It has been a stuttering start to the New Year from all-conquering Barcelona and the treble winners hope for their first win of the year today at promoted Tenerife.
Barcelona were let off the hook last weekend when their 1-1 home draw against Villarreal went unpunished — as Real Madrid drew 0-0 at Osasuna — so they still hold a two-point lead over their rivals, but confidence was dented further by Tuesday’s 2-1 Kings Cup first-leg defeat to Sevilla at the Camp Nou.
“We have had an unlucky start to 2010, failing to win either match, but there is no need to panic,” midfielder Sergi Busquets said. “The results will start coming very soon and we’ll be playing for all the titles at stake.”
PHOTO: AFP
Barca must do without top-scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic through suspension, but Argentine Lionel Messi will be back.
The club are also boosted by the return of Argentine centerback Gaby Milito, who played his first competitive match since April 2008 against Sevilla after cruciate knee ligament injuries.
Tenerife have a decent home record, losing just two of their eight matches and are the only promoted side not in the bottom three, although they are only two points above the drop zone.
Real had a midweek rest having already exited the Kings Cup and after a scoreless draw at Osasuna the league’s top-scorers hope to get back on the goal trail with a home victory over high-flying Real Mallorca today.
Real boss Manuel Pellegrini must do without the suspended duo of Lass Diarra and Sergio Ramos for the Mallorca visit, but Brazilian Kaka may return as he recovers from a groin injury.
Mallorca have won eight out of eight at home to move fourth in the table, but are poor travelers, with just one win on the road, although coach Gregorio Manzano pointed to the fact that the islanders won 3-1 at the Bernabeu last season.
“I can see us winning at the Bernabeu just like we did last year and other times before,” Manzano said.
If Mallorca can get a point or pull off another big win in Madrid it would leave them as the team with the only perfect home record in the league.
Valencia, six points behind second-placed Real Madrid, have are at bottom side Xerez today.
Xerez are eight points from safety and overworked goalkeeper Renan Brito, on loan from Valencia, hopes to get one over on his old side.
“It is going to be strange for me because it is the first time I have faced my old teammates,” Brito said.
Although Shohei Ohtani’s first trip to the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series is a global sports event, it is particularly big in Japan. Fans from Ohtani’s home nation bought more World Series tickets for the first two games than from anywhere outside North America, ticket broker StubHub said. Dodger Stadium was packed to the rafters on Friday night for the start of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ showdown with the New York Yankees. “Ohtani’s first season with the Dodgers drew big international appeal, especially from his home country of Japan,” StubHub spokesperson Adam Budelli said. “At the beginning of the season, buyers from
The Major League Baseball World Series trophy is headed to Los Angeles, but the party is extending all the way to Japan. People milled around local train stations yesterday morning in Tokyo as newspaper extras were ready to roll off the presses, proclaiming Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as world champions along with their Dodgers teammates after a stirring Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old is a national hero in Japan whose face adorns billboards and TV adverts all over the country. Ohtani this year became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and
STAR IN DOUBT: After partially dislocating his shoulder in a feetfirst slide into second base, the status of Japanese slugger Ohtani is uncertain for Game 3 as he undergoes tests Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Saturday walked back to his dugout and made the slightest tip of his cap to cheering fans. He left Japan for moments like this, an opportunity to put the Los Angeles Dodgers in control of the World Series. Yamamoto allowed one hit over 6-1/3 innings and Freddie Freeman homered for the second straight night as Los Angeles beat the New York Yankees 4-2 for a 2-0 Series lead. However, the Dodgers head to New York uncertain whether Shohei Ohtani can play after their biggest star partially dislocated his left shoulder on a slide at second base. “We’re going to get
Three-time reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto on Saturday led a Japanese podium sweep at Skate Canada, locking up a second straight Canadian women’s title despite two falls in her free skate. Sakamoto, who led 19-year-old American Alysa Liu after the short program, looked a little tight during her jazzy free skate, falling on a Salchow jump and again on a triple flip while fighting to hang on to a few other moves. Her second-best free skate score of 126.24 was enough for gold in the second Grand Prix event of the season in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She finished with 201.21 points, well ahead
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