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.
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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