Spanish champions Real Madrid's hopes of a treble this season were shattered on Wednesday as Real Mallorca gained a shock 1-0 win at the Bernabeu to secure a 3-1 win on aggregate in their last 16 King's Cup clash and inflict the hosts' first home defeat of the season.
An 83rd minute goal by Mallorca's 31-year-old Argentinian playmaker Angel Miguel Ibagaza on the counter-attack was enough to see the Balearic Island side through as like Ibagaza, in his second spell at the club, they seek to add a second King's Cup title in five years.
Real Madrid, who had hoped to land the King's Cup along with the Primera Liga title and the Champions League, had plenty of chances to progress to the last eight even without the services of talismanic captain Raul, who was rested for the match along with 'keeper Iker Casillas.
PHOTO: AFP
However, despite going close on seven occasions, two of those opportunities falling to Argentinian Javier Saviola and the final one to his half-time replacement Ruud van Nistelrooy they were unable to crack the Mallorca defense and will have to wait another season to see if they can end their drought in the competition which goes back to 1993.
Barcelona 0, Sevilla 0
On Tuesday, Barcelona ended Sevilla's reign as King's Cup holders as a dull 0-0 draw was sufficient to see the Catalan giants through.
Barcelona progressed thanks to the away goal rule as the first leg had finished 1-1.
With both sides missing several key players as they had either been called away on African Nations Cup duty or were suspended and injured, the quality of the game naturally slipped a notch or two from their previous encounters.
It was the hosts who came closest to scoring in the first-half as first Thierry Henry shot over the bar in the 32nd minute and then two minutes later another former Premiership player Eidur Gudjohnsen had his shot stopped twice by the Sevilla 'keeper.
The second half saw Barcelona easily counter any resistance, which was slight, that Sevilla could offer, though, they did give the hosts a moment of concern as highly-rated fullback Daniel Alves rattled the bar with a freekick seven minutes from time.
Defeat leaves Sevilla effectively with just the Champions League to play for this season, as they are 10 points adrift of Real Madrid in the title race.
Barcelona will face Villarreal in the last eight after the latter edged Huelva 2-1 on aggregate, 2-0 on the night, but only after extra-time.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
RSS