Tag: Real Madrid

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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BARCELONA: Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will not travel to Camp Nou to watch the Clasico in La Liga on Sunday, a Barcelona club source told AFP. 

The Catalans will not hold a traditional pre-game lunch between directors of both clubs either, the same source confirmed.

Tensions between the clubs have risen in the past week because of the corruption charge levelled at Barcelona by Spanish prosecutors for paying a former refereeing chief 7.3 million euros ($7.9 million) between 2001 and 2018.

Real Madrid confirmed last weekend they would appear in the case as an “injured party” to defend their interests, once proceedings move forward.

Barcelona host Real Madrid looking to increase their nine point advantage on their rivals at the top of La Liga, which they are aiming to win for the first time since 2019.

Spanish newspaper AS report that it is the first Clasico at Camp Nou Perez has not attended “in 20 years”.

Relations between the two rival clubs seemed to be improving of late, as they looked to launch a European Super League project together in 2021 and remain set on the idea.

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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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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PARIS: David Alaba defended himself on Tuesday as Real Madrid fans turned on him after FIFA listed the Austrian as voting for Lionel Messi over Karim Benzema as player of the year.

Alaba, Benzema’s team-mate at Real, faced abuse from his club’s fans for putting former Barcelona star Messi first in the FIFA Best awards announced Monday.

“The Austrian national team vote for this award as a team, not me alone. Everyone in the team council is able to vote and that’s how it’s decided,” Austria captain Alaba tweeted.

Messi, who led Argentina to victory in the World Cup, romped away with the award on Monday, with Kylian Mbappe of France second and Benzema, a French player who missed the World Cup, a distant third.

FIFA released a list of the top three choices by each national team captain and coach.

Alaba was listed as putting Benzema second.

“Everyone knows, especially Karim, how much I admire him and his performances,” tweeted Alaba. “I have often said that for me he is the best striker in the world, and that is still the case. Without doubt.”

Another Real Madrid player, Luka Modric, the captain of Croatia, was listed as putting Benzema first and Messi second.

As Argentina captain, Messi was listed as voting for one Paris Saint-Germain team-mate, Neymar, first and another, Mbappe second.

Brazil, captained by former PSG player Thiago Silva, voted for Neymar first, followed by Messi.

France, captained by Tottenham,’s Hugo Lloris, voted for Mbappe followed by another compatriot Benzema, with Messi third.

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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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MADRID: Marco Asensio and Vinicius Junior scored second-half goals to put Real Madrid’s La Liga campaign back on track as they sealed a dominant 2-0 win over struggling Valencia on Thursday. 

The defending champions jumped to 45 points in second place, five behind table leaders Barcelona. who beat Real Betis on Wednesday.

Valencia, who sacked manager Gennaro Gattuso the previous day, were handed their fifth straight defeat last night and are 14th in the standings with 20 points, one clear of the relegation zone.

Valencia defender Gabriel Paulista was sent off with a straight red 18 minutes from final time as he chopped down Vinicius with a ruthless tackle, almost starting a brawl among players on the pitch.

Real controlled the game for most parts but wasted a few opportunities in the first half.  VAR ruled out Antonio Rudiger’s goal just before the break for a Benzema foul in the build-up.

Real rebounded strongly after half-time as they scored two in two minutes, an excellent curling shot into the top corner by Asensio after 52 minutes followed by Vinicius’ close-range smash to finish off a swift counter-attack.

Real Madrid will next face Mallorca on Sunday.

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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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RIYADH: Barcelona convincingly beat Real Madrid 3-1 in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to win the Spanish Super Cup, their first trophy since coach Xavi Hernandez took over.

Inspired by teenager Gavi, who scored himself and set up goals for Robert Lewandowski and Pedri Gonzalez, the Catalans produced one of their best performances in years against their bitter Clasico rivals.

Having enjoyed great success as a player at Barca, Xavi returned in November 2021 and after a summer of heavy spending this emphatic victory is a sign his project is moving in the right direction.

Karim Benzema netted a late consolation for Madrid, who have been far from their best since the World Cup break and also fell three points behind Barcelona in La Liga last weekend.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti suffered his first defeat in a final since 2014, with Los Blancos surrendering the trophy they earned last season to Barcelona, who have now won the Super Cup a record 14 times.

“We knew it was a chance we had to take, we have lived through an era of changes at the club and in the dressing room, and this will reinforce us to keep fighting for more titles,” Barca captain Sergio Busquets told Movistar.

Xavi crucially deployed four central midfielders, with 18-year-old Gavi drifting inside off a nominal starting position on the left and frequently giving Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal the slip.

Barcelona broke the deadlock when Busquets pressed well after a loose Antonio Rudiger pass, leading to Lewandowski feeding Gavi, who slotted home confidently.

Gavi turned provider for the second, running on to De Jong’s pass and sliding the ball across for Lewandowski to finish clinically.

“(Gavi) is a kid that excites us all, when you see him compete like that, putting his soul out there, he’s a character that is contagious for the team, he has an innate capacity for leadership,” Xavi told a press conference.

“It comes from inside him, it’s spectacular. At 18, I have said it many times, but don’t let it stop, he has no ceiling this boy.”

Real ‘weaknesses’

Gavi, who won the Golden Boy award in 2022, was the game’s outstanding performer and showed Barcelona are in good hands both now and for years to come.

Madrid’s own young star Vinicius Junior was shackled by Ronald Araujo, the Uruguayan playing at right-back to directly subdue the Brazilian’s threat.

“Today I think we were lacking, we went out there giving 90 percent, 80 percent, and in a final against a rival like this, you can’t do that,” Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde told Movistar.

Courtois denied Dembele after a brilliant Alejandro Balde run and the overworked Belgian stopper was keeping Madrid’s slim hopes alive.

By contrast, Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen went untested until the 70th minute, by when his side had netted their third.

Lewandowski released Gavi, who crossed for Pedri to tap home at the back post as Barcelona romped to a compelling victory.

The only blot on Barcelona’s copybook was a late Benzema strike, finishing after his first effort was blocked.

“To say it was humiliation is disrespectful,” Ancelotti told a news conference.

“We lost a game against Barcelona like we beat them in the league. They played better and they deserved it, full stop.”

The biggest blow for Madrid may prove to be the morale boost the victory is for their rivals.

Although Xavi will ultimately be judged on his performance in major competitions — and Barcelona have already been eliminated from this season’s Champions League — he was thrilled by the victory.

“It brings a lot of calm, confidence, because what we planned worked brilliantly, we beat Madrid, dominating the whole game,” said Xavi.

“I’ll take how we played from this, it is very important to me. The trophy, yes, but how (we won it).

“We have three trophies to play for this season and this gives us confidence.”