Barcelona give fresh hope to rivals after Bilbao stalemate
BILBAO:LIONEL Messi was short of fitness and Barcelona lacked spark as a goalless draw away to Athletic Bilbao offered fresh hope to their rivals in the title race.
A thigh injury had limited Messi to 27 minutes against Real Madrid on Wednesday and while he played the full match at San Mames, Barcelona’s assistant coach Jon Aspiazu had admitted before kick-off that the striker was not yet 100 per cent.
In all likelihood, he stayed on because his team needed him to pull them out of trouble but Messi was not at his best and neither were Barcelona, who would even have lost had it not been for Marc Andre ter Stegen’s stunning late save to deny Inaki Williams.
The draw makes it three games without a win for the leaders, whose advantage is still six points but now with Real Madrid their closest challengers, after they beat Atletico on Saturday.
RONALDO SCORES IN JUVE VICTORY
Milan:cristiano Ronaldo headed in his 18th league goal this season as Juventus bounced back from last week’s stalemate to soar to an 11-point lead in Serie A on Sunday with a 3-0 win at Sassuolo.
Ronaldo proved decisive, scoring after 70 minutes as Sami Khedira found the net first in Modena with fellow German Emre Can slotting in the third four minutes from time. They now lead secondplaced Napoli by 11 points.
BRAZIL MISS OUT ON UNDER-20 WORLD CUP
SAO PAULO: Brazil beat Argentina 1-0 on the final day of the South American U-20 championship but the result was no good for either side as Ecuador pipped Argentina to the title with Brazil ending outside the qualifying spots for this year’s World Cup.
Uruguay and Colombia will join Ecuador, who won their maiden title, and Argentina in the finals of the biennial event that kicks off in Poland in May.
SALA KILLED BY HEAD, TRUNK INJURIES
LONDON: Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala died of “head and trunk injuries”, an inquest in England heard on Monday as it began to examine his death in a plane crash in the sea.
Sala’s plane went missing over the Channel on January 21.
The wreckage was located on the seabed. The striker’s body was recovered but pilot David Ibbotson is still missing.