Tag: La Liga

Jude Bellingham continued his devastating form with a brace as Real Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 to return to the top of La Liga on Saturday.

Girona’s 1-0 win at Cadiz temporarily gave the Catalan minnows a one-point lead but Real Madrid cruised to victory at the Santiago Bernabeu to reclaim first place, with Vinicius Junior and Joselu also scoring in the rout.

England international Jude Bellingham, the division’s top scorer with eight goals, was at his unstoppable best once more in the final third.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has shifted the former Borussia Dortmund player into a more attacking role behind two central strikers and it has paid dividends.

After scoring a brilliant solo goal against Napoli in midweek in the Champions League and adding two more against Osasuna, the midfielder now has 10 across both competitions in 10 appearances.

“He’s in top form, he’s showing the player he is, I hope he keeps on like this,” Madrid defender Dani Carvajal told Real Madrid TV.

“I hope he keeps scoring goals and keeps helping us, because he can win us titles.”

Ancelotti deployed defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni alongside Antonio Rudiger at the heart of defence, with David Alaba and Eder Militao injured, and Nacho suspended after his rash tackle last weekend against Girona.

However, Tchouameni enjoyed a quiet afternoon at the back as Real Madrid dominated to ensure they will stay perched at the top over the international break.

Madrid broke the deadlock after nine minutes when Luka Modric, afforded a rare start, fed Carvajal who laid the ball off neatly to Bellingham.

The midfielder, who had surged into the box, opened up some space and then blasted home, leaving goalkeeper Sergio Herrera with little chance.

Vinicius fired narrowly over when he might have passed to Jude Bellingham, with Madrid goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga reduced to a mere spectator at the other end.

Osasuna did carve out one good chance, shortly before half-time, with Ante Budimir slashing over the bar after being set up nicely by Ruben Pena.

Bellingham started and finished Madrid’s second goal in the 55th minute, darting forward and playing a one-two with Fede Valverde, before sweeping home, showing the combination of grace and dynamism he is known for.

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Vinicius extended Madrid’s lead when Valverde sent him running through on goal, with the Brazilian expertly rounding goalkeeper Herrera and tapping home.

The winger turned provider for the fourth goal, setting up on-loan striker Joselu, who gleefully finished for his fifth league goal in his last six la Liga games.

“It’s a tough place to go, against one of the best teams in the world — they were far superior,” Osasuna wide man Pena told Movistar.

Joselu’s sixth should have followed when David Garcia conceded a penalty for handball, but Herrera saved the forward’s effort, fired down the middle.

Osasuna’s goalkeeper has a superb penalty-saving record, including stopping two efforts from former Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema in one match.

Joselu’s miss did not take the shine off Madrid’s afternoon, as they celebrated their most emphatic win of the season to date.

“The team came out for the three points from the start, we played a complete game in all areas, and we gave up few chances,” added Carvajal.

“We achieved our objective of reaching the international break as leaders.”

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MADRID: Argentinian striker Ángel Correa scored twice to script a triumphant comeback for Atletico Madrid in the La Liga season 2023/24 as they defeated Cadiz 3-2 after being two down at Civitas Metropolitan Stadium on Monday.

The home side started strongly with Antoine Griezmann finding Correa’s cross two minutes into the game, however, the ball hit the right post. A minute later another of his attempts was brilliantly saved by Jeremias Ledesma.

Despite the home side’s attempts Cadiz did not let them get through and scored the first goal in the 12^th minute as Chris Ramos’ cross met Lucas Pires who sent the ball from the left side of the six-yard box to the bottom left corner.

They doubled their lead 15 minutes later with Roger Martí getting in the scoresheet.

However, only five minutes later Ángel Correa scored his first goal to reduce the deficit for Atletico Madrid. César Azpilicueta’s shot was met by Correa who headed from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.

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Atletico Madrid started the second half with Nahuel Molina’s equalizer from a difficult angle to go past the goalkeeper and hit the bottom right corner of the net.

Antoine Griezmann made two more excellent attempts but were blocked before Saúl Ñíguez met Ángel Correa who scored the match-winning second goal.

This was Atletico Madrid’s third consecutive victory in the ongoing season of La Liga, which propelled them to fourth spot in the points table.

Meanwhile, in another La Liga fixture, Las Palmas edged past Celta Vigo 2-1 at Gran Canaria Stadium to register their second victory in the ongoing season.

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GIRONA: Real Madrid jumped to the top of the La Liga 2023/24 points table after thumping second-ranked Girona 3-0 at Estadi Montilivi on Saturday.

Girona started the game on song with three attempts within the first ten minutes. However, they were unable to take the lead before Real Madrid turned the game around and gained an advantage over the home side as they managed to score in the 17th minute through a pass from Bellingham to Joselu, who turned it in past goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.

The visitors did not wait much and extended their lead to 2-0 four minutes later when Aurelien Tchouameni headed in from a corner.

Girona failed to make a comeback after that and Real Madrid sealed the victory with a third goal in the 71st minute as Jude Bellingham, fired in a volley during a counter-attack.

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Jude Bellingham has scored six goals in the ongoing La Liga season after arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the summer following a huge transfer deal.

The only negative for Real Madrid in this match was that defender Nacho was sent off for an ugly high tackle on Portu, who went off injured towards the end of the match.

In other La Liga fixtures, Real Sociedad outclassed Atheltic Club with a thumping 3-0 victory at Anoeta Stadium, which helped them jump to the fourth spot in the ongoing season, while Getafe and Villarreal settled for a goalless draw.

Robin Le Normand opened the scoring for Real Sociedad in the 30th minute before Takefusa Kubo extended their lead three minutes into the second half.

Mikel Oyarzabal then scored the third goal for the home side from the right side of the box to the bottom right corner courtesy of an assist by Martín Zubimendi with a through ball.

Meanwhile, the La Liga fixture between Rayo Vallecano and Mallorca ended in a 2-2 stalemate at Estadio de Vallecas after Radamel Falcao of Rayo Vallecano converted a penalty in the final moments of the game to script a comeback draw for the home side.

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PAMPLONA: Atletico Madrid won back-to-back matches in the ongoing La Liga season as they thumped Osasuna 2-0 in a heated clash on Thursday at El Sadar.

After defeating city rivals Real Madrid 3-1 on Sunday, Atletico Madrid carried the momentum against Osasuna and created a few chances early on before Antoine Griezmann hit the net in the 20th minute to draw first blood.

The home side could not do much in the first half, however, they dominated the second half in their quest for an equalizer and after 76 minutes, they earned the reward as David Garcia scored from a corner, but the goal was disallowed because Ante Budimir was found to have fouled Axel Witsel.

Atletico Madrid, doubled their lead a few minutes later, thanks to Samuel Lino breaking forward and passing to Rodrigo Riquelme who made no mistake to make it 2-0 to seal the game for the visitors.

The closely fought encounter saw players losing their cool towards the end as Chimy Avila and Alvaro Morata got into a fight and both got red. After seeming to stamp on Morata, the Osasuna player was given a straight red, while Morata received a second yellow for his response.

Meanwhile, two other La Liga fixtures ended at a 1-1 draw as Celta Vigo drew with Alaves at Estadio de Balaídos, and Granada drew Real Betis at Nuevo Los Cármenes.

Granada were on a three-match losing streak prior to the game, and it appeared that it would be extended to four losses, however, Bryan Zaragoza’s cross met Lucas Boyé in the 67th minute, who netted from very close range to equalize and save his team from another defeat.

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Real Madrid registered a comfortable victory 2-0 over Las Palmas and moved to the second position, however, Girona jumped to the top of the La Liga 2023/24 points table after edging Villarreal 2-1 on Wednesday.

Coming off the La Liga derby defeat, Real Madrid dominated visitors from the first whistle at Santiago Bernabeu and came close to opening the scoring after just eight minutes as Joselu picked out Rodrygo in the box, who made a fierce attempt but Alvaro Valles made the save.

They kept the pressure on, but Las Palmas did not let them score throughout a thrilling first half until Brahim Diaz netted to give Los Blancos the lead in the stoppage time.

Real Madrid doubled their lead early in the second half as Joselu scored off a header on Rodrygo’s cross, with the ball hitting the far corner of the net to make it 2-0.

Meanwhile, in another La Liga fixture, Girona came from behind to win after being at a goal deficit early in the second half against Villarreal at Estadio de la Cerámica.

The visitors conceded a penalty courtesy of Iván Martín’s foul in the penalty area four minutes into the second half, which was successfully converted by Dani Parejo.

However, visitors made a comeback and equalised only seven minutes later as Sávio’s cross found enough of Artem Dovbyk’s to hit the bottom right corner of the net.

Girona did not wait long and only four minutes later Eric García scored the match-winning header from very close range to the bottom right corner after finding Aleix García’s cross following a corner.

Real Sociedad on the other hand, registered their third win in the ongoing La Liga season at the expense of home team Valencia courtesy of Carlos Fernández’s shot after an assist by Kieran Tierney following a set piece situation at Mestalla Stadium.

Meanwhile, two other La Liga fixtures ended at a stalemate Athletic Club drew 2-2 with Getafe, and Cadiz’s game against Rayo Vallecano ended goalless.

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PALMA: Youngster Fermin Lopez rescued La Liga toppers Barcelona with a 75th-minute goal against Mallorca to draw the game at Iberostar Stadium on Tuesday.

Fermin Lopez came off the bench and netted his first senior goal for Barcelona in about 12 minutes to help his team avoid their first loss of the ongoing La Liga season.

Mallorca started the game on high and gained an early advantage in the 8th minute as Vedat Muriqi took advantage of Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s mistake to play the ball out causing a scramble in the penalty area.

Barcelona’s Raphinha scored the equalizing goal in the 41st minute, but Mallorca managed to get the lead again only seven minutes later in stoppage time with a goal from Abdon Prats, assisted by Muriqi’s long ball.

The home side dominated and kept Barcelona’s attackers silent until Lopez helped his team equalize 15 minutes before the final whistle as both teams shared points.

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In another La Liga fixture, Sevilla thumped Almeria 5-1 at their home Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on Tuesday.

This was Sevilla’s second victory in the la Liga 2023/24, while, Almeria suffered their fifth loss in the season and are yet to win a game this season.

The home side raced to a two-goal advantage in eight minutes with back-to-back goals by Youssef En-Nesyri and Dodi Lukebakio.

Sevilla further extended their lead in the 38th minute as Suso scored off a left-footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner, thanks to a timely assist by Djibril Sow.

The first half ended at 3-0, however, the home side started the second half the same way as the first with Adrià Pedrosa’s cross reaching Erik Lamela, who netted the fourth goal for Almeria.

Almeria scored their only goal when Luis Suarez converted a penalty as Jesús Navas was shown a yellow card.

The match appeared to end at 4-1, but Kike Salas added another goal to the home side’s tally in the stoppage time.

The Sevilla will next face defending champions Barcelona on September 30.

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MADRID: Alvaro Morata scored twice to end Real Madrid’s perfect start in the La Liga season 2023/24 as Atletico Madrid earned an inspiring 3-1 victory over the city rivals at Civitas Metropolitan Stadium on Sunday.

Real Madrid entered the game with a five-match winning streak in the ongoing season of La Liga, while Atletico Madrid were coming off an away loss against Valencia.

However, the home team wasted no time and gained an early advantage in the fourth minute as Morata scored off a header.

Real Madrid maintained possession and made several vain attempts to equalize before Antoine Griezmann got into the scoresheet as he netted a header to extend the lead for Atletico Madrid at the 18-minute mark.

Real Madrid finally managed to reduce the two-goal deficit, thanks to a brilliant strike by veteran Toni Kroos in the 35th minute, leaving no chance for goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Kroos attempted to equalize before half-time with an assist from Eduardo Camavinga, however, Oblak made the save in the bottom left corner to deny the comeback for Los Blancos.

Atletico Madrid continued their dominant performance in the second half, with Morata scoring off a header less than a minute after the restart to extend their lead to two goals once again.

They then defended well enough to keep Real Madrid’s aggression limited and ended the game at 3-1 to hand Real Madrid their first loss of the ongoing La Liga season.

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On the other hand, Las Palmas registered their first victory in the La Liga season 2023/24, as they triumphed over Granada at Estadio Gran Canaria. Kirian Rodríguez scored a mere five minutes before the final whistle to lead his team to victory after being reduced to ten men.

Meanwhile, two La Liga games ended at a 1-1 stalemate, as Real Betis drew with Cadiz at Benito Villamarín, and, Rayo Vallecano drew with Villareal at Estadio de Vallecas on Sunday.

In another La Liga fixture, Real Sociedad made a stellar comeback to a 4-3 victory over Getafe at Anoeta Stadium.

The home side started the game with Takefusa Kubo scoring in the first minute, thanks to an assist by Brais Méndez, however, Getafe’s Carles Aleñá scored off a header from very close range in the 39th minute to level the scores.

Getafe further extended their lead as Borja Mayoral converted a penalty in the extra time after Álex Remiro was shown the yellow card. The first half ended with Getafe on top with 2-1.

Real Sociedad equalled in the 61st minute as Mikel Oyarzabal scored off the penalty, and got the lead only five minutes later with Brais Méndez scoring off a header from the centre.

Mikel Oyarzabal got his name in the scoresheet once again as he scored in the 88th minute, thanks to an assist by Mikel Merino to make it 4-2.

Juanmi Latasa scored one for Getafe to reduce the deficit to end the game at 4-3.

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Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said winger Vinicius Junior would be in the squad to face Atletico Madrid in the ongoing season of La Liga on Sunday.

The Brazilian has been out since suffering a hamstring injury against Celta Vigo on August 25 but has recovered quicker than expected.

Vinicius, 23, may start on the bench in the Madrid derby at the Metropolitano where league La Liga table-toppers Real Madrid are looking to maintain their 100 percent start to the ongoing season.

“Vinicius trained yesterday with the team, he’s in good condition, the injury is forgotten, he trained today very well — he will be in the squad,” said Ancelotti.

“Later, we’ll decide what role he has in the game tomorrow.”

The Italian coach did insist the club would take no risks with Vinicius.

“He trained yesterday because the risk was zero, he trained today because the risk was zero,” said Ancelotti.

“If tomorrow there is one percent risk, we won’t play him.

“The important thing is that Vinicius has recovered, he’s lacking a bit of match fitness but that’s normal, they are things we’ll evaluate tomorrow.”

Last season a group of Atletico fans caused outrage with racist chants outside their stadium aimed at Vinicius before the derby clash in La Liga.

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In January, Atletico supporters hung an effigy of the forward near Real Madrid’s training ground, with four fans later fined and banned from games.

“I think that something has changed after last year … there’s a more calm, respectful atmosphere, and I think tomorrow will be the same,” continued Ancelotti.

Ancelotti confirmed midfielder Jude Bellingham was fit for the game after a brief illness troubled him in the week, but Dani Carvajal was still out with a leg problem.

Atletico, seventh, have struggled at the start of the season and were beaten 3-0 last week by Valencia in what their coach Diego Simeone described as the “weakest” performance of his reign.

“Derbies are great opportunities,” added Ancelotti.

“They are special occasions. These are two teams from the capital, two teams with great quality, the game will be very high intensity.”

Atletico coach Diego Simeone believes his team can compete with their city rivals, despite the two sides’ differences.

“Madrid and Barcelona can always afford to have great players, but we’ve always been able to compete with them,” said Simeone.

“So we have to concentrate on ourselves and continue to compete with them as we have done for the last 11 years.”

Atletico have various injury problems, including Thomas Lemar who will be out for months after rupturing his Achilles tendon last weekend.

“As (Pep) Guardiola (the Manchester City manager) said, there are a lot of matches, a lot of travelling, three international breaks before December… but we have to adapt as best we can to this situation,” added Simeone.

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BARCELONA: Home side Barcelona on Saturday turned the tables tremendously in the last ten minutes to win 3-2 against Celta Vigo after being 2-0 down at the 80-minute mark in the ongoing La Liga season at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

The Catalan stepped into their temporary home at Montjuic with four consecutive victories in La Liga, however, the visitors started the game on high as American midfielder Luca de la Torre set up Jorgen Strand Larsen, who picked up the ball and placed a composed finish past Marc Andre ter Stegen to make it 1-0 in the 19^th minute.

Barcelona looked to score an equalizer in the 38th minute, courtesy of Marcos Alonso’s header from the centre of the box but was saved in the bottom left corner by the goalkeeper. Meanwhile, Frenkie de Jong got injured, adding to Barcelona’s miseries in the first half.

Celta Vigo then extended their lead to 2-0 as Tasos Douvikas scored off a left-footed shot from the centre of the box following a fast break.

However, what followed was one of the greatest comebacks in football history as star striker Robert Lewandowski scored two goals in just four minutes to overturn the two-goal deficit at the 85-minute mark.

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João Cancelo then scored the match-winner for Barcelona as he picked up on Gavi’s cross from a central position to lead his side to the fifth consecutive victory in the ongoing La Liga season and rocketed them to the top spot in the points table.

In another La Liga fixture, Almeria settled for a 2-2 stalemate against Valencia at Power Horse Stadium and sunk to the bottom of the points table without a single win in the ongoing La Liga season.

Diego López drew first blood as he scored off an assist by Javi Guerra to give Valencia the lead, which remained intact until the first half.

Sergio Arribas, however, scored an equalizer nine minutes into the second half, before Javi Guerra once again put the visitors ahead.

The lead lasted only six minutes as Arribas scored another equalizer for Almeria to draw the game.

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MADRID: Real Madrid continued their domination in the ongoing La Liga season as they extended their winning streak to five matches after a 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad at Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

Both teams entered the match undefeated as Real Madrid won all of their last four matches, while Real Sociedad defeated Granada 5-3, after two drawn games against Celta Vigo and Las Palmas.

Real Madrid also reclaimed the top spot in the La Liga 2023-24 points table with 15 points.

The visitors had a perfect start to the game with an early 5th-minute goal courtesy of Ander Barrenetxea’s right-footed shot from very close range.

However, Real Madrid came strongly and Rodrygo made an attempt in the very next minute but was saved in the bottom right corner by Alex Remiro.

Real Sociedad did not slow down either and made several attempts to extend their lead as well as defend the attempts to equalize by the home side. They ensure to close the first half with their lead intact at 1-0.

Real Madrid entered the ground in the second half with renewed aggression and equalized in the second minute with Federico Valverde’s right-footed shot from outside the box.

Joselu then scored off the match-winning header in the 60th minute to give Real Madrid the decisive lead which remained intact until the final whistle.

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In another La Liga fixture, Sergio Ramos made his second debut for his boyhood club Sevilla against Las Palmas at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium.

Both teams entered the game winless in the ongoing La Liga season however, Sevilla came out victorious and registered their first victory in the season, thanks to Dodi Lukebakio’s brilliant goal in the 71st minute.

Meanwhile, in another La Liga fixture, Villarreal edged Almeria 2-1 courtesy of Alexander Sørloth’s extra-time header assisted by Alberto Moreno after a thrilling contest.

Getafe on the other hand defeated Osasuna in a five-goal thriller at Coliseum Alfonso Pérez to earn their second victory in the La Liga season 2023-24.

Stefan Mitrovic scored off a header from the centre, which was assisted by Damián Suárez with a cross following a corner to give Getafe the lead in the 36th minute.

However, visitors equalized nine minutes later thanks to Iker Muñoz’s right-footed shot off a corner by Aimar Oroz.

The first half ended at a 1-1 stalemate, but the home side scored in the 6th minute of the second half to get the lead, which was equalized a few minutes later as Ante Budimir converted a penalty after David Soria was shown a yellow card.

Nemanja Maksimovic then scored the match-winning-header for Getafe after a cross by Carles Aleñá following a corner.

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