Real Madrid defeated Sporting de Gijon 3-0, while Barcelona hammered Levante UD 5-0 on Saturday as Spanish soccer’s two superpowers warmed up for next weekend’s El Clasico by preserving their grip on the title race.
Real stretched their winning run to 14 games in all competitions and lead Barcelona by three points with the defending La Liga and European champions having played a game more.
Angel Di Maria, Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo were on target against a Sporting side who finished the game with 10 men when Sebastian Eguren was sent off late on.
Photo: EPA
“We’re winning in different ways, with quality, with team spirit, with counter-attacks,” Real boss Jose Mourinho said.
Di Maria struck in the 35th minute. Ronaldo found the Argentine with a long raking pass which Di Maria controlled well before exploiting a mistake by Sporting fullback Damian Suarez to advance into the penalty area.
He then surprised goalkeeper Juan Pablo Colinas with a shot that squeezed inside the near post from a tight angle to conjure an important lead for his side out of nothing.
It was a full 30 minutes later before Madrid could relax and Di Maria was again prominent when his defense-splitting pass found Ronaldo, who rounded Colinas before slotting home his 17th league goal of the season.
Sporting then had claims for a penalty turned down after substitute Gaston Sangoy was felled in the penalty area.
Sporting’s Uruguayan midfielder Eguren received his marching orders on 79 minutes for a second yellow card and his side’s chances of getting anything from the game ended.
Brazilian fullback Marcelo increased Madrid’s lead in the last minute.
Barcelona eased past Levante to ensure they remain three points behind ahead of Saturday’s clash at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Cesc Fabregas hit two goals for the champions with youngster Isaac Cuenca scoring his second goal for the club, while Lionel Messi and Alexis Sanchez were also on target.
“It was an excellent performance from the boys tonight. I’m very happy for the two goals. Now is time to rest for the two important games next week,” said Fabregas, in reference to tomorrow’s Champions League clash with BATE and Saturday’s trip to Madrid.
“The fans can’t wait for next week’s game, but we are only thinking about the Champions League on Tuesday,” he added.
Barca dominated fourth-placed Levante from the start and it took only four minutes for Fabregas to break the deadlock when a clever Andres Iniesta back-flick found the former Arsenal captain in plenty of space to slot home with his right foot.
Fabregas extended the lead on 33 minutes, heading home a Xavi Hernandez free-kick, before a sweeping move involving Iniesta and Messi found Cuenca in space on the left to slot home for Barca’s third five minutes later.
Messi finished smoothly on 54 minutes when Dani Alves found him in space on the right to equal Ronaldo on 17 goals as La Liga’s top scorer.
Six minutes later Messi became the provider when he defined another flowing Barca move with a pass for Sanchez, who exquisitely chipped Gustavo Munua in the Levante goal.
Valencia stayed in third place, four points behind Barcelona, after Roberto Soldado came off the bench to notch the winner in a 2-1 home win over RCD Espanyol.
The result was the perfect tonic for Valencia, who tackle Chelsea tomorrow in a crucial Champions League clash.
A sixth-minute penalty from Tino Costa gave Valencia the lead before Hector Moreno equalized in the 68th minute.
Top scorer Soldado was introduced on 76 minutes and, four minutes later, he out-jumped the Espanyol defense to power home a header from a corner for his 15th goal in all competitions this season.
Also on Saturday, crisis club Real Racing Club de Santander beat Villarreal 1-0 with a crucial goal from Christian Stuani that lifted his side from the bottom of the league into third last.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set