Cristiano Ronaldo held scoreless in Madrid as Atletico beats Juventus

MADRID— Atletico Madrid’s vaunted center-back pairing finally got the better of Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday, even providing the goals after holding their long-time rival scoreless for once.

In a match where Atletico had more trouble with video review than Ronaldo, the Spanish team kept the Portugal star in check but had to overcome two key VAR decisions to defeat Juventus 2-0 in the first leg of the Champions League’s round of 16.

Central defenders Jose Maria Gimenez and Diego Godin scored late to give Atletico the win, after the hosts had a penalty kick taken away and a goal disallowed by VAR.

Ronaldo, jeered nearly every time he touched the ball, had a quiet performance in his first match in the Spanish capital since leaving Real Madrid last summer. He came close to scoring with a booming shot from a free kick less than 10 minutes into the match, but had few opportunities after that.

Heavily marked from the start, Ronaldo wasn’t able to add to his good record against the old rival, which he helped eliminate in four straight seasons in the Champions League while playing for Real Madrid.

Atletico had a first-half penalty reversed by VAR after it determined that Diego Costa was fouled outside the area, and the referee also consulted video replays on the pitchside monitor before disallowing a second-half goal by Alvaro Morata for a push on Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini.

“We hope the VAR keeps improving and helping make things right, but do you really believe that a person who is 1.87-meters tall can fall that way in a game action like the one with Morata?” said Simeone, who celebrated his team’s first goal with an obscene gesture and could face UEFA sanctions.

The hosts dominated after an even first half at Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, and both Costa and Antoine Griezmann missed clear scoring chances before Gimenez found the net after getting to a loose ball inside the area in the 78th and Godin added to the lead with an angled volley in the 83rd after defenders failed to fully clear a free kick cross by Griezmann. The shot seemed to take a slight deflection off Ronaldo, who was the closest player to Godin but wasn’t able to block the effort.

“Luckily we were able to overcome the calls that went against us with the VAR,” Godin said. “It was a great result, scoring twice and not conceding, but we will have to be prepared for the final 90 minutes in Turin.”

Ronaldo was loudly booed when his name was announced before the match, and he drew even louder jeers from the Atletico crowd when he prompted the game to be interrupted because he remained on the ground after getting his foot stepped on later in the first half.

Ronaldo almost scored when his long-range free kick forced Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak to make a difficult save in the ninth minute. He had another attempt with a deflected shot a few minutes later, but didn’t come close to the Atletico goal again until a late header sailed over the crossbar.

“Ronaldo played a good match, he is used to this type of match,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. “The entire team had a letdown in the second half. It’s a lesson we need to learn going into the return match.”

Ronaldo had not played in Madrid since joining Juventus in a blockbuster transfer at the end of last season. He had played with Real Madrid for nearly a decade, leading the Spanish powerhouse to four Champions League titles in five seasons, including in the last three.

Entering Wednesday’s match, Ronaldo had scored 22 goals in 31 matches against Atletico in all competitions. In the Champions League, he helped Madrid beat Atletico in two finals (2014 and 2016), one quarterfinal (2015) and one semifinal (2017). He had scored four goals in six Champions League games against the city rival.

Atletico Madrid is back in the round of 16 after failing to make it out of the group stage last season.

Juventus was runner-up in the Champions League in 2015 and 2017. Last year, it was eliminated by Ronaldo’s Real Madrid in the quarterfinals.

This year’s Champions League final will be played at Atletico’s Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Atletico Madrid, Valencia open Spanish season with draw

MADRID — Atletico Madrid and Valencia couldn’t manage more than a 1-1 draw in the opening match of the season for potential contenders for the Spanish league title on Monday.

Both teams debuted new signings and came boosted by great seasons a year ago, but it was an even match from the start at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium, with neither finding an edge to earn the victory.

The hosts came closer to winning and squandered a few great chances in the final minutes.


Angel Correa gave Atletico the lead in the 25th minute with a shot from close range after a great set up by Antoine Griezmann, who cleared a few defenders before sending a perfect ball to the forward behind the defense. Correa had only goalkeeper Neto to beat and easily found the corner.

Atletico held on for the rest of the first half but Valencia equalized shortly after halftime with a great goal by striker Rodrigo, who controlled the ball with his chest after a cross into the area and fired a left-footed shot into the top of the net.

“We can’t say it was unfair, but if we had won the match it wouldn’t be a crazy result,” Rodrigo said. “We faced a great rival and showed that we are playing on a high level. That’s what we want to keep doing the whole season.”

Gabriel Paulista nearly scored again for Valencia less than 10 minutes after Rodrigo’s goal, but his header off a corner struck the post. Daniel Wass had a chance on a breakaway with a few minutes left, but his shot was saved by Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak. Kevin Gameiro also missed a clear opportunity just before the final whistle.

“We lacked organization in the end and I didn’t like that,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. “But I’ll stick to what we did well. These teams are very similar and we had our chances to win the match.”

Atletico finished runner-up to Barcelona in the league last season, while Valencia was fourth and secured a Champions League berth. Atletico was coming off a victory over city rival Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup.

Simeone started Monday’s match with one of the team’s top signings in the offseason, France forward Thomas Lemar, playing up front with Griezmann and Diego Costa. Other recently arrived players began on the bench, including Gelson Martins, Nikola Kalinic and Rodri. Martins came in as a substitute in the second half, replacing Griezmann.

Wass, one of Valencia’s new signings, was in the starting lineup, while Gameiro, Denis Cheryshev and Michy Batshuayi began on the bench. Gameiro and Batshuayi entered in the second half.


Defending champion Barcelona made its league debut on Saturday with a 3-0 win against Alaves with a pair of goals by Lionel Messi at Camp Nou Stadium.

Real Madrid opened with a 2-0 win over Getafe with Gareth Bale scoring and setting up Dani Carvajal’s goal at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

In the match that closed out the first round, Athletic Bilbao defeated Leganes 2-1 at home thanks to an injury-time winner by Iker Muniain.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Barcelona, Madrid play last games with title in the balance

BARCELONA, Spain — It all comes down to the last match.

With the title still up for grabs, Barcelona and Real Madrid have one game to play on Saturday with only one point separating them.

Barcelona can retain its title, making it eight in 12 years and 24 in club history, with a victory at Granada. At the same time, Madrid visits Deportivo La Coruna hoping to culminate a spectacular comeback and get a huge boost of confidence for its Champions League final against Atletico Madrid on May 28.

“This match is custom made for Barcelona’s players. This type of game is what inspires teams,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said Friday. “There are games when you have to motivate players, but there is more than enough motivation for this game. It is more about controlling the emotions.”

Barcelona holds a one-point advantage and the tiebreaker over Madrid, so the team coached by Zinedine Zidane needs to beat Deportivo and hope Barcelona drops points to add to its record 32 titles.

Zidane has asked his players to concentrate on their match, and said he would not follow the score from Barcelona’s game from the dugout while his team plays.

“I’m not going to find out what has happened (with Barcelona’s match) until the end,” Zidane said. “We don’t depend on ourselves, but we have to think only about our match and how we can win and get the three points. Then we will see.

“We have faith. We have won 11 games (in a row) and we are within one point with one match to go. We have to believe until the very last second.”

Here are some more things to know about Saturday’s decisive matches:

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LUIS’S LEGACY

Last season, Luis Enrique matched Pep Guardiola’s treble of Champions League, Spanish league and Copa del Rey titles.

And his team was on course to repeat that feat until it fell to Atletico in the Champions League quarterfinals. That coincided with a three-game losing run in the Spanish league which let Madrid surge back into contention.

Now, Barcelona’s season, regardless of the outcome of the Copa del Rey final against Sevilla on May 22, rests on whether it can handle the pressure at Granada.

“I think we recovered the level of play that we are accustomed to several weeks ago,” Luis Enrique said. “Now, it is just like every week. We have to play better than Granada, create more chances and limit theirs to get as close as we can to taking the three points.”

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THE ZIDANE EFFECT

Zidane made his debut as a top coach against Deportivo in January, when his new team thrilled the Santiago Bernabeu with a decisive 5-0 win that its fans hoped was a sign of bigger things to come.

Since replacing the fired Rafa Benitez, Zidane has guided the team to the Champions League final and a strong record of 16 wins, two draws and one loss in the Spanish league.

“I am happy, not only my work, but that of all my players,” Zidane said. “But I haven’t won anything yet. We will see after the season is over. We have two very important finals to play.”

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TOP GUNS

Barcelona and Madrid claim six of the top seven goal scorers in the competition, and the title could depend on which trio has its day.

Barcelona’s Luis Suarez leads the league with 37 goals. The Uruguay striker is supported by Lionel Messi, who has scored 26 times, and Neymar with 24.

Suarez has scored 11 of those goals in the last four matches, helping Barcelona end a four-game winless slide that almost cost it the league lead with a run of four straight wins by the combined score of 21-0.

Cristiano Ronaldo tops Madrid’s scorers with 33 goals in the league. Karim Benzema has added 24, with Gareth Bale contributing 19, including a few critical winners in recent weeks.

Bale returned to practice after missing last weekend’s match with a leg injury. Zidane said that Ronaldo and Benzema were completely recovered from their nagging leg injuries as well.

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THE OPPONENTS

Both Granada and Deportivo are safe from the relegation fight and without options of earning a berth in European competition next season.

Madrid has won on its last four visits to Deportivo, but Riazor Stadium is traditionally a tough ground for Madrid, where it has won 13 times in 49 visits.

Barcelona has dropped points on nine of 21 trips to Granada’s Los Carmenes Stadium.

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THE PRECEDENTS

If history matters, it’s on Barcelona’s side.

This will be the eighth time the two powerhouses have both arrived to the final round with options to win the title. Barcelona came out on top in six of the previous seven occasions.

The Catalan club edged Madrid in the inaugural 1929 league and did so again in 1960.

It got much worse for Madrid during back-to-back debacles in 1992 and 1993, when it lost an advantage to Barcelona in the final round with losses at Tenerife.

Madrid finally outdid Barcelona in 2007, while a Barcelona side coached Guardiola protected its lead to win in 2010.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Messi scores 2 as Barcelona strike force reaches 100 goals

MADRID — Lionel Messi continued his impressive form by scoring two goals in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Eibar in the Spanish league on Sunday, as the strike force of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar reached a total of 100 goals this season in all competitions.

It was the fourth goal, scored by Suarez after Messi’s earlier brace, which brought up the scoring century, keeping the trio on track to beat the record of 122 set by them last season.

Messi scored with a great run in the 41st and added a penalty in the 76th, leaving Barcelona with an eight-point advantage over Atletico Madrid, which won 3-1 at Valencia to keep pace with 10 games to go.

Real Madrid remained 12 points behind Barcelona after trashing Celta Vigo 7-1 on Saturday with four goals by Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We are where we are thanks to our hard work,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said. “Now we enter the decisive stages of the season and we are fighting for titles but there are still a lot of points left. There are no guarantees that we will keep playing at this level. We will not get distracted by those saying that we have already won the league.”

Messi is enjoying his best form of the season. The five-time world player of the year has scored 15 goals in the last 10 matches, and eight in the past four, staying on course to win his eighth league title with the Catalan club.

Munir El Haddadi opened the scoring in the eighth minute after a cross by Suarez, who netted his league-leading 26th goal in the 84th.

It was Barcelona’s 11th straight win in the league. It hasn’t lost in 36 consecutive games in all competitions. The last defeat for Enrique’s squad was a 2-1 loss at Sevilla in the seventh round in October.

“Our motivation is to keep this lead until the end and win the title,” Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano said. “We know there is still a lot of league left and any setback could give a chance to our opponents to move closer. It’s a good advantage but we have to keep playing like this and avoid mistakes.”

It was the fourth loss in a row for Eibar, which remains in eighth place in the standings.

Messi netted his 20th league goal with a remarkable run from near midfield that culminated with a low shot into the far corner. The Argentine star cleared two defenders before striking from inside the area.

He calmly converted the penalty kick prompted by a hand ball inside the area, sending his shot into the middle of the goal as the goalkeeper dived away.

Messi had scored a hat trick in the 5-1 rout of Rayo Vallecano on Thursday.

Munir, replacing suspended Brazilian striker Neymar, had opened the scoring with an easy goal from close range after a low cross by Suarez.

Suarez scored the fourth goal after sneaking the ball between the legs of a defender and firing a low shot from inside the box. The Uruguay striker hadn’t scored in three matches following a run of seven straight games with at least one goal.

Suarez had missed the last two penalty kicks awarded for Barcelona, which is the team with the most penalty calls in its favor in the league this season with 14.

Suarez, Messi and Neymar scored 122 times last season to surpass the 118 goals netted by Real Madrid strikers Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain in 2011-12.

Atletico Madrid defeated Valencia with goals by French forward Antoine Griezmann in the 24th, substitute striker Fernando Torres in the 72nd and midfielder Yannick Carrasco in the 85th. Russian striker Denis Cheryshev scored Valencia’s goal in the 28th.

Gary Neville’s team was trying to win for the sixth time in seven games in all competitions. It was Valencia’s second consecutive home loss in the league, dropping it to 11th in the standings.

Earlier Sunday, 10-man Real Betis defeated visiting Granada 2-0 to move further from the relegation zone. Betis defender Juan Manuel Vargas was sent off with a second yellow card in the 53rd.

Granada, 18th in the 20-team standings, had to use defender Cristiano Biraghi in goal in second-half injury time. That was after goalkeeper Andres Fernandez got a red card for touching the ball outside the area, a foul that led to Betis’ final goal.

Athletic Bilbao won 2-0 at Sporting Gijon to move to sixth place and leave its opponent second-to-last on the table, while 10th-place Real Sociedad drew last-place Levante 1-1 at home.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Outspoken Ronaldo gets Madrid back on track

Cristiano Ronaldo made amends for recent critical comments of his Real Madrid teammates with a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win at Levante on Wednesday to cut the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to nine points.

Ronaldo’s penalty and an own goal from Levante ‘keeper Diego Marino put the visitors in command before Deyverson pulled one back for Levante before half-time.

However, Isco’s late strike from Ronaldo’s cut-back secured the points in stoppage time.

Real trail second-placed Atletico Madrid by four points, but do open up a four-point lead of their own on Villarreal after they were held 0-0 at Celta Vigo.

Barcelona can extend their lead over Atletico at the top to eight points with victory at Rayo Vallecano on Thursday.

Gary Neville’s Valencia moved into the top half of the table as they benefited from spectacular own goal by Malaga goalkeeper Carlos Kameni to win 2-1 at La Rosaleda.

Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane was without a host of first team regulars as the suspended Dani Carvajal and Sergio Ramos joined the injured Marcelo, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema on the sidelines.

However, Ronaldo started despite causing controversy with an outburst claiming Madrid “would be top” of the league if his teammates matched his standards after defeat to Atletico at the weekend.

“When there are changes you think it is going to be more difficult, but with the effort and commitment of everyone we managed to get the three points and a good performance,” said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.

Real had former Levante ‘keeper Keylor Navas to thank for not getting off to a terrible start as he produced a brilliant save low to his left to prevent Giuseppe Rossi giving the home side a shock lead.

Ronaldo opened the scoring from the spot on 34 minutes after Lucas Vazquez had been tripped inside the area by Lucas Orban.

Injuries to Benzema and Bale opened the door for 18-year-old Borja Mayoral to get his first league start and he took his opportunity when his shot from the edge of the box hit the post and cannoned into the net off Marino’s back three minutes later.

However, Levante were back in the game instantly as the Real defence were caught flat-footed appealing for an offside flag that never arrived and Deyverson slotted into the bottom corner.

Madrid had much better control of the game after the break and Ronaldo was desperately unlucky not to restore their two-goal lead when he struck the post from James Rodriguez’s fine through ball.

However, Zidane’s men needed to rely on Navas once more to secure the points as he made a flying save to parry Ruben Garcia’s shot from distance.

And Isco answered his recent critics with a calm finish from Ronaldo’s cut-back in stoppage time to round off the scoring.

Defeat leaves Levante still rooted to the foot of the table, six points off safety.

Villarreal’s hopes of temporarily usurping Real Madrid into third were dashed in a game of few chances in Vigo as the visitors registered a sixth consecutive clean sheet in La Liga.

Sevilla closed the gap on Villarreal to nine points in their quest for Champions League football as Fernando Llorente’s early strike handed the Europa League holders their 15th straight home win in all competitions, 1-0 over Eibar.

Valencia moved up to ninth as they recovered from Duje Cop’s early deflected opener to register just Neville’s third league win.

Kameni punched the ball into his own net under pressure from Denis Cheryshev just before half-time and Real Madrid loanee Cheryshev completed the turnaround when he fired into the bottom corner five minutes after the break.

Aritz Aduriz continued his push to be included in Spain’s squad for the Euro 2016 with a hat-trick in Athletic Bilbao’s 4-1 win over Deportivo la Coruna to take his tally for the season to 30.

source: sports.inquirer.net