La Liga
SCRAPPY WIN OVER ALAVES SHOOTS REAL MADRID TO THE TOP
Real Madrid earned a spirited 2-1 win at Alaves on Saturday with a scrappy late goal from defender Dani Carvajal to open up a provisional three-point gap at the top of La Liga.
Real captain Sergio Ramos put the visitors in front at a rain-soaked Mendizorrotza Stadium by heading home a Toni Kroos free kick after 52 minutes but gave away a penalty from which Lucas Perez levelled in the 65th.
Zinedine Zidane’s Real side demonstrated their new-found grit to re-take the lead four minutes later.
Isco pounced to head a Luka Modric cross against the post and the ball trickled across to Carvajal, who bundled it in from close range.
Alaves threw bodies forward in search of an equaliser but Real stood firm, with Marcelo blocking a goal-bound shot and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola stopping an effort from the hosts’ captain Manu Garcia in the eight minutes of added time.
Real provisionally lead the standings on 31 points from 14 games ahead of champions Barcelona, who visit fellow title rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
“We know that in stadiums like this teams always give everything against Real Madrid, and we coped very well with the kicks, the rain and the cold which was crucial because these are the games which win you league titles,” said Real’s Marcelo.
Alaves, who had lost only one of their previous seven home games this season and conceded only two goals on their own turf before facing Real, are 13th on 18 points.
Real were without Eden Hazard after he injured his ankle in Tuesday’s thrilling 2-2 draw with Paris St Germain in the Champions League, leaving Gareth Bale to make his first start for the club since Oct. 5.
Zidane made further changes by leaving World Cup-winning defender Raphael Varane at home and fielding Brazilian Eder Militao in his place.
Militao nearly gave away a penalty in the early stages when he stuck out a leg as Aleix Vidal rushed into the area, but the referee booked the Alaves player for diving instead.
Bale came close to giving Real the lead when he saw a header heavily deflected on to the near post, while Isco sent a shot narrowly over the bar later in the half.
It was far from a free-flowing display from Zidane’s side but the type of win that will give them confidence that they can overhaul an inconsistent Barca side in what is set to be a close-run title race.
-Reuters
It was mission accomplished, said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after his side fought back from two-goals behind to snatch a rip-roaring 4-4 draw on Tuesday for a 5-4 aggregate win that put them through to the Copa del Rey final.
Ancelotti brushed off questions about a sub-par performance by his side and praised his players’ effort in what he considered a highly entertaining encounter.
“We have achieved our goal today which was to reach the final and there is not much time to think about it,” Ancelotti told a press conference.
“It was an entertaining game with some mistakes and a lot of good things. It was fun and we are in the final.
“I never saw ourselves out of it because anything can happen at the Bernabeu. When we have to come from behind, we never give up. We never give up, especially at home, with the fans by our side.”
Ancelotti said David Alaba was not to blame after he deflected two balls into his own goal, calling it “bad luck” by the Austrian defender, but urged his defence to play with better focus moving forward.
“It’s not good to concede four goals in a game,” Ancelotti said.
“Right now we are a team that has a lot of effectiveness up-front, but little balance.
“However, we can’t ignore what we did in attack, scoring four goals against Real is not that easy. I think we are doing quite well.”
Real Madrid, who have won the Spanish Cup only once in over a decade, will play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid in a mouth-watering final in Seville next month.
Atletico fought back to hold Barca to a thrilling 4-4 draw ahead of Wednesday’s second-leg in Madrid.
-Reuters
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Real Madrid’s legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti will go on trial next week for allegedly failing to declare income to Spain’s tax office, the Madrid court which will hear the case has said.
Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of four years and nine months for the 65-year-old Italian, accusing him of having cost Spain’s treasury more than one million euros ($1.1 million) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.
The trial will begin on Wednesday and it is expected to last two days, a spokesman for the court said.
Ancelotti, who as a coach has won a record five Champions League trophies including three with Real, must be present for the hearings, he added.
Prosecutors accuse him of only declaring in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid during those two years even though he himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated his home was in Madrid.
They accuse Ancelotti of allegedly setting up a “confusing” and “complex” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings from his image rights as well as from other sources such as real estate.
A Spanish court in 2023 ordered Ancelotti to stand trial over the affair, but did not set a date.
Ancelotti dismissed the affair last year as “an old story that I hope will be resolved soon” when he was asked about the case.
He took over at Real Madrid in 2013, leaving in May 2015, before being appointed at Bayern Munich the following year.
The former Italy international midfielder, who as a player won the European Cup twice with AC Milan, later managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021.
Aside from his success in the Champions League he has won domestic league titles with Madrid and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.
-AFP
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Spain’s former soccer chief Luis Rubiales told Reuters on Thursday he would appeal a court ruling which found him guilty of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent.-
-Reuters
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