News Archive

Champions League group stage, day one

Real Madrid left it late, but two goals in the last five minutes gave them a 2-1 victory over Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday night. A Bruno César strike at the start of the second half appeared to have given the Portuguese side a surprise win, but a Ronaldo free kick and a Morata turned the scoreline around in the end. Sevilla were the only one of the four La Liga teams not to pick up the three points, although they will be more than happy with their result, a 0-0 draw at Juventus. (14.09.16)

A good start for Spanish sides in the Champions League, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid both winning their opening games on Tuesday. Barcelona thrashed Celtic 7-0, Messi helping himself to yet another hat-trick, Luis Suárez scoring two late on, and Neymar and Iniesta also on the scoresheet. And Atlético beat PSV Eindhoven 0-1, Saúl Ñíguez getting the only goal shortly before the break. (13.09.16)

Real Madrid 2 – Sporting Lisbon 1

Real Madrid left it late, but two goals in the last five minutes gave them a 2-1 victory over Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday night. The Portuguese side had the better of the first half, Bruno César shooting wide in the first minute and Gelson causing some problems for Kiko Casilla and his defence. Bale tested Rui Patrico a couple of times, and the keeper had to be on his toes to tip a wickedly swerving shot from Cristiano Ronaldo over the bar, but a couple of minutes in to the second half Bruno César fired the visitors in to the lead after Bryan Ruíz poked the ball through to him. Dani Carvajal hooked a shot just past the post and Ronaldo turned an effort late on against the upright though. And with two minutes of normal time remaining Ronaldo won himself a free kick on the edge of the area, and curled in a shot which the keeper could only push on to the post and in to the net, the forward refusing to celebrate the goal out of deference to his old club. Madrid didn’t give up there though, and some five minutes later Morata forced a header past Rui Patrico from a James centre to tie up an epic victory. (14.09.16)

Juventus 0 – Sevilla 0

Sevilla were the only one of the four La Liga teams not to pick up the three points on the opening round of games, although they will be more than happy with their result, a 0-0 draw at Juventus. The two teams met at the group stage last season as well, the Andalusians winning the last game 1-0 in their Sánchez Pizjuán stadium to finish third in their mini-league and qualify for the Europa League, so the Italian champions knew it would be difficult to get past Sergio Rico. And so it proved again, the Spanish international keeper making a string of saves, the best from Alex Sandro with the game coming to an end. Sampaoli was looking for this result though, lining up without a recognized centre forward, and apart from a couple of long shots from Escudero and substitute Correa, Buffon was rarely troubled. The closest the locals came to scoring was when Higuaín headed a Dani Alves cross on to the bar early on in the second half, but Sevilla held on for a valuable point. This year they have set their sights on a bigger trophy than the Europa League! (14.09.16)

Barcelona 7 – Celtic 0

Barcelona bounced back from their humiliating defeat against Alavés at the weekend, a massive 7-0 victory against Celtic giving their new Champions League campaign the best possible start. Luis Enrique made no less than eight changes to the line-up he put out on Saturday, and within three minutes Messi had connected with Neymar to open the scoring. The Scottish champions had a chance to equalize when Ter Stegen gave away a penalty on Dembelé with twenty minutes gone, but the keeper saved the striker’s spot kick, and a couple of minutes later Messi made it two following a quick passing move. Rakitic and Neymar had shots blocked before the interval, and some four minutes in to the second half Neymar got the third with a well struck free kick. Soon afterwards Iniesta volleyed in the fourth, and a minute after that Messi completed his hat-trick after Luis Suárez set him up. Later on in the game Suárez helped himself to two more as well, and only a great save by De Vries prevented Messi from scoring another. The weekend disaster is already forgotten! (13.09.16)

PSV Eindhoven 0 – Atlético Madrid 1

Atlético Madrid will be looking to go one better than last season’s runners up position, and they began the league stage with a 0-1 victory at PSV Eindhoven. The two teams met in the round of sixteen some six months ago, Simeone’s side going through on penalties after both legs finished without goals, and once again chances were not particularly forthcoming. De Jong did get the ball in the net early on only for English referee Martin Atkinson to rule out the strike for what he considered to be a previous foul, Filipe Luis and Gameiro went close at the other end. However with two minutes to go to the break Saúl Ñíguez finally broke the deadlock, volleying a shot past Zoet after his first effort was blocked by a defender. Before half time though PSV were awarded a penalty when Narsingh fell under a challenge from Giménez, but Oblak dived across to save Guardado’s kick. And although Cocu’s side threw everything forward in the second half, the visitors held on to take the three points. With Bayern Munich also in their group, this was one they couldn’t afford to lose. (13.09.16)