La Liga
LaLiga talking points
Talking points from the weekend in LaLiga.
Real Madrid are only one point away from being sure of their 35th Spanish league title.
With five games still to be played, the leaders benefited from Rayo Vallecano’s shock 1-0 win at Barcelona on Sunday and, with their 15-point advantage at the top over bitter rivals Barca and Sevilla, who are level in second place, Carlo Ancelotti’s side would clinch LaLiga’s title with a draw at home against Espanyol on Saturday.
Real Madrid did their homework last Wednesday, winning authoritatively 3-1 at Osasuna despite resting several usual starters such as Casemiro, Luka Modric and Vinicius Jr as they prepare to face Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday.
Now, thanks to a little help from Madrid’s own Rayo at Camp Nou, they can start preparing the celebration for next Saturday at Santiago Bernabeu.
“Disaster!!!” Catalonia daily newspaper Sport screamed on its front page on Monday, referring to Barcelona’s Camp Nou loss to lowly Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
Barca hit rock bottom with another disappointing result in another disappointing season, earning three consecutive home losses in all competitions for the first time in club history.
After falling in the Europa League quarter-finals against Eintratch Frankfurt, losing for the first time at home to lowly Cadiz and handing Rayo only their second league win since January, Xavi Hernandez’s side are now in danger of not finishing second and missing the 3.4 million euros that the club would make going to the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Barca are also in danger of missing qualification for the Champions League entirely, as only six points separate them from Betis in fifth as the battle to finish in the top four and secure a place in the top European competition intensifies.
The Copa del Rey champions will host Barca in two weeks looking to close the gap further.
Barca, level with Sevilla on 63 points, will have a difficult time against Betis, who are motivated after winning the cup final on penalties last Saturday, their first title in almost 20 years.
Atletico Madrid are fourth on 61 points and even Real Sociedad, sixth on 55 points, are still in play with five games to go.
-Reuters
It was mission accomplished, said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after his side fought back from two-goals behind to snatch a rip-roaring 4-4 draw on Tuesday for a 5-4 aggregate win that put them through to the Copa del Rey final.
Ancelotti brushed off questions about a sub-par performance by his side and praised his players’ effort in what he considered a highly entertaining encounter.
“We have achieved our goal today which was to reach the final and there is not much time to think about it,” Ancelotti told a press conference.
“It was an entertaining game with some mistakes and a lot of good things. It was fun and we are in the final.
“I never saw ourselves out of it because anything can happen at the Bernabeu. When we have to come from behind, we never give up. We never give up, especially at home, with the fans by our side.”
Ancelotti said David Alaba was not to blame after he deflected two balls into his own goal, calling it “bad luck” by the Austrian defender, but urged his defence to play with better focus moving forward.
“It’s not good to concede four goals in a game,” Ancelotti said.
“Right now we are a team that has a lot of effectiveness up-front, but little balance.
“However, we can’t ignore what we did in attack, scoring four goals against Real is not that easy. I think we are doing quite well.”
Real Madrid, who have won the Spanish Cup only once in over a decade, will play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid in a mouth-watering final in Seville next month.
Atletico fought back to hold Barca to a thrilling 4-4 draw ahead of Wednesday’s second-leg in Madrid.
-Reuters
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Real Madrid’s legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti will go on trial next week for allegedly failing to declare income to Spain’s tax office, the Madrid court which will hear the case has said.
Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of four years and nine months for the 65-year-old Italian, accusing him of having cost Spain’s treasury more than one million euros ($1.1 million) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.
The trial will begin on Wednesday and it is expected to last two days, a spokesman for the court said.
Ancelotti, who as a coach has won a record five Champions League trophies including three with Real, must be present for the hearings, he added.
Prosecutors accuse him of only declaring in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid during those two years even though he himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated his home was in Madrid.
They accuse Ancelotti of allegedly setting up a “confusing” and “complex” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings from his image rights as well as from other sources such as real estate.
A Spanish court in 2023 ordered Ancelotti to stand trial over the affair, but did not set a date.
Ancelotti dismissed the affair last year as “an old story that I hope will be resolved soon” when he was asked about the case.
He took over at Real Madrid in 2013, leaving in May 2015, before being appointed at Bayern Munich the following year.
The former Italy international midfielder, who as a player won the European Cup twice with AC Milan, later managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021.
Aside from his success in the Champions League he has won domestic league titles with Madrid and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.
-AFP
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Spain’s former soccer chief Luis Rubiales told Reuters on Thursday he would appeal a court ruling which found him guilty of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent.-
-Reuters
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