La Liga
SUAREZ ENSURES ATLETICO TOP LA LIGA AT END OF 2020
Luis Suarez made sure that Atletico Madrid will end 2020 top of La Liga after scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Getafe on Wednesday (Dec 30).
Suarez struck in the 20th minute with a superb header from Yannick Carrasco’s cross to take Diego Simeone’s side three points ahead of Real Madrid, who are in action at lowly Elche later on Wednesday.
Real Sociedad, Sevilla and Villarreal are all a further six points back, with Barcelona 10 points behind Atletico in sixth after their 1-1 draw with Eibar on Tuesday.
Even if Madrid win in the late kick-off they will stay behind Atletico thanks to their significantly inferior goal difference, which currently separates teams locked on the same points.
Atletico will have also played two fewer matches than their local rivals come the end of the day’s fixtures after a win emblematic of Simeone’s reign on his 500th match as coach of the club.
Thomas Lemar almost opened the scoring in the 15th minute when he crashed a shot off the near post from a tight angle.
Suarez gave the hosts the lead with a beautifully placed header that was all the more impressive for the way Carrasco’s cross was flashed into a crowded area from midfield.
The Uruguayan’s eighth goal of the season was a good as it got for Atletico, who despite a fielding a full-strength line-up did not impress in a match of little incident at the Wanda Metropolitano.
They failed to take the game by the scruff of the neck against a Getafe team that have scored just 12 times in 15 matches and are 14th, two points above the relegation zone.
However Atletico’s third win in a row ensures they remain top of the pile after a fraught last few days in which Diego Costa was allowed to leave and Kieran Trippier was banned until the end of February for betting breaches.
Granada in Euro hunt
Earlier, Granada moved to within two points of the Champions League places after beating Valencia 2-1 in a fiesty match where three players were sent off in six second-half minutes.
Jorge Molina’s powerful header two minutes from time keeps Granada in seventh place on 24 points, two behind fourth-placed Sevilla.
Granada, who levelled through Kenedy on the stroke of half-time after Kevin Gameiro had opened for Valencia in the 36th minute, are also one point away from Barcelona.
Valencia’s seventh league defeat of the season leaves them level on 15 points with Real Valladolid, who are third-from-bottom in the relegation zone and earned a point at Cadiz on Tuesday.
Javi Gracia’s side haven’t won a La Liga match in their last seven attempts and had their task made harder when Jason and Goncalo Guedes were sent off within three minutes of each other midway through the second half.
Granada’s Domingos Duarte was then shown a straight red card three minutes later after he cynically hacked down Manu Vallejo as he attempted to burst through on goal with the scores still level.
Molina punished the beleaguered away side by thumping home Alberto Soro’s cross.
-AFP
A Spanish court on Wednesday handed Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti a one-year prison sentence for failing to pay tax on his image rights revenues in 2014 when the Italian was Real Madrid manager, according to a statement.
Ancelotti, who managed Real Madrid from 2013 to 2015 and between 2021 and 2025, was cleared of a similar charge in 2015, as the court could not prove he had stayed long enough in Spain to incur tax liabilities, the court added. He moved to London after Real Madrid sacked him in May 2015.
Under Spanish law, any sentence under two years for a non-violent crime rarely requires a defendant without previous convictions to serve jail time.
The 66-year-old former Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Chelsea manager is the latest of several soccer celebrities to be investigated and convicted by the Spanish tax authority for alleged tax fraud.
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Raphinha knew there was no reason to panic as Barcelona struggled to break down Espanyol on Thursday and said it was only a matter of time before the “golden feet” of Lamine Yamal steered them to a title-winning victory with a glorious goal.
Yamal, 17, took the ball on the right touchline and made a superb lateral run across the edge of the box before unleashing a curling strike between two defenders and into the top corner to break the deadlock early in the second half.
The stunning strike set Barca on course for a 2-0 win that secured the LaLiga title, with Real Madrid seven points back with only two games left to play.
“We didn’t have many clear chances but we have a kid in there who sometimes pulls something out of the golden feet he has and he gave us peace of mind to stay in the game more calmly,” Raphinha said.
“In January some people were saying we would fight to be third. We have confidence in ourselves. That’s the key. We trust in the work and in what we know we can do.”
Raphinha has scored 18 league goals this season, including a brace in Saturday’s crucial 4-3 win over Real Madrid, and was quick to credit the trust shown in him by coach Hansi Flick.
The Brazilian tripled his goal tally from last season and also has the third-highest number of assists in the competition with nine, three less than leader Yamal.
“The most important thing was the confidence of the coach. Knowing at the start of the season that he was counting on me, a person who controls the team … it changes you in the end,” he said.
-Reuters
Former Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso is set to become the next Real Madrid manager on a three-year deal when he leaves Bayer Leverkusen after this season, Spanish media reported on Monday.
Alonso, 43, is expected to replace current Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, who is being lined up for the vacant Brazil job ahead of the 2026 World Cup, soccer sources told Reuters.
Despite the Italian having a year remaining on his contract, Real’s underwhelming season and his desire to coach Brazil have led to a mutual agreement to part ways, the sources added.
Alonso, who said earlier this month that he was leaving Leverkusen after guiding them to the double last term, will join Real before the inaugural Club World Cup in the United States from June 14 to July 14, multiple media reports said.
Alonso, who also played for Liverpool and Bayern Munich, last season steered Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, ending the Bavarians’ 11-year domination, and they also won the German Cup and German Super Cup.
Reports of Ancelotti’s likely departure come as no surprise after Real’s 4-3 defeat at Barcelona in a thrilling ‘El Clasico’ on Sunday left his side on the brink of a trophyless season.
The 65-year-old Italian, who returned for a second stint at Real in June 2021, led the Spanish giants to two Champions League and LaLiga doubles, the latest of which came last season.
He is the most successful manager in the club’s history with a total of 15 trophies and the first coach to claim titles in Europe’s top five leagues.
However, this season Real were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Arsenal and allowed Barca to fight back and win 3-2 in the Copa del Rey final.
Second-placed Real are seven points adrift of Barcelona, who could secure the league title on Wednesday without kicking a ball if Real fail to win at home to Mallorca.
Regardless of Real’s result, a Barca victory in the city derby away to Espanyol on Thursday would clinch the title.
An official announcement regarding a managerial change is expected before Real’s last game of the season at home to Real Sociedad on May 25.
-Reuters
Schmuelgen/File Photo
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