MADRID: A dummy dressed in a Vinicius Junior shirt was hung from a bridge near Real Madrid’s training ground ahead of the Copa del Rey quarter-final clash against Atletico Madrid on Thursday.
“Madrid hates Real,” read a banner draped on the bridge close to Valdebebas overnight Wednesday.
The Vinicius effigy was described as a “racist attack” and “serious threat” against the Brazilian forward by Spanish media.
Police sources told AFP they were investigating the incident, without offering further details.
The slogan is one which has been used by Atletico Madrid ultras in the past.
“Such acts are absolutely repugnant and inadmissible and shame society,” said Atletico in a statement.
“Our condemnation of any act that attacks the dignity of persons or institutions is categorical and unreserved.”
Atletico fans were filmed aiming racist chants at Vinicius in September before the Madrid derby at the Wanda Metropolitano in La Liga.
However, in December Spanish prosecutors closed an investigation into the chants, saying it was not possible to identify those culpable.
“We condemn the hateful actions against Vinicius,” wrote La Liga on Twitter.
“Intolerance and violence do not fit within football.”
Real Madrid’s 22-year-old winger is a divisive figure in Spanish football, with opponents sometimes angered by his flair and playing style, and his propensity to go to ground easily.
On the other hand, Vinicius is often targeted and hacked by opposition defenders to try and put him off his game, with no player in Europe fouled more this season.
“We have to protect him,” urged Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti on Wednesday in a news conference.
“Football needs him, he’s got an extraordinary talent and we have to protect him physically and in a mental aspect too.”
Real Madrid host rivals Atletico at the Santiago Bernabeu later on Thursday.
Vinicius effigy hung from bridge before Madrid derby
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Vinicius effigy hung from bridge before Madrid derby
- The Vinicius effigy was described as a "racist attack" and "serious threat" against the Brazilian forward by Spanish media
- Police sources told AFP they were investigating the incident, without offering further details
Nottingham Forest draws at Crystal Palace as Champions League hopes fade
- A win at Selhurst Park would have brought them equal with Chelsea and Newcastle but one point means it stays in sixth
LONDON: Nottingham Forest drew with Crystal Palace 1-1 in the Premier League on Monday and saw its Champions League hopes fade.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s men have spent most of the year in the league top three but a run of one win in four has dropped them behind Chelsea, Newcastle and a resurgent Manchester City.
A win at Selhurst Park would have brought them equal with Chelsea and Newcastle but one point means it stays in sixth, with the top five qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Neither team was able to take control of a sometimes scrappy match that saw eight names go in the referee’s book.
Palace took the lead with a penalty kick after an hour. After a video review, Matz Sels was adjudged to have felled Tyrick Mitchell and Eberechi Eze made no mistake from the spot.
Forest bounced right back within four minutes, Murillo doing enough to deflect a goal-bound shot from Neco Williams away from the keeper.
Eze hitting the woodwork in the dying seconds and Eddie Nketiah having a goal disallowed for offside in stoppage time meant FA Cup finalist Palace has not won any of its last five league games.
Mbappe scores twice and Madrid win again to trail Barcelona by 4 points ahead of ‘clasico’
- It was the fourth straight league win for Madrid, who last Saturday lost the Copa del Rey final to Barcelona and last month was eliminated by Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the Champions League
- The Basque Country derby ended in a 0-0 draw between Athletic Bilbao and host Real Sociedad
MADRID: Real Madrid survived a late scare but kept pace with leader Barcelona again on Sunday, ahead of their Spanish league “clasico” next weekend.
Kylian Mbappe scored in each half as Madrid held on to beat Celta Vigo 3-2 and remain four points behind the Catalan rivals going into next Sunday’s match in Barcelona.
“La Liga is in Barcelona’s hands, but we’ll have more chances if we’re able to win,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “It’s a great opportunity. We’re going to prepare well for Sunday’s game, which I’m not saying will be decisive, but almost.”
Arda Guler also scored for Madrid, who opened a 3-0 lead early in the second half but saw Celta get back into the game toward the end of the match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Celta had a couple of great chances to complete its comeback, including a shot by Pablo Durán that stopped just short of the goal line after a deflection by Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the 78th minute. Courtois had to make a couple of saves near the end to secure the win.
“We did very well for an hour, we could have managed the lead a little better, but in the end it was a nice win,” Ancelotti said.
Barcelona came from behind to defeat last-placed Valladolid 2-1 on Saturday, when coach Hansi Flick rested most of the team’s regular starters ahead of its Champions League semifinal match at Inter Milan on Tuesday. Barcelona and Inter drew 3-3 in the first leg.
Madrid get a scare
Guler put Madrid ahead with a shot into the top corner in the 33rd, and Mbappe scored in the 39th — also finding the top corner — and in a breakaway in the 48th. The France star hadn’t scored in the league since March.
The match appeared under control until Javi Rodríguez pulled the visitors closer in the 69th and Williot Swedberg scored Celta’s second goal in the 76th.
A couple of minutes later, Duran’s shot agonizingly stopped just in front of the goal line after the ball picked up some backspin as it struck Courtois.
“It was a shame,” Celta striker Borja Iglesias said. “We had our chances. That shot by Pablo almost went in. It wasn’t meant to be.”
Celta, which was coming off a 3-0 win over Villarreal, stayed in seventh place.
There were a few jeers from the Bernabeu crowd as Madrid struggled to hold on to its lead late in the game.
‘All the confidence in the world’
It was the fourth straight league win for Madrid, who last Saturday lost the Copa del Rey final to Barcelona and last month was eliminated by Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
“We played the last game (against Barcelona) a week ago. It was a very competitive game and we came close to winning,” Ancelotti said. “We don’t have to invent a lot of things. We’re going to play a serious game. It’s very important. We’re going to play with all the confidence in the world. Despite all the difficulties, we’re there and to be able to fight this match is something nice.”
He said having Mbappe in top form will be key.
“He’s going to be a very important player in this match due to the fact that Barcelona play with a very high line,” Ancelotti said. “His runs in behind are going to be very important and decisive.”
Forward Rodrygo was not included in the squad because of illness.
Basque Country derby draw
The Basque Country derby ended in a 0-0 draw between Athletic Bilbao and host Real Sociedad.
Athletic are three points ahead of fifth-placed Villarreal and six points behind third-placed Atletico Madrid. Athletic was coming off a 3-0 home loss to Manchester United in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals.
Midtable Sociedad is winless in four matches.
Also Sunday, 15th-placed Sevilla drew 2-2 with second-to-last Leganes, while sixth-placed Real Betis beat 14th-placed Espanyol 2-1.
Chelsea move closer to top-five finish, Newcastle salvage draw
- Palmer ended a lengthy drought with his first goal since mid-January
- Magpies salvaged a point thanks to a last-gasp Alexander Isak penalty
LONDON: Chelsea moved a step closer to securing Champions League qualification with a 3-1 victory over weakened champions Liverpool on Sunday, while Newcastle United slipped up in a 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Newcastle salvaged a point thanks to a last-gasp Alexander Isak penalty, while Brentford edged a young Manchester United side 4-3, and West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur’s disappointing form continued in a 1-1 draw.
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea are fifth in the Premier League on 63 points, separated from fourth-placed Newcastle only by goals scored. Both teams trail third-placed Manchester City by a point with three games remaining.
The game at Stamford Bridge was less than three minutes old when Cole Palmer found Neto whose cut-back fell to the unmarked Enzo Fernandez and the Argentine whipped the ball low into the net. Palmer was also instrumental in the second goal after he clipped the ball into the area and Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk’s attempted clearance bounced off teammate Jarell Quansah and into the goal.
Palmer ended a lengthy drought with his first goal since mid-January from the spot in the 96th minute after Quansah’s foul on Moises Caicedo.
“I think we did well the team showed character,” Caicedo told Sky Sports. “We are happy that we won this game.
“(Palmer) deserves it. He is working hard to get goals. Now was his opportunity and he scored.”
Van Dijk had pulled one back for Liverpool, who made six changes to their starting lineup after clinching the title last weekend, in the 84th minute from a corner.
“There was chances for us to score — in the end they deserve the win,” Van Dijk said.
At Brighton, Isak’s last-gasp penalty earned a potentially crucial point for Newcastle in their chase of Champions League qualification.
Brighton looked poised for victory after winger Yankuba Minteh struck in the first half, but Isak’s 89th-minute spot kick sent goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen the wrong way for his 23rd league goal of the season.
“It’s all to play for,” Newcastle boss Eddie Howe told Sky Sports. “We have three huge games, three very tough games in different ways. Two of them are at home and we hope that can make the difference.”
Minteh scored in the 28th minute with a blistering shot through a crowd into the far corner.
BRENTFORD MOMENTUM
Two goals from Kevin Schade guided Brentford up to ninth in the table on 52 points, while defeat left Manchester United in 15th with 39 points.
“We definitely have momentum... we’ve had a really good run of games, there’s a flow of playing well,” Brentford boss Thomas Frank told the BBC.
With an eye on the Europa League semifinal second leg against Athletic Bilbao, United manager Ruben Amorim named the club’s youngest starting lineup in Premier League history. Seventeen-year-old forward Chido Obi became their youngest starter.
United scored against the run of play through Alejandro Garnacho, but Brentford equalized with Mikkel Damsgaard’s shot deflecting off Luke Shaw for an own goal.
Brentford took the lead six minutes later as Schade rose above the defense to head home and he completed his brace with another header in the 70th minute.
Less than four minutes later, Yoane Wissa scored with a tap-in into an empty net to make it 4-1 before United came to life.
Garnacho pulled the trigger from outside the box in the 82nd minute, and then Amad Diallo’s deflected shot in added time went through Flekken’s legs to make it 4-3.
But United ran out of time as they fell to a club record 16th league defeat in a season in the Premier League era.
“I know there’s a big game on Thursday but first and foremost was today. We needed to win the game but we didn’t,” Mount said.
TOUGH GAME
London rivals West Ham and Tottenham remain just above the relegation places after their 1-1 draw.
A much-changed Spurs scored the opener after 15 minutes through Wilson Odobert but the lead lasted 13 minutes before Jarrod Bowen equalized for the home team.
The draw left Spurs in 16th spot and facing their worst finish since 1977, a single point above the 17th-placed Hammers whose winless run in the league was extended to eight games.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, we made a lot of changes which doesn’t help the cohesion and fluency but the lads worked really hard,” Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou said.
Crystal Palace host Nottingham Forest on Monday.
Arsenal suffer Bournemouth defeat ahead of PSG showdown
- Mikel Arteta’s side took the lead through Declan Rice’s opener on his 100th appearance for the club
- Arteta admitted this week that it was “very painful” to watch Liverpool celebrate winning the Premier League title last weekend
LONDON: Arsenal suffered a blow ahead of their Champions League showdown with Paris Saint-Germain as Evanilson fired Bournemouth to a 2-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta’s side took the lead through Declan Rice’s opener on his 100th appearance for the club.
But Dean Huijsen equalized in the second half and Evanilson completed the comeback to give Bournemouth their first ever away win over Arsenal.
Beaten 1-0 by PSG in the Champions League semifinal first leg on Tuesday, Arsenal will need a much-improved performance in the second leg in Paris on Wednesday.
The second-placed Gunners also still require six points to guarantee Champions League qualification for next season via a top five finish in the Premier League.
Arteta admitted this week that it was “very painful” to watch Liverpool celebrate winning the Premier League title last weekend.
The Gunners finished as runners-up behind Manchester City for the last two seasons and the Champions League is their last hope of a trophy this term.
Arteta is still waiting to win the second trophy of his six-year Arsenal reign, with his last silverware coming in the 2020 FA Cup.
Arsenal last reached the Champions League final in 2006 and have never won the tournament.
With so much at stake in the Parc des Princes next week, it was intriguing to see Arteta select a full strength side for a relatively meaningless game against Bournemouth.
Instead of resting, key stars Rice, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and William Saliba were all in Arsenal’s starting line-up.
Jurrien Timber and Mikel Merino were the notable absentees for Arsenal, with Arteta revealing the former will need a fitness test to determine his availability for the PSG game.
Bournemouth arrived in north London with an outside chance of qualifying for Europe and had already beaten Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium in October.
Evanilson started for Bournemouth after his red card against Manchester United was overturned.
The Brazilian forward wasted a golden opportunity when he headed over after Jakub Kiwior slipped while trying to clear Milos Kerkez’s cross.
Leandro Trossard went close to the opener as the Arsenal forward stooped to meet Martinelli’s cross with a header that forced a good save from Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Rice made the breakthrough in the 34th minute, running onto Odegaard’s precise pass and rounding Kepa to slot into the empty net before celebrating with a bow to the crowd.
Evanilson nearly caught out David Raya with a lob from 40 yards after the Arsenal keeper miscued a pass to the striker.
Saka should have done better than head tamely at Kepa from Martinelli’s cross immediately after the interval.
Saka went closer moments later, nimbly cutting inside for a curler that fizzed past the far post.
Arsenal had failed to win nine league games in which they held the lead this season, a failing that played a major role in their title race surrender.
And once again Arteta’s side were rocked by a sucker punch as Bournemouth levelled with their first effort on target in the 67th minute.
Antoine Semenyo launched a long throw into the Arsenal area and Huijsen eluded Rice as he climbed to loop a header over Raya into the far corner from six yards.
The Gunners had lost their way and Evanilson made them pay in the 75th minute.
Marcus Tavernier flicked the ball toward the far post and Evanilson poked home, with Bournemouth finally able to celebrate after a VAR check for a potential handball.
Asian Glory for Al-Ahli with Champions League triumph
- Deserved win in front of 60,000 ecstatic fans at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium
- First-half goals from Galeno and Franck Kessie did the damage
JEDDAH: Al-Ahli are the champions of Asia for the first time after a 2-0 victory over Kawasaki Frontale in Jeddah on Saturday.
It was a deserved win in front of 60,000 ecstatic fans at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium as the green giants join local rivals Al-Ittihad as well as Al-Hilal in that exclusive club — Saudi Arabian champions of Asia.
First-half goals from Galeno, a beauty, and Franck Kessie did the damage and once Al-Ahli were ahead, they never looked like letting the trophy slip after being runners-up in 1986 and 2012.
Roared on by the home fans who produced another stunning exhibition of tifos before kick-off and did not let the energy levels drop, the home team starting brightly. Ivan Toney turned smartly on the right corner of the penalty area in the fifth minute, and the England striker’s strong shot forced a flying save from Louis-Thebault Yamaguchi. Moments later, it was Ziyad Al-Johani in the air on the edge of the six-yard box but his shot was also blocked by the keeper.
It was not all one-way traffic, and Marcinho’s shot from the left went just wide of the opposite post. It seemed to spur Al-Ahli on, however, and they kept pushing forward. Toney, Ibanez and Galeno all had shots, although not enough to trouble the goalkeeper too much.
Al-Ahli were on top and just when it started to look like it could be a frustrating evening, Galeno produced a moment of magic. Receiving the ball from Roberto Firmino outside the area, the Brazilian winger was given a little too much time and space. Even so, few expected the outcome — a perfect shot curled into the top corner to repay a considerable slice of that transfer fee paid to FC Porto in January.
For the five-time Japanese champions it was then crucial that they did not concede again before the break but that is exactly what happened. Firmino crossed from the right and there was former AC Milan and Barcelona midfielder Kessie to head home from close range. Kawasaki were shellshocked and desperately trying to stay in the game and not fall even further behind.
Their best chance came just before the hour. A cross from the left went all the way to the far post and perhaps Sai van Wermeskerken should have done better with the header but it went high and wide.
Al-Ahli were able to sit back and then look to break and cause problems. Riyad Mahrez, with nine goals already in the tournament, shot just wide from the edge of the area and it was all looking too comfortable for his side.
Kawasaki could not create clear chances with only Tatsuya Ito, scorer of a stunner in that 3-2 semi-final win over Al-Nassr on Wednesday, causing a few nerves among the home ranks. He shot just wide from the edge of the area with 15 minutes remaining and then came closer soon after, making a little space for himself outside Toney on the right side of the area and firing just across the face of goal.
That was as good as it got. It was a professional performance from Al-Ahli who never looked like letting their two-goal lead slip. It was a deserved win on the night and also the tournament, finishing as the only unbeaten team throughout the group and knockout stages.
The celebrations at the final whistle may well have been heard in Riyadh but the message has certainly been sent loud and clear to the rest of Asia: Al-Ahli are the new champions of the world’s biggest continent and it looks like there is more to come.
