Europe

MADRID — Real Madrid have taken the final step towards officially launching their women's team after the Spanish soccer federation approved a deal to merge with CD Tacon, the club said in a statement on Wednesday.

Real agreed to absorb Tacon last year after they were promoted to the top division of Spanish women's soccer, a move that was approved by the club's members at last year's general assembly.

BARCELONA — Barcelona gave up more ground to Real Madrid in LaLiga's title race on Tuesday after being held to a 2-2 draw at home to Atletico Madrid as a late penalty from Saul Niguez canceled out Lionel Messi's 700th career goal.

The draw meant the Catalans stayed second in the standings on 70 points and leaders Real Madrid, who have 71, will go four points clear at the top with five games left if they beat Getafe at home on Thursday.

GENOA, Italy — Juventus secured a 3-1 win at lowly Genoa on Tuesday to stay four points clear at the top of Serie A thanks to a solo goal by Paulo Dybala, a long-range rocket from Cristiano Ronaldo and an exquisite curling shot by Douglas Costa.

Genoa held out defiantly until halftime with goalkeeper Mattia Perin saving everything his former club could throw at him but they had no answer to Juve's individual brilliance in the second period.

A study released Wednesday by Danish company RunRepeat in collaboration with England's Professional Footballer's Association (PFA) found a startling amount of racial stereotyping coming from the broadcast booth.

Álvaro Cervera arrived in Cádiz after a three-year spell with Tenerife. It was mid-April when he took the job as manager, the season nearly over. Cervera was able to guide Cádiz CF to a fourth-place finish and promotion to the Spanish second division after six arduous years in the third tier. Four years on, El Submarino Amarillo is on the brink of a return to the promised land of LaLiga.

Premier League CEO Richard Masters defended players' and clubs' collective decision to support the Black Lives Matter movement on Tuesday, describing it as a moral cause and not a political one.

When the league restarted this month after a three-month stoppage due to the coronavirus pandemic, all players had "Black Lives Matter" on their shirts instead of their names in the opening round of games and they have continued to take a knee before kick-off in support of BLM.

FC Augsburg has wasted no time in adding to its squad this summer. The Bavarian side has completed some remarkable business by adding midfielders Daniel Caligiuri from Schalke and Tobias Strobl from Borussia Mönchengladbach, as well as goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz from Union Berlin. All three were signed on free transfers as their contracts at their previous clubs were due to expire at the end of June. 

Tobias Strobl
Daniel Caligiuri
Rafał Gikiewicz

Luton Town arrived at Swansea City's Liberty Stadium on Saturday embroiled in a relegation battle, but the team became involved in a different kind of fight on the pitch. Luton striker James Collins put the Championship strugglers ahead 1-0 with a 72nd minute header, but the real action kicked off shortly after, following a series of increasingly harsh tackles:

This... well, it escalates. Put it that way. pic.twitter.com/NVuunTqYq9

An important game in the LaLiga relegation picture beckons as 18th-place Mallorca takes on 17th-place Celta Vigo on Tuesday.

Mallorca is still winless since the restart, having faced a tough stretch on the schedule which pitted the side against Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. The Balearic Islands-based team, co-owned by retired basketball player Steve Nash, has taken just one point since play resumed in a draw against fellow basement dwellers Leganes.