The Nation Newspaper

Tag: La Liga

  • La Liga: Atletico held by Betis, Las Palmas relegated

    Atletico Madrid failed to break down Real Betis in a 0-0 draw on Sunday which further reduced their slim chances of catching FC Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

    Elsewhere, Las Palmas were relegated after a crushing 4-0 home defeat by Alaves.

    Diego Simeone’s Atletico moved 11 points behind FC Barcelona with four games remaining and the unbeaten leaders need one more point to win the title.

    With the Europa League semi-final first leg match at Arsenal on Thursday in mind, Simeone rotated key players and Betis tried to take advantage.

    Javi Garcia missed two excellent chances and Cristian Tello struck the post for the visitors, who extended their club record run of games without conceding a goal to six.

    However, Atletico’s defensive resilience ended Betis’ run of six wins in a row as they recorded their 11th consecutive home clean sheet.

    Aissa Mandi headed a Fernando Torres effort off the line and Saul Niguez struck the bar as Atletico also came close, but neither side could earn a victory.

    “The team is heading into Thursday’s game really well,” Simeone said. “We made important changes and the players responded. I had to rotate to ensure we had fresh players.”

    In a mostly-empty stadium at Canary Islands, Munir El Haddadi struck twice with Alvaro Medran and Ruben Sobrino also netting as four second-half goals from Alaves consigned Las Palmas to relegation.

    Paco Jemez’s side have 21 points from 34 games and are 13 short of Levante in 17th with only four matches left and they will join bottom side Malaga in the second division next season.

    Read Also: Barca records 39 La Liga games unbeaten!

    “Beyond the fact that this is a sad day, because we go down to the second division, it’s also sad because of the result. We went down in the worst way possible,” said Jemez.

    “We are as sad as ( the fans ). We didn’t want this moment to arrive but we will keep working because there are still a lot of things to fight for.

    “We must be responsible with the image of the club.”

    Alaves’ triumph confirms their safety, sitting 13th with 41 points from 34 games.

    It is an impressive feat masterminded by Abelardo Fernandez who took over in December with the Basque side bottom of the table.

    Malaga beat Real Sociedad 2-0 and Espanyol won 2-0 at Girona to damage their Catalan rivals’ dreams of finishing in a Europa League spot.

    The result left Girona ninth and Espanyol 16th in the standings, 11 points clear of the relegation zone.

    Las Palmas have gone 12 matches without a victory and this was their fifth straight defeat.

    NAN

  • Barca records 39 La Liga games unbeaten!

     

    Barcelona have set a new La Liga record of 39 consecutive games unbeaten thanks to Saturday’s 2-1 win over Valencia.

    Luis Suarez opened the scoring at Camp Nou on 15 minutes when he picked up Philippe Coutinho’s threaded ball and sidefooted past Neto at the right-hand post.

    Valencia responded well to falling behind and enjoyed numerous opportunities to get back into the game, with Goncalo Guedes and Rodrigo Moreno coming close on several occasions.

    However, Los Che could not get the ball over the line and were punished when Samuel Umtiti then doubled the hosts’ lead on 51 minutes, heading home Coutinho’s corner.

    Valencia did manage to halve the deficit three minutes from time, Ousmane Dembele carelessly bringing down Jose Gaya for a penalty which Dani Parejo slotted beneath Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

    However, Barca hung on to secure all three points and, with victory, break the Spanish top flight’s unbeaten record in style.

    Real Sociedad previously held the record, notching up a 38-game unbeaten run from April 1979 to May 1980.

    Coutinho’s two assists helped Barceona beat Valencia 2-1 and take another huge step towards the title. His first pass for Suarez to open the scoring was one of the best of the season.

    He could still win a league and cup double this year with Barcelona. How differently their Champions Leaugue adventure might have ended if he had been on the pitch and not ruled out because Barça could not force him out of Anfield before the season started.

    The Nou camp landlords may have crashed out of the Champions league no thanks to Roma, but the good run at home in the La liga continues with hope of clinching another title in sight. Barca will next head away to keep a date with Celta de Vigo on Wednesday.

     

     

     

     

  • La Liga eager to deepen Nigeria football ties

    THE top tier of Spanish football, La Liga, is hopeful of stamping its footprints in Nigeria by assisting the domestic league in building its capacity to sustain the talents coming through, said Javier del Rio, La Liga Delegate in Nigeria on Sunday.

    La Liga is home to some of the world’s biggest clubs like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona as well as the world’s best footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, winners of the last 10 Ballons d’Or.

    On Sunday, La Liga showed its commitment to Nigeria, one of its 44 resident offices across the globe, by bringing three Nigeria legends that played in the league – Emmanuel Amuneke, Finidi George and Mutiu Adepoju – to the live screening of the Madrid Derby between Real and Atletico. The game ended 1-1.

    Currently, eight Nigerian footballers are playing in La Liga with different clubs. They are Emmanuel Emenike (Las Palmas), Brown Ideye (Malaga), Ramon Azeez (CD Lugo), Oghenekaro Etebo (Las Palmas), Imoh Ezekiel (Las Palmas), Francis Uzoho (RC Deportivo), Isaac Success (Malaga) and Ikechukwu Uche (Gimnastic de Tarragona).

    Del Rio listed the achievements of the partnership between La Liga and the Nigeria Professional Football League to include the training of coaches, a U-15 Promises tournament, tour of Spain by an NPFL All-Star side, a technical agreement with the Nigeria Women’s Football League, among others.

    Amuneke went to Spain after spending some time playing in Portugal and had a few acquaintances like Luis Figo in the Barcelona squad by the time he moved. They all expressed their joy at the opportunity Spain offered them to make a living as footballers.

    The trio lamented the dearth of top quality talent from Nigeria which has made it difficult for local players to make it to the top clubs in Europe.

    Some of the guests at the event were Honourable Nduka Irabor, CEO of the League Management Company and the COO, Mallam Salihu Abubakar, Harry Iwuala, Head of Projects at LMC, Tokunboh George-Taylor, MD of Hill+Knowlton Strategies Nigeria, Chidozie Bede-Nwokoye, Marketing Manager, SuperSport West Africa, among others.

  • Messi signs new contract with Barca until 2021

    Messi signs new contract with Barca until 2021

    Lionel Messi has signed a new contract with Spanish clubside FC Barcelona until 2021, the Liga leaders confirmed on Saturday.

    This ended speculation that the five-times World Player of the Year could leave the club he has spent his entire career for free next June.

    “FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi signed on Saturday morning a new contract that will keep the Argentine superstar at the club through the 2020/21 season,” said a statement from Barca, posting a picture of Messi signing the deal alongside club president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

    “The buyout clause was set at 700 million euros (626.25 million pounds).”

    Messi agreed the new contract with FC Barcelona in July but the club did not release the usual photo of the player putting pen to paper.

    This had fuelled speculation he could depart in June 2018, when his previous deal ran out, for free.

    Messi leads the scoring charts in La Liga with 12 goals and on Friday picked up the 2017 European Sports Media Golden Shoe.

    It was for being the top scorer in a domestic league last season with 37 goals.

    Barca can extend their lead at the top of La Liga to seven points if they beat second-placed Valencia on Sunday

    Reuters/NAN

  • Full Time: Real Madrid 3 – 0 Eibar (Marcelo, 82′)

    Full Time: Real Madrid 3 – 0 Eibar (Marcelo, 82′)

    • Real Madrid 3 – 0 Eibar

    Marcelo has scored the third goal for Real Madrid. The left back player scored in the 83rd minutes.

    The Zidane boys won the La liga match by 3-0.

    An owned goal by Paulo Oliveira in the 18th minutes and Marco Asensio’s goal 10 minutes after, gave Real Madrid a 2-0 lead against the visitor at Santiago Bernabeu at the first half.

     

  • Full Time: Barcelona 3-0 Las Palmas

    Sergio Busquets and  Lionel Messi were on the score sheet in the Barcelona match against  Las Palmas on Sunday. But, Lionel Messi scored brace at amp Nou.
    Busquest scored the first goal of the match in the 45th minutes and Messi made it second in the 71st minute and added another in the 77th minute.
    It was a stalemate in the match that have been played earlier in the La Liga  league today as Real Betis played 4-4 Real Sociedad.
    The Valencia versus Athletic Bilbao match will start by 5;30 pm. Villarreal versus Eibar will also start at the same time. The last match of the league is between Real Madrid and Espanyol. The game will start by 7:45 pm.
  • Real Madrid win first La Liga title since 2012

    Real Madrid win first La Liga title since 2012

    Real Madrid win first La Liga title since 2012

    Real Madrid won their first La Liga title since 2012 thanks to a final-day 2-0 victory at Malaga on Sunday and in spite of FC Barcelona’s 4-2 win over Eibar.

    Cristiano Ronaldo scored early in the game to settle the nerves, latching onto Isco’s through ball to step around Carlos Kameni and tap into an empty net.

    Karim Benzema then added their second goal after the break after Kameni had parried Sergio Ramos’ shot.

    Real, who had only needed a draw to win the title, now face Juventus in the Champions League final aiming to complete a double

    FC Barcelona, who had won the past two titles, came from 2-0 down to beat Eibar 4-2 at the Nou Camp.

    But they had also needed Real to slip up if they were going to retain the trophy.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Real Madrid finished with 93 points, while FC Barcelona ended with 90 points to stay second.

    The result means Zinedine Zidane, in his first full season as Real boss, has recorded another first.

    He is the first manager to lead Madrid to the Spanish league title since Jose Mourinho did five years ago.

    If Real beat Juventus in Cardiff, they will become the first team to successfully defend the Champions League.

    Zidane had won the tournament six months into the job last summer.

     

     

  • Real Madrid are La Liga champions

    Real Madrid are La Liga champions

    Real Madrid have won their 33rd La Liga title, and their first since the 2011-12 season, after recording a 2-0 win over Malaga in Sunday night’s decisive fixture at La Rosaleda.

    Los Blancos knew that a point would be enough to take the title away from Barcelona, but a defeat would open the door for the Catalan giants to retain the title at the final moment.

    Meanwhile, Barcelona spectacularly came from two goals behind to beat Eibar 4-2 on home soil, Real Madrid’s two-goal victory ultimately saw them finish three points clear at the top of La Liga.

    It took Real Madrid less than two minutes to make the breakthrough with Ronaldo racing onto an excellent through pass from Isco before rounding Carlos Kameni and finding the back of the net.

    Five minutes after the away side had opened the scoring, Barcelona, needing to win to stand any chance of landing the title, fell behind at home to Eibar courtesy of an effort from Takashi Inui.

    Malaga had a half-chance to level the scores in the 12th minute when Jony found space in the final third before striking towards goal, but his effort was always moving away from Keylor Navas’s post. Former Barcelona forward Sandro was next to try his luck, bringing a decent stop from Real Madrid’s Costa Rican goalkeeper.

    Benzema came close to scoring a second for the visitors in what was an open first 20 minutes, but the Frenchman’s close-range effort was deflected wide of the post.

    Sandro thought that he had levelled in the 21st minute when his dipping free kick headed for the top corner, but Navas flew across his goal to make a wonderful save, injuring himself in the process after colliding with the post.

    Neither team really had control of the contest as the first period approached its final 15 minutes, with Sandro threatening for Malaga, and Ronaldo causing problems in a central position down the other end of the field.

    Indeed, Ronaldo came close to sending Real Madrid 2-0 ahead 10 minutes before the break after meeting a cross from Benzema, but the Portuguese could not find a route past Kameni from close range, with the Cameroon international dropping low to deny the forward a second goal.

    Kameni was again called into action late in the first period to keep out a long-range strike from Kroos, but Malaga remained a serious threat down the other end, with Sandro hitting the crossbar in the 38th minute, before Keko headed just wide of the post moments later.

  • Demichelis to retire at end of season

    Demichelis to retire at end of season

    Malaga defender Martin Demichelis announced on Monday he would retire at the end of the season.

    The 36-year-old left Manchester City last summer and joined Espanyol, before starting his second spell at Malaga in January.

    His final game, if selected, will be Sunday’s home match against Real Madrid, who could win La Liga.

    Demichelis, who also play in midfield, won 51 caps for Argentina and also played for River Plate and Bayern Munich.

    “Unfortunately this day comes to us all. I’ve been deliberating it for some time, as I have always been very worried about the end of a professional football career.

    “I am grateful to the profession, and in this case Malaga in particular, because they extended my career as a professional footballer,’’ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Martin Demichelis played 106 times for Manchester City between 2013 and 2016.

  • Real Madrid beat Sevilla to stay on course for La Liga title

    Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice for Real Madrid to win 4-1 against Sevilla on Sunday as they took another step towards the La Liga title.

    Real led through Nacho’s controversial free-kick before Ronaldo pounced on a rebound to double their lead.

    Stevan Jovetic replied after the break, but Ronaldo’s sensational second strike, his 401st for Real Madrid, and Toni Kroos’ late goal sealed victory.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Real Madrid stay in second place behind FC Barcelona who beat Las Palmas 4-1 in another La Liga match on Sunday.

    Reigning champions FC Barcelona keep hold of top spot courtesy of their head-to-head advantage.

    But Real have a game in hand and need four points from their final two matches to lift their first title since 2012.