La Liga
CATALONIA CLUB, GIRONA STUNS SPAIN’S REAL MADRID
Nigeria’s Kayode Olarenwaju played for eight minutes in Catalonia-based Girona’s 2-1 defeat of Spanish giants, Real Madrid in Sunday’s La Liga duel. Sports Village Square gathered from AP that the victory is seen more as a political feat by the Catalonia independence agitators as it was celebrated by many throughout Catalonia on Sunday.
The small Catalan club stunned Madrid, the team of the Spanish establishment, with a 2-1 come-from-behind win in the Spanish league — just days after the wealthy north-eastern region declared independence to heighten tensions in a dispute with the central government.
Pro-independence politicians were quick to celebrate. “Girona’s victory over one of the great teams in the world is an example and a reference for many situations,” tweeted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.
It was Madrid’s first trip to Catalonia since Spain’s political crisis escalated. The match was played after hundreds of thousands of Catalans took to the streets of Barcelona to voice their opposition to the unilateral declaration of independence.
Catalonia’s political leadership was fired Saturday by central authorities in Madrid who are trying to tame the worst political turmoil Spain has seen in decades.
“Today, all of Spain and a great part of the world saw that a small team can achieve anything in this great game of football when it does things well, when it has ambition and pride,” Girona coach Pablo Machin said.
The result left Madrid eight points behind Spanish league leader Barcelona, which on Saturday won 2-0 at Athletic Bilbao for its ninth victory in 10 league matches.
Second-place Valencia, which won 2-1 at Alaves on Saturday, is four points off the lead.
“We can still overcome this,” Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “We will have better days and our rivals will eventually lose points.”
Despite security concerns ahead of the Spanish capital team’s visit to Girona, a city filled with separatist sentiment just north of Barcelona; there were no major incidents before, during or after the game.
Several pro-independence flags were on display at the small Montilivi Stadium, and the crowd sang “freedom” chants, but nothing disrupted the match. A few Real Madrid supporters could be seen mixed with the local fans in the stands.
Most in the crowd of nearly 14,000 were on their feet throughout the final minutes, and celebrated loudly when the final whistle was blown.
Girona, in its inaugural season in the first division, played well from the start, keeping Madrid from imposing its game.
It almost opened the scoring just before Madrid’s first goal in the 12th minute, when Pablo Maffeo’s shot struck the far post. The Madrid defence picked up the rebound and started a quick counterattack which culminated with Isco scoring a few seconds later after Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot was partly saved by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
The hosts turned the match around with quick goals early in the second half. Veteran striker Christian Stuani equalized with a low shot from inside the area in the 54th, and Portu netted the winner four minutes later from close range. Replays showed that Portu was slightly offside.
“We struggled a lot,” Madrid midfielder Casemiro said. “It’s a complicated moment, but we have to stay calm. We need to start playing better, we need to work harder.”
Lucas Vazquez had a goal disallowed for offside in the 83rd.
Girona, 12th in the standings with 12 points, had already hit the post in the first half.
Girona made a promising start to its top-flight debut, earning a draw against Atletico Madrid and a win at Malaga to give fans hopes of a successful season, but it went on a six-game winless streak until defeating Deportivo La Coruna last week.
Madrid was playing with all of its regular starters after they were rested in the Copa del Rey win over Fuenlabrada on Wednesday.
Barcelona turned the Clasico into a coronation on Sunday, swatting aside Real Madrid 2-0 at a roaring Camp Nou to claim their 29th LaLiga title.
Hansi Flick’s side moved to an unassailable 91 points, 14 clear of second-placed Real with three games remaining.
The triumph capped a dominant campaign in which they lost only four league matches. Villarreal are third on 69 points.
Real arrived needing victory to keep their wafer-thin title hopes alive, but Marcus Rashford crushed those aspirations just nine minutes into the game.
Antonio Rudiger fouled Ferran Torres just outside the box, and Rashford bent a superb free kick into Thibaut Courtois’ top-left corner, giving Barcelona the early lead and sending the home crowd into raptures.
Nine minutes later, Barcelona doubled the lead. Fermin Lopez crossed into the area, and Dani Olmo produced a clever backheel that sent the ball into the path of Torres, who rifled a fierce strike into the top corner.
The win completed back-to-back league titles for Flick, who also delivered the LaLiga and Copa del Rey double in his first season last year.
Both sides were heavily depleted. Barcelona were without Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Jules Kounde from the starting lineup.
Real’s list of missing players was longer, with Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, Arda Guler and Rodrygo all absent. Federico Valverde also missed out after suffering a head injury following a midweek changing-room fight with team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni, with both players fined 500,000 euros over the incident.
Kylian Mbappe did not travel because of a leg muscle injury, forcing manager Alvaro Arbeloa to start Vinicius Jr alongside academy striker Gonzalo, with Jude Bellingham and Brahim Diaz pushing forward in support.
Real threatened through Vinicius and Gonzalo before halftime, but Barcelona carried the greater menace. Courtois kept the visitors alive with fine saves from Torres and Rashford before the interval.
Barcelona continued to press after the break, Rashford repeatedly tormenting left back Fran Garcia down the right, while Courtois produced another sharp stop with his left foot to deny Torres from point-blank range in the 56th minute.
Bellingham had a goal ruled out for offside in the 62nd minute, and Joan Garcia was quick to deny Vinicius in a one-on-one, preventing the Brazilian from lifting the ball over him.
Real kept probing late on, but there was little bite in their attack, and Barcelona calmly saw out the win before the title celebrations began.
“This title is even more special because we won it at home against Real Madrid. Now it’s time to enjoy it with the fans,” Frenkie de Jong told Spanish broadcaster Movistar Plus.
“Every title has to be celebrated in style. Especially LaLiga, which is a year-long competition. We’ve clearly been the best in Spain.”
-Reuters
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Real Zaragoza goalkeeper Esteban Andrada was sent off for punching Huesca captain Jorge Pulido in a fiery Spanish second division clash on Sunday that descended into a mass brawl, with Huesca keeper Dani Jimenez dismissed for punching Andrada.
Zaragoza’s Dani Tasende was also dismissed after a VAR review of the brawl.
With tensions simmering in a relegation scrap, Argentine Andrada lost his composure moments before the final whistle. Ignoring the run of play, he approached Pulido and struck him in the face with his right hand, sparking chaotic scenes eight minutes into stoppage time.
It was an ugly flashpoint in a match already short on finesse and heavy on nerves, and could carry serious consequences for the goalkeeper.
Huesca manager Jose Luis did not attempt to defend the scenes.
“It’s hard to explain; I think it’s a complete loss of control. I can put myself in their shoes, given what was at stake and all. But it’s unjustifiable. It’s just that I don’t know what to do or how to stop it; a brawl breaks out,” he said.
“It’s ugly; this was supposed to be a celebration of Aragonese football. I’d like people to talk about the match, even though it was ugly, with little play but a lot of hard work.”
Oscar Sielva’s goal secured a 1-0 win for Huesca, lifting them to 36 points in 19th place, while Zaragoza remain second-bottom on 35.
-Reuters
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Joan Laporta has been re-elected as Barcelona president after winning over 68 percent of the vote and will begin his second consecutive term, and fourth overall, from July 1, the club said on Sunday.
The 63-year-old took office in March 2021 and stepped down last month in line with club statutes in order to seek re-election.
Laporta described the election as a “celebration of democracy and civic responsibility” and said the tasks ahead included finishing work on the Camp Nou and strengthening the men’s team.
-Reuters
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