Tag: Barcelona

PARIS: Last season’s beaten finalists Liverpool got their Champions League campaign off to a disastrous start in a 4-1 defeat away to Napoli on Wednesday, while Robert Lewandowski hit a hat-trick in a big win for Barcelona.

Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich also got their campaigns underway with victories, but Rangers were crushed 4-0 by Ajax in the Netherlands on their return to the group phase of Europe’s elite club competition.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have won just two of their first six Premier League games this season and there was to be no improvement on their trip to Italy as Napoli raced into an early lead and never looked back.

Piotr Zielinski converted a fifth-minute penalty, and Victor Osimhen then had a second Napoli spot-kick saved by Alisson Becker.

Yet Napoli — who had defeated Liverpool in their own stadium in the group stage in 2018 and in 2019 — were 3-0 up at the break as Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s fine finish was followed by a tap-in from substitute Giovanni Simeone.

Liverpool fell further behind two minutes into the second half as Zielinski followed up to score after his initial effort was saved, but Luis Diaz did pull a goal back.

“We were miles too open. You can’t come to a place like this and not be compact. They were by miles the better team,” Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson told BT Sport.

“We have to wake up and quickly because we can’t perform like that.”

The six-time European Cup winners’ next Group A outing is at home to Ajax, who could have won by more than four at home to Rangers, last season’s Europa League finalists playing in the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2010.

Edson Alvarez headed Ajax in front before a Steven Berghuis shot deflected in and a superb individual strike from Mohammed Kudus made it 3-0 to Ajax by half-time.

Steven Bergwijn pounced on a poor backpass to seal the victory late on in Amsterdam, leaving Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst to give a bleak assessment of his side’s prospects.

“To compete in the Champions League you spend hundreds of millions, for us to compete it is too much to ask,” insisted the Dutchman.

Lewandowski became the first player to score a Champions League hat-trick for three different clubs as the ex-Borussia Dortmund and Bayern star marked his first appearance in the competition with Barcelona in style.

The Catalans crushed Czech champions Viktoria Plzen 5-1 in Group C, with Franck Kessie heading in the opener before Lewandowski made it 2-0.

Jan Sykora pulled one back only for Lewandowski to score again before half-time and then fire in his third goal midway through the second half.

The Pole now has 89 Champions League goals, three more than Karim Benzema, with only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi ahead of him.

Ferran Torres scored the fifth for Barca, whose next game will be away to Lewandowski’s old side Bayern.

The Germans claimed an impressive 2-0 win away to Inter Milan on Wednesday, with Leroy Sane rounding Andre Onana for the first-half opener and then forcing Danilo D’Ambrosio into a 66th-minute own goal

Antonio Conte’s Tottenham struggled to break down Marseille in north London until the French side had Chancel Mbemba sent off just after half-time.

Richarlison scored the opener in the 76th minute, heading in Ivan Perisic’s cross, and the Brazilian headed in again soon after to make it 2-0.

“I think we felt a bit of pressure in this competition, but at the end we have to be pleased,” Conte said of the victory.

Also in Group D, Sporting Lisbon scored three second-half goals to win 3-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt, with former Spurs youngster Marcus Edwards, Francisco Trincao and Nuno Santos all on target.

In Group B, Antoine Griezmann headed the winner in the 11th minute of injury time as Atletico Madrid beat Porto 2-1.

In an incredible finish, Porto had Mehdi Taremi sent off late on before Mario Hermoso put Atletico ahead with a deflected 92nd-minute strike.

Hermoso then conceded a penalty for handball, allowing Matheus Uribe to equalise in the 96th minute, only for Griezmann to have the last laugh.

The only other game in Champions League history to feature three goals scored in stoppage time was Porto’s meeting with Atletico in December last year.

In the same group Abakar Sylla’s header was spilled over the line by the goalkeeper to give Club Brugge a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen

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MADRID: Real Madrid edged past Real Betis 2-1 here on Saturday to keep their LaLiga winning streak intact meanwhile Barcelona crushed the home side Sevilla 3-0 after a dominant show to remain undefeated and secure the third consecutive victory of the season. 

Real continued to stay at top of the standings while Barcelona jumped to the second after the win on matchday four of La Liga 2022-23.

Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, finished in a 1-1 draw against the home team Real Sociedad.

Vinicius Junior put Real Madrid in lead in the ninth minute as he lobbed the ball over Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva’s head after he received a wonderful long pass from David Alaba.

Betis, however, responded eight minutes later as Sergio Canales popped up inside the box to score the equalizer.

Madrid unleashed a more vigorous attack to regain the lead but squandered multiple opportunities with Rodrygo finally breaking the deadlock in the 65th minute to steer his side 2-1 up in the game.

Meanwhile, Barcelona completely thrashed out Sevilla with goals from Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Eric Garcia.

Raphinha Dias scored the opening goal after a counter-attack and the defenders cleared the ball off the line in the 21st minute. He headed the ball into the open goal with a brilliant assist from Lewandowski to make it 1-0 for Barca.

Lewandowski doubled the lead in the 36th minute as he received a phenomenal cross from Jules Kounde on his chest and volleyed the ball into the nets.

Barca furthered the lead in the 50th minute when Eric Garcia pushed the ball after a brilliant header from Kounde.

Sevilla successfully thwarted a few other attempts by Barca to extend the lead before the full-time.

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MADRID: Dani Alves announced on Wednesday that he is leaving Barcelona for a second time after returning to the club last year.

The 39-year-old, who rejoined Barca last November on a short-term deal until the end of the season, confirmed he would not be extending his contract.

“I would like to thank all the staff for the opportunity they gave me to return to this club and to be able to wear that wonderful shirt again, you don’t know how happy I am,” the Brazilian international said in an Instagram post.

Alves made 408 appearances in total for Barcelona, with 391 of those coming in his first spell from 2008-2016.

During that initial stint, he won six La Liga titles, three Champions League crowns and four Copa del Rey trophies.

Alves is still in line to be named in Brazil’s squad for the Qatar World Cup later this year and started both of their friendly wins over Japan and South Korea earlier this month.

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BARCELONA: The home side Barcelona took a big step towards securing a place in next season’s Champions League as a 2-1 victory over Real Mallorca on Sunday saw them reclaim the second spot in La Liga from Sevilla.

Goals in either half from Memphis Depay and Sergio Busquets put Xavi Hernandez’s men in control and they took the three points despite Antonio Raillo’s effort for their relegation-threatened opponents at the Camp Nou.

The Catalan giants move two points ahead of Sevilla and nine clear of fifth-placed Real Betis, who have a game in hand, with four matches to play this season.

Barca took the lead in the 25th minute as Memphis Depay made a clever run to collect Jordi Alba’s pass before thumping a fine half-volley into the bottom corner.

The Dutchman has scored 11 league goals since joining Barcelona from Lyon last summer, despite having struggled for a regular starting spot since the arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Arsenal in January.

The hosts doubled their advantage nine minutes after the break as Sergio Busquets drove a low shot from the edge of the box into the net to score for the third time this season in all competitions, equalling his previous best goalscoring campaign.

Barca thought they had added a third in the 73rd minute, but Ferran Torres’ effort after a desperate goalmouth scramble was ruled out for an offside earlier in the move.

There was more to cheer for the home fans shortly afterwards as Ansu Fati came off the bench to make his first appearance after suffering a hamstring injury in January.

Mallorca ensured that their opponents would at least endure a nervy finale to the match, as Antonio Raillo pulled one back with 11 minutes remaining.

But Barcelona held on, leaving Mallorca only one point ahead of 18th-placed Granada, who drew 1-1 with Celta Vigo, in the fight to beat the drop.

Earlier, Real Sociedad suffered a blow in their bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League, as Radamel Falcao grabbed Rayo Vallecano a 1-1 draw.

La Real looked set to move within three points of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid with four matches remaining when Alexander Sorloth gave them a first-half lead.

But Colombian veteran Falcao came off the bench in the 77th minute and scored less than a minute later to leave Sociedad five points off the top-four pace.

It was Falcao’s sixth league goal of an injury-hit season as the 36-year-old made his first appearance for Rayo since February.

Visitors Sociedad remain in sixth place after a third straight game without a win.

Real Betis can cut the gap to Atletico down to a single point on Monday when they travel to Getafe.

Real Madrid wrapped up the title on Saturday, ahead of their Champions League semi-final second leg against Manchester City in midweek.

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