Real Madrid players feel like their La Liga title hopes are “sinking” into a black hole after they let a 2-1 lead against RC Celta de Vigo slip through their fingers in the final eight minutes, leaving them 16 points adrift of leaders Barcelona.
Real on Sunday were leading with eight minutes to go against Celta after Gareth Bale’s quick-fire brace had overturned an opener from Daniel Wass, but Maxi Gomez’s headed goal in the 82nd minute ensured the match finished in a 2-2 draw and piled more pain on Zinedine Zidane’s side after runaway leaders Barcelona defeated Levante UD with goals from Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Paulinho.
“It is how it looks from the outside — we are sad, angry and we feel like we are sinking,” Brazilian defender Marcelo said.
Photo: EPA
“It is one of the worst situations I’ve experienced here,” the 29-year-old added. “We’ll try to work hard and fight so we can win our next game, but we don’t like this situation at all, it’s difficult because the more games you draw or lose the more pressure you are under.”
The last time Real were 16 points behind the Liga leaders was during Jose Mourinho’s tension-filled final campaign in 2012-2013, when they finished 15 points adrift of Barca.
“There’s nothing else we can do other than keep our heads up and fight, and do our best to start winning again,” added Marcelo, who has won four La Liga and three UEFA Champions League titles since joining Real in 2007. “We can’t do anything more, we’re trying to play good football, to move the ball around and score goals, but it’s not coming off.”
Real coach Zidane usually leaps to the defense of his players after negative results, but he was not in a forgiving mood.
“The main thing we lacked today was we didn’t play the second half,” the Frenchman said. “We played very well in the first 45 minutes, but not in the second half, and a game lasts 90 minutes.”
Zidane refused to comment on whether the title is out of reach.
“We’re not going to talk about the league every weekend. If we keep losing points we’re not going to get there. We have to focus on each game now and try to win them,” he said.
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
RSS