Tag: Barcelona

BARCELONA: Polish striker Robert Lewandowski struck a hat-trick to power the home team to a dominant 4-2 victory over Valencia during their La Liga clash at Estadi Olímpic Lluis Companys on Monday.

Barcelona earned three points and edged past Girona to reach second position, only behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid.

Mid-fielder Fermin Lopez earned the advantage for the home team in 22 minutes as he sent a header into the top corner of the net from near the penalty spot.

However, Valencia’s Hugo Duro levelled the scores four minutes later after an error from goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

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Barcelona made another error in the next ten minutes when Ronald Araujo brought down a Valencia forward and conceded a foul.

Valencia earned the penalty and Pepelu successfully converted to put the visitors ahead.

But Valencia lost their goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili after he was shown a red card, prompting the visiting team to reshuffle their lineup on the stroke of the first half.

This proved costly as Lewandowski hit the equalizer for Barcelona five minutes into the second half after finding Ilkay Gundogan’s corner. The Polish star hit another header in the 82nd minute to end the stalemate.

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Lewandowski completed his hat trick during injury-time with a free-kick into the top left corner.

“I think the team did well… we lacked calmness, tranquillity, but I’m satisfied with the team’s attitude,” Barcelona boss Xavi said after the match.

Barcelona will play their next La Liga match against third-ranked Girona on 4 May.

Girona are chasing Champions League qualification which they could secure with a victory, which could also hand Madrid the title.

“It’ll be a great game, two teams looking to go on the attack,” said Xavi, whose side lost 4-2 at home against Girona in December.

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MADRID: Jude Bellingham scored an injury-time winner and lifted Real Madrid to edge arch-rivals Barcelona 3-2 in an enthralling La Liga El Clasico at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium here on Sunday.

The highly-anticipated clash got off to a contrasting start as Andres Christensen opened the scoring for Barcelona just six minutes into the game.

Christensen scored a header from Raphinha’s corner after Andriy Lunin failed to clear the ball from his six-yard box.

Barcelona must dust themselves down after the Champions League defeat to try and slow Real Madrid’s steady march towards the La Liga title in Sunday’s El Clasico.

The Spanish champions can make a last stand by reeling Madrid’s lead into five points at the Santiago Bernabeu, even if overhauling their arch-rivals with seven matches remaining to defend the trophy is a tough task.

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) brought Barcelona’s European adventure to an end in painful fashion on Tuesday, overhauling the Catalans’ two-goal lead in the tie.

Picking up his squad emotionally after that defeat will not be an easy task for Xavi Hernandez, with some Spanish reports saying the coach may leave his post after the game with reserve team coach Rafael Marquez a possible replacement.

Xavi said in January he would depart at the end of the season and despite a strong run of form since leading to a clamour for him to stay, has not changed his mind.

Defeat by PSG in the Champions League quarter-finals may have ended any chance of that happening, beyond a miracle comeback in La Liga.

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If that is to happen it must begin in the capital against a Madrid side exhausted but jubilant after they beat treble-winners Manchester City on penalties on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals.

Xavi’s first job is to calm any potential tension within his squad after midfielder Ilkay Gundogan criticised defender Ronald Araujo for his early red card which cost Barcelona against PSG.

“I’ll keep what I think to myself, I have codes and values that I think have to be respected,” Araujo told reporters.

The Uruguayan centre-back, who was also sent off against Real Madrid in January in Barcelona’s painful 4-1 hammering in the Spanish Super Cup final, said his team would not throw in the towel in La Liga.

“Madrid are our biggest rival and we have to change our mindset — we’ll go all out on Sunday,” continued Araujo.

“We mathematically have a chance still and we have to fight for La Liga until the end.”

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Barcelona have not lost away from home in La Liga this season, while goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has gone 583 minutes without conceding in the top flight — 53 short of his best record in the competition.

With Madrid having defended for their lives against City over 120 minutes of high-intensity football, Barcelona may be able to capitalise.

“On Sunday we’ll compete again, we’re not throwing in the towel in La Liga,” said Xavi. “Let’s see if we can put ourselves within five points (of Madrid).”

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said his team were “very tired” but would find the strength to continue their title tilt.

“The Clasico is crucial for the league,” said the Italian, who has won La Liga on one occasion, with Madrid in 2022.

As well as their Spanish Super Cup triumph over Barca, Madrid also won the first Clasico of the season at the Olympic Stadium in October and are looking to make it a hat-trick.

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Rafael Nadal said it will be “a joy” to return to action for the first time since January when he takes part in the Barcelona Open next week where he is a 12-time champion.

The 22-time Grand Slam winner has played just once, in an exhibition match, since he felt a hip injury flare-up during a quarter-final defeat by Jordan Thompson in Brisbane on the eve of the Australian Open.

“I’m happy to be here, of course, Barcelona is a place that has brought me a great deal of joy, and where I have spent periods of my life,” said Nadal at Saturday’s draw ceremony.

Nadal will play 63rd-ranked Flavio Cobolli of Italy in his opening match.

Nadal, who turns 38 in June, will be looking for a problem-free return as he builds towards seeking a record-extending 15th French Open title.

The former world number one has seen his ranking slip to 646 after missing all of the 2023 season following the Australian Open.

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“Over the last two years I’ve had very few days on tour, so spending days here, seeing people, being able to practise with players is a joy,” added Nadal.

“I’m keen to carry on. The tournament has some incredible players.”

The 2022 and 2023 Barcelona champion Carlos Alcaraz will begin his clay-court campaign after missing the Monte Carlo Masters due to a right arm injury.

World number three Alcaraz is the top seed and has a bye in the first round before facing either China’s Zhang Zhizhen or Luca Van Assche of France.

Nadal has never played Cobolli, 16 years his junior. If he gets past him, he will face the tougher task of 11th-ranked Australian Alex de Minaur in the second round.

There is the prospect of a tantalising semi-final meeting with Alcaraz on the centre court which now bears Nadal’s name.

On Saturday afternoon, Nadal trained with sixth-ranked Andrey Rublev of Russia and appeared to move smoothly around the court.

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BARCELONA: Brazilian winger Raphinha steered Barcelona to a 1-0 victory over Las Palmas during the La Liga 2023-24 clash here at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on Saturday.

The Catalans closed the gap with La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a difference of five points after sinking 12th-ranked Las Palmas.

Raphinha earned the advantage for Barcelona in the 19th minute however the goal was overruled due to offside.

Despite not getting a breakthrough, the home side dominated throughout the first half and kept challenging Las Palmas’ defence.

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Meanwhile, Las Palmas’ struggles doubled in the 24th minute as their goalkeeper, Alvaro Valles received a red card in the 24th minute for taking out Raphinha who was headed towards an open net.

The first half ended without any goals, but Barcelona continued to create chances. Eventually, Joao Felix passed the ball over the defenders to Raphinha, who headed it past the goalkeeper and scored the match-winner.

Notably, Barcelona are unbeaten in 11 games since their coach Xavi Hernandez said that he would leave at the end of the season and their recent form has given them some faint hope of retaining their title.

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Leaders Real Madrid will face Athletic Bilbao on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu, aiming to restore their eight-point advantage on the Catalans in second.

“They’re three important points, we know they will be important at the end of the season,” Raphinha told Movistar.

“We’ll keep fighting until the end and we won’t give up until the league is over.”

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MADRID: Joao Felix opened the scoring for Barcelona and guided them to a 3-0 victory against his parent club Atletico Madrid at Metropolitano Stadium on Sunday during the ongoing La Liga 2023-24.

Barcelona became the first team to defeat Atletico Madrid at their home stadium this season, breaking their 25-game undefeated streak at Metropolitano Stadium.

Notably, Atletico’s last home defeat also came against the Catalans in January 2023.

With this victory, the defending champions displaced Girona at the second position in the La Liga standings only behind Real Madrid.

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Felix, who is on loan from Atletico Madrid, gave the visitors an early advantage with a 38th-minute goal after he found Robert Lewandowski’s cross and hit from the centre of the box.

Lewandowski himself also got his name on the scoring sheet and doubled the advantage in the early minutes of the second half with a right-footed shot from the right side of the box.

The Polish striker provided another assist as Fermin Lopez powered a header in the 65th minute to make it 3-0.

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Barcelona are unbeaten in the last 10 matches since their coach Xavi announced that he would leave at the end of the season.

“I’ll push the (players) more than ever,” Xavi told DAZN, refusing to throw in the towel on Barcelona’s title defence.

“And now that I’m leaving, even more so — we will try to improve and compete for La Liga and the Champions League, the two most important trophies.”

Meanwhile, in another La Liga clash Rayo Vallecano edged Real Betis 2-0, while Villarreal and Almeria Almeria registered 1-0 victories over Valencia and Las Palmas respectively.

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Barcelona survived a nervy second half to beat Napoli 3-1 on Tuesday and reach the Champions League quarter-finals 4-2 on aggregate at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

Xavi Hernandez’s side came flying out of the blocks with goals from Fermin Lopez and Joao Cancelo but after Amir Rrahmani pulled one back, the Catalans started to sweat.

Italian champions Napoli, who salvaged a 1-1 draw in the last-16 first leg, were finally beaten when Robert Lewandowski swept home from close range.

It is the first time that five-time winners Barcelona have reached the last eight of the Champions League since 2020, and they did so without injured midfield trio Pedri, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong.

Xavi said he was leaving at the end of the season in January and his team have gone on a run of nine games without defeat after that decision.

Teenage stars Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi have been key to that form, and both excelled against Napoli on a night which offered some relief to Barcelona amid a bleak season.

Barcelona became the first team in the competition’s history to start two players 17 or under in a knock-out stage game.

Xavi demanded the fans turn their temporary Olympic Stadium home on the city’s Montjuic hill into a pressure cooker, and they duly obliged. Over 50,000 spectators marked the club’s largest attendance this season.

Francesco Calzona’s Napoli wilted as the Spanish champions came out of the blocks flying.

Electric 16-year-old winger Yamal made strong inroads down the right before the bright Lopez opened the scoring after 15 minutes.

Cancelo fed Raphinha who cut the ball back into the area for Lopez, who tucked home.

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While he may lack the metronomic precision of Pedri, the midfielder provides thrust and an insatiable desire to shoot.

Two minutes later the Catalans doubled their lead against the shellshocked visitors, with Yamal starting the move by breaking loose in his own half on the counter-attack.

The winger played in Raphinha and although the Brazilian hit the post Cancelo was running in to roll home the rebound.

Napoli battled their way back in when Matteo Politano slipped in down the right, with Ronald Araujo playing him onside.

The Italy winger crossed for Rrahmani who slotted home cleanly to pull Napoli back into the tie.

Napoli were almost level moments later but Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen made a superb save, tipping over Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s header.

The Italians started the second half strongly, with Barcelona forced back into their own half, aimlessly clearing the ball.

Xavi took action by bringing on Sergi Roberto and Oriol Romeu for Lopez and Andreas Christensen, aiming to freshen up the midfield and give his team new impetus.

Raphinha and Lewandowski drew saves from Alex Meret before Yamal struck from close range, but he was offside.

Danish winger Jesper Lindstrom headed narrowly wide for Napoli before Lewandowski settled the tie after Ilkay Gundogan and Sergi Roberto combined to set him up.

Second-half jitters showed Barcelona are far from their former glory but in the dynamic Yamal, Raphinha and Cancelo they have the quality going forward to trouble any prospective quarter-final opponent.

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Barcelona midfielders Pedri and Frenkie de Jong are expected to miss the Champions League clash against Napoli after the Spanish club confirmed on Monday.

Dutch international De Jong suffered a right ankle sprain with Spaniard Pedri picking up a new injury to his right hamstring in Sunday’s goalless draw in La Liga clash against Athletic Bilbao.

Barcelona did not specify the duration of the pair’s absence, but they could be out for more than a month and miss the Champions League last 16-second leg clash against Napoli next week.

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The five-time European champions will host the current Italian champions on March 12 with the tie finely poised after a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

De Jong was sidelined earlier this season with a right ankle injury, while Pedri has been plagued by right thigh problems with the latest being his third of the campaign.

Pedri is also expected to miss Spain’s international friendlies against Colombia in London on March 22 and Brazil at Santiago Bernabeu four days later.

“They are two very influential players in our game, two very important players. We will miss them,” said their coach Xavi Hernandez on Sunday, after the third-placed Catalans missed the chance to go second.

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MADRID: Marcos Llorente’s goal helped Atletico Madrid edge Sevilla 1-0 to displace defending champions Barcelona in third position during their La Liga 2023-24 clash at Civitas Metropolitan Stadium on Saturday.

Atletico Madrid’s last La Liga match ended in a 3-3 stalemate against Getafe after being reduced to ten men, while Sevilla registered their third victory this season over Granada 3-0.

Both teams started the game on high, making two attempts each in the first ten minutes to end this year with a victory.

Antoine Griezmann was at his best, making several attempts to earn the lead for Atletico however, Sevilla’s goalkeeper did not let him get through.

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Both sides fought hard in the first half, which ended without a goal from either team.

The home side made two substitutions for the second half as Marcos Llorente replaced Nahuel Molina, while Ángel Correa replaced Rodrigo Riquelme.

Marcos Llorente came off the bench and scored the match-winner in his first minute as he hit a right-footed shot from a difficult angle on the right to the bottom left corner.

This was Llorente’s third goal during the ongoing season of La Liga.

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Llorente came close to adding a second with a header that hit the top of the net and a shot saved by Sevilla keeper Marko Dmitrovic.

Sevilla made several vain efforts to equalise but could not get through as the home side’s lead remained intact until the final whistle.

Atletico Madrid will face second-placed Girona in their next La Liga match on January 4th, while Sevilla will face Athletic Club on the same day.

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BARCELONA: Barcelona’s Sergi Roberto scored a brace to help his side edge bottom-ranked Almeria in a five-goal La Liga thriller at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

Defending La Liga champions Barcelona solidified their third position after the 3-2 win over the win-less visitors at their temporary home ground, which is hosting their home games this season due to renovations of the Camp Nou.

Barcelona dominated the possession from the beginning and kept the Almeria side under pressure.

Raphinha opened the scoring in the 33rd minute when Araujo hit a header following a corner, which was stopped by Almeria goalkeeper Maximiano but Raphinha hit the net on a rebound.

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Now in the lead, Xavi’s charges took their foot off the pedal, yet they almost got a second when Robert Lewandowski was gifted the ball in the box by a defender and only another excellent Maximiano save denied him.

This drop in intensity did then prove to be their undoing as just eight minutes later, Leo Baptistao shocked them with an equaliser.

Xavi rang the changes at half-time and sent on Ferran Torres and Jules Kounde in place of Joao Felix and Andreas Christensen.

Torres had an instant impact, working the Portuguese stopper with a firm strike three minutes after half-time.

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Poor set-piece defending gave Barca the chance they needed to get back in front on the hour mark, Sergi Roberto meeting a corner at the near post and lofting a header over the goalkeeper’s dive into the far corner.

The second goal appeared to have knocked the stuffing out of the 20th-placed side but a gift from Pena got them back in it when he dropped a lofted free-kick at Edgar’s feet and the defender gleefully rolled the ball into the unguarded net.

Barca had a golden chance to win the game with just over 10 minutes remaining, but Lewandowski then Ilkay Gundogan were unable to make sufficient contact with their headers when the goal was gaping before them.

But it was Sergi Roberto, in just his fifth appearance of the season, that provided the winning goal for the Spanish champions when he burst onto Lewandowski’s lofted pass in the 83rd minute and slotted past Maximiano.

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