Real Madrid celebrated as if they were champions last weekend and they can clinch a 31st Spanish title tomorrow if they defeat Athletic Bilbao at home and Barcelona and Villarreal both fail to win.
With five games left Villarreal are ten points behind Real, while Barcelona are eleven points adrift and Real’s celebrations after the Racing win showed the players think they have done enough to retain the title.
Last year Real secured the championship on the final day of the season in a nerve-wracking comeback win at Real Mallorca, so wrapping the title up with a few games to spare would be welcome relief for the players and supporters. It would be a first managerial title for German coach Bernd Schuster in his maiden season after replacing the sacked Fabio Capello in the summer.
“You can’t sound the victory bells just yet, although we’re only a small step away,” goalkeeper Iker Casillas said. “We have everything going for us, but we can’t count our chickens before they hatch. We’ve been on top from the very start and I think we deserve to win the title again.”
With the title looking a big ask, Barcelona have switched their attention to their Champions League semi-final with Manchester United, with the first leg ending 0-0 on Wednesday night.
Today they travel to a resurgent Deportivo La Coruna, trying to claw back second place from Villarreal. Ten draws have undermined Barcelona’s title hopes and there could be some departures in the summer, with Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and coach Frank Rijkaard all tipped to go for different reasons.
Villarreal are targeting a best ever league finish this season as they try to fend off Barca, one point behind, and hold onto second place, starting with an away match at Real Betis tomorrow.
“We are in second place and that’s got to be our objective because it would beat all our previous records. We’ve got just five games to play and the advantage is ours,” Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini said.
The battle for fourth looks set to go down to the wire, with Atletico Madrid clinging onto the final Champions League spot. Atletico are one point ahead of Racing Santander and three in front of Sevilla going into tomorrow’s derby against cup runners-up Getafe.
Atletico’s Mexican manager Javier Aguirre is feeling the heat and Atletico fans voiced their disapproval last weekend.
Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez is also struggling for confidence as he desperately tries to step out of Juande Ramos’ giant shadow. Sevilla take on Real Murcia today, while Racing travel to free scoring Real Mallorca 24 hours later.
Ronald Koeman has been under pressure for months at Valencia and the board finally lost patience when they sacked the Dutchman on Tuesday, just five days after he won the Kings Cup.
In 22 league games in charge Koeman collected a meager four wins, six draws and 12 defeats. Caretaker boss Voro takes charge for a crucial six-pointer against Osasuna, who are one point better off than Valencia.
Fourth from bottom Recreativo host bottom team Levante tomorrow and there is an added twist as Levante players are threating to strike because of unpaid wages. If they go through with it they will forfeit the match and be relegated.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB