Barcelona’s bid for a fifth La Liga title in six years suffered a surprise setback when they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at lowly Real Valladolid on Saturday to open the door for Real Madrid to pull away at the top.
It was one of Barca’s worst performances this season, particularly in an atrocious first half when Juventus cast-off Fausto Rossi scored for the home side, raising serious doubts about the Catalan club’s form ahead of their Champions League last-16 second leg at home to Manchester City on Wednesday.
Real, who host Barca in a Liga “Clasico” on March 24, had the chance to stretch their lead over their archrivals to four points with a win over Levante UD yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
After Saturday’s action, Barca slipped to third, while Atletico Madrid climbed into provisional first thanks to a 2-0 win at RC Celta de Vigo when former Barca forward David Villa struck twice in two minutes to improve his chances of representing Spain in this year’s FIFA World Cup.
Real and Atletico are both on 64 points, with the latter top due to a superior head-to-head record over their city rivals, while Barca are on 63. Saturday’s surprise triumph pulled Valladolid out of the relegation zone and into 17th.
Most of Barca’s players were in international action last week, and many looked short of inspiration in a lethargic display at Valladolid’s Estadio Jose Zorrilla marked by uncharacteristic sloppiness.
Photo: Reuters
“We failed to create going forward, in our passing and in our mobility and that’s why we did not get the desired result,” coach Gerardo Martino told a news conference.
“Right now we are not on top form and we have to get there to be able to take on a team like Real Madrid. We have 15 days to do it,” added the Argentine, who is in his first term in charge after taking over from the ailing Tito Vilanova.
The first real chance of the match fell to Messi when he sprinted into space on the left in the 10th minute.
It was the kind of opening that the four-time FIFA World Player of the Year normally converts with minimum fuss, but his shot went straight to Diego Marino and the home ’keeper palmed it to safety.
Valladolid grabbed the lead seven minutes later when Rossi was first to a loose ball in Barca’s penalty area and the Italian, on loan from Serie A champions Juve, fired a first-time effort past Victor Valdes.
Messi and Fabregas again shot straight at Merino, with the Argentine missing another effort early in the second half before Neymar, who netted a hat-trick for Brazil against South Africa on Wednesday, fluffed Barca’s best chance of the game, prompting derisive whistles from the home fans.
Martino brought Alexis Sanchez on for Fabregas and later switched to what was effectively a two-man defense of Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets, but Valladolid held firm and came close to another goal on the breakaway late on.
Barca’s latest setback followed last month’s defeats at home to Valencia and at Real Sociedad and will give City hope they can overturn a 2-0 deficit at the Camp Nou.
“We cannot draw any positive conclusions, we just have to try and improve before Wednesday,” Barca playmaker Xavi said.
Atletico drew 2-2 with Real at the Estadio Vicente Calderon last weekend and stayed in the hunt for a first title since 1996 with an efficient performance in Vigo.
Villa, playing in place of suspended top scorer Diego Costa, punished a defensive error in the 62nd minute and conjured another clinical finish in the 64th when he swept the ball low into the corner from the edge of the area.
Spain’s top scorer with 56 goals in 95 matches, Villa was left out of the world and European champions’ latest squad, but Saturday’s brace could help convince team manager Vicente del Bosque he deserves a place at the finals in Brazil.
In other Liga action on Saturday, fifth-placed Villarreal’s hopes of a return to the Champions League next season faded when they were beaten 2-0 at Granada, while bottom side Real Betis Balompie improved their slim chances of avoiding relegation when they won 2-0 at home to fellow strugglers Getafe.
Betis have 18 points to sit in 20th, five behind second-from-bottom Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, who play at Real Sociedad today.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two