La Liga
Barcelona hopes Super Cup win is turning point after woes
With a big victory over its main rival on Sunday, Barcelona got back to celebrating _ and to feeling good about its future again.
The 3-1 win against Real Madrid in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia gave Barcelona its first trophy since it was hit by financial problems and saw Lionel Messi leave in 2021, which set off a gloomy period of struggles on and off the field.
“Hopefully this will be a turning point,” Barcelona coach Xavi said. “This can give us some tranquility going forward.”
Xavi, the former midfield star who helped Barcelona win a slew of trophies as a player, had yet to win a title since taking over as coach not long after the crisis erupted in 2021.
He was part of the revamping process undertaken by the Catalan club to try to overcome its financial problems and the poor management by former club officials.
“We’ve been through some tough years, with financial difficulties, Messi’s departure,” Xavi said.
Barcelona’s last title came in the 2021 Copa del Rey under former coach Ronald Koeman. That was Messi’s 35th and final title with Barcelona before he left for Paris Saint-Germain in a tough blow for Barcelona and its fans. The team has twice been eliminated in the group stage of the Champions League since he left.
New president Joan Laporta took measures to try to fix the financial woes and went on a signing spree that gave Xavi players like Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, though the results had not come until Sunday’s convincing win against defending champion Madrid.
“This is special. We had said that we were going to make our fans happy again,” Laporta said. “We have an extraordinary generation of players and they are being coached by a great coach.”
Lewandowski and youngsters Gavi and Pedri scored a goal each for Barcelona in the final in Riyadh, when Barcelona was in control from the start in one of its best performances since Xavi took over.
“It matters to me how we won it, not only that we won it,” Xavi said. “It was extraordinary.”
Barcelona had beaten defending Copa del Rey champions Real Betis in a penalty shootout in the semifinals of the revamped competition.
It was Barcelona’s first Super Cup win since the tournament turned into a Final Four format and was taken to Saudi Arabia in lucrative deal for the Spanish soccer federation. It lost to Madrid in the semifinals last season. The Catalan club has won the Super Cup 14 times, two more than Madrid, but this was the first since 2018.
Barcelona is also doing well in the Spanish league, where it leads Madrid by three points. The Catalan club dominated the league before Messi departed, winning eight titles in 11 seasons, but the last was in 2019.
Its next league match is against relegation-threatened Getafe on Sunday, though on Thursday it plays at third-division club Ceuta in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.
“We already have to start thinking about the Copa and the league again,” Xavi said. “We are not slowing down now.”
-AP
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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