Benitez suffers first loss as Real boss
Neymar, Suarez continue to fill in Messi’s boots as Barcelona win 3-0 against Valencia
Neymar, Suarez continue to fill in Messi’s boots as Barcelona win 3-0 against. Valencia PHOTO: AFP
MADRID:
Real Madrid suffered their first defeat of the season as they squandered a 1-0 lead to lose 3-2 at Sevilla on Sunday.
Rafael Benitez’s men are now three points adrift of leaders Barcelona heading into the first clasico of the season in two weeks’ time after Neymar scored a brace in the European champions’ 3-0 win over Villarreal.
Sergio Ramos’s spectacular overhead kick had given Madrid the perfect start in Seville, but Ciro Immobile’s equaliser 10 minutes before the break turned the game on its head.
Defeated Madrid lacked know-how to fight back - Benitez
Goals after the break from Ever Banega and Fernando Llorente put Sevilla in the driving seat before James Rodriguez pulled a goal back in stoppage time.
“In the first half we should have killed the game off and we didn’t,” said Benitez. “We allowed them to score [the equaliser] from a set-piece and that conditioned the game.”
“In the second half we started well again, but from the second goal we started to commit errors and they took advantage of that.”
Gareth Bale returned for Madrid after a three-week layoff with a calf injury, but the Welshman once again failed to make a telling impact as Madrid suffered an untimely slip-up ahead of El Clasico.
Neymar scores wonder goal for Barcelona reminiscent of Ronaldinho
At the Camp Nou, Neymar and Luis Suarez once again shone in Lionel Messi’s absence as Barca overcame some stiff resistance from Villarreal to record a fourth consecutive league win.
Neymar opened the scoring on the hour mark when he slotted home Sergio Busquets’s through ball.
The Brazilian then stood aside to let Suarez seal the three points from the penalty spot after Munir El Haddadi had been brought down by Jaume Costa.
The best was yet to come from Neymar, though, as he collected Suarez’s pass and lifted the ball over Costa before turning to fire home on the volley five minutes from time.
Champions League: Benitez shrugs off Real fan whistles, focuses on last-16
“I am happy with what I am giving the team, but I still think I can improve more,” said Neymar. “As a team we all have to keep growing, but now we can rest and think about El Clasico.”
Between them Suarez and Neymar have compensated for Messi’s injury layoff with knee ligament damage by scoring all of Barca’s last 17 league goals, with the Catalans dropping just three points since the Argentine went off injured against Las Palmas six weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid remained in the title hunt thanks to Antoine Griezmann’s 93rd minute winner as they squeezed out a 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon to stay four points behind the leaders.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2015.
Real Madrid suffered their first defeat of the season as they squandered a 1-0 lead to lose 3-2 at Sevilla on Sunday.
Rafael Benitez’s men are now three points adrift of leaders Barcelona heading into the first clasico of the season in two weeks’ time after Neymar scored a brace in the European champions’ 3-0 win over Villarreal.
Sergio Ramos’s spectacular overhead kick had given Madrid the perfect start in Seville, but Ciro Immobile’s equaliser 10 minutes before the break turned the game on its head.
Defeated Madrid lacked know-how to fight back - Benitez
Goals after the break from Ever Banega and Fernando Llorente put Sevilla in the driving seat before James Rodriguez pulled a goal back in stoppage time.
“In the first half we should have killed the game off and we didn’t,” said Benitez. “We allowed them to score [the equaliser] from a set-piece and that conditioned the game.”
“In the second half we started well again, but from the second goal we started to commit errors and they took advantage of that.”
Gareth Bale returned for Madrid after a three-week layoff with a calf injury, but the Welshman once again failed to make a telling impact as Madrid suffered an untimely slip-up ahead of El Clasico.
Neymar scores wonder goal for Barcelona reminiscent of Ronaldinho
At the Camp Nou, Neymar and Luis Suarez once again shone in Lionel Messi’s absence as Barca overcame some stiff resistance from Villarreal to record a fourth consecutive league win.
Neymar opened the scoring on the hour mark when he slotted home Sergio Busquets’s through ball.
The Brazilian then stood aside to let Suarez seal the three points from the penalty spot after Munir El Haddadi had been brought down by Jaume Costa.
The best was yet to come from Neymar, though, as he collected Suarez’s pass and lifted the ball over Costa before turning to fire home on the volley five minutes from time.
Champions League: Benitez shrugs off Real fan whistles, focuses on last-16
“I am happy with what I am giving the team, but I still think I can improve more,” said Neymar. “As a team we all have to keep growing, but now we can rest and think about El Clasico.”
Between them Suarez and Neymar have compensated for Messi’s injury layoff with knee ligament damage by scoring all of Barca’s last 17 league goals, with the Catalans dropping just three points since the Argentine went off injured against Las Palmas six weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid remained in the title hunt thanks to Antoine Griezmann’s 93rd minute winner as they squeezed out a 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon to stay four points behind the leaders.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2015.