La Liga
REAL BEAT ATLETICO ON PENALTIES TO WIN SPANISH SUPER CUP
Thibaut Courtois proved the hero on Sunday (Jan 12) as Real Madrid beat city rivals Atletico Madrid in a penalty shoot-out in Saudi Arabia to win their 11th Spanish Super Cup.
Two imperious goalkeepers came out on top during a goalless final in Jeddah but Belgian Courtois proved decisive, saving Thomas Partey’s penalty after Saul Niguez had already hit the post.
Sergio Ramos tucked away the winning spot-kick to ensure Real Madrid clinched their first trophy of the season, with La Liga and the Champions League next in their sights.
Atletico might have won it in extra-time when Alvaro Morata went through one-on-one but Real’s Federico Valverde took a red card in exchange for cynically fouling the striker from behind.
Victory maintains Zinedine Zidane’s spotless record as a coach in finals. He has now led Madrid to success in three of three Champions League, two each in the Club World Cup and Uefa Super Cup, and now one in the Spanish Super Cup.
VENUE CONTROVERSY
The focus before the tournament was more on the decision of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to move this year’s Super Cup – a four-team competition rather than a straight final – away from Spain and to Saudi Arabia, despite the country’s long-criticised treatment of women and record on human rights.
Before the final, RFEF president Luis Rubiales said he was “very happy” with how the format had panned out.
“We have to improve things because it is a country that has just started organising these sorts of events,” he added.
For all the controversy off the pitch, on the pitch, the tournament has delivered. Real Madrid played brilliantly to beat Valencia on Wednesday while a pulsating 3-2 win for Atletico on Thursday has put Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde on the brink of the sack.
And although the final lacked goals and quality finishing, there was drama until the end and joy on the faces of Real Madrid’s players as Ramos hoisted another trophy under the fireworks.
Ramos had been guilty of sloppiness early on and Atletico should have capitalised. The defender played a pass straight to Joao Felix on the edge of the area but Felix dragged wide and then Ferland Mendy gave the ball away carelessly, only for Morata to look for contact from Courtois and a penalty when there was neither.
COURTOIS SAVES THE DAY
Both teams had good chances to win it late on, with Luka Jovic’s deflected cross finding Valverde free five yards out only for the midfielder’s header to hit his own knee before drifting harmlessly over.
Then Atletico might have nicked it in the 80th minute as Kieran Trippier clipped an excellent pass over the top for Morata, who opted for accuracy rather than power and Courtois was able to push away.
Into extra-time and, with 105 minutes on the clock, Courtois did well to flash out a leg and block Morata’s acrobatic effort while Oblak twice denied Real, first a curling shot from Luka Modric and then a follow-up drive from Mariano Diaz.
Yet the most dramatic moment was still to come as Saul sent Morata clean through, with only Courtois to beat, only for the chasing Valverde to scythe him down from behind.
The red card was inevitable but Atletico only had a free-kick and, for four minutes, an extra man advantage. Trippier hit the free-kick into the wall and Real held on for penalties.
Carvajal found the corner but Saul struck the post, despite sending Courtois the wrong way. Rodrygo coolly put Real two ahead and Thomas missed, this time Courtois diving right and palming away.
Modric swept into the corner before Trippier did the same. It was left to Ramos to hit the winning shot.
-AFP
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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