Advantage Atletico as Madrid are held by Real Sociedad
MADRID: Real Madrid’s chances of chasing down La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid were dealt a blow on Monday as they needed a late Vinicius Junior equaliser to secure a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad.
It could have been worse for Zinedine Zidane’s side, with Vinicius’ finish in the 89th minute preventing what would have been a damaging defeat after a weekend in which both Atletico and Barcelona had won.
Atletico’s victory over Villarreal on Sunday put them six points clear of Real Madrid, an advantage that is now only cut to five ahead of next week’s Madrid derby at the Wanda Metropolitano. Atletico also have a game in hand.
The result ends Real Madrid’s run of five consecutive wins while Portu’s brilliant header for Real Sociedad early in the second half was also the first goal conceded by the reigning champions in five games.
It represents an important shift in momentum. A few days ago Atletico might have hoped just to hold on to first place next weekend but now they could spy an opportunity to all but knock their opponents out of the title race.
“We’re playing for a lot there,” said Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
“We can win, we’re physically strong and we’re getting players back. There’s a lot of time left to keep fighting in La Liga.”
Barcelona kept their own resurgence going on Saturday by overcoming Sevilla and now sit level on points with Real Madrid, having also played one game fewer than the leaders. Real Sociedad sit fifth, the top four seemingly out of reach.
Madrid had 20 shots to Real Sociedad’s six but lacked edge in the final third, with the injured Karim Benzema watching on from the stands.
“We’ve had games where we won and maybe we didn’t deserve to win as well, we can’t change anything,” said Madrid coach Zidane.
“We have to keep going. There is a long way to go.”
Benzema could return for the derby and one positive for Zidane was the sight of others returning, with Fede Valverde, Marcelo and Rodrygo all back in his squad.
“Karim can be with us, yes, we’re going to see,” said Zidane, when asked about the striker’s chances of facing Atletico.
“Still, he hasn’t trained with the team but the problem is a lot better, we’ll analyse him.”
BA of Malaysia (BAM) are not taking the quarantine-based training programme lightly, implementing strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) even for their junior players and coaches.
On Sunday, the national body saw the return of 32 Under-16 players and four coaches to the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara.
The team had left camp in December. BAM Development Committee chairman Datuk Ng Chin Chai said thorough planning was necessary to ensure all players, both seniors and juniors, practised strict social distancing.
“We have to thank the National Sports Council for assisting us in helping the players and coaches come back during the Movement Control Order as interstate travel is still not allowed.
“We had to plan well as we didn’t want to overcrowd the academy. So we waited until the seniors left for Basel for the Swiss Open before welcoming the Under-16 players back.
“Right now, they are all confined to their respective rooms and even food is delivered to them.
“They should be cleared next week after the second swab test results.”
On competitions, Chin Chai added: “For now, there are no international events yet, but the players will have their internal ranking tournaments and profiling at the end of this month.
“We plan to resume state junior tournaments in June and national-level events from August.
“However, it is still subject to the Covid19 situation then.”