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DEMBELE STRIKES LATE AS BARCELONA EDGE REAL VALLADOLID TO CUT ATLETICO LEAD TO ONE POINT

Ousmane Dembele scored late to hand Barcelona all three points against Real Valladolid at the Camp Nou on Monday to cut Atletico Madrid’s La Liga lead to one.

The hosts struggled to create many chances in the first half and were denied shortly before the break when Valladolid keeper Jordi Masip went down and to his right to steer a well-hit Pedri shot off the post.

Lionel Messi fired just wide of the post on 70 minutes as Valladolid continued to frustrate Barcelona with time running out for Ronald Koeman’s side as they looked to pick up a crucial three points in the title race.

Barca were given the upper hand for the last 10 minutes of the match when Vallodild’s Oscar Plano was sent off with a straight red following his foul from behind on Dembele.

With time running out, Dembele pounced on a loose ball at the far post and hit a low volley past Plano to move his side up to 65 points from 29 games, one behind Atleti with nine games left to play in the season.

“This shows how difficult this league is and that we’ll have to really fight in every game to win it,” said Barca defender Clement Lenglet.

“We faced a great side who played out of their skin, it was a really difficult game for us but an important victory. This run is all down to hard work, things weren’t clicking for us earlier in the season but now they are.”

Valladolid keeper Masip said his side left the Camp Nou “with a bittersweet taste,” feeling pleased with their performance but aggrieved at not earning a point, especially after having Plano sent off.

“It’s a real shame that all that hard work was thrown away because of a one-off incident,” Masip said.

Real Madrid, who are in third place in La Liga on 63 points, host Barcelona in another edition of the Clasico on April 10 in a crunch match for both team’s title hopes.

“The team is capable of winning the games [left],” Koeman said. “But today has also shown you have to be at your best, you have to be clinical, you have to keep the team fresh, we lacked freshness today, maybe because of the international break. If we return to how we were before, we’re capable of winning our games.”

Koeman also weighed in on the future of match-winner Dembele, who has shown good form this season after a frustrating, injury-hit start to life at the Camp Nou since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2017.

“Dembele’s an important player,” said Koeman. “He’s shown that today with his performance and above all with the goal that gave us three points.

“Ousmane’s development this season has been really good. Physically he’s improved a lot, I think that’s been the key to his quality and consistency to play so many games. So yes, if it’s up to me, I would like him to stay with us.”

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MOUCTAR DIAKHABY LEADS VALENCIA PLAYERS OFF THE PITCH FOLLOWING ALLEGED RACIST ABUSE

Valencia’s players left the pitch in protest during their LaLiga match at Cadiz after a racist comment was allegedly made to defender Mouctar Diakhaby.

Diakhaby reacted furiously following a clash with Cadiz defender Cala during the first half of the match at the Estadio Ramon de Carranza.

After remonstrating with the referee, Diakhaby led Valencia’s players off the pitch.

They subsequently decided to come back and continue the match, with the east coast club tweeting: “NO TO RACISM. The team have held a meeting and decided to continue the game, in order to fight for the honour of the club, but denounce racism of any kind.

“We offer our complete backing to @Diakhaby_5. The player, who had received a racial insult, requested that his team-mates return to the pitch. WE SUPPORT YOU MOUCTAR.”

Diakhaby did not return, with Hugo Guillamon coming on in his place, but Cala remained in the Cadiz line-up.

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LA LIGA: ATLETICO MADRID DEALT ANOTHER TITLE BLOW FOLLOWING DEFEAT TO SEVILLA

Atletico Madrid stumbled again in La Liga on Sunday as they were beaten 1-0 by Sevilla, giving Barcelona the chance to move to within a point of the top of the table on Monday. Marcos Acuna headed in the winner for Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, with Atletico’s grip on first place loosening even further and their in-form rivals primed to take advantage. Real Madrid are only three points behind after they beat Eibar on Saturday and Barcelona will reduce their deficit from four points to one if they can win on Monday at home to Real Valladolid.

It means Spain’s title race suddenly appears wide open, two months after Atletico sat 10 points clear of both Barca and Madrid, with a game in hand.

They have managed only four wins in 12 games since then, with defeats to Chelsea costing them their place in the Champions League and regular slips in La Liga potentially squandering their shot at the title.

“Honestly I don’t think it’s about nerves,” said Atleti coach Diego Simeone. “It’s about having to play better, being a strong block, finding our best version.”

After a narrow 1-0 win over bottom-club Alaves two weeks ago, Simeone might have hoped the international break would offer his team a chance to refresh and reset.

Instead, they returned to another setback against a determined Sevilla side, who strengthened their own hold on fourth place, even if a push for the top three would seem beyond them.

Sevilla deserved their victory and it might have been more comfortable had Lucas Ocampos not missed a first-half penalty, Atletico’s Jan Oblak again coming to the rescue after Jose Gimenez fouled Ivan Rakitic.

But Acuna struck with 20 minutes left, heading in a looping Jesus Navas cross, even as Atletico protested against an Ocampos handball that had occurred almost a minute before.

Mario Hermoso spurned a golden chance from close range and then Luis Suarez did brilliantly to set up Angel Correa late on but Sevilla’s Bono, the goalkeeper who scored against Real Valladolid a fortnight ago, this time preserved the points with a crucial save.

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REAL MADRID KEEP PRESSURE ON AT THE TOP FOUR WITH 2-0 WIN OVER EIBAR

Real Madrid kept their LaLiga title challenge on track with a 2-0 home win over Eibar.

Goals in each half from Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema saw Real go above Barcelona into second, three points behind leaders Atletico Madrid.

Lowly Eibar had the first opportunity when Pape Diop’s shot from outside the box was saved by Thibaut Courtois.

Moments later Benzema’s effort was kept out by Eibar goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic.

Real, without injured defender Sergio Ramos, soon began to dominate and Benzema put a header wide from an Isco corner.

Asensio was inches away from giving them the lead when his free-kick came back off the crossbar.

The Spain forward also had a goal disallowed for offside, but he made the breakthrough four minutes before half-time, taking Casemiro’s pass and slotting past Dmitrovic from the 18-yard line.

Asensio was denied by Dmitrovic and Benzema planted a header over before Real doubled their lead in the 73rd minute.

Vinicius Junior was the provider with the cross for Benzema to head home his ninth goal in his last seven appearances.

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LUIS SUAREZ, JAN OBLAK STAR AS ATLETICO GETS HARD VICTORY AGAINST ALAVES

Luis Suárez scored early in the second half and Jan Oblak saved a late penalty as leader Atlético Madrid avoided another setback in the Spanish league on Sunday by beating Alavés 1-0.

The win, only its third in the last seven league games, left Atlético six points in front of Real Madrid and seven ahead of Barcelona, which visits fifth-place Real Sociedad later Sunday. Madrid won 3-1 at Celta Vigo on Saturday.

Suárez, who had scored only twice in the last nine matches in all competitions, put Atlético ahead with a diving header in the 54th minute after a cross by Kieran Trippier.

Oblak preserved the victory by diving to his right to make a superb one-hand save in an 86th-minute penalty taken by Joselu.

Diego Simeone’s team held a comfortable Spanish league lead until recently but had been gradually losing ground as Barcelona and Madrid charged to the top.

Atlético was coming off elimination against Chelsea in the round of 16 of the Champions League and had been held 0-0 at Getafe in its previous Spanish league match.

Aláves has lost five of its last six league games. It sits second-to-last in the 20-team standings with 23 points, two from safety.

Atlético next visits fourth-place Sevilla and Barcelona hosts relegation-threatened Valladolid.

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BETIS BEAT ALAVES IN LA LIGA THRILLER

Real Betis rallied from two goals down at home to defeat Alaves 3-2 in Spain’s La Liga on Monday, staying in the fight for European qualification spots.

Betis’ fourth victory in a row moved them within three points of fifth-placed Real Sociedad and six points behind fourth-placed Sevilla.

Joselu opened the scoring on 11 minutes and Edgar Mendez made it 2-0 for the visitors on 24 minutes.

But Betis got back into the game on the hour when Ruben Duarte brought down Nabil Fekir and striker Borja Iglesias converted the penalty.

Joaquin equalised nine minutes from time with a header and it seemed struggling Alaves would have to settle for a point.

But on 88 minutes Emerson fizzed a cross into the area and Iglesias met it with a bullet header to seal the win.

“I’m very happy to help the team,” said Iglesias.

“I have a lot of confidence at the moment. We all believe in ourselves and that showed with the way we were able to come back into the game.”

Betis visit rivals Sevilla in the Seville derby on Sunday.

It was the fourth straight loss for Alaves who remain second last in the 20-team standings, two points from safety, having only claimed victory once in their last 12 league games.

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MESSI GRABS TWO ASSISTS AS BARCELONA MARCH ON WITH VICTORY AT OSASUNA

Barcelona continued their rampant run of domestic form to beat Osasuna 2-0 away from home on Saturday and move to within two points of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, with Lionel Messi setting up goals scored by Jordi Alba and teenager Ilaix Moriba.

Messi helped Barca take the lead on the half-hour mark when he carved open Osasuna’s defence with a superb cross-field ball to Alba, who controlled before blasting into the roof of the net.

He then laid the ball off when 18-year-old midfielder Ilaix struck in the 83rd minute, producing a confident finish inside the post from outside the area to score his first goal for the club in only his third league appearance.

The victory followed Barca’s heroic second leg comeback win over Sevilla to reach the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday and notched a 13th league win in 16 games, while they are unbeaten since losing at Cadiz on Dec. 5.

The Catalans stay second but moved on to 56 points after 26 games, two points behind Atletico Madrid who have played 24 matches and host third-placed Real Madrid on Sunday. Osasuna are 13th on 28.

“We just needed to keep on winning. It wasn’t our best performance but we played well and we deserved the win,” said Barca coach Ronald Koeman.

“We played with a lot of energy. We were tired, but we put in a professional performance and scored two great goals. I’m very happy, this is a very important run and I hope we stay on this path.”

Perhaps still feeling the effects of the 3-0 win over Sevilla after extra time, Barca took a while to settle and nearly went behind in the second minute. They were spared thanks to the first of three impressive saves from Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The German had to scurry back to stop an audacious attempt from Osasuna’s Jonathan Calleri, who went for goal from his own half. He also made a truly outstanding save to deny Kike Barja later in the first period, flying to his top right hand corner and throwing up his left hand to swat the ball away.

With Barca then leading through Alba’s vicious strike, Ter Stegen rescued the visitors for a third time, denying midfielder Ruben Garcia from close range.

Having gone through a tumultuous campaign on and off the pitch this season, things are looking up for Barca, who will elect a new president in Sunday’s election.

They then head to France looking for another miraculous Champions League comeback against Paris St Germain for Wednesday’s last-16 second leg, looking to overturn a 4-1 deficit.

“We have to rest now and then we’ll prepare the game. I don’t want to say it’s impossible, and we’ll go there and try to get a good result,” Koeman added.

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LA LIGA: ATLETICO MADRID BOUNCE BACK WITH WIN AT VILLAREAL

Atletico Madrid bounced back from recent poor form with a hard-fought 2-0 win at Villarreal on Sunday that allowed the La Liga pace-setters to extend their lead to five points. An own goal from Alfonso Pedraza and Joao Felix’s powerful strike gave Atletico a precious win after a wobble which had allowed Barcelona and Real Madrid to gain ground in the title race.

Diego Simeone’s side had come into the match off the back of a Champions League last 16 defeat to Chelsea and a league run in which they picked up just five points from their previous four matches.

However despite Villarreal coming close on a number of occasions Atletico held on for a win that ensures they keep second-placed Barca at bay and crucially increase the gap between them and rivals Real Madrid to six points ahead of next weekend’s local derby.

Madrid can go back to within three points of Atletico when they host Europe-chasing Real Sociedad on Monday night.

“We suffered, and even after the second goal they had good chances. But we come home with a very important victory at this point in the season,” said Simeone.

Atletico opened the scoring thanks to Pedraza’s odd own goal mid-way through the first half, which came after long VAR check to see if Stefan Savic, who was initially credited with the goal, had strayed offside for Thomas Lemar’s cross.

Savic’s header was saved by Sergio Asenjo only for the ball to ricochet off Pedraza and into the net as the 24-year-old defender fell over.

Gerard Moreno should have pulled the hosts level when he met a Daniel Parejo cross but couldn’t muster a decisive finish and Savic recovered easily to clear the ball off the line. ‘I love rebel players’

Suarez could have doubled Atleti’s lead eight minutes after the break when he pounced on a defensive lapse to let off a powerful shot, only for Asenjo to pull of a superb reaction save to deny the Uruguayan.

However Joao Felix gave the away side the two-goal cushion they needed in the 69th minute, quickly latching onto a poor clearance by Pau Torres to lash home the second from just outside the penalty area.

Felix appeared to direct an angry look at Simeone after scoring, reportedly prompted by a lack of game time.

“I love rebel players, those that have pride. The goal brought something out in him,” Simeone said.

“He needed it, and the team needed that goal.”

The hosts responded, with Carlos Bacca somehow shooting wide when Moreno laid on a simple finish for the Colombian with 12 minutes remaining.

And teenage substitute Alex Baena was unlucky to finish the match without his first La Liga goal, first clipping the post in the 82nd minute and then forcing a brilliant save form Jan Oblak with a stinging volley.

However they couldn’t recover and sit seventh thanks to a run of seven matches without a win.

Earlier Real Betis moved above Villarreal as they maintained their bid for European football next season thanks to Juanmi’s late strike which earned them a 1-0 victory at struggling Cadiz.

Spaniard Juanmi rammed home a close range header with six minutes remaining to squeeze Betis past the home side and put them sixth.

Betis are just two points behind Sociedad in the automatic Europa League qualification spot.

Real Valladolid climbed out of the relegation zone despite extending their winless league run to eight in a 1-1 draw at Celta Vigo.

Valladolid were denied a first league win since January 2 by Jeison Murillo’s stoppage time header.

In an intense relegation scrap Valladolid are level on 22 points with Alaves and Eibar, Elche are 19th on 21 points and rock-bottom Huesca have 20.

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BARCELONA SEE OFF SEVILLA TO CLIMB UP TO SECOND

Barcelona rose to second in LaLiga after a dominant 2-0 defeat of fourth-placed Sevilla.

Ousmane Dembele fired Barcelona ahead in the first half before Lionel Messi wrapped up victory five minutes from time to sit two points behind leaders Atletico Madrid – who have two games in hand.

Barca were on the front foot from the first whistle, dominating early play with quick touches and the lion’s share of possession.

Those efforts produced the first real chance of the encounter in the 22nd minute when Dembele surged forward and cut inside before producing a left-footed shot that was blocked by Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

Seven minutes later, Dembele struck again, this time hitting the mark after picking up a Messi pass and jinking past two defenders before driving a shot through Bounou’s legs and into the far corner.

Barca pushed forward for a second goal in the 33rd minute with Frenkie De Jong finding Messi in the box but Bounou managed to block the visiting captain’s shot.

Sevilla’s first chance of the game then came in the 51st minute when Jesus Navas embarked on a run before cutting inside and shooting towards the near post, but Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen saved down low.

Clement Lenglet thought he put his side 2-0 up when heading home a Messi free kick in the 69th minute, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.

A golden opportunity for Sevilla was denied when Youssef En-Nesyri thought he grabbed an equaliser after 80 minutes, but the referee deemed the ball to have been handled in the build-up and the effort was disallowed.

In the 85th minute, Messi doubled Barcelona’s lead after linking up with Ilaix Moriba on the left before tapping in beyond the reach of Bounou to secure his side’s victory.

The two sides will clash again on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg at the Nou Camp, with Ronald Koeman’s side tasked with overturning a 2-0 goal deficit.

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LA LIGA LEADERS ATLETICO MADRID SUFFER SHOCK HOME LOSS TO LEVANTE

LaLiga leaders Atletico Madrid were beaten for the first time in 12 games as they suffered a shock 2-0 home loss to Levante.

Diego Simeone’s men fell behind through a Mario Hermoso own goal on the half-hour mark, and substitute Jorge De Frutos added the second in stoppage time for Levante, who are up to eighth.

Atletico’s lead at the top was then cut to three points later on Saturday as Real Madrid won 1-0 at Real Valladolid.

Casemiro’s 65th-minute header secured the victory for Real, who have played a game more than their city rivals.

Dani Calvo headed a first-half winner as Elche beat fellow strugglers Eibar 1-0 at home. Both sides are now on 21 points, with Elche – who have played two games fewer – lying 18th and Eibar 17th. Valladolid, in 19th, also have 21.

Valencia beat Celta Vigo 2-0 at home, with Manu Vallejo and Kevin Gameiro both scoring in stoppage time after the visitors had goalkeeper Ruben Blanco sent off in the 64th minute.