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Barcelona lose La liga

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi says “things have to change” at the club as they lost their La Liga title on the night their 30-game unbeaten home run in the league came to an end.

Even a win would not have been enough for Barca, as Real Madrid beat Villarreal 2-1 to win the title.

Jose Arnaiz put Osasuna ahead before Messi levelled with a free-kick.

The visitors had Enric Gallego sent off for elbowing Clement Lenglet before Roberto Torres’ close-range winner.

Messi, who is La Liga’s top scorer on 23 goals with one game to go, said: “We didn’t expect to finish in this way, but it sums up the year for us.

“We are a weak team who can be beaten with enough intensity and enthusiasm.

“We have lost a lot of points which we shouldn’t have done. We have been very inconsistent.

“We need to be self-critical, starting with the players, but also across the entire club. We are Barcelona, and we are obliged to win every game.”

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Liverpool to lift league in a special ceremony

Liverpool will lift the Premier League trophy in a special ceremony on the Kop following next Wednesday’s fixture with Chelsea.

Jurgen Klopp’s team secured their first league title in 30 years in June but fans will not be at Anfield to watch the ceremony because of Covid-19.

It will be aired for free on Sky’s Pick channel in the UK.

Club legend Sir Kenny Dalglish will hand out medals before club captain Jordan Henderson lifts the trophy.

Henderson – who lifted the Champions League trophy last season – will be the first Liverpool captain to lift the trophy awarded to the English champions since Alan Hansen in 1990, despite his season being over because of a knee injury.

Henderson and his team-mates will receive the trophy on a podium surrounded by banners made by fans and built in the middle of the famous Kop Stand.

The club has urged fans to “stay at home to enjoy the ceremony” in light of the ongoing measures in place to safeguard against the spread of coronavirus.

“With supporters unable to attend the behind-closed-doors fixture, the historic occasion will involve a unique presentation designed to acknowledge and celebrate Liverpool fans,” the club said.

In the aftermath of Liverpool mathematically sealing the title, fans gathered at Anfield despite being warned it was not safe to do so.

Fans also gathered at the city’s waterfront the following evening and faced criticism from both the club and the city’s mayor Joe Anderson.

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McGoldrick sent Racist texts

Sheffield United said it will support striker David McGoldrick after he was racially abused on social media.

The club shared an image from McGoldrick’s Instagram account showing the abuse, with the Blades player writing “2020 and this is life”.

“This cannot continue”, wrote the club. “Something needs to change”.

McGoldrick scored his first Premier League goals as United beat Chelsea 3-0 at Bramall Lane on Sunday to move into the Premier League’s top six.

Republic of Ireland striker McGoldrick’s abuse follows the arrest of a 12-year-old boy in connection with racist messages sent to Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha on social media.

Players in England’s top flight have been kneeling in support of the Black Lives Matter movement before every match since the season restarted in June.

Sheffield United added: “As a club we will support David McGoldrick and will do all we can to find the perpetrator of this disgusting message.

“We will work with the relevant authorities to ensure the person behind this post is brought to justice.”

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Man City Ban overturned

Manchester City have successfully overturned their two-year ban from European club competitions.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) announced the club were cleared of “disguising equity funds as sponsorship contributions”.

Uefa issued the ban in February after ruling City had committed “serious breaches” of Financial Fair Play regulations between 2012 and 2016.

City’s fine has been cut from 30m euros (£26.9m) to 10m euros.

In delivering the ruling on Monday, Cas said City did “fail to cooperate with Uefa authorities” but overturned the decision by Uefa’s club financial control body (CFCB) to ban them.

City said the decision was “validation of the club’s position and the body of evidence that it was able to present”.

“The club wishes to thank the panel members for their diligence and the due process that they administered,” City added.

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Arsenal draw at Home

Jamie Vardy’s late equaliser gave Leicester City a vital point to keep their Champions League hopes on track and end Arsenal’s recent winning streak.

The Gunners looked on course for a fifth successive victory to maintain their own outside chance of a place in Europe’s elite competition next season after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang swept in his 20th league goal of the season in the first half.

Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel kept Arsenal at bay with a string of fine saves before the interval, twice denying Alexandre Lacazette as well as Bukayo Saka – and it proved to be a vital contribution.

Arsenal were reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes left when Eddie Nketiah was sent off four minutes after coming on as substitute for a high challenge on James Justin, and Leicester cashed in when Vardy slid home Demarai Gray’s cross in the 84th minute, the goal finally awarded after a lengthy VAR check for offside.

It was Vardy’s 22nd league strike of the season and restored his two-goal advantage over Aubameyang at the top of the Premier League scoring charts.

Leicester drop to fourth, four points ahead of Manchester United having played a game more, but this was an important point that left Arsenal frustrated in seventh.

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Chelsea go Third

Chelsea further strengthened their position in the Premier League’s top four with victory over Crystal Palace in an entertaining encounter at Selhurst Park, that included a stunning long-range strike from Wilfried Zaha and a rare goal from Christian Benteke.

There was an element of fortune about the game’s opening goal, with Palace defender Gary Cahill pulling up with a match-ending injury to allow Willian to charge into the box unimpeded and set up Olivier Giroud to finish.

But the rest of the match was a testament to the kind of competitive, high-octane, see-saw football that draws so many viewers to the English top flight, even when the grounds are empty of fans.

Twice Chelsea looked to have put the game beyond the home side, first through Christian Pulisic’s rising shot to make it 2-0 in the first half and then via Tammy Abraham’s neat finish with 19 minutes to go to put the Blues 3-1 up.

But this reckoned without the input of Zaha and Benteke.

Zaha’s goal was a superb strike, fiercely fired into the net via the crossbar from an unlikely distance. Benteke’s was more routine, tapped in from point-blank range following a neat move, but almost as surprising, it being his first goal at Selhurst Park since April 2018.

And Palace came within a whisker of snatching a point when Scott Dann’s back-post header struck the inside of the post before Chelsea hacked the ball clear.

Chelsea’s win means they move above Leicester into third place in the table, five points ahead of fifth-placed Manchester United.

With 42 to their name, Palace have too many points to worry about being dragged into a relegation fight, but manager Roy Hodgson and his side will be eager to end a losing streak that has now stretched to four games.

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Inter title bid over

The 10 men of Bologna staged a stunning comeback to deny Inter Milan the chance to move within a point of second-placed Lazio in Serie A.

Musa Barrow struck the winner from inside the box late on, just six minutes after Musa Juwara equalised.

Romelu Lukaku had opened the scoring when he tapped in the rebound after Lautaro Martinez’s header hit the post.

Martinez missed the chance to double his side’s lead from the spot, after Bologna’s Roberto Soriano was sent off.

Both sides finished with 10 men as Alessandro Bastoni was shown a second yellow card with the score poised at 1-1.

Antonio Conte’s Inter remain third in the table, four points behind Lazio, while Bologna move up to ninth.

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Mourinho Blast Arsenal supporters

Jose Mourinho says Arsenal have little “to celebrate” after they appeared to mock Tottenham’s Premier League defeat at Sheffield United on social media.

Highlights of Arsenal’s FA Cup win at the Blades on Facebook were captioned: “It’s not easy beating Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.”

“You only enjoy the problems of others when you are also in trouble,” said the Spurs boss.

Arsenal are seventh in the top flight, with Spurs four points back in 10th.

The Gunners have not won the Premier League since the Invincibles season of 2003-04, with their last major honour coming when they lifted the FA Cup for a record 13th time in 2017.

Tottenham reached the Champions League final in 2019 but have not lifted a piece of domestic silverware since winning the League Cup in 2008.

Arsenal have also won the league on six occasions since Spurs’ last top-flight title in 1960-61.

However, Mourinho believes attempts to poke fun at Tottenham say more about Arsenal than it does his club.

“I think if they were top of the league or fighting for top four in a really good moment they wouldn’t enjoy the problems of others,” Mourinho added.

“They don’t have much to celebrate, they have to get every opportunity to do it. They are in a very similar situation to us in the table.

“To be the champion of north London means nothing for me because I think you have to be much bigger than that and have much more ambitions than that.”

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Real Madrid edge closer to Title

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Sergio Ramos scored the only goal for a second consecutive game as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao to move closer to the La Liga title.

Ramos slammed home a penalty – just as he did on Thursday against Getafe – after Dani Garcia fouled Marcelo in a decision given by VAR.

He has scored five goals in seven matches – all wins – since the restart.

Defending champions Barcelona took the gap back to four points when they beat Villarreal 4-1 on Sunday night.

Real Madrid’s win over Athletic Bilbao was a game of few goalscoring chances, with Thibaut Courtois making only one save.

Courtois became the first goalkeeper to keep 17 clean sheets for Real in a single La Liga season since Francisco Buyo in 1994-95.

Zinedine Zidane’s side only need to win three of their remaining four games to secure a second La Liga title since 2012

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Barcelona keep slim hope for title

Barcelona kept alive their slim La Liga title hopes with an excellent victory at in-form Villarreal.

They took an early lead when Pau Torres turned in Jordi Alba’s cross but Gerard Moreno levelled for Villarreal.

Lionel Messi brilliantly won the ball in midfield before feeding Luis Suarez – who curled in from 20 yards – and the Barca captain then backheeled to Antoine Griezmann, who scored a magnificent chip.

Ansu Fati blasted in a late fourth.

Barca’s front three of Messi, Suarez and Griezmann clicked perfectly in one of their best performances in recent months.

Messi has now reached 19 La Liga assists this season, the most of any player since he reached that figure in 2010-11.

He was unlucky not to score as he had a goal ruled out by the video assistant referee for offside and hit the crossbar with a late free-kick.

Barca are four points behind Real Madrid with four games to go and need their old rivals to slip up at least twice to have a hope of retaining their title.

Villarreal had won five games and drawn the other since La Liga restarted following the coronavirus pandemic.