Real Madrid La Liga Archives

Barcelona solidify LaLiga title claim after Real Madrid stunned at Sociedad

SAN SEBASTIAN: Barcelona closed in on winning their 27th La Liga title after a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Osasuna at Camp Nou and Real Madrid’s disappointing 2-0 loss at Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Jordi Alba scored the decider after 85 minutes of a see-saw contest as visitors Osasuna braved Barcelona’s solid attack despite getting reduced to 10-man in the 26th minute.

Later Madrid faced a powerful punch to their title defence as Sociedad came out dominantly at home, leaving the champions 14 points behind leaders Barcelona with five games remaining.

The results give Barca, who now moves to 83 points, the chance to bag their first LaLiga title since 2019 with a win in their next encounter against city rivals Espanyol on May 14. They only need a win in the remaining five games to clinch the title.

Real Madrid would only be able to reach 83 points if they win the rest of their games. However, they could slip to third place on Wednesday if their city rivals Atletico Madrid win their home match against lowly Cadiz.

Sociedad took control early in the game but were made to wait 47 minutes before scoring their first goal through Takefusa Kubo.

They doubled their lead in the 84th through 21-year-old forward Ander Barrenetxea, taking advantage of defender Dani Carvajal sent off on the hour mark for a second yellow card.

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Real Madrid narrow gap on Barca in La Liga after Espanyol win

MADRID: Vinicius Junior, Eder Militao and Marco Asensio made strikes as Real Madrid fought back after conceding an early goal to beat Espanyol 3-1 at Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.

Second-placed Real Madrid cut leader Barcelona’s advantage to six points at the La Liga top and maintained their thin chances to defend the title by moving up to 56 points.

Barcelona, however, have a chance to regain nine points lead when they face Atheltic Club on Sunday.

Espanyol, who remain 13th, took the lead early on as Joselu smacked the ball into the top corner past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois following Ruben Sanchez’s cross in the 8th minute.

Madrid made a forceful response to the poor start as Eduardo Camavinga had a shot on target before Vincus stepped up with his masterful skills to pierce into the box, evading two defenders and firing in the leveller in the 22nd minute.

The 22-year-old registered his 19th goal this season in all competitions and moved ahead of Karim Benzema as the club’s top scorer this season.

Pushed back to their own area, Espanyol had no answer to Militao’s thunderous header through Aurelien Tchouameni’s cross six minutes before halftime.

Madrid kept the pressure on the opponents after the break with Rodrygo nearly scoring on a free kick but the ball deflected off the crossbar.

Asensio wrapped up the win for Madrid in the added time as he produced a superb finish with his left foot after a brilliant sprint from Nacho.

In another La Liga fixture on Saturday, Celta Vigo thrashed Rayo Vallecano 3-0 thanks to Iago Aspas’ brace.

Later, Valencia prevailed at home as they beat Osasuna 1-0.

Earlier Elche held Valladolid to a 1-1 draw through Tete Morente’s leveller deep into the stoppage time.

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Real drop points in LaLiga title race after goalless draw against Sociedad

MADRID: Real Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro erected a bulwark to leave Real Madrid frustrated as they finished in a nil-nil draw at Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

An unwanted outcome at home left Madrid five points behind leaders Barcelona who edged Girona 1-0 on Saturday to extend their lead to 47 points in La Liga.

Madrid made 20 goal attempts but Sociedad weathered the storm thanks to a string of excellent saves by Remiro, who ensured a point for his side on its visit.

Vinicius Junior wasted three chances, including two from close range with Remiro repelling all of them. The keeper also blocked the efforts by Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Rodrydo.

Real unleashed a solid attack from the beginning and created a few chances in the first half through Benzema and Vinicous’ slick moves.

Benzema constructed Real’s first chance in the seventh minute when he dribbled past three defenders but had his close-range shot stopped by Remiro.

Vinicius created another soon afterwards, beating defender Igor Zubeldia to run into the box but his right-footed effort went wide.

Rodrygo also fired a shot from the edge of the box in the 35th minute and once again, Remiro thwarted the effort with a stunning save.

Vinicius had his second chance before the break when he received the ball from Benzema but Remiro blocked his low shot with his left leg.

The Brazilian winger received his last opportunity in the 70th minute but the goalkeeper intercepted the one-on-one chip shot.

Earlier Atletico Madrid, however, edged past Osasuna 1-0 thanks to a second-half winner by Saul Niguez in an away fixture at El Sadar.

Meanwhile, Celta Vigo shocked Athletic Club with Iago Aspas scoring the decider in the 71st minute to steer his side above the relegation zone and equal points with 17th-placed Valladolid, who beat Valencia 1-0 on Sunday.

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