Atletico Madrid secured the final Champions League spot and the millions of euros that accompany it with a 3-0 home win over Almeria on Saturday.
Atletico needed just a draw to clinch fourth but they cruised to a 3-0 victory to qualify for the Champions League.
Argentine Sergio “Kun” Aguero and Raul Garcia put Atletico 2-0 up before Diego Forlan scored for the eighth successive match to take his season’s tally to 32. Atletico join champions Barcelona, Real Madrid and Sevilla as Spain’s Champions League representatives and coach Abel Resino, originally seen as a stop-gap, has staked his claim to continue in the job next season.
Forlan’s old club Villarreal, runners-up last season, won 3-2 at Real Mallorca but Atletico’s win meant they had to settle for fifth and a Europa league place.
Villarreal must now concentrate on trying to hang onto their highly-rated Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini, 55, who has emerged as a strong candidate for the Real Madrid job.
Valencia clinched the final European spot with a 2-0 home win over defeated Kings Cup finalists Athletic Bilbao.
David Villa scored both goals to take his season’s tally to 28.
Villa and David Silva will be hot property in the summer with the big clubs set to come calling with their checkbooks and Valencia may be unable to resist having missed out on the Champions League.
Valencia’s win meant Deportivo, who drew 1-1 with Barcelona, missed out on Europe.
Barca were given a guard of honor at the Riazor to salute their historical league, Kings Cup and Champions League treble.
Coach Pep Guardiola started with five of the starting XI that beat Manchester United in the Champions League final with Samuel Eto’o netting a late equalizer.
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