Tag: Barcelona

MADRID: Marco Asensio and Eder Militao netted goals to steer Real Madrid to a 2-0 win against Celta at Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday and bring down Barcelona’s lead to eight points at the top of LaLiga.

Leader Barcelona have a chance to solidify their claim on the title with a game in hand as they host Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

In-form Atletico are flying high on an unbeaten 13-game streak and have won their last six encounters in LaLiga. They sit third on the table with 13 points behind Barca and five from Real.

With eight games left in the season, defending champions Real maintained their hopes by moving to 65 points. Celta are 12th in the standings with 36 points.

After a steady start, Real started to apply pressure midway through the first half and took the lead in the 42nd minute through Asensio. The Spanish international finished with a fine touch from the middle of the box after Vinicius passed him a low cross running from the left.

Defender Militao doubled the lead right after the break by diving at a corner kick from Asensio and headed the ball over the Celta goalkeeper.

Earlier hosts Valladolid beat Girona 1-0 thanks to Monchu’s decider in the first half.

Real Sociedad, on the other hand, edged past Rayo Vallecano 2-1 with an own goal by Florian Lejeune after Alexander Sorioth neutralized Rayo’s lead two minutes after Isi Palazon’s opener in the second half.

Meanhwile, Nico Williams and Oscar de Marcos scored goals in each half to give Bilbao a 2-1 win over Almeria and take the side to seventh place on the table.

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GETAFE: In an enthralling contest, Getafe earned a point as leaders Barcelona were held to a nil-nil draw twice a week in LaLiga on Sunday. 

The Catalan Giants, who drew 0-0 with Girona on Monday, would not be happy with this week’s results yet they maintain a healthy lead over second-placed Real Madrid at the top of the standings.

With the current draw, their advantage is cut down to 11 points over arch-rivals, who beat Cadiz 2-0 on Saturday. However, there are still nine games left in the season.

Visitors Barca had two chances to break the deadlock in the 25th minute when Raphinha came close to the target but his shot struck the post before Alejandro Balde’s effort from the rebound also hit the woodwork.

Despite dominating the possession for most of the match, Barcelona looked unimpressive in their attack in the absence of injured players such as Pedri and Ousmane Dembele – two of their mainstays in creating chances this season.

Barcelona next play Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou on next Sunday while 15th-placed Getafe, who sit four points above the relegation zone, visit Mallorca on the same day.

Earlier, Girona thrashed bottom-placed Elche 2-0 at home to go ninth in the standings, thanks to goals in each half by Valentin Castellanos and Oriel Romeu.

In another LaLiga fixture yesterday Atletico Madrid edged past Almeria 2-1 after Antoine Griezmann scored twice in the first half.

Later Sevilla grabbed a sensational 2-0 win at Valencia, credit to Loic Bade and Suso’s strikes in the second half.

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BARCELONA: Several thousand Barcelona fans at Camp Nou chanted Lionel Messi’s name in the 10th minute of the Copa del Rey semi-final Clasico on Wednesday.

The Barcelona club legend and all-time top goalscorer, currently at Paris Saint-Germain, is likely to leave the French side at the end of his contract in June, a club source told AFP on Tuesday.

Some fans sung Messi’s name outside the stadium before the clash with Real Madrid and many joined in after 10 minutes of the match, representing the Argentine’s shirt number at Barca.

“Messi is living history at Barcelona, he’s the best player in the history of football,” said sporting director Mateu Alemany before the Clasico on Wednesday.

“He’s at PSG fighting for titles and we are fighting for ours. In the future we’ll see what happens.”

World Cup winner Messi, who will turn 36 in June, joined PSG in 2021 on a two-year deal which expires at the end of this campaign.

The forward has been whistled in recent weeks by some of PSG’s own fans in Paris, frustrated at the club’s Champions League elimination by Bayern Munich.

His form has dipped since he led Argentina to glory at the World Cup in Qatar at the end of last year, with some seeing him as a symbol of PSG’s mistakes in signing star names at the expense of building a competitive team.

Barcelona have been openly courting Messi, hoping to persuade the forward to return to the Camp Nou two years after he left the club where he won four Champions League titles.

Messi left Barcelona when the club could not afford to renew his contract.

“I would love it if he returned,” Barca vice-president Rafael Yuste said last week as he admitted there had been “contact” with Messi.

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BARCELONA: Karim Benzema struck a hat-trick as Real Madrid hammered Barcelona 4-0 at Camp Nou to reach the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday, progressing 4-1 on aggregate.

Vinicius Junior opened the scoring just before the break as Carlo Ancelotti’s side mounted a spectacular comeback from their one-goal semi-final first leg deficit, with Benzema adding a second-half treble.

After netting three at the weekend against Real Valladolid in La Liga, Benzema repeated the trick to humiliate Barcelona on a painful night for coach Xavi Hernandez in front of almost 95,000 distraught fans.

Los Blancos trail their arch-rivals by 12 points in La Liga and were beaten by Barca in the Spanish Super Cup final in January, but triumphed here to reach the Copa final for the first time since 2014, where they will face Osasuna.

“It was a complete game — when you play a complete game, you win 4-0 like that,” said Ancelotti.

“This is the most important moment of the season and when we’re at the right temperature (like this), we’re good.”

Madrid turfed out the record 31-time cup winners with a muscular performance on a spiky night in Barcelona, where they also ended a demoralising run of three consecutive Clasico defeats.

Barcelona’s Sergi Roberto said letting in Vinicius’ goal on the stroke of half-time was a huge blow.

“Their goal at the end of the first half killed us, we didn’t deserve to let in that goal. I think we were better in the first half,” the midfielder told RTVE.

“We created more chances that we didn’t put away, and that goal hurt our morale. In the second half they scored the second and we couldn’t play our game.”

The Catalan said defeat would not damage Barcelona’s title bid in the final weeks of the season.

“Now we have a considerable points distance, it will not affect us, we have to continue and go for the league,” he added.

Lethal Madrid

Xavi was without injured quartet Ousmane Dembele, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong and Andreas Christensen, and eventually it told.

The game started at a furious pace and intensity, both teams keen to reach the final, but absolutely desperate not to be knocked out by the other.

Barca coach Xavi was booked for protesting a foul as tempers boiled over, while Gavi and Vinicius were also issued yellow cards as they scrapped.

Thousands of Barcelona fans chanted Lionel Messi’s name in the 10th minute, amid speculation he could leave Paris Saint-Germain, and they would have dearly loved some of the Argentine’s magic.

Los Blancos took the lead in stoppage time at the end of the first half, when they showed their prowess on the counter-attack.

Thibaut Courtois made a fine save to deny Robert Lewandowski and exactly 20 seconds later, Vinicius struck at the other end.

Rodrygo cut the ball back to the forward, who squeezed a shot home despite Jules Kounde’s best attempt at a goal-line clearance. Benzema was on hand to make sure, but Vinicius’s effort had already crossed the line.

The French forward soon was able to pounce though, finishing lethally from the edge of the box in an ocean of space after Luka Modric easily skipped away from Sergi Roberto.

Barcelona collapsed after that — Benzema slotted home his second from the penalty spot before the hour mark, sending Marc-Andre ter Stegen the wrong way after Franck Kessie clumsily fouled Vinicius.

Ter Stegen denied Marco Asensio and then Benzema completed his hat-trick with a cool finish after a fine dribble and pass by Vinicius.

“Congratulations to Real Madrid, they had a great second half and compete very well,” said Xavi.

“If you let Madrid off the hook, they don’t forgive you. It’s not by chance they have won the Champions League — they have a great team.”

Madrid have lifted the Copa del Rey on 19 occasions, while their opponents Osasuna have never won it, securing passage to their second final after beating Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday.

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ELCHE: Robert Lewandowski scored a brace as Barcelona wreaked havoc on bottom-placed Elche to win 4-0 and go 15 points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga on Saturday.

The Catalan giants strengthen their position in the title race after this win while second-placed Real will look to keep their slim hopes alive with a win against Valladolid on Sunday.

League’s top scorer Lewandowski ended his goal drought after three goalless games when he opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a close-range finish after Ronald Araujo headed the ball down to him in front of the goal.

Ansu Fati doubled the lead in the 55th minute by receiving a pass from Ferran Torres in his own half, moving towards the outside of the box, and hitting low into the far corner for his first league goal since October.

Lewandowski scored his second of the night 10 minutes later after Gavi snatched the ball off Elche’s defence and set up brilliantly for the polish strike in the box.

Torres slotted the fourth goal of the visitors in the 70th minute to wrap up the game.

With the rout, Elche were pushed deep into the crisis with only 13 points from 27 games, 14 points away from the safety zone.

Earlier, Sevilla beat Cadiz 2-0 to go 13th in the standing on 31 points while the opponents were left stranded on the brink of the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, 14th-placed Getafe held Athletic Club to a nil-nil draw at home.

Girone edged past Espanyol, thanks to a late penalty scored by Christian Stunai two minutes before time, to jump to 10th place with 34 points.

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BARCELONA: Barcelona claimed a narrow 1-0 win over Valencia on Sunday, thanks to Raphina’s stand-alone goal, and moved nine points ahead of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga. 

Reigning champions Real, however, stumbled at Benito Villamarín later on and ended the frustrating week with a nil-nil draw against Real Betis.

Barcelona, who defeated the arch-rivals at home in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final on Thursday, bagged three more points and cemented their claim on the La Liga title as they top the standings with 62 points after 24 games.

The home side at Camp Nou started strongly, led by Raphinha, who missed a couple of early chances before heading the ball over the goalkeeper off a superb long pass by midfielder Sergio Busquets in the 15th minute.

But, in the second half, Ferran Torres missed a penalty and Ronald Araujo was sent off to leave the hosts battling tooth and nail to maintain the lead.

At Seville, holders Madrid dominated the proceedings but could not find a way to break the deadlock against the threatening Betis.

Karim Benzema’s effort from a free-kick was disallowed while Betis goalkeeper Claudio Bravo made a string of fine saves to deny the French forward and Vinicius Junior.

Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was also put to test in the second half by Betis but made two superb stops while the game intensified.

In another Sunday’s La Liga fixture, Valladolid cruised past Espanyol 2-1 on the back of Ivan Sanchez and Alvaro Aguado’s goal in each half.

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MADRID: Eder Militao’s own goal handed a depleted Barcelona a surprise 1-0 away victory over Real Madrid in a stormy Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Thursday.

The Catalans arrived on the back of two consecutive defeats and without an injured trio of key players — top scorer Robert Lewandowski, key midfielder Pedri and explosive winger Ousmane Dembele.

After their Europa League elimination by Manchester United last week and a first ever loss against La Liga minnows Almeria, Madrid fans smelled blood, but left bitterly frustrated.

Militao deflected a rebound into his own goal after 26 minutes to split the teams and hand Barcelona the edge ahead of the second leg on April 5 at Camp Nou.

The hosts had more of the ball but failed to muster a shot on target, while Barcelona defended well.

“This was the game we wanted to play — not with this result, but it gives us confidence for the second leg,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.

“We did not let Barcelona do what they wanted, that’s good for us, and we just have to repeat it (at Camp Nou).”

Asked if Barcelona deserved to win or not, Ancelotti said it was clear his team deserved more.

“No, that is obvious, we had chances, but I think that it was one of Madrid’s best games in terms of pressing high,” added Ancelotti.

“It was a bit strange, their way of playing, but they have learned very well, it’s a very solid team defensively.”

Barcelona lined up with Marcos Alonso out of position at centre-back, after Andreas Christensen was only deemed fit enough to start on the bench.

Sergio Busquets made his 46th Clasico appearance, overtaking former Real Madrid and Barcelona greats Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi to set a new record.

Madrid frustrations

Despite Barcelona’s seven-point lead over champions Madrid in La Liga, many, including Barca coach Xavi Hernandez, had Madrid as favourites.

Los Blancos have not won the trophy since 2014 and pushed Barca back early on, with Benzema scoring a goal ruled out for offside.

A handful of Madrid fans had protested outside the Santiago Bernabeu about Barca’s involvement in the “Negreira case” — the Catalan club paying a former refereeing chief for advice until 2018.

The temperature rose considerably when Vinicius Junior was booked midway through the first half for wrestling Frenkie de Jong to the ground.

Vinicius remonstrated vociferously with the referee, and Madrid may still have been distracted by the argument moments later when Barcelona took the lead.

The goal came against the run of play, created by Ferran Torres, who slipped through Franck Kessie, just onside.

Thibaut Courtois saved the Ivorian midfielder’s low shot but the ball rebounded off Militao, into his own net, with Nacho trying and failing to hack it clear.

Madrid players and supporters reacted angrily as Barcelona midfielder Gavi got away with smashing into Militao, but the hosts struggled to carve out chances.

Barcelona held their lead until the break comfortably, with supporters whistling the officials as they walked towards the tunnel.

With Carlo Ancelotti’s side unable to muster a shot on target against an underwhelming Barcelona side, perhaps some of the home supporters’ frustration aimed at the referee was misplaced.

Madrid struggled to connect with Benzema, isolated and unable to influence the game.

Record Copa winners Barcelona should have doubled their lead with 20 minutes remaining when Torres cut the ball back to Kessie, but his goal-bound shot was blocked by his own team-mate, Ansu Fati.

Rodrygo whipped a shot wide for Madrid in the final stages as they remained unable to test Ter Stegen, despite Barcelona’s deficiencies.

More traditional roles were reversed as Madrid had more of the ball but Barcelona defended solidly and took the advantage back home.

“Today they dominated us with the ball, but there are other aspects in the game, sometimes the opponent forces you to this,” admitted Xavi.

“Madrid can dominate you, it’s hard to get the ball off (Toni) Kroos and (Luka) Modric, but defence is part of the game.”

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Manchester United edged out Barcelona to reach the Europa League last 16 on Thursday where they were joined by fellow heavyweights Juventus and Roma.

After the first leg of their play-off ended 2-2 in Spain, United got the better of Barcelona at Old Trafford to progress 4-3 on aggregate with Antony securing the winner.

Robert Lewandowski’s early penalty had given Barca the perfect start but La Liga leaders were again undone with the step up to the European stage as Fred levelled early in the second period.

Antony then delivered his biggest moment since arriving in Manchester from Ajax.

United are riding the crest of a wave in Erik ten Hag’s first season in charge as the Red Devils remain in the hunt for trophies on four fronts.

United could end a six-year wait for silverware when they face Newcastle in the League Cup final on Sunday.

But they left nothing in reserve to secure their biggest European scalp since dumping Paris Saint-Germain out of the Champions League last 16 in dramatic fashion in 2019.

United are now unbeaten at Old Trafford in 18 games dating back to September.

“Very good to hear my name from the fans but it was a good game we played today,” said Fred.

“We need to keep going. We have a final on Sunday and now we have to change our mind to go to the final.”

Former United star Angel di Maria scored a hat-trick as Juventus reached the next stage with a 3-0 second leg win over Nantes.

The result allowed the Italian giants to progress 4-1 on aggregate.

Argentine World Cup winner Di Maria opened the scoring after five minutes and then added a 20th-minute penalty.

Di Maria completed his hat-trick in the 78th minute, in a game where the French side had been reduced to 10 men after just a quarter of an hour when Nicolas Pallois was red-carded for handball.

“After we were knocked out of the Champions League, some people might have thought the Europa League would be a walk in the park for Juventus, but it is not that simple,” said Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri.

“This was an important match, but it was not perfect. We still have work to do. There were things I was not happy with this evening.”

Jose Mourinho’s Roma also made it to Friday’s last 16 draw as a 2-0 win overturned a one-goal deficit from the first leg against Salzburg.

Andrea Belotti and Paulo Dybala scored in a seven-minute first-half spell to secure the win.

Six-time champions Sevilla went down to a 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands but progressed 3-2 on aggregate.

Luuk de Jong and Fabio Silva hit late goals for the Dutch team who had Mauro Junior sent off in stoppage time.

Sporting Lisbon were also amongst the winners, a 4-0 victory at Midtjylland in Denmark sealing a 5-1 victory.

Union Berlin, who are riding high in the Bundesliga, defeated Ajax 3-1 after the first leg had ended goalless last week.

Robin Knoche, Josip Juranovic and Danilho Doekhi scored the goals which gave Union a first ever win in the Europa League knockout stages.

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PARIS: Barcelona and Manchester United played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Europa League play-off tie on Thursday, while Juventus were left frustrated by Nantes in a 1-1 stalemate.

The game at the Camp Nou brought together two European giants who met in two Champions League finals in 2009 and 2011, and who are both in excellent form domestically.

After a goalless first half, La Liga leaders Barcelona went ahead five minutes into the second half thanks to a Marcos Alonso header at a corner.

However, United drew level just three minutes later when Marcus Rashford beat Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen at his near post to score a 13th goal in 15 games since the World Cup.

The Premier League side then took the lead just before the hour mark through a Jules Kounde own goal, but a Raphinha cross flew in inside the final quarter of an hour to secure a draw for Barca before a crowd of more than 90,000.

“I think it was a great game. Two attacking teams, I think it was a Champions League game, even more than that,” United boss Erik ten Hag told broadcaster BT Sport. “We have to finish it in Old Trafford.”

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez was left complaining that his side should have had a penalty for a handball by Fred.

“It’s a stolen penalty,” said Xavi. “I don’t know why they don’t whistle for penalties for handball now. It seems incredible to me. Incredible.”

Winning the Europa League may represent the best chance for Juventus to return to the Champions League next season after they were handed a 15-point deduction in Serie A.

That punishment, for what the Italian Football Federation ruled was illicit transfer activity designed to artificially boost their accounts, has left the Turin giants 12 points adrift of the top four at home.

Against Nantes they looked on course for a comfortable win when Federico Chiesa nodded a ball across the face of goal for Dusan Vlahovic to open the scoring early on.

But French Cup holders Nantes equalised on the breakaway on the hour when Ludovic Blas ran through to finish emphatically.

A Chiesa shot then hit the underside of the bar and bounced down without quite all of the ball crossing the line, before it struck the post and rebounded away.

Nantes also survived a VAR penalty check for a handball deep in injury time, the referee instead giving them a free-kick and leaving Juventus with work to do in the return.

Sevilla win, Roma lose

Elsewhere, Monaco came from behind to triumph 3-2 away against Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, with Axel Disasi scoring the winner in the 92nd minute.

An own goal by Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky had put Monaco ahead early on only for second-half goals by Moussa Diaby and Florian Wirtz to turn the game around.

However, Krepin Diatta pulled the principality team back level before France defender Disasi’s strike.

Shakhtar Donetsk were 2-1 winners against Rennes as the Ukrainian club played their first European game since selling star winger Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea.

Playing in the Polish capital Warsaw, Dmytro Kryskiv put Shakhtar ahead and Artem Bondarenko netted a penalty before Karl Toko-Ekambi pulled one back for Rennes.

Jose Mourinho’s Roma went down 1-0 away to Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg with Argentine midfielder Nicolas Capaldo scoring a late winner.

Sevilla, the competition’s most successful club, beat PSV Eindhoven 3-0 in Spain as Youssef En-Nesyri, Lucas Ocampos and Nemanja Gudelj all netted.

Ajax drew 0-0 with Union Berlin, while Sebastian Coates scored deep into stoppage time to earn Sporting a 1-1 draw with Midtjylland of Denmark in Lisbon.

The second legs will be played next Thursday with places in the last 16 up for grabs alongside the eight teams who topped their groups.

Fiorentina were the biggest winners in the first legs of the Europa Conference League play-offs as they trounced Braga 4-0 in Portugal.

Ciro Immobile gave Lazio a 1-0 victory against CFR Cluj while there were also first-leg wins for Qarabag, Trabzonspor, AEK Larnaca, Partizan Belgrade and Ludogorets.

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Holders Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Mallorca, damaging their bid to defend the La Liga title as Barcelona extended their lead at the top after defeating Sevilla 3-0 on Sunday. 

Barcelona went eight points clear of their arch-rivals and second-placed Real Madrid and stretched their La Liga winning streak to five games.

Jordi Alba, Gavi and Raphinhea scored second-half goals to thrash Sevilla following a disappointing outcome for Real earlier in the day.

A bizarre own goal from Nacho in the 13th minute spoiled the game for Real, who couldn’t find the equalizer rest of the way.

Nacho left everyone stunned when he tried to clear a cross and headed the ball into the nets, going over the head of his own goalkeeper.

Real failed to make a breakthrough despite having perfect control and about 70% of the possession. At the hour mark, they had a fantastic opportunity, but Predrag Rajkovic made a brilliant save to deny Marco Asensio a penalty goal.

Meanwhile, at Camp Nou, the host also witnessed Robert Lewandowski’s two attempts getting blocked by  Yassine Bounou in the first half.

However, Barcelona rebounded sharply after the break and broke the deadlock in the 59th minute when substitute Franck Kessie showed great skills to set up the ball for Alba, who breached Sevilla’s defence to slot it in from close range.

Gavi doubled the lead twelve minutes later with a beautiful low cross from Raphinha, who then hit the third goal in the 79th minute with a point-blank strike, through Alba’s assist.

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