Tag: La Liga

PALMA DE MALLORCA: Karim Benzema became the highest French goalscorer in history on Monday after his double gave Real Madrid a 3-0 win over Mallorca, sending them 10 points clear at the top of La Liga.

The Frenchman, however, had to go off late on with what looked like an injury in his lower left leg, giving Madrid a serious headache before Sunday’s Clasico against Barcelona.

Vinicius Junior, who opened the scoring, and Rodrygo also suffered problems in the second half.

“We will look at it in the next few days,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.

“They don’t seem like very serious things. Rodrygo was a knock, Mendy has felt something in his adductor and Karim, after a jump, didn’t feel good. We’ll see if they can recover for Sunday.”

Benzema’s absence for the game at the Santiago Bernabeu would come as a serious blow to Madrid after the striker continued his scintillating recent run with two more goals at Son Moix.

After scoring a hat-trick to help Madrid defeat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 in the Champions League last week, the 34-year-old’s penalty against Mallorca took his career tally to 412 goals, putting him one above Thierry Henry in the all-time list of French scorers.

Benzema then made it 413 for him and three for Madrid with a superb header late on, only to limp off in obvious discomfort.

Madrid’s considerable advantage over Sevilla at the top of La Liga means the Clasico this weekend will not carry the significance of previous meetings, even if Barca’s recent surge has had some wondering if a comeback is still possible.

Yet there will be no doubt Barcelona would love to rubberstamp their progress under Xavi with a victory at the home of their fiercest rivals while a win for Madrid would serve as further confirmation of their dominance this season.

“We have the advantage and it’s good at this point in the season,” said Ancelotti. “We have to think about winning on Sunday, that’s all.”

Mallorca had the better of the chances in the opening period, the first of them falling to Vedat Muriqi, who shot wide at the back post after a superb cross from Brian Olivan.

Vinicius Junior was Madrid’s biggest threat and he was unfortunate to pick up a yellow card for his reaction to a high challenge from Mallorca’s Pablo Maffeo, who was lucky not to be sent off.

The altercation riled the home crowd too and Mallorca benefitted, their best chance coming soon after.

Dani Rodriguez clipped a delightful ball over the top for Angel Rodriguez to run onto and the ball fell loose for Maffeo to carry just in front of the penalty spot. Maffeo had only Thibaut Courtois to beat but his scuffed finish hit the post.

Madrid’s momentum at the end of the first half continued early in the second and in the 55th minute, they took the lead.

Fede Valverde pressured and then robbed Idrissu Baba and while Mallorca’s fans wanted a foul, Benzema played on, rolling left to Vinicius, who had a simple finish.

Vinicius was key to the second as well, swivelling out of trouble in midfield and playing Benzema through on the left. By the time Benzema passed across the box, Vinicius had caught up, pushed over by Olivan just as he went to finish.

Benzema converted the penalty to break the French record and then added another late on, heading in brilliantly inside the post from Marcelo’s cross. He celebrated by leaping into the air but could not continue for long.

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SPAIN: Barcelona continued their La Liga resurgence on Sunday by blowing away Osasuna, with Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on target again in a 4-0 win at Camp Nou.

Three goals in 14 minutes in the first half all but ended the match as a contest as Torres scored twice, the first a penalty before Aubameyang prodded in a third. Riqui Puig rounded off the victory with 15 minutes left.

Focus now turns to two crunch games this week, against Galatasaray in the Europa League and then next weekend’s Clasico against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“If we play with this intensity, we can compete with anyone,” said Xavi Hernandez.

A fourth consecutive league victory lifts Barca back up to third in the table, now only five points behind Sevilla and with a game in hand over Julen Lopetegui’s side, whose title challenge looks to be over after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Rayo Vallecano.

Sevilla have drawn six of their last eight games in La Liga and their latest stumble at Vallecas means Real Madrid will move 10 points clear at the top if they win at Mallorca on Monday.

Barca have been closing the gap to Sevilla in recent weeks and can have genuine aspirations now of finishing second. Sevilla could even get pulled into the battle for the top four if their current slump continues.

While Sevilla have been hampered by absentees in recent weeks, Barcelona have been revitalised by reinforcements, their January business continuing to pay dividends in the form of Torres and Aubameyang.

The pair have five goals each now since joining in the transfer window and Barca have scored four goals in four of their last six games.

“Ferran has scored goals wherever he’s been,” said Xavi. “And Auba is a gift from heaven.”

Xavi, who was appointed in November with Barcelona lying ninth, also has to take credit, with this Barcelona team now playing the kind of slick, quick, high-intensity football that looked impossible under Ronald Koeman.

Xavi has also successfully reintegrated Ousmane Dembele, despite the jeers of disgruntled fans in response to the Frenchman refusing to sign a new contract.

The whistles though have gone quiet now as Dembele registered two more assists against Osasuna and has been a key part of Barcelona’s recent surge.

“If you play well, people are happy,” said Xavi. “He is giving everything for Barca and you can’t fake that.”

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MADRID: Atletico Madrid edged out Cadiz 2-1 on Friday to move into third place in La Liga and earn a timely morale boost ahead of their Champions League trip to Manchester United next week.

Diego Simeone’s team are three points ahead of Barcelona who hosts Osasuna on Sunday but 12 points back from leaders Real Madrid who also have a game in hand.

On Tuesday, Atletico go to Old Trafford for a Champions League last 16 tie which is delicately poised at 1-1 after the first leg in Spain last month.

Joao Felix gave Atletico the perfect start when he opened the scoring in just the third minute from a pass by Mario Ledesma.

However, 36-year-old striker Alvaro Negredo headed Cadiz level just before half-time.

Rodrigo de Paul sealed the win in the 68th minute.

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ELCH: Barcelona moved up to third in La Liga on Sunday after coming from behind to beat Elche 2-1, with Memphis Depay scoring a late penalty to seal a hard-fought victory.

Elche took a surprise lead at the Martinez Valero when Fidel capitalised on a Pedri error on the stroke of half-time but Barca came storming back thanks to two substitutes.

Ferran Torres diverted in from close range on the hour before Depay scored an 84th-minute penalty after the striker had drawn Elche’s Antonio Barragan into a handball.

“It seemed we were going to lose a game we did not deserve to lose,” said Barca coach Xavi Hernandez. “We deserved to win by more than one goal.”

The victory sends Barcelona two points above Real Betis and three clear of Atletico Madrid in the table before Betis and Atletico face each other in a crucial battle for the top four later on Sunday.

It also continues an impressive run of form for Xavi’s side, who have not lost in the league since December and came into this game on the back of scoring four times in three consecutive games for the first time since 2017.

When Xavi was appointed in November, Barcelona sat ninth but they might now justifiably have their sights set on Sevilla, who are only seven points ahead in second.

“We have four wins in a row, this has not happened for a long time, it’s a good sign,” said Xavi. “The players believe in what we are doing. We are on the right path.”

Barcelona had the better of the chances in the first half, the best of them falling to Frenkie de Jong, who darted in behind but failed to beat Edgar Badia.

Then Ousmane Dembele sprinted clear and his lifted shot was parried out to De Jong, whose follow-up was cleared off the line by Diego Gonzalez.

Elche then landed a sucker-punch a minute before half-time as Barca failed to deal with a straight-forward goal-kick downfield and amid the confusion, Pedri poked the ball back, past his own defence and through to Fidel. Fidel took a touch and fired into the far corner.

Barcelona equalised on the hour as they worked the ball from left to right, where Dembele drove to the line and hung up across. Jordi Alba was unable to catch the ball cleanly but Torres was perfectly placed to steer in.

Elche were tiring, Barca pushing for a winner and in the 82nd minute they got their chance as Depay wriggled around Barragan, the ball popped up and Barragan instinctively lifted his arm to meet it.

The referee consulted the replay, pointed to the spot and Depay swept the penalty into the top corner.

There was more late drama to come, as Alba and Sergio Busquets were both relieved to see penalty claims for handballs waved away before Guido Carrillo headed towards the corner in the 94th minute. Marc-Andre ter Stegen dived and Barca held on.

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MADRID: Real Madrid enjoyed the perfect preparation for Paris Saint-Germain by thrashing Real Sociedad 4-1 on Saturday to move eight points clear at the top of La Liga.

Madrid had to come from behind at the Santiago Bernabeu as two scintillating long-range strikes from Eduardo Camavinga and Luka Modric turned the game on its head, before a Karim Benzema penalty and a tap-in for Marco Asensio completed an emphatic victory.

Camavinga’s strike, his second goal for Madrid, was timely given the 19-year-old may have to start against PSG on Wednesday, with Toni Kroos, absent here, struggling with a hamstring strain.

“Camavinga is definitely an option,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Madrid are tasked with overturning a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Paris if they are to reach the quarter-finals.

At the end of the game and with the stadium mostly empty, Madrid’s players came back out onto the pitch to salute the ultras behind the goal.

“The thanks to the fans was an idea that came from the players,” said Ancelotti. “After this game, they believe more in what we can do on Wednesday.”

Everything seems easier with the 36-year-old Modric, whose own wonder-goal was the highlight of another mesmeric display, for which he earned a standing ovation from the home crowd in the second half.

Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar will provide a sterner test for Madrid’s back four in midweek but this was a particularly encouraging performance from Ancelotti’s attack, which was far more dynamic after struggling for goals in recent weeks.

Benzema looks sharp again after recovering from his own hamstring injury last month. Benzema has three goals in his last three games and had two disallowed against Real before finally scoring from the spot.

The victory extends Madrid’s advantage at the top of La Liga after second-placed Sevilla were held to a goalless draw by Alaves on Friday night.

Real Sociedad could have gone third with a win but they stay sixth, with qualification for the Europa League looking more realistic now than the Champions League.

Real Madrid started sloppily and paid for it after David Silva’s touch and the shift was too quick for Dani Carvajal, who caught the midfielder’s trailing right foot.

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