La Liga
REAL MADRID BEAT BETIS AS VAR TAKES CENTRE STAGE
Real Madrid edged Real Betis 3-2 in an eventful game for their first win of the Liga season on Saturday (Sept 26), thanks to a late Sergio Ramos penalty that was furiously protested by the hosts.
Madrid captain Ramos again showed nerves of steel to chip the ball into the net from the spot after a VAR review for a handball by defender Marc Bartra, who appeared to have been pushed by visiting forward Borja Mayoral.
Earlier in the second half, Betis defender Emerson was shown a straight red card for a foul on Luka Jovic following a VAR review, while Madrid’s equaliser, given as an own goal by Emerson, was awarded after another VAR intervention ruled that Karim Benzema had been onside in the build-up.
Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde had given the champions a 14th minute lead with a close-range finish after fine work by Benzema on the byline.
But Betis struck twice in quick succession through Aissa Mandi and William Carvalho to take a 2-1 halftime lead.
After drawing their first game of the season 0-0 at Real Sociedad, Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane ripped up his usual 4-3-3 formation for a 4-4-2 and handed a rare start to €60 million (S$96 million) striker Luka Jovic, who partnered Benzema.
The Serbian offered little in attack during the game but still played a decisive role in the win, drawing the foul from Emerson which saw the Brazilian sent off in the 68th minute.
Madrid’s run to last season’s title was aided by a series of refereeing decisions going their way, but Ramos did not think his side were receiving special treatment.
“Sometimes the referee goes against us, other times the decisions are in our favour, but I don’t think it’s intentional at all,” said the defender, who finished last season with a career-best 11 goals.
Ramos also said his side needed to be more consistent.
“It was a difficult game but this is what makes football special. We played well in the first 15 minutes then we gifted them the ball and a team like Betis who know how to play well will always create chances and score against you,” he added.
“We have to learn from today because we’re not always going to be able to react like we did. But today we got away with it as we had an excellent second half.”
-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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