Sports
Swaggering Champions Madrid Rout Relegated Granada
Spanish champions Real Madrid romped to a 4-0 victory over relegated Granada to get their title celebrations started on Saturday.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side will parade the league trophy on Sunday in the Spanish capital and a side filled with reserves made light work of the downtrodden Andalucians.
Brahim Diaz struck twice with Fran Garcia and Arda Guler also on target for Madrid, who defeated Bayern Munich in midweek to reach the Champions League final.
Los Blancos secured their 36th Spanish title last weekend with four games to spare, but chose not to celebrate to focus on the Bayern clash.
A late Joselu brace settled that match in dramatic fashion and the Spaniard started up front against Granada, with only Antonio Rudiger starting the match from the side that beat the German giants.
Granada, 19th, were relegated before kick-off after Mallorca beat Las Palmas to ensure the Andalucians could not escape the drop zone.
Their players gave Real Madrid a guard of honour and Los Blancos went on to demonstrate the focus that drove them on to the title, even with nothing on the line now. Victory sent them 15 points clear of second-placed Girona.
Madrid took the lead after 38 minutes when Diaz cut the ball across the six-yard box and Garcia arrived to stroke home.
The left-back turned creator for Madrid’s second goal in stoppage time before the break, feeding Turkish teenager Guler, who took a touch to control and a second to fire into the bottom corner.
Madrid maintained their dominance in the second half and extended their lead after 49 minutes.
Tricky playmaker Diaz received the ball on the halfway line and drove forward deep into Granada territory. With the defence standing off he worked his way into the area and fired home.
The Morocco international added the fourth after a neat team move, finishing comfortably after veteran midfielder Luka Modric teed him up.
The likes of Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde stayed on the bench for Madrid, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois completed his second game back after nine months out injured.
The three remaining league fixtures will allow Ancelotti to rest and rotate to get his first choice side in optimal condition to face Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on June 1 in the Champions League final.
They may also provide fans a last chance to see Modric in action, with the 38-year-old Croatian’s contract expiring in the summer.
When Modric made way for Toni Kroos in the second half many fans at the Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium applauded him off.
AFP
Paris Saint-Germain needed a late dose of luck to beat Girona 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night.
The Ligue 1 champions toiled against the debutants at home for 88 minutes without finding the back of the net.
However, Nuno Mendes’ low cross was fumbled into his own net by goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.
England Under-21 winger Jamie Gittens’ double set last year’s Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund on their way to a 3-0 victory at Club Brugge. Serhou Guirassy scored the third from the penalty spot.
Manchester City and Inter Milan played out a goalless draw at the Etihad.
In Scotland, Celtic thrashed Slovan Bratislava 5-1 to record their biggest win in the competition ever.
Eleven year old high rising Nigerian football star Hadriel Chukwuziterem Opara who has been attracting the attention of football coaches and scouts has been selected as one of the 12 players across Canada that will represent Elite X1 Canada in the prestigious NIKE powered Norwich City Mna Cup UK taking place from October 10-14, 2024.
According to the letter of invitation from the organisers, the tournament will enable the players engage in top level competition with 16 academy teams from renowned clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon and Norwich City.
The invitation letter also noted that the players will be exposed to world class facilities at Norwich City FC’s State-of-the – art Lotus training centre featuring advanced training environments like the exclusive Soccer Bot 360 system.
The organisers while stating that the tournament will enable the players showcase their talents on an international stage, assured that all the matches will be filmed, providing a valuable footage that could open doors to future opportunities.
Meanwhile Hadriel a Pepsi Academy product who has not hidden his intention of playing for the National U-15 team noted that he’s humbled by the invitation expressing hope that the programme will help him further improve his football skill.
WITH 41 gold, 27 silver , and 30 bronze medals totalling 98, Delta State has emerged the winner of the 8th edition of the National Youth Games ( NYG), tagged Asaba 2024.
Latest update of proceedings released on Wednesday night showed that Lagos State has outpaced erstwhile second placed Edo State with a total medals haul of 62, comprising 25 gold, 19 silver and 18 bronze medals respectively .
Edo State is placed third with 17 gold, 12 silver and 24 bronze medals respectively.
Ebonyi and Zamfara States could not land any medal to their credit during the games, according to the medals table update so far.
The NYG is expected to come to a close today (Thursday), with the closing ceremony at the Stephen Keshi international Stadium, Asaba, the Delta, Nigeria.
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