La Liga
REAL MADRID DISMANTLE GETAFE
Real Madrid made an impressive start to the year as they picked apart a robust Getafe side to win 3-0 in La Liga on Saturday.
Raphael Varane was the instigator of two goals at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, first pressuring Getafe David Soria into a missed punch and an own-goal before himself heading home a cross from Toni Kroos.
Luka Modric then added a third deep into injury-time after a brilliant first-time pass by Gareth Bale had set Madrid away on the counter-attack.
Victory sends Zinedine Zidane’s side top of the table briefly at least, one point above Barcelona, who play later on Saturday against Catalan rivals Espanyol.
Getafe remain seventh and very much in the race for Champions League qualification. Another excellent season under coach Jose Bordalas is proving last year’s remarkable top-four challenge was far from a fluke.
But their usually stubborn defence was overly-generous as Soria’s mistake and then a free header put Madrid in charge before Modric complete what was, in the end, a comfortable win.
Without either Sergio Ramos, who was suspended, or Eden Hazard, who continues to nurse an ankle injury, this looked an awkward fixture for Zidane’s team on the back of a two-week winter break.
Instead, they keep the pressure on Barcelona before travelling to Saudi Arabia next week, where they could be set for a Clasico final in the Spanish Super Cup, with Valencia up first on Wednesday in the last four.
Hazard will stay at home after Zidane confirmed on Friday the Belgian will not return until later this month at the earliest.
His worryingly extended absence has offered a reprieve for Isco, who started again, and Bale, who twice should have scored in the second half, only to tee up Modric via substitute Fede Valverde.
At the other end, Thibaut Courtois appears finally to be finding his best form after a rocky start since his summer move from Chelsea. Courtois made three strong saves before Varane’s second gave Madrid breathing space.
Getafe’s success under Bordalas has been built upon tenacity as well as discipline and hard work, with right-back Allan Nyom particularly eager to make his presence felt on Bale early on.
Yet one late challenge too many earned Nyom a yellow card and Madrid a dangerous free-kick that led to the opener shortly after the half-hour mark.
Kroos’ cross was put back in by Ferland Mendy on the opposite side and while Soria sprung out to punch, he failed to connect and only succeeded in sending the ball bobbling into his own net.
Karim Benzema tested Soria at his near post but Courtois was the busier of the two keepers. He palmed away a stinging volley from Mauro Arambarri, pushed out a drive from Faycal Fajr and then blocked a close-range header from Leandro Cabrera.
Getafe’s frustration was compounded eight minutes into the second half when an unmarked Varane nodded in Kroos’ whipped cross and the home side never looked like being revived thereafter.
Bale tried to chip Soria and then go round him but made amends for his misses in injury-time.
Mendy twisted free before feeding Bale, who curled the ball beautifully, first time and on the turn, into the path of the sprinting Valverde. He could have scored himself but instead set up Modric, who finished into an open net.
–AFP
Barcelona said their request for a permit to return to the Camp Nou for Sunday’s LaLiga match against Real Sociedad has been denied, with the city council highlighting safety and security issues with the revamped venue.
Barca had been hoping to return to a reduced-capacity Camp Nou with 27,000 spectators but have failed to obtain the necessary permits from Barcelona City Council.
Barca will instead host the match at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Montjuic, where they played during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons with renovations at Camp Nou now nine months behind schedule.
“We have spotted different elements that need to be fixed and have an impact in the safety and security of the stadium,” chief of civil protection Sebastia Massague said at a city council meeting.
Barca had to begin their LaLiga home campaign at the Estadi Johan Cruyff in their own training complex, where only 6,000 fans attended their match against Valencia on September 14, after a Post Malone concert left the Lluis Companys pitch in poor condition.
“The club is currently working on the new amendments that the council has shared today,” Barca said in a statement.
On Friday, the Catalan club also announced that their Champions League group stage match against Paris St Germain on October 1 would also take place at the Lluis Companys.
Barca are second in LaLiga, trailing leaders Real Madrid by five points but having played a game fewer.
-Reuters
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Villarreal midfielder Thomas Partey on Wednesday appeared in a London court and pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault involving three women.
Partey, a Ghana international, is accused of five counts of rape relating to two women, plus a charge of sexual assault against a third woman, between April 2021 and June 2022.
The alleged offences took place when Partey played for Premier League soccer club Arsenal. He left the club this summer and signed for Spain’s Villarreal.
The 32-year-old appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and enter his not guilty pleas.
Partey was released on bail ahead of his trial, which was listed for Nov. 2, 2026 and is due to take between six and eight weeks.
He was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59.2 million) in 2020 and became a key member of the English side’s first team, before his contract expired at the end of June.
Partey played for Villarreal in their Champions League game against Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.
He came on as a second-half substitute and was booed loudly by the Spurs fans every time he touched the ball.
-Reuters
Villarreal and Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey, who has been charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, walks outside Southwark Crown Court, in London, Britain, September 17, 2025. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska
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Real Madrid on Tuesday denounced plans to stage a LaLiga match between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami, warning the proposal could undermine football’s competitive balance and vowing to petition global governing bodies to block the move.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Monday approved the December 20 fixture at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which could become the first LaLiga match held abroad and the first European league fixture staged in the United States.
“Real Madrid wish to express to its members, supporters and football fans in general its firm rejection of the proposal,” the club said in a statement, revealing they have already urged FIFA, UEFA and Spain’s Higher Sports Council (CSD) to intervene.
The club accused the RFEF of making its decision “without informing or consulting the clubs participating in the competition” and argued that staging the match in Miami “violates the essential principle of territorial reciprocity” in home-and-away league formats.
Real further stated that the move would “alter the competitive balance” and grant “an unfair sporting advantage” to the clubs involved.
The club also warned that approving the proposal could compromise sporting integrity and “set an unacceptable precedent,” insisting any change of this nature should require “the express and unanimous agreement of all the clubs participating in the competition”.
The plan still requires approval from UEFA, US Soccer, CONCACAF and ultimately FIFA before LaLiga President Javier Tebas can realise his long-held ambition of taking Spanish football to the U.S.
-Reuters
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