Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola admitted his side’s sinking hopes of hanging onto their La Liga crown were at the mercy of bitter rivals Real Madrid following Saturday’s shock 3-2 defeat at Osasuna.
“Win the title? Well, we will try to defend our Champions League crown and then attempt to negotiate each match in La Liga,” Guardiola said on a freezing night in Pamplona. “We will see what happens, but we are a significant distance behind. The league will be more difficult for us now.”
“In the second half tonight, we did well on this pitch, but we should have done better in the first half. It was hard for us to get into this game, but we have to congratulate Osasuna,” he added.
A double from Dejan Lekic put Osasuna in a commanding position before the break and while Alexis Sanchez reduced the arrears after 50 minutes, a clinical finish from Raul Garcia restored the two-goal cushion.
Substitute Cristian Tello hit Barca’s second and there were chances at either end in the final stages but Osasuna held on.
Guardiola continued to put his faith in youth against Osasuna and left Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas on the bench with possibly their midweek Champions League match with Bayer Leverkusen in mind.
Sergio Busquets was also absent through injury and the Catalan side lacked their normal fluidity on a bumpy pitch.
A double from Lekic put Osasuna in a commanding position before the break with only a shot from distance by Lionel Messi, tipped over by the keeper Andres Fernandez, offered in response.
Barca started the second half strongly and after five minutes, substitute Juan Cuenca crossed for Alexis Sanchez to reduce the arrears.
However, just as the visitors appeared to be turning the game around, Raul Garcia restored the two-goal cushion with a clinical finish off the post.
Barca had more of the ball and another substitute, Tello, fired in their second, which beat the keeper at his near post.
In the final stages, Francisco Punal hit the post for the home side, while Sanchez had a goal ruled out for offside.
Earlier, a series of spurned chances saw Atletico Madrid draw 0-0 at struggling Real Racing Club de Santander, but the revival under Diego Simeone continued as they push for a place in Europe.
Atletico are a point above Athletic Bilbao, who lost 2-1 away to Real Betis Balompie after conceding an injury time strike from Nelson.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS