LA LIGA: Rakitic header earns Barca victory in Bilbao

BARCELONA - Champions Barcelona came through a gruelling La Liga test at a rainswept San Mames on Sunday, beating Athletic Bilbao 1-0 thanks to Ivan Rakitic's first-half header.

Elsewhere, Las Palmas thrashed Granada 5-1 to top the table with six points from two matches ahead of Barca and Real Madrid on goal difference while Europa League holders Sevilla were held to a goalless draw at Villarreal.

Croatia midfielder Rakitic glanced in Arda Turan's cross to complete a sweeping move started by Luis Suarez and settle the visiting side's nerves after a few early scares, including goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen giving the ball away in his own area.

Barca grew in confidence after the break and stand-in captain Lionel Messi spurned two chances while Suarez also failed to capitalise on a couple of clear opportunities and had a shot cleared off the line in injury time.

Luis Enrique's men almost lived to regret their profligacy as Bilbao's Raul Garcia fired narrowly wide and Iker Muniain had a late penalty appeal turned down.

"I'm happy with the result against an opponent of such magnitude," Luis Enrique told a news conference.

"We could have wrapped the game up earlier but it was a good performance and the three points are well earned."

Luis Enrique had warned that the visit to San Mames was always one of the hardest away trips for Barca and although they looked comfortable at the start, they soon began to struggle with Bilbao's intense pressing and aggression.

Ter Stegen gave the visitors a fright when he played the ball straight to Benat Etxebarria but the keeper got his body in the way of the midfielder's shot and later made saves from Aritz Aduriz and Benat again.

RISKY STYLE

Jordi Alba defended the German's risky style, saying: "I wish all goalkeepers were like him, he's the best in the world with the ball at his feet, he's our goalkeeper for the present and will be for many years to come".

Barca jitters were calmed in the 21st minute when Rakitic was left unmarked in the area to nod Turan's centre into the corner.

Turkey international Turan spurned a chance to double the lead before the break, miskicking at the near post, the first of a series of opportunities that went begging for the champions.

Messi started to make an impact in the second half after a relatively quiet first period but twice missed the target.

The usually prolific Suarez also endured a frustrating evening in front of goal, inexplicably failing to convert the simplest of chances at the end, taking too long to shoot with the net gaping and seeing his shot scrambled off the line.

Las Palmas followed their 4-2 win at Valencia last week with a dominant display against Granada, Nabil El Zhar scoring twice in the 5-1 rout.

Midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng netted for the second game running after joining Las Palmas from AC Milan and dedicated his goal to the victims of last week's earthquake in Italy that has killed at least 290 people.

"I leapt off my seat at the goal because of the quality of the counter attack, the shot and because...he hit it with his heart," said coach Quique Setien.

In Sunday's other game, Alaves drew 0-0 at home to Sporting Gijon.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

LA LIGA: Messi masterclass hits Getafe for six

MADRID, Spain -- Lionel Messi scored, provided three assists and missed a penalty as Barcelona pressed home their advantage at the top of La Liga with a 6-0 thrashing of Getafe on Saturday.

Atletico Madrid stayed eight points adrift of Barca at the top with 3-0 win over Deportivo la Coruna thanks to goals from Saul Niguez, Antoine Griezmann and Angel Correa.

Juan Rodriguez's own goal opened the scoring at the Camp Nou, before Messi saw his penalty saved by Vicente Guaita, teed up Munir El Haddadi and Neymar and smashed home his 36th goal of the season all before half-time.

Neymar and Arda Turan rounded off the scoring to seal Barca's 12th straight La Liga win after the break.

Real Madrid are now 15 points adrift of Barca in third ahead of their trip to Las Palmas on Sunday.

An eighth defeat in nine games leaves Getafe just a point above the relegation zone.

"This is a unique team, different to the rest and which does things that make it seem like there is nothing the opponent can do," said Barca boss Luis Enrique.

"It is a great pleasure to be in this position."

The European champions weren't even at full strength as Enrique left Luis Suarez on the bench ahead of Barca's return to Champions League action against Arsenal on Wednesday.

Yet, the hosts still only took seven minutes to break the deadlock as Jordi Alba's driven cross towards Messi was scooped into the far corner of his own net by Rodriguez.

Barca's one fallibility this season was exposed moments later when Neymar was chopped down by Emiliano Velazquez inside the area.

Messi took responsiblity, but for the ninth time in 20 spot-kicks Barca failed to convert, as Guaita dived to his left to turn the five-time World Player of the Year's effort to safety.

Guaita's intervention kept Getafe in the game for just a further nine minutes as Messi directed Andres Iniesta's through ball onto El Haddadi's head for the second.

Neymar's display had been under scrutiny after he took advantage of being suspended for last weekend's 4-0 win at Eibar to fly back to Brazil to celebrate his sister's birthday.

Yet, the break seemed to do the 24-year-old good as he raced onto a brilliant Messi pass to slot home his first goal in four games.

Messi then took out his frustration at not netting from the spot to rifle home the fourth from outside the box five minutes before half-time.

The pattern continued after the break with Messi in generous mood with another clinical through ball for Neymar to sweep home his 25th goal of the season.

And Turan added a sixth just before the hour mark with an acrobatic overhead kick which left Guaita flatfooted.

Atletico also warmed up for their crucial Champions League clash with PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday with victory as they eased past an under-strength and out of form Deportivo.

Diego Simeone's men have now scored three times in three consecutive league games for the first time in well over a year.

"The important thing is the goals are coming from all over the pitch," said Simeone.

"That makes us more unpredictable because we can create chances from anywhere."

Niguez opened the scoring with a powerful header from Filipe Luis's cross after 18 minutes.

The hosts were completely dominant and should have doubled their lead before half-time as Yannick Carrasco fired straight at German Lux before Griezmann slotted wide a gilt-edged opportunity.

Carrasco crashed a shot off the post just after the break, but Griezmann did finally make the game safe when he slotted into the far corner for his 23rd goal of the season.

And substitute Correa rounded off the scoring after latching onto Gabi's ball over the top seven minutes from time.

Elsewhere, Celta Vigo bounced back from their 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Real Madrid last weekend as Iago Aspas's early winner moved them up to fifth with a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

FOOTBALL: Messi hat-trick helps Barca to record 35-match unbeaten run

Barcelona set a Spanish record of 35 matches unbeaten in all competitions with a thumping 5-1 win at nine-man Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Thursday after goal-machine Lionel Messi scored his 35th hat-trick.

Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring, Messi caught up with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo on 35 trebles in all competitions and Arda Turan completed the rout, with Turkey's captain scoring his first goal for the club since joining from Atletico Madrid.

Barca's victory, which saw them beat the undefeated record Real Madrid had held since the 1988/89 season, restored an eight-point lead at the top over Atletico with 11 matches to go.

Atletico beat visiting Real Sociedad 3-0 on Tuesday, while third-placed Real Madrid are again 12 points off the pace after a 3-1 win at Levante on Wednesday.

Barca were helped by the fact that Rayo lost defender Diego Llorente to a red card three minutes before halftime for a foul on Rakitic before Manuel Iturra was also sent off in the 67th for bringing down Sergio Busquets in the area.

Busquets was felled from behind going for the rebound after a Messi free kick came back off the bar but Luis Suarez's penalty was saved by Juan Carlos, Barcelona's ninth miss from 18 penalties in all competitions this season.

Liverpool owners admit to underrating gravity of rebuild
The former general counsel for Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG), Edward Weiss, revealed they had 'underestimated' how poor the squad actually was and were 'overconfident' about rebuilding the club they purchased in 2010.

The admissions came during a Supreme Court hearing in New York this week relating to a long-running legal dispute with Mill Financial, an American company, suing the club's former co-owner George Gillett Jr and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

"You know, I think we underestimated how poor the playing quality of the (Liverpool) squad was, and frankly, we underestimated how difficult it was going to be to stabilise the asset," Weiss said.

"We were overconfident in assuming that many of the things that we had done in Boston at Fenway (with the baseball franchise Boston Red Sox) would translate naturally to the Premier League, and they just didn't all translate."

At the time of the take over, the Liverpool squad included club icons Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher but Weiss suggested they inherited a team with a few players past the peak of their careers.

"What we came to know was that the playing squad was poor. While we had a few top players like Steven Gerrard, other players like Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina were probably beyond their prime," Weiss said.

Since FSG took over the club, Liverpool won the League Cup in 2012 but only finished in the top four of the Premier League once, when they came second in 2014. (Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com