La Liga
CHUKWUEZE’S GOAL NOT ENOUGH AS VILLARREAL SLUMP 1-2 AT HOME TO BARCELONA
Nigeria’s Samuel Chukwueze opened scoring for Villarreal, but his side ended up 2-1 loser in Sunday’s La Liga match with Barcelona.
But the joy of the goal was short-lived as Frenchman, Antoine Griezmann scored moments later and also added a second goal for Barcelona to draw level on points with second-placed Real Madrid.
Super Eagles’ dashing winger, Samuel Chukwueze’s quest with Villarreal for top flight action in Europe next season thus suffered a big dent.
The loss thus meant Villarreal will remain in seventh position with 49 points but six more matches left to play as they continue with the struggle for Europa league spot alongside Real Sociedad and Real Betis that pulled a valuable 0-0 score line at Real Madrid on Saturday night.
As for Barcelona, they moved level on points with second place Real Madrid but with a game in hand and have Atletico Madrid, who they stay have to play, in their sights.
There were two big scares however: the first when they went behind early, and the second when Leo Messi stayed down in agony after a red card challenge from Manu Trigueros.
Griezmann could have put Barcelona in the lead after just five minutes when Frenkie de Jong teed him up perfectly but his shot was blocked for a corner.
At the other end Villarreal top scorer Gerard Moreno shot over from Samuel Chukwueze’s cross.
Unai Emery’s team were a match for Barcelona early on and when Trigueros spun away from Gerard Pique and slid a pass through to Paco Alcacer the midfielder’s assist deserved a better finish from the Spain forward.
Barcelona had their best early chance on 15 minutes when Griezmann played Jordi Alba to the byline and he crossed for De Jong unmarked at the back post but the Dutchman’s shot was saved on his line by Sergio Asenjo. The keeper then kept out Messi’s shot as his near post.
Villarreal took the lead on 27 minutes and it was Chukwueze’s pace that did for Barcelona’s defence. Paul Torres stepped out from the back and played Villarreal’s lightning quick winger into space.
Jordi Alba had followed the Nigerian forward across from the left flank to the right but he slipped and Chukwueze stepped around Ter Stegen to score.
Barcelona’s response was immediate and the story of two dinks. First Oscar Mingueza dinked the ball over the top of Villarreal’s defence and, running on to it, Griezmann dinked the ball over Asenjo for an instant equalizer.
Griezmann then put Barcelona into the lead 10 minutes before the break with another gift of a pass, this time from one of his rivals. Tottenham loanee Juan Foyfth passed the ball back to his keeper but it was cut out en-route by the alert Frenchman who scored his 11th of the season in La Liga.
Koeman brought Sergio Roberto on at the break and, on the break, his run and cross went just beyond Griezmann. Messi then shot over as Barcelona tried to find a third goal to put the game to bed.
Emery, seeing that Villarreal were not getting back into the game, took off forward Paco Alcacer and put on former Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin.
Koeman looked to respond with Ilaix Moriba but before he could reinforce his midfield Capoue almost scored. His low straight shot was saved by the leg of Ter Stegen.
In 65 minutes the game changed, the season could have changed too. Trigueros went studs up into Messi’s ankle. Trigueros had to walk but the straight red would have been little consolation if Messi had been unable to carry on. The unintentional challenge was bad enough to end his season but Barça and Messi’s luck was in – he got up to carry on.
With 10 minutes left Griezmann went off a goal short of what would have been his first hat-trick for Barcelona and Ousmane Dembele came on to run at Villarreal’s defence. Despite having a man-down they were still very much in the game.
With six minutes left De Jong could have eased Koeman’s nerves. Dembele raced away and played the perfect pass to the Dutchman but his lob went wide.
Villarreal forced a late corner on 90 minutes and then had to face five minutes of added time but they saw it out and stayed on course – a little shaken but with their fate in their own hands.
Sunday’s LaLiga derby between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid was temporarily suspended in the 69th minute due to fans hurling objects onto the pitch after defender Eder Militao scored the opener for the visitors.
While Real players celebrated the goal in the 64th minute, Atletico ultras Fondo Sur, who are located in the south lower stands, threw objects towards visiting keeper Thibaut Courtois, who alerted the referee and he decided to halt the match.
Atletico captain Koke and defender Jose Maria Gimenez went to the south stand to calm the fans down but the referee ordered the players to go to the dressing rooms as the announcer warned that if the behaviour continued the game would be abandoned.
After a delay of over 20 minutes the players returned to the pitch and the game resumed.
-Reuters
Mounir Nasraoui, the father of Barcelona and Spain star winger Lamine Yamal, was stabbed late on Wednesday at a parking lot in the northeastern Spanish town of Mataro, La Vanguardia newspaper reported, citing official sources familiar with the matter.
Reuters was not able to independently confirm the report. The regional Mossos d’Esquadra police force and a spokesperson for the Mataro local government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to La Vanguardia report, Nasraoui was taken to the Can Ruti hospital in the nearby city of Badalona and his diagnosis was “serious”. It added that local and regional police had located several witnesses of the incident.
However, a later report by sports website Relevo, also citing official sources, said Nasraoui had been released from hospital and was back at his home.
Yamal, a soccer wonderkid who grew up in coastal Mataro – a working-class, multi-ethnic suburb of Barcelona – became the breakout star of the recent Euro 2024 held in Germany.
Spain won the tournament, helped in part by the 17-year-old scoring against France in the semifinal on July 9.
-Reuters
Real Madrid and Brazil forward Vinicius Jr is open to an offer of more than one billion euros from Saudi Arabia, sources close to the player told Reuters on Monday.
Vinicius, 24, was approached by Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) officials to inquire about his interest of moving to the Saudi Pro League (SPL) on a five-year contract worth around 200 million euros per season fixed, plus bonuses.
The package would also include a separate 10-year contract to become an ambassador for the 2034 World Cup, which is set to be held in the country, but those terms and financial numbers are yet to be discussed.
Although an official, formal offer has yet to be presented, Vinicius has not dismissed the move and gave permission to PIF to approach Real Madrid.
Despite being “happy and motivated” in the Spanish capital, Vinicius and his representatives believe that a lucrative offer like this needs to be studied carefully.
Another source close to the player said that Real have shown no interest in negotiating a transfer, highlighting the player’s one billion euro buy-out clause.
Real Madrid and PIF did not respond to requests for comment.
Obsessed to be taken seriously as a soccer force, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced a Sports Clubs Investment and Privatisation Project, with PIF taking ownership of 75% of the capital of the country’s four main clubs: Al Ahli, Al Ittihad, Al Hilal and Al Nassr.
The biggest Saudi transfer came from the country’s most successful club, Al Hilal, who spent 90 million euros to buy forward Neymar from Paris St Germain.
With Karim Benzema at Al Ittihad and Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr, PIF tried to persuade France captain Kylian Mbappe to be the big name Al Ahli is still missing last year.
The forward, however, turned down Saudi’s lucrative offer and joined Real Madrid in June.
The proposal for Vinicius is understood to be similar to the Mbappe offer. The Brazilian would join Al Ahli, linking up with former Premier League players Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino.
Vinicius, who is under contract until 2027 after signing an extension in 2022, is a contender to win the Ballon d’Or award for the best player in the world after helping Real to a Champions League and LaLiga double last season.
-Reuters
NFF Communication director unfolds 20 Points of a 20-hour ordeal on Libyan soil
African football legends, Adebayor and Aubameyang condemn Libya’s treatment of Super Eagles
BREAKING! CAF wades into the Libya-Nigeria Airport episode
Breaking! Uzoho suspended from Super Eagles’ next match with Sierra Leone
No longer Super League as CAF changes name of its new clubs competition
AIU releases its report on Tobi Amusan
-
Uncategorized1 week ago
Players boycott Libyan national team
-
AFCON4 days ago
Billiat’s penalty seals Zimbabwe’s 1-0 win over Namibia
-
AFCON1 week ago
Eguavoen unfolds Super Eagles’ squad for back-to-back duel with Libya
-
AFCON6 days ago
Facts & Figures as AFCON 2025 qualifiers enter Matchday 3
-
AFCON5 days ago
AFCON 2025 in Morocco: Everything you need to know
-
AFCON5 days ago
Libya’s captain, Faisal Al-Badri alleges poor treatment in Nigeria
-
Uncategorized6 days ago
CAF compels Kwasi Appiah to step down from Ghana FA
-
Uncategorized1 week ago
Fastest World Cup final scorer is dead!