Neville and Valencia Win Again

Valencia secured their third successive win in a week under Gary Neville with a 2-1 victory at Granada.

Daniel Parejo gave Valencia the lead in the 55th minute and the substitute Santi Mina doubled it in the last minute before Edgar Méndez pulled a goal back for Granada in stoppage time.

Valencia’s victory followed their first league win under Neville at the 10th attempt last weekend they beat Espanyol 2-1 home and the 6-0 thrashing of Rapid Vienna in the Europa League on Thursday.

Granada were first to threaten in this game when the midfielder Fran Rico sent a shot just wide, while Valencia’s first attempt on goal came in the 19th minute although Paco Alcacer’s shot was blocked.

Adalberto Peñaranda fired wide for Granada in the 28th minute before Alcacer forced the vising goalkeeper Andrés into a fine save with a low shot towards the corner.

André Gomes was twice denied by Andrés either side of the Granada defender Ricardo Costa’s header at the other end, which was turned away by Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves.

Alves kept out the Granada striker Rubén Rochina’s low shot five minutes into the second half before Valencia went ahead when Parejo drilled the ball into the bottom corner following Alcacer’s assist.

Valencia made sure of the points in the 90th minute through Mina’s neat low finish but were given a late scare three minutes later when Granada substitute Méndez headed in Rochina’s cross.

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Ronaldo Roma Rocket Gives Zidane Win

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Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 12th Champions League goal of the season as Real Madrid took a firm grip on their last-16 tie with a 2-0 first leg win at AS Roma on Wednesday.

The record 10 times European champions took the game to Roma, but were frustrated in the first half as the hosts kept men behind the ball, while looking to catch Real out on the break.

Ronaldo, however, ended their resistance when he took a fine pass from Marcelo on the left edge of the box and his shot deflected off Alessandro Florenzi and looped over goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny into the net just before the hour mark.

Substitute Jese added the Spanish team’s second four minutes from full-time with a solo run into the box and shot across the face of goal and inside the far post.

Two minutes earlier, Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas came out sharply to save at the feet of Stephan El Shaarawy after one of Roma’s fast and dangerous counter-attacks.

Ronaldo might have had a second goal a quarter of an hour from the end but his header at the far post was just wide from James Rodriguez’s superb cross.

Karim Benzema then saw his goalbound shot from another James cross hit Lucas Digne in the head.

At the other end, Roma substitute Edin Dzeko hit the side-netting with a header and Real were relieved when the home side were not awarded a penalty after a tackle by Dani Carvajal on Florenzi.

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Real Beat Bilbao in Bernabeu Thriller

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Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 4-2 in a thrilling match at the Bernabéu to move within a point of La Liga leaders Barcelona.

Barcelona, at home to Celta Vigo on Sunday, have 54 points, Real are on 53 and Atlético Madrid 51 before their trip to Getafe tomorrow.

Real made a blistering start and Ronaldo opened the scoring after three minutes, attacking from the left, cutting inside Xabier Etxeita and beating Gorka Iraizoz for his 15th goal in 14 matches.

Athletic replied in kind, hitting Real with a string of counter-attacks and were level seven minutes later when the midfielder Javier Eraso pounced on a poor back pass from Raphaël Varane to Keylor Navas and made the most of the gift.

James Rodríguez restored Real’s lead in the 37th minute with a ferocious shot from the edge of the box that the Colombian, who has struggled for form and goals, celebrated with clenched fists.

Real led by two goals at half-time after Toni Kroos scored from Ronaldo’s pass in added time.

“If it had been 1-1 at the break, it would have been possible to get a good result. When we were at our best, they scored two goals,” Eraso told reporters.

Athletic were equal to Real in the first half and Aritz Aduriz hit the bar in the 28th minute but the home side controlled play after the interval and cruised to victory.

Real had Varane sent off for a second booking after he elbowed striker Aduriz for the second time in the match as they went for a high ball.

The game ended in a flurry with Ronaldo scoring his 21st league goal in the 87th minute, Iraizoz denying him a hat-trick with a save a minute later and Athletic pulling another back with substitute Gorka Elustondo’s header in added time.

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Pichichi Ronaldo to Remain Real

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Cristiano Ronaldo has said he wants to see out his final two years at Real Madrid in the “best league in the world” before deciding where his next step lies.

Ronaldo’s current deal with Madrid runs out in June 2018 and there has been plenty of speculation about where his future may take him, and even if he will call time on his Bernabéu stay early.

However, the former Manchester United forward, who turned 31 last week, has reiterated his desire to finish his contract with Madrid before then looking at what options are available.

He said at a Marca awards ceremony on Monday, where he received the Pichichi Trophy for finishing as the top scorer in La Liga last season: “I want to stay here for two more years, and then we’ll see about the future. That’s the contract that I’ve got. Now what I have to do is try to win trophies and the Champions League once again.

The Portugal international said of his time at Madrid: “I’ve spent seven years in Spain and for me La Liga is the best in the world.

“I also spent six years in England, in Manchester, and this league is wonderful, very competitive, with great players and, for me, it’s a privilege to be here and to leave my mark, which has been very good.”

Ronaldo scored 48 goals last season to win the Pichichi Trophy for the third time in his career.

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Real DeGea Deal on Football Leaks

David de Gea was set to earn £9.2m a year until 2021 at Real Madrid had he completed a move from Manchester United last summer, according to the Football Leaks website.

United and Madrid in August agreed a £29m transfer that would have seen the goalkeeper swap Old Trafford for the Bernabéu, but the proposed switch fell through after the requisite paperwork was not submitted before the Spanish deadline.

On Monday, Football Leaks published a document it claims is the contract De Gea was due to sign at Madrid. It shows the Spain international would have received a figure of €11,818,182 (£9.2m) for each season from 2015-16 to 2020-21.

There is also mention of a break clause of €500m (£388m), which De Gea would have been obliged to pay if he walked out on his contract.

Only a few days after the move failed to materialise, United announced De Gea – who joined them from Atlético Madrid on a five-year deal in 2011 – had signed a new four-year contract, with an option to extend for a further year.

That deal was reportedly worth £200,000 per week. The figures from the Football Leaks document equate to around £176,000 per week.

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Real Modric Magic in Granada

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Luka Modric scored a stunning late goal to give Real Madrid a 2-1 win at struggling Granada and keep their fading La Liga title hopes alive.

Karim Benzema turned in Dani Carvajal's low cross to open the scoring for Real.

They were in danger of slipping six points behind leaders Barcelona, who won 2-0 at Levante earlier, as Yousseff El-Arabi equalised for Granada.

But Modric hammered the ball into the top corner in the 84th minute to give boss Zinedine Zidane a first away win.

The opener was Benzema's 23rd goal of the season and eighth in his last six games as Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo again failed to score away from home.

Ronaldo's last goal away from the Bernabeu came at the end of November and the top scorer missed an early chance as he fired just wide of the far post.

Youssef El-Arabi's sixth league goal of the season drew him level with Enrique Porta as Granada's highest scorer in La Liga history

Granada had lost three of their last four league games and last season conceded 13 goals in two league defeats by Real.

But they carried a real threat all evening and after goalkeeper Andres Fernandez had superbly saved from Benzema, deservedly levelled through substitute El-Arabi with an hour gone.

The Morocco international ran onto a pass from former Blackburn forward Ruben Rochina to slot home with virtually his first touch to become the joint top scorer in Granada's La Liga history with 34 goals.

But ex-Tottenham midfielder Modric capped a superb display with his first league goal of the season to keep Real a point behind city rivals Atletico Madrid and four adrift of leaders Barca.

Elsewhere in La Liga, Sevilla held out with 10 men after having on-loan Tottenham defender Federico Fazio sent off to secure a 1-1 draw at top-six rivals Celta Vigo and extend their unbeaten run to 10 games.

Fazio received two bookings in the first 25 minutes of his first game since rejoining Seville, who went ahead through Daniel Carrico's 43rd-minute goal.

Claudio Beauvue levelled for Celta Vigo 19 minutes into the second half, and the two teams will meet again in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final next Thursday evening with Sevilla leading 4-0 from the first leg.

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Messi Scores Granada Hat-Trick

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Lionel Messi’s first hat trick of the season helped Barcelona beat Granada 4-0 and take the top spot in the Spanish league on Saturday. Messi scored twice within the first 15 minutes at the Camp Nou, and added his third in the second half as Barcelona cruised to victory. Neymar completed the scoring with seven minutes remaining .

The victory lifted Barcelona one point above Atlético Madrid, who play at fifth-place Celta Vigo on Sunday. 

Barcelona will have a game in hand after the 19th round this weekend. Third-placed Real Madrid trailed Barcelona by five points. Barcelona had drawn four of their last six matches but were coming off a 4-1 win over city rival Espanyol in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.

“I’m very satisfied with how the team played today,” Barcelona’s coach, Luis Enrique, said. “Everybody was focused from the beginning. The players knew how important it was to win these three points.”

Barcelona dominated Granada, who were only 17th in the 20-team La Liga table. Messi and Neymar got the goals but Luis Suárez also played well and had chances to score. “We could have scored more,” Barcelona defender Aleix Vidal said. “But the main thing was to get the three points. We are back in the lead, now we’ll see what happens in the other matches.”

Messi found the net from close range after a pass from Arda Turan, then bagged his second six minutes later by striking an open net after a pass by Suárez. Messi completed his hat-trick after Neymar struck the post and the ball rebounded to the Argentinian inside the area for his ninth league goal of the season. It was Messi’s 33rd career hat-trick. He has a strong chance of winning a record fifth Ballon d’Or on Monday, from a shortlist which includes Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo. Neymar sealed Barcelona’s victory from close range, scoring his 15th league goal to tie Suárez as the competition’s leading scorer.

Dani Alves, who this week called the Spanish media “garbage” for the way it covers soccer, came off the bench in the second half and was loudly cheered by the Barcelona fans. 

The club initially condemned Alves’ comments, but late on Friday said it would give its support to the player in case a local association of sports media went ahead with its threat to sue the Brazilian right back

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Moyes Rejected Job Offers

David Moyes rejected a number of job offers from other clubs before being sacked by Real Sociedad last week.

In a statement made to the League Managers Association (LMA), the former Everton and Manchester United manager admitted his disappointment at having his reign in the Basque country cut short despite helping the club finish 12th in La Liga during the 2014-15 campaign.

The San Sebastián team have managed to pick up only two wins this season, leaving them in 16th, and Moyes was replaced by the former Barcelona assistant coach Eusebio Sacristán.

In the statement, Moyes said: “I am disappointed to have left Real Sociedad. When I accepted the job as manager of La Real last November, my remit was to avoid relegation and retain the club’s La Liga status. We succeeded in attaining that target.

“I made a firm promise to Real Sociedad to honour my contract and it is disappointing not to be able to fulfil this commitment especially when I have turned down a number of job opportunities in recent months.”

“I would like to thank the club and the President for giving me the opportunity to manage in Spain, at a club with such a rich history of employing British managers.

“I would also like to thank the players, staff and my assistant, Billy McKinlay, for their support and the wonderful people of San Sebastian.”

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