Football: Ilicic masterclass guides Atalanta past Valencia in Champions League

VALENCIA, Spain - Atalanta's Josip Ilicic scored four goals in a stunning individual display to lead them to a 4-3 Champions League last-16, second-leg win over Valencia, that completed an 8-4 aggregate victory, at an empty Mestalla on Tuesday.

Playing in the Champions League for the first time this season, Atalanta's European adventure continued in emphatic fashion as Slovenian Ilicic netted twice in each half to guide his side comfortably into the quarter-finals.

Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby conceded two penalties in the first half, both converted by Ilicic, either side of Kevin Gameiro's equaliser.

Gameiro headed home a second and Ferran Torres put Valencia ahead on the night but Slovenian playmaker Ilicic completed his hat-trick and then curled in a sumptuous fourth as his team reached the quarter-finals.

The Spanish side's stadium was shut to supporters as part of measures to stop the spread of coronavirus, with the visitors coming from a high-risk zone in the north of Italy.

Yet despite fears surrounding the virus, thousands of Valencia fans gathered outside the stadium to welcome their team bus as they attempted to overturn a 4-1 first-leg defeat.

"Our hearts and souls are always in Mestalla," read a banner draped over empty seats inside.

Valencia started badly, with the hapless Diakhaby bringing down Ilicic inside the second minute and the Slovenian converted from the penalty spot to give the visitors a dream start.

Gameiro pounced on a loose ball and slotted home to level but Gian Piero Gasperini’s Serie A side could not be repressed.

The Italians went back ahead two minutes before the break after Diakhaby handled in the area to concede another penalty, dispatched by Ilicic.

Remo Freuler crashed an effort against the crossbar for Atalanta but Gameiro headed home Torres's cross to level on the night after 51 minutes.

Electric winger Torres, recently linked with Barcelona by Spanish media, lobbed home to give the hosts some hope, but the sublime Ilicic wrapped up the tie with two classy finishes. 

(Reporting by Rik Sharma Editing by Toby Davis)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Football: Valencia knock Barcelona off Copa del Rey throne

SEVILLE, Spain -- Valencia beat Barcelona 2-1 to win the Copa del Rey on Saturday, ending the Spanish champions' four-year winning streak in the competition and denying them a domestic double.

Kevin Gameiro and Rodrigo Moreno struck first-half goals to give Marcelino's dominant Valencia control of the final in Seville's sweltering Benito Villamarin stadium.

Record 30-times Cup winners Barcelona struggled without injured forwards Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele but Lionel Messi pulled the Catalans back into the game with a close-range finish.

Goncalo Guedes missed a gilt-edged chance in stoppage-time for Valencia but they held on to win their first major trophy since last lifting the Cup in 2008.

"I'm so happy because for me, my family, it's incredible," said Valencia captain Dani Parejo. "A club like Valencia deserves a lot more joy like this. I don't have the words, it's incredible.

"We've made history in a really significant year, our centenary year."

Valencia finished fourth in La Liga after a strong second half of the season, reaching the Europa League semi-finals and ending an impressive campaign with this victory.

By contrast, Barcelona's campaign collapsed in the last fortnight as they threw away a three-goal Champions League semi-final lead to be eliminated by Liverpool before letting the Cup slip out of their hands.

Barcelona were bidding to lift themselves from their humiliation on Merseyside by securing the ninth domestic double in their history, but despite Messi's efforts they were over-run by a determined and well-drilled Valencia side.

Gerard Pique was forced to clear Rodrigo's effort off the line before Gameiro blasted Marcelino's side ahead in the 22nd minute after good work from Jose Luis Gaya.

The Catalans failed to create openings and Rodrigo nodded home the second after Carlos Soler whipped a ball across the face of goal.

Messi struck the post with a delightful outside-of-the-boot effort before slotting home the rebound when Jaume Domenech saved Clement Lenglet's header for his 51st goal of the season, but it was not enough.

"Valencia are worthy champions and it's also been a good year for us," said Pique.

"It's always a good year when you win La Liga but the expectation was to have an even better year and that's not been the case. The season ends with a bittersweet feeling, because it could have been better.

"We aren't worrying about the manager's future, we must analyse ourselves and try to improve. The other decisions aren't in our hands, but we've said more than once that we would like him to stay on." 

(Reporting by Rik Sharma, editing by Ed Osmond)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

La Liga: Messi double earns Barca a point in thriller with Valencia

BARCELONA -- Lionel Messi scored in a ninth consecutive match but his latest double on Saturday was only enough to earn Barcelona a 2-2 draw against Valencia.

Messi instigated another Barca comeback at the Camp Nou before placing an injury doubt over his availability for Wednesday's Copa del Rey Clasico against Real Madrid.

Ernesto Valverde confirmed after the game his captain had felt a "small problem" but insisted it was nothing serious.

Valverde is still unlikely to take any risks given Barcelona's testing month ahead, even if Messi's absence, however brief, would be a blow, particularly while he is in such irresistible form.

Kevin Gameiro and Dani Parejo's penalty gave Valencia a surprise two-goal lead but Messi pulled one back with his own spot-kick before curling in a brilliant equaliser with 26 minutes left.

After their stunning turn-around against Sevilla in midweek, Barca looked destined again to finish the job, but at the end of a breathless contest, Valencia had held on for a point.

"When you don't win, you always feel you have missed something," Valverde said. "But the league is long and there are matches where you come up against a good team. This was one of those."

- Encouragement for the rest -

Messi's 20th and 21st league goals of the season leave his team six points clear of Atletico Madrid, who could cut the gap to three by beating Real Betis on Sunday, with Real Madrid, 11 points back, at home to Alaves.

After eight consecutive Barcelona wins in La Liga, this result perhaps offered the chasing pack a little encouragement at least.

Real could inflict further disruption themselves. The first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Wednesday will be the first of three Clasicos in a month. The latter two will be back-to-back, within four days.

But Messi fit and in this sort of form means any confidence Real feel comes with an asterisk.

His 12 goals in his last nine games is the same number the whole Valencia squad managed in their first 15 league matches. Valencia were 15th in December, with only three wins, and their coach Marcelino was under pressure, just six months after propelling them back into the Champions League.

The club kept faith and results have improved. They have now lost only one of their last seven matches and are within sight of the top four.

Valencia deserved their first-half lead and could have scored sooner, Parejo drawing a smart save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen before Denis Cheryshev lashed the rebound off the far post.

The visitors rode their luck as two decisions went their way in a matter of minutes. First, Barca could have had a penalty when Gabriel Paulista blocked Nelson Semedo's shot with his hand.

Then the home team should have had a free-kick as Messi was bundled over by Parejo. The latter proved key, with Valencia sprawling forward on the counter-attack.

Rodrigo carried the ball 40 yards before slipping a cute reverse pass behind Vermaelen and Gameiro banged in the finish.

Valencia's penalty was clear after Sergi shoved Daniel Wass in the back, with Parejo whipping the ball into the corner to make it two.

Barca looked shell-shocked but the third goal in 15 minutes was theirs. Semedo beat Toni Lato to Arturo Vidal's pass and tumbled after a clip on his shin. Messi slammed the loose ball into the top corner but the whistle had blown. He rolled in the penalty instead.

Sergi's shot crashed against the post and Barca were dominant after half-time. At the other end, on a rare Valencia break, Rodrigo should have made it three but, on the stretch, put it over from six yards.

That was in the 63rd minute, and in the 64th, Barcelona were level. Vidal teed up Messi, who teed up his own left foot and curled the ball inside the post.

The teams, and the crowd, seemed to take a breath, in anticipation of a late push, but it never came. The draw was a fair result.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Record-breaking Barca back on track after beating Valencia

BARCELONA - Barcelona responded to their shock Champions League elimination to AS Roma by beating Valencia 2-1 on Saturday in a subdued atmosphere at the Nou Camp, setting a Liga record run of 39 games unbeaten and taking them ever closer to another title.

Luis Suarez gave Barca the lead after a quarter of an hour by meeting a delicious outside-of-the-foot pass from former Liverpool team mate Philippe Coutinho, scoring with one touch from close range.

Club-record signing Coutinho then delivered an outswinging corner from which Samuel Umtiti headed in Barca's second in the 51st minute, shortly after Gerard Pique had saved Umtiti's blushes by clearing a shot from Valencia forward Santi Mina off the line following a slip by the France defender.

Captain Dani Parejo pulled a goal back for third-placed Valencia by squeezing an 87th-minute penalty under Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, but the Catalans withstood an exciting final spell to move to within seven points of their 25th league title.

Ernesto Valverde's side lead nearest challengers Atletico Madrid by 14 points in the standings, with Atletico hosting Levante and fourth-placed Real visiting basement club Malaga on Sunday.

The Barca coach praised his players for putting the Roma defeat behind them but said their European exit had punctured their enthusiasm for the unbeaten record.

"This wasn’t a week to think about records, we don’t give it too much importance. It was more important that we picked ourselves up after a difficult week," Valverde told a news conference.

"It's normal that these players keep on breaking records. But it was a fundamental win in many ways. First of all, I am happy with the three points. We needed 10 points to win the league, now it’s seven."

With heavy rain falling in the city throughout the day, 30,000 seats at the 99,000-capacity Nou Camp were unoccupied and even when Suarez provided a slick finishing touch to Coutinho's wonderful pass, celebrations were muted.

Valencia had made a good start and winger Goncalo Guedes hammered an early shot at Ter Stegen, who made another impressive save to thwart the Portuguese later in the half after Gerard Pique had surrendered the ball.

The German goalkeeper also ran himself into trouble as he sent a pass straight at the feet of Valencia forward Rodrigo but redeemed himself by tipping the shot on to the crossbar and behind.

Lionel Messi was inactive for much of the first half but grew into the game in the second, narrowly volleying over the bar and fizzing a shot just wide after tearing through the Valencia defence.

"The atmosphere around the club this week has been a bit gloomy and we needed to put the brakes on that so I have to congratulate the players because it’s not been easy," added Valverde.

"The sensation is that we have failed, that we have disappointed the supporters, but we have to look forward and not lose sight of what we can still achieve this season."

(Reporting by Richard Martin, Editing by Neville Dalton and Clare Fallon)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

LA LIGA: Messi penalty snatches thrilling Barca win

MADRID, Spain -- Lionel Messi shrugged off his recent woes from the penalty spot with a decisive 94th-minute spot-kick to move Barcelona top of La Liga with a pulsating 3-2 win at Valencia on Saturday.

However, the dramatic victory came at a cost for Barca as a tearful Andres Iniesta suffered ligament damage in his right knee that could keep him out for several months.

Messi netted twice and his opener midway through the first half was allowed to stand despite Luis Suarez straying into an offside position.

Valencia hit back with two goals in six second-half minutes through on-loan Barca winger Munir El Haddadi and Rodrigo.

However, Suarez levelled and was then upended inside the area by Aymen Abdennour to allow Messi to hold his nerve and slot past penalty-stopping specialist Diego Alves for all three points.

Victory moves the champions a point clear of Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, who face Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao respectively on Sunday.

He may be one of the finest footballers ever but Messi has struggled from the spot in recent seasons, most notably blazing over as Argentina lost the Copa America final to Chile in June.

"Our best penalty-taker is Leo Messi without any doubt," Barca boss Luis Enrique said.

Valencia stopper Alves had saved three penalties this season and from Messi in the past, but was beaten low to his right.

"Messi took responsibility in the best moment and it is a glorious feeling for us," added Enrique.

A bad-tempered encounter spilled over after Messi's strike, though, as Suarez and Neymar were hit by a plastic bottle thrown by the Valencia fans as Barca celebrated.

"We celebrated as it is normal to celebrate a last-minute winner," said Enrique.

- 'Absolutely lamentable' -

The game was only 14 minutes old when Iniesta was carried from the field in tears holding his right knee, which buckled under a heavy challenge from Enzo Perez.

Enrique was furious with referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco as Perez avoided even a yellow card, whilst a series of other fouls on Barca players went unpunished.

Barca confirmed Iniesta suffered lateral collateral ligament damage, but said further tests would be carried out to determine the exact extent of the injury.

However, it was Valencia who were up in arms at the officials when Messi opened the scoring on 22 minutes.

The Argentine's fifth goal in three games since returning from a groin injury sneaked in at Alves's near post, but the Brazilian goalkeeper had been distracted by the presence of the offside Suarez jumping over Messi's effort.

"It is lamentable, absolutely lamentable that refereeing decisions prevented Valencia from taking a point or more from this match," Valencia sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch told BeIN Sports Spain.

Valencia turned the game around early in the second half as Dani Parejo's cut-back was drilled into the bottom corner by El Haddadi against his parent club.

The 21-year-old held his hands up apologetically after finding the net, but there were wild celebrations led by new Valencia boss Cesare Prandelli moments later when Rodrigo swept home Nani's through ball.

Valencia's lead lasted just six minutes despite Alves's best efforts as Suarez pounced to smash home a rebound after Ivan Rakitic's powerful header had been saved by the Valencia stopper.

Barca swarmed forward in search of a winner, but had to wait until deep into stoppage time when Messi played in Suarez and he was clearly taken out from behind by Abdennour.

Messi stroked home his 14th goal of the season to secure a vital three points in the title race.

Earlier, Espanyol battled back from 3-0 down at half-time to salvage a point and possibly coach Quique Sanchez Flores's job in a 3-3 draw at home to Eibar.

Granada and Sporting Gijon remain in the relegation zone after a 0-0, whilst Real Sociedad moved into the top half with a comfortable 3-0 win over Alaves.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com