Madrid’s title hopes hit by Sevilla draw
Eden Hazard’s 94thminute equaliser salvaged Real Madrid a dramatic 2-2 draw against Sevilla on Sunday as an extraordinary penalty decision swung La Liga’s title race back in Atletico Madrid’s favour.
Zinedine Zidane’s side had levelled through Marco Asensio midway through the second half and thought they had a penalty when Karim Benzema was brought down after rounding Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bono.
But VAR prompted referee Juan Martinez Munuera to check an Eder Militao handball a few seconds before, with a huge decision seeing Madrid’s penalty cancelled and a spotkick awarded to Sevilla instead.
Ivan Rakitic converted and while Madrid still managed to hit back in injury time, Toni Kroos’ shot deflecting in off Eden Hazard’s foot, the draw hands the advantage back to Atletico at the end of another dramatic weekend in the Spanish title race. “They have to explain the exact rules of the hands to me,” said Zidane afterwards. “But now we have to think about the next game. It is not up to us now, but we will fight to the end, to the death.”
After Barcelona and Atletico played out a goalless draw on Saturday at Camp Nou, the second instalment of La Liga’s blockbuster weekend also finished honours even, meaning the situation at the top is unchanged with three games now remaining.
Atletico are two points clear of both Real Madrid and Barcelona, with the title very much back in their hands. A Sevilla victory might have given them an outside chance but instead they remain six points back and are surely out of the running.
Milan push Juve to fifth
Juventus started the season looking to win a 10th straight Serie A title but instead find themselves in danger of missing out on a Champions
League spot after a 3-0 home defeat by top-four rivals AC Milan on Sunday left them fifth with three games left. Goals from Brahim Diaz, Ante Rebic and Fikayo Tomori secured the win and sent Milan up to third on 72 points from 35 matches, leaving Juve a point behind fourth-placed Napoli and needing teams to drop points as they battle for a top-four finish.
Juve risk Serie A axe
Juventus will be kicked out of Serie A if it doesn’t withdraw from the European Super League, Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina said Monday. While AC Milan and Inter Milan backed out of the ill-fated bid to form a breakaway competition, Juventus remains the lone holdout in Italy.
“The rules are clear. If Juventus is still part of the Super League when it enters next season, it can’t participate in Serie A,” Gravina told Naples radio station Kiss Kiss. “I would be sorry for the fans but rules are rules and they apply to everyone.”
Real Madrid and Barcelona are also still grasping onto the project, despite the risk of being banned from the Champions League. “I hope this holdout ends soon,” Gravina added.
The Super League project imploded three weeks ago after the six English clubs involved — Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool,
Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham — backed out inside 48 hours of the project’s announcement after a backlash from the fans and British government.
CL final conundrum
UEFA was meeting virtually with the British government on Monday to discuss the logistics of using Wembley for the all-english Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea. The travel waivers already granted by the government for the UEFA European Championship would have to be brought forward by two weeks to stage the May 29 final of its biggest club competition in London.
The showpiece is set to be moved to England’s national soccer stadium from Istanbul after Turkey was added to England’s “red list” of countries of severe coronavirus outbreaks.
Zahavi’s home robbed
The wife and four children of PSV Eindhoven forward Eran Zahavi were tied up by robbers at their home in Amsterdam while was on his way to an away game, Dutch police said on Monday.
Two robbers turned up at the house on Sunday under the pretence of delivering a package and threatened his wife, Shay, with a firearm, police said.