Madrid one win away from title
MADRID:Real Madrid need one victory to secure their 34th La Liga title after they held off a secondhalf comeback from Granada on Monday to win 2-1 and move four points clear of second-placed Barcelona. With two games left, Real will be crowned champions if they beat Villarreal at home on Thursday regardless of how Barca fare at the Camp Nou against Osasuna.
But they were made to sweat by Granada who are gunning for Europe and have been arguably the division’s surprise of the season after being promoted from second tier last year. Ferland Mendy and Karim Benzema looked to have set Real on course for a comfortable win at Los Carmenes but Granada were transformed after the break and Darwin Machis’s 50th-minute strike gave them hope.
An increasingly nervous Real were clinging on by the end and needed Sergio Ramos to clear one shot off the line as Zinedine Zidane’s side dug in for a ninth consecutive victory. “Our vision when we start every season is to win the league,” said Zidane. “There are two games left. We are close but we’re not there yet.”
Real could win La Liga for the third time in eight years at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium on Thursday night. “It would mean a lot,” said Ramos. “It’s the prize for consistency over the whole year. Maybe we had a period of reflection during the suspension and we came back and reacted. We’re in the race and hopefully on Thursday we can celebrate.”
If Real slip up against Villarreal, they will still have a second chance on Sunday when they finish at Leganes while Barcelona visit Alaves. Earlier, Villarreal’s hopes of a Champions League berth were dashed after they lost 2-1 at home to Real Sociedad. It meant fourth-placed Sevilla will join Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid in the competition next season.
UNITED STAY FIFTH
MANCHESTER:Man United’s Champions League qualification hopes suffered a blow after an equaliser deep in stoppage time from Michael Obafemi earned Southampton a 2-2 draw in the Premier League at Old Trafford.
United, unbeaten in 18 games in all competitions, were poised to move up to third after Anthony Martial’s 23rd minute strike had put them 2-1 ahead. They had fallen behind to an early Stuart Armstrong goal before Marcus Rashford equalised. But on the day that second-placed Manchester City’s two-year ban from European football was overturned on appeal, meaning only the top four will qualify for the Champions League as usual, United’s late lapse left them fifth on 59 points. “The second half was a bit of a slog, we were not good enough on the ball. We brought pressure on to ourselves but we felt we did enough to win the game,” said United captain Harry Maguire. “We have improved on defending set plays. We had a terrible record at the start of the season but have been really good on them. Can’t get let him get a header in when we have four men around the goal so have to look at it. We are disappointed a the moment but we dust ourselves down tomorrow,” he added.
INTER GO SECOND
MILAN: Inter Milan staged a second-half revival to beat Torino 3-1 and move up to second place in Serie A as they bounced back after letting victory slip from their grasp in their two previous games. Inter moved on to 68 points, ahead of Lazio on goal difference as the sides are level on their head-to-head records. They are eight points behind Juve with six games left. Andrea Belotti pounced on a mistake by Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic to give Torino the lead in the 17th minute but Ashley Young, Diego Godin and Lautaro Martinez replied in a 13-minute spell after the break to seal the deal for Inter. “It was a very good performance with over 60% possession, 20 shots on goal, nine corners to two,” said Antonio Conte.
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