MADRID - LaLiga leaders Atlético Madrid host neighbors Real Madrid on Sunday in a potentially pivotal game in the title race.
Real sit third, level on 53 points with Barcelona and five behind Atlético who have a game in hand on their rivals.
Zinedine Zidane's side dropped points on Monday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by visiting Real Sociedad and another slip-up could prove fatal in the bid to retain their crown.
Ousmane Dembélé is perennially late.
You can easily imagine him throwing open the door of his Mercedes S63 AMG coupé, crushed Mountain Dew Game Fuel cans spilling out with him, and sprinting into Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper at a breakneck speed muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" because this really happens all the time — to the point where the club fined him hundreds of thousands of dollars and wondered aloud if he had a video game disorder that forced him to stay up all night playing with his friends (others call this disorder “having fun.”)
VICHTE, Belgium — A Porsche car owned by Argentina's soccer great Diego Maradona during his "forgotten" final season in Europe will go under the hammer this week.
Maradona drove the 1992 silver Porsche 911 to and from training and matches when he was playing for Spanish club Sevilla in the 1992-93 season, his last in Europe, after serving a 15-month ban over a failed drugs test.
Colchoneros, catalanes, merengues y nervionenses tendrán que dar el todo por el todo en la cancha si pretenden conquistar el ansiado título de la Liga Santander 2020-2021. Temporada tan particular como atípica. Estadios vacíos, pandemia incontrolable, crisis económica mundial y ahora el “Barçagate” percuten en demasía el ritmo de la competencia en España.
With Sunday’s Madrid Derby now on the horizon, Real Madrid missed a massive opportunity to ratchet up the pressure on Atlético by slipping to a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad at Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano on Monday night.
Real clearly felt the absence of Karim Benzema up top — along with the continued unavailability of Sergio Ramos, Eden Hazard, Dani Carvajal and Éder Militão — and today’s starting front three of Marco Asensio, Mariano and Isco was hooked en masse in the 61st minute after Portu had put Sociedad up 1-0 in the 55th.
BARCELONA - Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu was arrested on Monday after Catalan police officers searched the LaLiga club's offices.
A regional police spokeswoman confirmed several arrests had been made following an investigation by the force's financial crimes unit, without confirming the number of arrests made or their identities.
Barcelona was nursing a slender one-goal lead for most of its match with Sevilla, the club directly behind it in the LaLiga standings. Lionel Messi had received the support Barça needed to be in position to win, but the Argentine hadn’t yet put his own stamp on the game. But as he does more often than not, Messi created a bit of magic late and helped Barcelona beat Sevilla 2-0 on Saturday at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.
RCD Mallorca suffered a heartbreaking blow at the end of the 2016-17 season. With one game left to play, the club's return to Spain's third tier, La Segunda B, was confirmed thanks to relegation as a result of a 20th-placed finish. It had been over 30 years since the islanders last faced the ignominy of the third division.
No tengo la certeza, pero tampoco dudas, de que varios jugadores profesionales (y también amateurs) sueñan algún día cruzarse en una cancha de fútbol con Lionel Messi solo para esperar el final del partido y pedirle su camiseta. Seguramente hay horas de preparación para cuando llegue ese momento, las cuales incluyen tiempo frente al espejo ensayando un "Leo, tu camiseta, por favor" o cosas por el estilo. Sin embargo, suponemos que muy pocos están preparados para cuando ocurra lo contrario, cuando sea el mismísimo Messi quien pida tu camiseta.
Ronald Koeman's Barcelona, third place in LaLiga on 50 points, travels south on Saturday to take on Sevilla, just two points behind them in fourth.