Valencia hammered local rivals Villarreal 5-0 at the Mestalla on Sunday to strengthen their grip on third place and the last automatic Champions League qualification slot in La Liga. Two goals apiece from Juan Mata and Roberto Soldado either side of an Ever Banega strike moved Valencia on to 60 points with seven matches left to play, six ahead of fourth-placed Villarreal.
Champions Barcelona are top with 84 points after coming back to beat Almeria 3-1 with a double from Lionel Messi on Saturday.
Barca maintained their eight-point advantage over chasing Real Madrid, who were 3-0 winners at Athletic Bilbao where Kaka scored two penalties. Real host the leaders this Saturday.
Photo: EPA
Soldado broke away to open the scoring in the 13th minute after an interception in midfield, and the hosts never allowed the visitors settle.
Mata streaked away to double the advantage in the 55th and Villarreal crumbled with Thursday’s 5-1 Europa League quarter-final first leg victory over Twente perhaps taking its toll. Banega scored from a Pablo Hernandez pull back, Mata tapped into an open goal and Soldado lobbed Diego Lopez to complete the rout in the 76th minute.
CRUSHING WIN
Europa League holders Atletico moved closer to a return to the competition next season with a crushing win over Real Sociedad at the Calderon which could have been much bigger.
Filipe Luis opened the scoring with a fierce drive early on, Jose Antonio Reyes produced a wonderful piece of skill to set up Mario Suarez before the break and Argentina’s Sergio Aguero sprinted clear to seal the points 12 minutes from time.
The holders were knocked out of this season’s Europa League at the group stage in December.
STEADY SLIDE
Espanyol’s steady slide out of contention for the European places continued on Sunday with a 0-0 draw at Hercules that saw them slip to eighth on 44 points.
Sporting Gijon built on their shock win over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu last weekend by beating Osasuna 1-0.
David Barral pounced on an error to score in the second half as Sporting rose to 11th with 38 points. Hercules remain in the relegation places in 18th with 30 points, ahead of Malaga on goal difference, after Manuel Pellegrini’s side drew 0-0 at home to 10-man Deportivo Coruna.
Almeria are bottom with 26 points.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two