, a period in which they have dominated French football under Qatari ownership.

“This afternoon I watched the last day of the season in the Bundesliga and you can see that it is very difficult to win the league, any league,” PSG coach Christophe Galtier told broadcaster Canal Plus.

“The reigning champions in all European leagues have often had problems this season, so we appreciate what this means.

“It is a title and we must not believe it is normal to win, even if we are Paris Saint-Germain.”

PSG started the penultimate weekend of the season six points clear of nearest rivals Lens with just six points to play for, and with a far better goal difference.

A Lens slip-up would have seen the capital side crowned champions with a game to spare even in defeat, but in the end they needed the draw as their challengers eased to a 3-0 win over already-relegated Ajaccio.

Kylian Mbappe set up Messi to put PSG ahead just before the hour with his 16th Ligue 1 goal this season.

Ex-Paris striker Gameiro equalised with 11 minutes left, bundling in the rebound after Gianluigi Donnarumma had saved from Morgan Sanson.

The draw ultimately suited both teams as it enabled Strasbourg to guarantee their top-flight survival.

PSG started the season superbly and did not lose a game in any competition before the World Cup.

However, they lost six of their first 17 league games in 2023 and were eliminated from the Champions League in the last 16 by Bayern Munich and in the French Cup at the same stage.

Those results increased speculation that Galtier — who also won the title with Lille two years ago — will be replaced in the close season.

Messi is expected to depart when his contract expires at the end of the campaign, meaning next weekend’s match at home to Clermont is likely to be his last in a PSG shirt.

– Lens clinch Champions League ticket –

Lens secured second place and a ticket for next season’s Champions League group stage with their win against Ajaccio, which was sealed by first-half goals from Deiver Machado, Adrien Thomasson and Lois Openda.

Belgian striker Openda netted a penalty for his 20th goal in Ligue 1 this season.

Marseille, who lost 2-1 at home to Brest, must therefore settle for third place and will enter the Champions League in the third qualifying round.

Beneath them, Lille are in pole position to qualify for the Europa League after coming from behind to beat Nantes 2-1 and move up to fourth position.

Quentin Merlin put relegation-threatened Nantes in front in the far north, but two second-half penalties from Canada’s Jonathan David gave Lille the victory.

Lille are now a point above both Rennes and Monaco, who met on Saturday, with the Brittany side winning 2-0 thanks to second-half goals by Lovro Majer and Amine Gouiri.

Rennes are fifth, above Monaco on goal difference. Fifth place goes into next season’s Europa Conference League while sixth will not qualify for Europe at all.

Lyon’s European hopes were effectively ended despite a 3-0 win over Reims in which Alexandre Lacazette scored his 27th Ligue 1 goal this season, leaving him just one behind Mbappe, the division’s top marksman.

Nantes will go into the final weekend having to win to stand a chance of avoiding relegation as they sit 17th, two points behind Auxerre, who drew 1-1 at Toulouse.

Angers, Ajaccio and Troyes have already been relegated. Four teams go down and only two come up from Ligue 2 as the top flight is reduced from 20 clubs to 18 for next season.

There were also wins on Saturday for Angers, Nice and Clermont.

SEVILLE: Rodrygo scored twice to earn Real Madrid a 2-1 win at Sevilla on Saturday in a La Liga match that was missing Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior and Marco Asensio due to injuries.

Vinícius, who faced racial abuse last weekend at Valencia, did not travel with the team due to what coach Carlo Ancelotti described as a knee injury that also kept him from playing midweek against Rayo Vallecano.

His absence from the field comes amid an international outcry against racism that has reached his native Brazil.

With the win, second-placed Real moved to 77 points on the La Liga table, four ahead of city rivals and third-placed Atletico, who faces Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Barcelona have already won the championship with two games still left to be played.

Rafa Mir gave Sevilla an early lead within three minutes finishing off an initial shot by Bryan Gil that had hit a Madrid defender and fell to the striker in the area.

Rodrygo levelled in the 29th with a free kick that he fired around the side of the defensive barrier and caught goalkeeper Yassine Bounou off guard.

Érik Lamela almost put Sevilla back in front when he hit the post in the 36th.

Rodrygo scored his second in the 69th after Brazil forward received a ball from Toni Kroos on a counterattack and used a slick change of foot to guide past defender Gonzalo Montiel before beating Bounou.

Sevilla’s Marcos Ocuña was sent off for a direct red card in the 84th after his studs-first tackle on Dani Ceballos.

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Renowned artists from Gadani, representing Rashidi Artists Group, lent support to Vinicius Junior amid the ongoing racism scandal by drawing his sand portrait which caught the attention of the Brazilian forward’s club Real Madrid.

Spain’s football league, La Liga, has been engulfed in a racism scandal after the 22-year-old forward was subjected to racist taunts during Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Valencia and later sent off.

The player has been taunted by opposition fans since he joined Real in 2018 but the latest incident has kicked up a storm over whether Spain is doing enough to stamp out racism in football.

The game was held up for several minutes and the referee wrote in his post-match report that shouts of “monkey” had been directed at Vinicius Junior.

Amid the ongoing racism scandal, famous artists from Gadani came out in support of Vinicius Junior by drawing a sand portrait of the football, which also featured a short supportive message.

“Always with you Vini Jr,” the message read.

Vinicius Junior’s sand portrait took the internet by storm and consequently caught the attention of Vinicius Junior’s club Real Madrid, which also shared it on Instagram.

 

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Earlier this week, Real Madrid filed a criminal complaint with Spanish prosecutors over the racist abuse its Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior received during a weekend La Liga match, calling it a “hate crime”.

“Real Madrid strongly condemns the events that took place yesterday against our player Vinícius Junior,” the Spanish giants said in a statement.

The club said it belives the abuse “constitutes a hate crime” and had filed a complaint with the prosecutors’ office “in order for the facts to be investigated and for those responsible to be held accountable.”

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Valencia’s punishment for their fans’ racist abuse of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior was reduced on Friday after the La Liga side appealed against it.

The Spanish side must close the south stand of their Mestalla stadium for three home matches instead of the five-game ban initially set by the Spanish football federation’s Competition Committee on Wednesday.

The fine was also reduced from 45,000 euros to 27,000 euros ($29,000) by the federation’s appeal committee.

Valencia host Espanyol on Sunday in La Liga in a vital match with both teams battling relegation, in which the stand will be closed.

Three Valencia fans were arrested after the 22-year-old Brazilian winger was abused last Sunday during Los Che’s 1-0 win over Madrid.

Sports stars and other personalities across the globe have offered Vinicius Junior their support in the days since, including many in his homeland Brazil.

Earlier this week, Spanish police arrested seven people Tuesday over two incidents of racial abuse targeting Real Madrid’s Brazilian star Vinicius Junior, including the latest one that sparked an international outcry.

The player was taunted by opposition fans since he joined Real in 2018 but the latest incident has kicked up a storm over whether Spain is doing enough to stamp out racism in football.

Early on Tuesday, police confirmed arresting three youths in Valencia for “insults and gestures with racist overtones” towards the player that amounted to “an alleged hate crime” during Sunday’s match.

The game was held up for several minutes and the referee wrote in his post-match report that shouts of “monkey” had been directed at Vinicius.

Police said the investigation remained open to identify further suspects.

In a statement, Valencia confirmed three fans had been arrested, reiterating its “strongest condemnation against racism and violence” and saying the club was acting against those involved “by banning them for life from our stadium”.

Also Tuesday, Madrid police arrested another four men suspected of hanging an effigy wearing a Real Madrid shirt with Vinicius’ number on it from a bridge in January.

The dummy was hung by the neck from a highway bridge near Real Madrid’s training ground on January 26 ahead of their match against Atletico Madrid.

Above it was a banner in Atletico’s red and white reading: “Madrid hates Real”.

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LAHORE: Former Burnley and West Brom youngster Rahis Nabi has rejoined the Pakistan men’s football team for the upcoming international events, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) confirmed on Thursday.

The 24-year-old midfielder, who has previously represented teams like Burnley and West Brom, has also played for the Men in Green in the World Cup Qualifiers in 2018.

Taking to Twitter, the PFF confirmed Rahis Nabi will represent the national team in upcoming events.

“RAHIS NABI IS BACK!” wrote PFF.

“The England born midfielder who has represented the likes of Burnley and West Brom at youth level is all set to represent the Shaheens. Rahis has previously represented Pakistan at the World Cup Qualifiers in 2018,” the PFF added.

RAHIS NABI IS BACK! 🤩

The England born midfielder who has represented the likes of Burnley and West Brom at youth level is all set to represent the Shaheens! 🦅

Rahis has previously represented Pakistan at the World Cup Qualifiers in 2018! 📈#wearepakistanfootbal pic.twitter.com/RfWK7Tp3hA

— Pakistan Football Federation (@TheRealPFF) May 25, 2023

 

Before Rahis Nabi, former England Youth captain Easah Suliman and former Manchester United youngster Otis Khan were also cleared to represent Pakistan at the international level after FIFA approved the request made by the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) to change their national eligibility.

Aston Villa academy graduate Easah Suliman is poised to turn out for the Pakistan football side at next month’s South Asian Football Federation Championship (SAFF).

It is pertinent to mention that the Pakistan men’s team will make their return to the SAFF Championship after missing out on the previous two editions.

The Shaheens have been drawn with India alongside invitee Kuwait and Nepal in group A.

The SAFF Championship will take place from June 21 to July 4 in India. Pakistan will collide with the host nation India in the tournament opener in Bengaluru, before facing Kuwait and Nepal.

Pakistan’s last encounter with India was also at the SAFF Championship, back in 2018, with India winning it 3-1.

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MADRID: Rodrygo thrashed a late winner to help Real Madrid edge Rayo Vallecano 2-1 in La Liga on Wedesday and go ahead of city-rivals Atletico Madrid, who were later held 3-3 at Espanyol. 

Players and fans at Santiago Bernabeu showed their supports for Vinicus Junior, who was racially abused at Valencia during Madrid’s 2-1 defeat against the home side on Sunday.

Rodrygo bowed his head and lifted his fist into the air in a salute to team-mate Vincius after scoring Madrid’s second goal in the 89th minute.

Karim Benzema scored the opener for Real after the half-hour mark before Raul de Tomas equalised for the visitors six minutes from full-time.

Five minutes later, Rodrygo restored the lead for home side with a low shot from just outside the box beating Rayo goalkeeper.

The game was marked by overwhelming compassion and sympathy for the Brazilian winger Vincius as all Real’s players took the pitch donning shirts carrying Vinicius’ No. 20 while the captains of both teams wore armbands with anti-racism messages.

Vinicius was not part of Real Madrid’s lineup for yesterday’s game but witnessed the proceedings sitting next to club president Florentino Perez.

He joined his teammates on the pitch for a standing ovation after all the players posed next to an official LaLiga banner “Racists, out of football.”

It is pertinet to mention here that Barcelona have already won the La Liga championship with two games to spare.

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Jordi Alba will leave Barcelona at the end of the season after 11 years at the club, the Catalan side said Wednesday.

“Barcelona and Alba have reached an agreement to release the player from the contract that he had until the end of the 2023-24 season,” said Barcelona in a statement.

“Barcelona publicly expresses its gratitude to Jordi Alba for the professionalism, commitment, dedication and always positive and warm treatment he has always shown towards everything that makes up the Barcelona family.”

Jordi Alba joined Barcelona from Valencia in 2012 and won six La Liga titles and one Champions League among 19 trophies with the Catalan giants.

The 34-year-old veteran Spanish left-back lost his place in the team to teenager Alejandro Balde this season.

Jordi Alba had one more year left on his contract, which expires in 2024, and Spanish reports say he will waive a significant percentage of the money due to help the club amid financial struggles.

The Spaniard follows in the footsteps of captain Sergio Busquets, who is also leaving the club this summer.

The pair will play their final home match at Camp Nou against Real Mallorca on Sunday.

Jordi Alba has played over 450 times for Barcelona, scoring 27 goals and providing 91 assists as a vital outlet on the left flank.

The defender’s recent goal against Osasuna earned Barcelona a 1-0 win and took them to the brink of the title.

He also won the 2012 European Championship with Spain, scoring in the 4-0 win over Italy in the final.

One of his finest seasons came in 2015 under Luis Enrique, when he helped Barcelona win the treble.

The left-back has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia like Busquets and Lionel Messi, the former Barcelona playmaker who is leaving Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.

Jordi Alba joined Barcelona’s academy as a teenager before leaving for Cornella and then Valencia, returning to Camp Nou for 14 million euros ($15 million).

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VALLADOLID: Home side Valladolid pulled off an incredible 3-1 victory over champions Barcelona to bolster their La Liga survival hopes on Tuesday.

The hosts put on a dominant show in their victory over the La Liga champions and climbed to 17th, moving provisionally three points clear of the relegation zone.

Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen opened the scoring for Valladolid as he scored an own goal while heading into his own net in the second minute.

Canadian striker Cyle Larin added the second for the hosts from the penalty spot after Eric Garcia tripped Gonzalo Plata in the area as Valladolid went into the break with a 2-0 advantage over the champions.

Ecuadorian winger Plata then reaffirmed Valladolid’s domination over Barcelona as he added the third in the 73rd minute to put his side in complete command.

La Liga’s leading scorer Robert Lewandowski pulled one back for the visitors in the final stages but it was not enough for the Catalans to avoid the defeat.

Valladolid remained in the 17th spot despite their victory over Barcelona but pulled three points clear of 18th-placed Getafe, in the relegation zone.

In other La Liga fixtures, fourth-placed Real Sociedad edged 15th-placed Almeria 1-0 while Celta Vigo and Girona settled for a 1-1 stalemate after Cristhian Stuani’s second-half penalty strike.

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LAHORE: Former Manchester United youngster and Grimsby Town attacking midfielder Otis Khan is all set to represent the Pakistan men’s football team in the upcoming international events, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) confirmed on Tuesday.

Otis Khan played a pivotal role for the Mariners to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals this season and is likely to be available for Pakistan in the friendly competition in Mauritius and the ensuing South Asian Football Federation Championship (SAFF).

He began his career playing youth football at Manchester United before making the switch to professional football with Sheffield United.

Taking to Twitter, the PFF confirmed that Otis Khan will represent the national team in upcoming events.

“OTIS KHAN IS GREEN!” wrote PFF.

“The Grimsby Town attacking midfielder will now be representing the Shaheens in the upcoming international events!” PFF added.

OTIS KHAN IS GREEN! 🤩🇵🇰

The Grimsby Town attacking midfielder will now be representing the Shaheens in the upcoming international events! ⚽️🦅

Leave a message for Otis in the comment section below and make sure to follow him:https://t.co/7yDzYsMhXp#wearepakistanfootball pic.twitter.com/UHghVlsKic

— Pakistan Football Federation (@TheRealPFF) May 23, 2023

 

Before Otis Khan, former England Youth captain Easah Suliman was also cleared to represent Pakistan at the international level after FIFA approved the request made by the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) to change his national eligibility.

The Aston Villa academy graduate is poised to turn out for the Pakistan football side at next month’s South Asian Football Federation Championship (SAFF).

It is pertinent to mention that the Pakistan men’s team will make their return to the SAFF Championship after missing out on the previous two editions.

The Shaheens have been drawn with India alongside invitee Kuwait and Nepal in group A.

The SAFF Championship will take place from June 21 to July 4 in India. Pakistan will collide with the host nation India in the tournament opener in Bengaluru, before facing Kuwait and Nepal.

Pakistan’s last encounter with India was also at the SAFF Championship, back in 2018, with India winning it 3-1.

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