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La Liga roundup: Real Madrid, Barcelona hold serve, still 2 points apart

By Andy EdwardsApr 2, 2017, 5:09 PM EDT
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A roundup of the weekend’s action in Spain’s top flight…

[ MORE: Arsenal come back twice for draw with Man City | Three things ]

Real Madrid 3-0 Alaves

The math is extraordinarily simple — more so than the reality, granted — for Real Madrid: win each and every one of their remaining 11 games, and they’ll be La Liga champions once again. With a two-point lead on Barcelona, and a game in hand, coming into the weekend, Zinedine Zidane’s is squarely in the driver’s seat.

On Sunday, Los Blancos made life a tad more difficult for themselves than they would have liked, but in the end came away with all three points against 10th-place Alaves. Karim Benzema made it 1-0 just after the half-hour mark, which is where it would stay for 54 slightly nerve-wracking minutes.

Isco would eventually make it 2-0 in the 85th minute, and Nacho provided security beyond reasonable necessity two minutes after that, sending Madrid five points clear of Barca for a few hours’ time.

Team GP W D L GF GA GD Home Away PTS
 Real Madrid 28 21 5 2 74 28 46 12-3-0 9-2-2 68
 Barcelona 29 20 6 3 85 26 59 10-3-1 10-3-2 66
 Atlético Madrid 29 17 7 5 54 23 31 10-2-2 7-5-3 58
 Sevilla 29 17 7 5 52 34 18 10-3-1 7-4-4 58
 Real Sociedad 29 15 4 10 43 40 3 7-4-4 8-0-6 49
 Villarreal 29 13 9 7 41 23 18 8-3-4 5-6-3 48
 Athletic 29 14 5 10 37 33 4 10-3-2 4-2-8 47

Granada 1-4 Barcelona

“No Lionel Messi” (suspension) was a bit of a problem for Barca on Sunday, but only for a short time. Luis Suarez put Barca ahead a minute before halftime, but the lead was short-lived as Jeremie Boga finished a lightning-quick counter-attack for Granada to being the home side back to 1-1 in the 50th minute.

Nearly 15 minutes went by, and the title looked a million miles away, until Paco Alcacer slotted home a counter-attack chance of his own in the 64th minute. An own goal and a tap-in by Neymar would complete the scoring, and keep the Blaugrana within striking distance ahead of a decisive period for their title rivals — the Madrid derby is next Saturday, followed by El Clasico two weeks after that.

Elsewhere in La Liga

Saturday

Malaga 0-2 Atletico Madrid
Real Sociedad 1-1 Leganes
Villarreal 2-3 Eibar
Osasuna 1-2 Athletic Bilbao

Sunday

Sevilla 0-0 Sporting Gijon
Valencia 3-0 Deportivo La Coruña

Champions League wrap: PSV strikes late to win thriller (video)

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By Nicholas MendolaJul 23, 2019, 7:59 PM EDT
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Five first legs of the UEFA Champions League’s second qualifying round are in the books, including a thrilling back-and-forth with a show-stopping stoppage time winner.

[ MORE: Rodgers talks down Maguire sale ]

PSV Eindhoven 3-2 FC Basel

Bruma scored a debut opener for the Dutch hosts, who fell behind 2-1 in the 79th minute before Sam Lammers and Donyell Malen struck in the 89th minute and second minute of stoppage, respectively, to put PSV ahead.

Basel will be okay taken two away goals home via Albian Aljeti and Omar Alderete.

Lammers came in for Mexican star Hirving Lozano in the 79th minute to score the leveler within 10 minutes before Malen, who went the full 90, kept his focus to deliver this clever winner.

The New Saints 0-2 Copenhagen

Pieros Sotiriou and Robert Skov scored on either side of halftime to give the Danish powers a healthy advantage heading into the second leg.

Elsewhere
FK Sutjeska 0-1 APOEL Nicosia
Saburtalo 0-2 Dinamo Zagreb
Viktoria Plzen 0-0 Olympiacos

Wednesday
BATE Borisov v. Rosenborg — 1 p.m. ET
Ferencvaros v. Valletta — 2 p.m. ET
CFR Cluj v. Maccabi Tel-Aviv — 2 p.m. ET
Maribor v. AIK — 2:15 p.m. ET
Red Star Belgrade v. HJK Helsinki — 2:45 p.m. ET
Dundalk v. Qarabag — 2:45 p.m. ET
Celtic v. Nomme Kalju — 2:45 p.m. ET

Rodgers says no close bids for Maguire

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By Nicholas MendolaJul 23, 2019, 7:11 PM EDT
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Those tired of seeing Harry Maguire‘s name in the headlines, hoping his transfer saga had concluded with weekend reports that Manchester United agreed to a fee with Leicester City, well, they are going to be sorely disappointed.

[ MORE: Who is Newcastle’s new $50M forward? ]

Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers credited Maguire for his professionalism — the center back scored in a friendly win on Tuesday — and said that the club’s vice chairman Aiyawatt “Top” Srivaddhanaprabha has not received a fitting bid for the 26 year old’s services.

From The Leicester Mercury:

“There’s no big pressure to sell any player. If a player does leave Leicester City, then the player would need to be met because we have a top-level player, coveted by top-level clubs and I respect that,” Rodgers said. “Harry is on a long contract here and there’s been no valuation or near to that which would make Top have a look.”

Nooooooooooo.

Look, we’ve still got a few weeks until the close of the window, and every supporter has a target they want their club to acquire and some have some assets they hope stay in the same shirt at the deadline.

The Maguire story is getting a bit tedious now. He wants to go to Manchester United, but Rodgers is happy to keep him at Leicester. Maguire’s not the player who will quit on the club if he’s not sold, and Leicester’s hope of landing a replacement will dip as the deadline draws nearer and clubs like Burnley (James Tarkowski) realize their replacements options have been lessened by the wait.

Janssen leaves Spurs for Liga MX in $8M deal

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By Nicholas MendolaJul 23, 2019, 6:21 PM EDT
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Vincent Janssen‘s less-than-ideal tenure with Tottenham Hotspur has come to its end, and he’s moving his way to this side of the Atlantic.

Liga MX side Monterrey has agreed to buy Janssen, Spurs announced Tuesday. The deal is for a reported $8 million.

[ MORE: Rich new deal for Hudson-Odoi ]

The Dutchman turned 25 this summer. He played just 42 times for Spurs after arriving from AZ Alkmaar for around $25 million in 2016, scoring six times, but did manage five goals and four assists in a half-year loan to Fenerbahce in 2017-18.

Janssen saw his time with the Netherlands national team peter out during his tenure at Spurs. After a red-hot start, he has not been capped since 2017. Janssen has seven goals in 17 caps.

His time at Spurs cannot be labeled as anything but a gigantic bust, but Janssen is still pretty young and has a chance to recapture his career momentum.

And he looks pretty happy about it.

Transfer gossip: Newcastle eyes 2nd Brazilian, USMNT’s Arriola on move

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By Nicholas MendolaJul 23, 2019, 5:34 PM EDT
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Two players from the Western hemisphere may be heading across the Atlantic, one of whom is very familiar to American eyes.

[ MORE: Rich new deal for Hudson-Odoi ]

DC United winger Paul Arriola could be leaving Major League Soccer in a return to Liga MX or a move abroad to Europe.

CBS’ Roger Gonzalez says some of the big boys in Mexico are after the former LA Galaxy youth product who got his start at Club Tijuana.

Arriola, 24, has 28 caps with five goals and five assists for the USMNT, blooded by Jurgen Klinsmann in 2016. He has 12 goals and 10 assists in 57 matches for DC United since arriving from Tijuana.

[ MORE: Who is Newcastle’s new $50M forward? ]

Next up: Newcastle United may be in for another Brazilian attacker.

Marrony is the name, and Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol says the Magpies were alerted to his potential by the same source who claimed they were after Joelinton (who signed today after a $50 million deal).

The 20-year-old has a reported $37 million release clause, a left winger has a goal and an assist in two seasons with Vasco da Gama in Brazil. He also scored five times in 15 appearances for the club in the state league.

It feels a bit like a red herring or straight-up agent speak, but the Joelinton deal seemed unusual as well (albeit in a different way).