Sports
Mbappe secures Real Madrid Derby draw against Atletico
Kylian Mbappe secured Real Madrid a 1-1 draw against rivals Atletico Madrid, keeping Los Blancos top of La Liga on Saturday.
Julian Alvarez dinked home a controversial first-half penalty for Atletico but Mbappe was in the right place at the right time to bundle home early in the second half on his first appearance in the tense derby clash.
Reigning champions Real Madrid lead second-place Atletico by a single point, with third-place Barcelona, given the chance to cut the gap on the top two when they face Sevilla on Sunday.
Atletico shaded a close first half but were left holding on in the second period as the hosts stepped up a gear at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“The team is disappointed because they think they deserved more… but we’re happy because we’re still leaders,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.
“In the second half, we had total control, we had a lot of chances.”
Ancelotti opted to deploy his four key attacking players in Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo Goes, in lieu of a more conservative approach.
The star names got stuck in, not always a given in a defensive sense, and the first half was a hard-fought, intense battle with few clear openings for either side.
Atletico were upset when Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos was only booked for an ugly challenge on Pablo Barrios, but it was the hosts who were left raging when referee Cesar Soto Grado pointed to the penalty spot.
Aurelien Tchouameni, covering at center-back for Madrid with Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao out among others, clumsily trod on Samuel Lino’s foot in the box.
After a VAR review, Soto Grado awarded a controversial penalty to Madrid’s frustration, with the incident happening after the ball had run past the duo.
Los Blancos attacked Spanish refereeing earlier in the week after they were upset by a decision in a shock defeat last weekend, bringing heavy scrutiny on the officials ahead of the derby.
Alvarez took the penalty — the first given against Madrid in La Liga this season — and cheekily executed a Panenka down the middle.
“I can’t say I wasn’t a bit nervous (with the penalty), but I was sure, I knew what I would do, and it was a great goal for the team,” Alvarez told Movistar.
“Corruption in the federation,” chanted Real Madrid fans in response to falling behind, buying into their club’s stance.
Ancelotti refused to talk about the refereeing but appeared exasperated on the sideline as Soto Grado pointed to the spot.
Madrid pulled level early in the second half when Rodrygo broke loose on the right of the box and crossed for Bellingham.
The England international’s shot was blocked, but Mbappe was on hand to turn home the rebound and score on his first Madrid derby appearance.
Bellingham twice came close to putting Madrid ahead, nodding against the crossbar from Vinicius’ cross and then heading straight at Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak from a similar position, kicking the post in frustration.
Madrid played with far more fluidity in the second half and pegged Atletico back.
Oblak made a smart save to deny Vinicius after the Brazilian winger burst through the gap between two Atletico defenders and pulled the trigger from a tight angle.
The Slovenian goalkeeper also made fine saves from Rodrygo and Mbappe to ensure the two sides ended with a point apiece.
“We had a good first half, but we weren’t relaxed enough in front of goal to (score) more,” said Simeone.
“In the end, it was a draw in which both teams think they could have taken more from it.”
Real Madrid face another big challenge on Tuesday when they travel to face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Champions League play-off round first leg.
Earlier Athletic Bilbao, fourth, beat Girona 3-0 with an Oihan Sancet hat-trick to maintain their Champions League charge.
Antony, on loan from Manchester United, netted his first goal for Real Betis in a 3-2 defeat by Celta Vigo.
Manchester United could ruthlessly let TEN players leave Old Trafford this summer as Ruben Amorim targets sweeping changes among his squad. The Red Devils have endured an awful campaign under the former Sporting Lisbon coach.
They only have one route remaining into the Champions League by winning the Europa League, while a bottom-half Premier League finish looks highly likely. And with Amorim targeting huge improvement next season, the United boss is eyeing a mass overhaul of his squad.
The Portuguese coach has already pointed to the fact that the club needs to sell before they can make any signings. That could potentially involve up to ten current stars being shown the exit door.
According to the Manchester Evening News, club chiefs are aiming for double figures in departures during the summer transfer window. Jonny Evans and Tom Heaton are expected to retire at the end of the current campaign, while Victor Lindelof and Christian Eriksen will leave at the end of their contracts.
Meanwhile, a host of stars have been made available for transfer with loanees Marcus Rashford and Antony among those who could be sold, while Jadon Sancho already has the option of a move to Chelsea, who have an obligation to buy the England winger for £25m despite the presence of a back-out clause.
Midfielder Casemiro has also regularly been linked with a move away from the club amid interest from Saudi Arabia. Despite forcing himself back into contention, he is still expected to be available this summer.
Left-back Tyrell Malacia could also depart, with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven having an option to sign him permanently. Goalkeeper Altay Bayindir may also be among those to leave as he eyes more first team football.
Amorim has yet to speak out on any individuals who could leave, but he has claimed that those shown the exit door will ‘understand’. Speaking earlier this month, he said: “We can talk about that [departures] at the end [of the season]. We have a lot of games to play.
“But that is clear, and I think that is not a difficult situation because everybody understands that in football; sometimes you stay, sometimes you have to move on.
“When you are honest with someone, they can take it. In the beginning, it is hard, but they will understand. So I’m quite honest with my players and they already know that sometimes they have to move on at the end of the season.”
Defending champions of the NWFL, Edo Queens FC, will on Wednesday
March 26th, 2025 file out against the host Abia Angels FC, in match day 09 of the Nigeria Women Football League NWFL title campaign.
Edo Queens who currently stand tall in group A with 20 points from 8 matches, will be tempted to eye fifth away win, having kept unbeaten records since the beginning of the new season.
Despite interest from the homers in Wednesday’s crack , the Ancient City based ladies are not ready to drop any point in this critical stage of the league, hence the girls are in killer mood ready to fly over Abia Ladies. A win in this crucial away game would further guarantee the team a spot in the Super 6 where winners of the league will be determine that will fly the country’s flag at the CAF Women’s Champions League showpiece for 2025 season.
Recall that Edo Queens spanked Abia Angels 5-0 at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in match day 01 of the league. Have done wonderfully well, the Benin City Queens will be going into Wednesday’s encounter with full force not minding who is involve. For them, every game is a war, and they will fight until victory comes their way.
The week 9 game according to the NWFL fixtures will take place by 1 pm local time at the popular Umuahia Stadium in Abia State. This particular game is crucial to Edo Queens and remains a core part of Moses Aduku’s game that will separate him from other colleagues if he ends the regular season unbeaten.
Though there’s still two away bridges to cross, but in whatever way you look at it, the girls are ready and will remain focus until it is over.
Meanwhile, coach Moses Aduku has called for maximum concentration from the girls, adding that a win in Wednesday game will brighten their chances of staying on top and also keeping the hope of Super Super alive.
He stated this while addressing the players yesterday in Umuahia.
According to him: “We are here for real business, and so I want us to remain focused. Let them know that you are the defending champions.
You are aware that Edo Queens have not loss any game, so we should try and maintain that record. See every game as war. You humbled them in Benin by 5-0, you can still do same.
Last season they defeated us in Benin, but we came to their home and beat them. I believe we can do it again. I have so much confidence in you girls and by the special grace of God we will go back to Benin with our three points.”
Sitting quietly at one corner of the departure hall of the Kigali International Airport on Saturday morning, Super Eagles’ captain William Ekong had a relaxed mien about him, and minced no words in saying that Friday’s victory over Rwanda’s Amavubi was just the statement the Eagles needed to put out as the World Cup race reached halfway mark.
“It was important to make the statement that we did, and we’re all happy about it, and the way we did it. Of course, we have not qualified and there’s still a lot of work, but we have started the recovery in a good way and we just have to keep working hard.
“I don’t want to go into the circumstances that made the first four matches go the way they went. The good thing is we can still recover and revive the campaign, and we have done that.”
Ekong’s firm leadership, and Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Simon Moses’ zest at the fore, were all too evident and impactful as the Eagles coasted to a 2-0 win over hosts Rwanda at the Amahoro Stadium, throwing up nostalgia of the strong squad that wowed all and came within 23 minutes of lifting the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire early last year.
As the chartered ValueJet Airline’s CRJ-900 aircraft touched down at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo at exactly 2pm on Saturday, Ekong told thenff.com that he would be rallying the troops ahead of Tuesday’s Day 6 encounter against the Warriors of Zimbabwe.
“We read somewhere that the Zimbabweans are being motivated to come to Uyo and get a result. They should forget it. We are hugely motivated by the ambition to play at the FIFA World Cup. Apart from myself and Alex (Iwobi) and perhaps a couple others, who were part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, this generation is hungry to play at the highest level. We want to make Nigeria proud and at the same time, do ourselves proud.”
PHOTO 3: Ambitious Generation!
Victor Osimhen, whose brace unscrambled the calculations of the Amavubi and made them disappoint the capacity crowd that included President Paul Kagame, said at the Victor Attah Airport. “We are ready. The remaining matches are wars and we must fight them with all that we have to win.”
Victory on Tuesday evening will take Nigeria to nine points, and in firm contention for the ticket, especially if Benin Republic and South Africa cancel themselves out inside Abidjan’s Stade Félix Houphouet-Boigny.
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