Junior turns in a mature show Messi sidelined because of injury, no recovery timeline given
In Hazard and Bale’s absence, the 19-year-old striker along with Rodrygo put Real back on top
MADRID: Real Madrid’s crisis has been averted for the time being at least after they beat Osasuna 2-0 without Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale to go top of La Liga.
Hazard and Bale were among a number of players rested by coach Zinedine Zidane, with Real facing seven games in 21 days, the next of them against city rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
Vinicius Junior, who has endured a difficult few months, filled the void, bending a shot into the top corner before crying tears of what presumably were a mixture of joy and relief on Wednesday. This time last year the 19-year-old exploded onto the scene but injury and then a dip in form saw him drift, with this a chance to reassert himself in a much-rotated line-up.
If Vinicius was Madrid’s Brazilian sensation 12 months ago, Rodrygo might be one for the present. The 18-year-old, who was bought from Santos in 2018 but joined last summer, added a superb second goal, and his first for the club, just one minute after coming off the bench for a remarkable debut.
“I’m glad for them,” said Zidane. “Sometimes we forget they are 18 (and 19) years old. We have seen the emotion they felt about scoring at the Bernabeu. I liked Rodrygo’s goal but I liked the control even more.”
Earlier, Atletico’s Alvaro Morata made a swift impact too but with less positive results after he was sent off eight minutes after being introduced as a substitute against Real Mallorca.
Atletico were already 2-0 up thanks to goals from Diego Costa and Joao Felix but Morata will now be suspended for the derby at the Wanda Metropolitano.
The Spaniard’s dreadful night got worse as he also appeared to engage in a heated exchange with a fan as he later left the stadium.
A week ago it would have been almost unthinkable that Atletico would play their rivals in a contest of first against second in La Liga but that could now be the setting this weekend, depending on Sevilla and Real Sociedad’s results on Thursday.
La Real beat Atletico, who were then held to a goalless draw by Celta Vigo, but by far the deeper sense of gloom had engulfed Zidane’s side, after they were humbled 3-0 by Paris Saintgermain in the Champions League. That was Real’s worst defeat under Zidane as coach and prompted questions about the Frenchman’s future, with Jose Mourinho available and seemingly waiting in the wings.
Instead, back-to-back victories for the first time since Zidane came back in March have lifted the malaise.
HOME LOSS FOR PSG
PARIS: Paris Saint-germain slumped to its first home defeat in the French league in 16 months by losing 2-0 to Reims on Wednesday. Hassane Kamara headed in the first-half opener for Reims, which clinched victory with an acrobatic volley from Boulaye Dia that crept inside the post in second-half stoppage time.
A second league loss of the season ended a four-match winning streak for PSG, who stayed top of Ligue 1 after seven games but were joined on 15 points by Angers after their 2-0 win at Toulouse. Already missing Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe, PSG lost another striker to injury when Eric-maxim Choupo-moting went off late in the first half. PSG coach Thomas Tuchel paid the price for heavily rotating his lineup against the opponent.
Rachid Alioui scored from a free kick in the 88th minute and then again in the fifth minute of stoppage time for Angers, who are the surprise of the season in France.
SALAH ANGRY
Mohamed Salah appears to have again fallen out with Egypt Football Association (EFA) after the country’s votes for FIFA’S player of the year awards were deemed invalid and therefore did not count towards the striker’s overall tally. Lionel Messi received the award.
Salah removed any reference to Egypt from his official Twitter profile in the wake of the awards ceremony and his Twitter bio now reads “Footballer for Liverpool FC”.
“Whatever they do to try to change my love for Egypt, they will not succeed,” Mohamed Salah, who has previously clashed with the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) over image rights, said. BARCELONA, SPAIN : Barcelona said on Thursday that Lionel Messi would be sidelined because of a muscle injury picked up in the first half against Villarreal in a Spanish league match on Tuesday. The club said Messi had a left abductor injury but did not give a timeline for his recovery.
He had previously been out with a calf injury sustained on August 5 and Barcelona have not indicated when they expect their captain to return from his latest setback.
“First team player Leo Messi has a strain in the adductor of his left thigh,” a club statement read. “He is out and his recovery will dictate his availability.”
Messi is expected to miss his team’s visit to Getafe in La Liga on Saturday.
Barcelona then play at home to Inter Milan in the Champions League next Wednesday before hosting Sevilla in the league four days later.
They will hope to have the 32-year-old back as soon as possible, particularly after a rocky opening to the season that has included only three wins from seven matches in all competitions.
After recovering from his calf problem, Messi made substitute appearances against Borussia Dortmund and Granada before being deemed ready to start against Villarreal.
He set up the opening goal, providing the cross for Antoine Griezmann to head in after six minutes. Despite Messi going off at the interval, Barca secured a comfortable 2-1 victory at Camp Nou.