La Liga

Real Madrid stumbled in the three-way race for the Spanish league title as Isco Alarcn guided Real Betis to a 2-1 comeback win over the defending champion. The former Madrid player delivered a corner kick that was headed in by fellow midfielder Johnny Cardoso in the 34th minute on Saturday, cancelling out Brahim Daz's opener for Madrid. Isco then put Betis ahead from the penalty spot in the 54th after he passed to Jess Rodrguez and Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger knocked the Betis forward down in the area. Madrid's loss left it level on points with Barcelona, which hosts Real Sociedad on Sunday. Atletico Madrid moved two points clear of them both at the top of the table after substitute Julin lvarez scored to secure a 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao. Kylian Mbapp was back starting for Madrid after missing one game because of a problem with a tooth. Coach Carlo Ancelotti substituted him with 15 minutes left, saying that his dental issue had impeded him from training properly and that

Dani Olmo scored after coming off the bench to help Barcelona win 2-0 at Las Palmas on Saturday and stay top of the Spanish league. Lamine Yamal linked up with Olmo to find a seam in the hosts' defense in the 62nd minute. Olmo took Yamal's threaded pass, shifted the ball to his left foot to open an angle around a defender, and fired the ball in off the underside of the bar. While Olmo went on at halftime, Ferran Torres only played the final minutes and drilled in a second goal from angle in stoppage time. Las Palmas is a team that defends well and closes down the interior passing lanes so we had to remain patient, Olmo said. In the second half the spaces opened up and we were able to score and take the three points. Barcelona avenged a shock home loss to the Canary Islands club in November as it ensured it will spend another week atop the standings. The team coached by Hansi Flick is one point ahead of Atletico Madrid, which won 3-0 at Valencia earlier on Saturday. Real Madrid is

The referee who sent off Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham for cursing at him has denounced what he calls a false accusation by local media that has led to him being temporarily sidelined by the Spanish soccer federation. The federation said Tuesday that Jos Luis Munuera would not be named to referee games until it concludes its analysis of a report by online newspaper El Espaol that alleged Munuera had business relations with officials in the Spanish league. The focus of the report is Talentus Sports Speakers, a company which Munuera participates in that offers motivation talks by sports figures. Munuera responded to the media report with a statement saying that Talentus Sports Speakers has never invoiced any quantity from any sporting institution, whether it be a club, a federation or a company linked to sports. He added that he would take legal action against media outlets that have intentionally or due to negligence spread false or incorrect information about him or the refereei

Spanish league president Javier Tebas lashed out at Real Madrid on Thursday, saying the club leadership has lost its mind for accusing Spain's referees of being biased against the defending champion. The head of La Liga said it was considering taking legal action for the letter that Madrid published this week in which it accused the league of being adulterated to favor other clubs. Tebas told reporters, They have built up an exaggerated tale of victimization that is completely baseless with, in my opinion, the goal of undermining the competition. It is completely over the top. They have lost their minds. The letter was sent two days after Madrid felt it was hurt by alleged refereeing mistakes in a 1-0 loss at Espanyol. Madrid mostly complained of a hard foul on Kylian Mbapp by Espanyol defender Carlos Romero in the 60th minute. Romero was shown a yellow card but Madrid felt he should have been sent off with a straight red card. Romero went on to score the winner. After a video revi

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid meet in their second derby of the season with the Liga lead on the line and the focus on refereeing. Real Madrid has spent the days ahead of Saturday's match complaining of mistakes against the club. Atletico Madrid has used the buildup to accuse Real Madrid of trying to put pressure on the referees. Real Madrid enters the match at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium with a one-point lead over Atletico Madrid. The gap between them narrowed in the last round after Real Madrid lost at Espanyol 1-0 and said it was hurt by refereeing mistakes. The defending league champion took the unusual step of sending a strongly worded complaint to the Spanish federation and the nation's top sports authority. The letter sparked widespread reaction across the league, and Atletico Madrid was among those who weren't happy. The club took to social media to alert to what it called Real Madrid's attempt to intimidate refs. Atletico Madrid listed on X what it said were basic ...

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There was no rout this time but Barcelona still prevailed with Robert Lewandowski scoring a second-half winner as the Catalan club beat Alaves 1-0 to move within four points of rival Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish league. It's not every time that we will be able to score three, four or five goals in a game, Lewandowski said. We had to be patient and in the end we did what we had to do, which was to score one more goal than our opponent. Madrid lost 1-0 at Espanyol on Saturday after a run of 10 victories in its last 11 matches in all competitions. Third-placed Barcelona is three points behind second-placed Atletico Madrid, which ended a two-match winless streak in the league with a 2-0 victory against Mallorca on Saturday. We knew we had to win this match, Lewandowski said. We needed the victory. We had lost too many points in the league already. It was an unusually low-scoring game for Barcelona, which had claimed 14 goals in its last three matches including a 7-1 rout of

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Barcelona got back on track in the Spanish league by overwhelming Valencia on Sunday with four different players scoring in the first 24 minutes of a 7-1 rout. Frenkie de Jong opened the scoring in the third minute, Ferran Torres added to the lead in the eighth, Raphinha found the net in the 14th and Fermn Lpez struck in the 24th at Montjuic stadium. Lpez added the fifth in first-half stoppage time as Barcelona ended the first half with a 5-0 lead. Valencia got its goal with Hugo Duro in the 59th before Barcelona scored again with Robert Lewandowski in the 66th and an own-goal by Csar Trrega in the 75th. The victory moved Barcelona within three points of second-placed Atletico Madrid and seven points off leader Real Madrid, which won 3-0 at Valladolid on Saturday with a hat trick by Kylian Mbapp. Atletico was held 1-1 by Villarreal on Saturday. We hadn't been doing well in the league and we needed to bounce back with a victory like that, Lpez said. We have to keep fighting. Barce

Real Madrid rested most of its big stars and still hammered fourth tier Deportivo Minera 5-0 to reach the last 16 of the Copa del Rey on Monday. Vinicius Jr., Kylian Mbapp, Jude Bellingham and goalkeeper Ferland Mendy all started on the bench as coach Carlo Ancelotti gave a debut to 17-year-old central defender Diego Aguado, who lined up alongside his elder brother Lorenzo. Endrick, Brahim Daz and Arda Gler all got rare starts up front for Real and the visitors took just four minutes to score when Federico Valverde volleyed home. Eduardo Camavinga headed a second after 12 minutes and a slight deflection helped Gler get a third a quarter of an hour later. Minera reached the last 32 after claiming beating La Liga side Alaves in the previous round but there was no way back against a vastly superior club that has won this trophy 20 times, especially when Ancelotti gave Vinicius and Mbapp a second half runout. Captain Luka Modric added the fourth nine minutes into the second half and G

The Spanish league and Spain's soccer federation on Saturday again denied Barcelona's request to register Dani Olmo and Pau Vctor for the rest of the season. The players were only registered through the end of 2024 and Barcelona failed to meet the league's financial fair-play rules by the end-of-the-year deadline. The league and the federation said in a joint statement that even though Barcelona eventually was able to meet the salary-cap rules, the players can't be registered again after already having been dropped because of the missed deadline. Coach Hansi Flick said Friday he was not happy with the situation but had expressed confidence in the club to have the players registered. He spoke ahead of the team's Copa del Rey match against fourth-division club Barbastro on Saturday. Barcelona could still try to go to the courts to register the players, though its previous attempts were all rejected. Barcelona argued that the deadline for registering new players should be at the end

The organization that represents European soccer leagues rejected latest proposals for a breakaway super league. Detailed plans for a new rival to the Champions League the Unify League were released this week by Madrid-based A22 Sports Management. It was not clear what support there was for the proposed competition, but A22 said it had held discussions with clubs, leagues and other parties." The European Leagues, which represents 39 leagues and associations, said in a statement that it rejects any suggestion that a consultation took place with our organization. It reaffirmed leagues' commitment to the current system by which teams qualify for UEFA competitions like the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. The A22's competition model, which is not requested and unsubstantiated, would increase the number of international matches in an already congested calendar, it said. Supporters and stakeholders across the game have consistently made it clear that any attempt

Carlo Ancelotti is convinced Kylin Mbapp will find a way out of the rut that has included two big penalty misses since his highly-anticipated move to Real Madrid, the Italian coach said Friday. Mbapp had spot kicks saved in losses at Liverpool and, most recently, Athletic Bilbao this week. After the 2-1 defeat in Bilbao, the France star said on social media that he took full responsibility for another disappointing performance. He is aware of what is going on. His post after the Athletic game is one of a player who knows how he is playing and that he can play better, Ancelotti said a day before Madrid visits Girona in La Liga. There are players who are unaware they are not playing up to their potential, but he is aware that he can do more, and he is going to do all he can to improve as soon as possible. Mbapp's arrival as a free agent this summer created huge expectations that arguably the world's top talent would quickly reach new heights, with an experienced side coming off a dou

Barcelona got back to winning in the Spanish league in style, routing Mallorca 5-1 with a pair of goals by Raphinha. Ferran Torres, Frenkie de Jong and Pau Vctor also scored for Barcelona, which hadn't won in three consecutive league games to allow Real Madrid to inch closer at the top of the standings. Madrid is now four points back although it has two games in hand. Torres, who got to start in place of league-leading scorer Robert Lewandowski, opened the scoring in the 12th minute after Mallorca defenders failed to clear an easy ball from inside the area. One defender tried to kick it away but it ended ricocheting off a teammate to give Ferran an easy shot on goal. The hosts equalized with Vedat Muriqi in a breakaway just before halftime in what was Mallorca's only shot on target, but Raphinha put Barcelona back in front by converting a 56th-minute penalty kick. He added to the lead in the 74th after a nice assist by Lamine Yamal. Raphinha now has 11 goals in 16 league games thi

Real Madrid and the Spanish league on Sunday condemned racist insults against Lamine Yamal during Saturday's Clasico, and Madrid said it was working to identify those who abused the Barcelona forward. Madrid said it has opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable insults so that the appropriate disciplinary and judicial measures can be taken. The league said it was going to formally denounce the intolerable racist insults and gestures against Barcelona players at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The league said it strongly condemns these events and remains firm in its commitment to eradicate any type of racist behaviour and hatred inside and outside stadiums. There is no place for this scourge in sport. The reaction came after videos on social media showed the alleged insults against Yamal after he scored Barcelona's third goal in its 4-0 rout of Madrid. The 17-year-old celebrated in a corner in front of Madrid fans and

The Spanish league is trying to get approval to play a match between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in Miami in December. The league said its partner in the US, Relevent Sports, is working with FIFA to make sure the league is cleared to host the match outside of Spain. The league first tried to play a regular season match in the United States about five years ago, but its plans at the time were scrapped after opposition by Spain's soccer federation and the players' union. Staging the match abroad is part of the league's goal of promoting soccer and its brand in other countries. It has been expanding internationally for some time, hoping to close the gap on the powerful English Premier League. Critics say playing abroad would create unfair competition in the league.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is expected to miss Saturday's Clasico against Barcelona after sustaining a muscle injury in Tuesday's Champions League match. Courtois has "an adductor injury in his left leg," the team said Wednesday. The Belgium goalkeeper had been nursing an abductor injury recently. He missed most of last season with an ACL injury. Rodrygo is also expected to miss the Clasico, coach Carlo Ancelotti said Tuesday after the forward was substituted in the 85th minute of Madrid's 5-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund. Madrid trails Barcelona by three points in La Liga standings.

Robert Lewandowski scored two more goals to extend his league-leading tally to 12 and Barcelona routed Sevilla 5-1 to open a three-point gap on Real Madrid ahead of next weekend's "clasico." Pedri and Pablo Torre also scored Sunday for the Catalan club, which restored its lead of La Liga a day after second-place Madrid won 2-1 at Celta Vigo. Barcelona midfielder Gavi came off the bench to replace Pedri in the 83rd minute, making his return to action nearly a year after a serious knee injury. I had been dreaming about this moment for several months, Gavi said. It's tough to watch from the outside. I have to enjoy every moment. I feel very lucky to be here today. Barcelona will play Madrid on Saturday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Both teams have Champions League matches midweek Madrid hosts Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday and Barcelona hosts Bayern Munich on Wednesday. This was an important win considering the matches that we have ahead, Pedri said. We had to leave with a good ..

Luka Modric became the oldest player in Real Madrid's history while also delivering the game-winning assist in a 2-1 victory at Celta Vigo in La Liga on Saturday. At 39 years, 40 days old, the former Ballon d'Or winner surpassed the milestone held by Ferenc Puskas since 1966 by four days. Modric went on as a second-half substitute after Celta pulled level. The Croatia midfielder immediately made an impact when he threaded a through-ball forward for Vincius Jnior to score the 66th-minute winner at Balaidos Stadium. It was a hard-fought game, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. But we knew how to hang in there and got three important points thanks to a great pass by Modric. Luka always gives us something. Kylian Mbapp put the visitors ahead with a long-range strike in the 20th, only for Williot Swedberg to equalize in the 51st from a cross by scar Mingueza. That set the scene for Ancelotti to look to his bench and call on Modric to set things right for the defending champion. When a

Forward Ferran Torres will be sidelined because of a right thigh injury sustained in Barcelona's victory over Alaves in the Spanish league, the club said Monday. Torres had to be replaced five minutes into the 3-0 win at Alaves on Sunday, when striker Robert Lewandowski scored a hat trick. Barcelona said tests carried out on the first team player Ferran Torres confirm that he has an injury to the biceps femoris muscle in his right thigh. His return to training will be dependent on his recovery. Torres has made 10 appearances this season, six as a starter. His only goal came in the 7-0 league win against Valladolid in August. Barcelona is going into the international break with a three-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish league standings.