La Liga
TOP FOUR BLOW TO ‘NOT TOO ATHLETIC’ ATLETICO MADRID
Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday (June 14) on their return to action after La Liga’s three-month hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, missing out on the chance to capitalise on slip-ups by their rivals for Champions League places.
Iker Muniain gave Athletic the lead in an empty San Mames stadium by prodding home in the 37th minute to complete a clever move but Atletico responded two minutes later when Diego Costa slotted in following a through ball from Koke.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico side had the best chance to win the game after the interval when Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simon parried a cross from Renan Lodi into the path of Santiago Arias but the keeper recovered to block the rebound with his leg.
Simeone, who is not giving up on Champions League qualification via a top-four finish with 10 games left, said: “We were closer to victory in the second half. We couldn’t win, but now we have to keep working because each match is a final… Every game will be difficult for all the teams.”
Atletico are sixth on 46 points, level with fifth-placed Getafe, who lost at Granada on Friday, and fourth-placed Real Sociedad, who host Osasuna later on Sunday.
Athletic are 10th on 38.
“We’re not in the worst situation as this was our first game back and Athletic are a difficult side but we cannot afford to slip up again if we want to get into the Champions League,” said Atletico midfielder Koke.
“It’s strange to come to a place like San Mames which is usually spectacular and which lives for football and to have no fans but we hope we can get back to normality soon.”
This was Atletico’s first game since their momentous 3-2 win over Champions League holders Liverpool and coach Diego Simeone decided to deploy Marcos Llorente, who scored twice against the English side and is usually a holding midfielder, in attack just behind Costa.
Yannick Carrasco caused the home team problems in the first half and came within inches of scoring the first goal, flashing a shot wide of the far post after being played in by Llorente.
Carrasco fired wide again before Athletic came to life and Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak was forced to keep out headers from Inaki Williams and Yeray Alvarez before Muniain found a way past the Slovenian.
But Atletico have a habit of scoring soon after conceding and Costa made no mistake when played in by Koke, dedicating his goal to Atletico women’s player Virginia Torrecilla who recently had a brain tumour removed.
His gesture of support for Torrecilla did not go unnoticed.
She posted a message on Twitter with a picture of Costa’s celebration that said: “I have no words…You are amazing! Thanks from the bottom of my heart”.
-REUTERS/AFP
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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