La Liga
REAL MADRID JOIN BARCELONA IN COPA DEL REY EXIT
Barcelona and Real Madrid both crashed out of the Spanish King’s Cup on Thursday night, as Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad pulled off a shock Basque double to reach the semi-finals.
Barca were beaten 1-0 at Bilbao’s San Mames, where Inaki Williams scored a dramatic 93rd-minute winner, after Sociedad had upstaged hosts Real 4-3 in a thriller at the Santiago Bernabeu.
For the
first time since 2010, the final will feature neither Barcelona nor Real
Madrid.
An unfamiliar final four will see Bilbao take on Granada and Sociedad face second-tier Mirandes.
For Barca, it was a double whammy on and off the pitch in a turbulent week after captain Lionel Messi was embroiled in a public spat with the club’s sporting director Eric Abidal while Ousmane Dembele was ruled out with another hamstring tear.
To make matters worse, Gerard Pique hobbled off in the second half and is doubtful to face Real Betis in La Liga tomorrow.
Barcelona are in political turmoil after Messi slammed Abidal, who suggested that coach Ernesto Valverde was sacked last month owing to the players’ lack of effort.
And the fear is the Argentinian star could even leave in the summer by activating a clause in his contract that allows him to walk away for free.
Defeat by Bilbao adds to the sense of a club in a state of crisis.
Quique Setien has now lost two of his opening six games in charge, with a Champions League tie against Napoli on Feb 25 fast approaching.
Barca defender Pique said the team needed to show unity and refrain from infighting, adding that the performance, if not the result, proved that they had moved on from the saga.
“Now is not the time to air our dirty laundry,” he said. “All I can say is we have 100 per cent confidence in ourselves and are pleased with how we played and how we have reacted in the face of all this noise.”
Setien said he was hurt by the elimination but was pleased with the display.
“Today everything went well, apart from the result,” he said.
“We took a step forward in our play and I’m pleased with many things we did. I’m not only looking at the result.”
For a rotated Real side, who sit top of La Liga, the loss against Sociedad was perhaps less damaging, even if they conceded as many goals in 69 minutes as they had in their last 11 matches.
Martin Odegaard, on loan at Sociedad but allowed to face his parent club, scored the opener before Alexander Isak hit two to give Sociedad a remarkable 3-0 lead.
Marcelo and Rodrygo scored late in the second half and while Mikel Merino added a fourth for the visitors, a Nacho Fernandez header set up a wild final three minutes.
“It hurts, we have to be honest, nobody likes a defeat,” said Real coach Zinedine Zidane.
-AFP
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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