Spanish champions Real Madrid warm up for Wednesday’s Champions League duel with Liverpool with a home match against Real Betis today as they continue their bid to reel in runaway leaders Barcelona.
The upcoming European tie with Liverpool has understandably stolen the limelight this week, but Real need to retain their focus as they attempt to cut Barca’s 10-point advantage at the top.
Juande Ramos’ team have won eight successive league games and shaved two points off Barca’s lead last weekend when they crushed Sporting Gijon 4-0 and Betis held Barca to a 2-2 draw.
“Since my arrival [at the end of December], we have only collected one point less than Barca,” Ramos pointed out in the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. “There is no doubt we are doing brilliantly and are not that far away from the best Barcelona in history.”
Statistics show Barcelona have recorded the most ever points in the first half of the season — an incredible 50 points from 19 games — but coach Pep Guardiola has insisted that it will count for nothing if they don’t win the title.
Buoyed by a derby win over Sevilla and a point against Barca, Betis come to Madrid full of confidence and Real will be without midfielder Lassana Diarra through a bout of gastroenteritis, while Arjen Robben is a slight doubt with a hip problem.
Barcelona travel to Lyon on Tuesday for their Champions League assignment, but first of all they have a derby match against Espanyol tonight. It is top against bottom and with home advantage Barcelona are expected to win, especially when taking into account the fact that Espanyol have not tasted victory since the beginning of November.
Nevertheless, Barca shouldn’t be complacent having struggled to a 2-1 win in the first league game when Espanyol led 1-0 until Thierry Henry (78 minutes) equalized and Lionel Messi scored a winning penalty eight minutes into stoppage time.
Samuel Eto’o scored twice as Barca came from behind to snatch a 2-2 draw at Betis last weekend, but has admitted this week that he may not stay at the club beyond the end of the season.
“Will I stay at Barca? I have made a decision on my future, but I can’t say anything at the moment,” Eto’o told magazine Sportsweek. “I don’t like players that kiss the badge after scoring because they don’t hesitate to leave if another club offers a million euros more.”
Eto’o, top scorer in the league with 23 goals, has openly said former club Real Mallorca is where his heart lies, but the club are third from bottom of the table so a transfer would represent a huge backward step. Guardiola was willing to let Eto’o go in the summer, but will be glad he didn’t with the Cameroon forward’s goals powering his team 10-point clear at the summit.
“For me, 10 points is a considerable advantage and we are also on form and dominating games,” Barca midfielder Xavi said. “We are calm and hope to continue like this because we could win some titles this season.”
Elsewhere, the game of the weekend sees Champions League hopefuls Atletico Madrid and Sevilla face off in Seville today.
Sevilla sit third, which is where they would like to be at the end of the campaign, while Atletico are five points behind in sixth.
Goals are usually forthcoming in this fixture and Atletico attacker Diego Forlan sung the praises of strike partner Sergio “Kun” Aguero, comparing the Argentine to former Brazil and Barcelona great Romario.
“Aguero is like Romario,” Forlan said. “His style is reminiscent of how Romario used to play. He is rapid, a great dribbler and has lots of ability.”
Valencia are three points behind Sevilla in fourth and travel to Deportivo La Coruna tomorrow desperate to cure their away sickness.
Valencia have lost their last five away matches and midfielder David Albelda admits it is a difficult time for everyone at the club.
“Over a season, you have highs and lows and I think you can say we are having our most difficult moment of the season,” Albelda said.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946