Barcelona’s attacking trident strikes hard
MADRID: Barcelona’s ‘MSG’ is finally up and running as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann all scored in a ruthless 3-0 victory over Eibar on Saturday.
Griezmann’s place in the newly-formed attacking trident has not been secure this season but the Frenchman opened the scoring at Ipurua before teeing up Messi and then playing the crucial pass for Suarez to make it three. An authoritative Barca display thrusts them to the top of La Liga, for a few hours at least before Real Madrid play Real Mallorca, and dismissed suggestions the players might be affected by Friday’s postponement of the Clasico due to protests in Catalonia. Violence in the city of Barcelona and disruptions at El Prat airport meant Ernesto Valverde’s side chose to alter their pre-match routine and embark on a 589kilometre bus trip to the Basque County on Friday.
And all the while, discussions continued over the Clasico against Real Madrid, which had originally been scheduled for next Saturday at Camp Nou but was postponed on Friday and is expected now to go ahead in December. Perhaps chaos off the pitch inspired Barca to unite on it. This was their fifth consecutive victory in all competitions. Atletico Madrid’s frustrating La Liga run continued as Daniel Parejo’s stunning late free kick earned Valencia a deserved 1-1 draw SPURS STUMBLE AS CHELSEA WIN
LONDON: Tottenham narrowly avoided an embarrassing home defeat to bottom club Watford on Saturday as Chelsea and Leicester leapfrogged champions Manchester City in the Premier League. With leaders Liverpool not in action until Sunday, it was a chance for the chasing pack to press their credentials for top-four spots.
Chelsea’s Marcus Alonso broke the deadlock for Frank Lampard’s side at Stamford Bridge against Newcastle for a 1-0 win while Youri Tielemans sealed a 2-1 victory for Leicester at the King Power Stadium.
But Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino saw his side labour to a 1-1 draw at home to Watford, following a 3-0 thrashing at Brighton and a humiliating 7-2 defeat at home to Bayern Munich. Spurs have now won just three of their opening 12 games in all competitions and appear unable to halt their slide.
Ahead of City’s match at Crystal Palace later on Saturday, Leicester were second in the Premier League table, seven points behind leaders Liverpool, while Chelsea, also on 17 points, were third.
Matt Targett scored a goal deep into injury time as Aston Villa came back from 1-0 down to beat Brighton 2-1.