Page 6 - La Liga

La Liga: Benzema stays hot as Madrid keeps momentum after PSG win

Karim Benzema stayed hot as Real Madrid kept momentum from its epic win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League with a 3-0 victory at Mallorca to extend its Spanish league lead. Benzema scored twice and set up Vincius Jnior's goal to help give Madrid a 10-point lead over second-placed Sevilla ahead of the clsico against Barcelona on Sunday at Santiago Bernabu Stadium. Benzema's double came five days after he scored a hat trick in less than 20 minutes to lead Madrid to the Champions League quarterfinals with a stunning comeback win over PSG. Benzema has eight goals in his last five matches in all competitions and comfortably leads the Spanish league's scoring list with 22. The match ended with concern over Benzema's fitness, though, as the French striker had to leave a few minutes from the end with what appeared to be a left leg injury. Madrid, which had already made all five substitutions, also lost forward Rodrygo and left back Ferland Mendy with injuries ahead of the mat

Real need to get back to playing like before Christman, says Ancelotti

Real Madrid slumped to defeat in their first match after the winter break as they lost 0-1 to Getafe and coach Carlo Ancelotti said they need to get back to playing like they were before Christmas

La Liga: Getafe ends Madrid's unbeaten streak; virus-hit Bara wins

After watching Real Madrid lose its first match in three months, Carlo Ancelotti had one simple message for his players: The holidays are over

La Liga: Covid crisis worsens; 50% attendence cut in Basque Region

The ongoing wave of Covid-19 cases in Spain has been reflected by a sharp rise in the number of infections being reported in La Liga as teams return to training after the short holiday break.

La Liga: Athletic Bilbao, Real Madrid to close 2021 in Covid-19 worry

Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao will end 2021 in what promises to be an entertaining game in Athletic's San Mames Stadium on Wednesday night -- if the Covid-19 pandemic allows.

La Liga: Sevilla beat Atletico Madrid to close gap on Real Madrid

Sevilla kept themselves in the race for the La Liga title thanks to a late goal from Lucas Ocampos which gave them a 2-1 win at home to Atletico Madrid

La Liga sells Spanish broadcast rights for over $5 bn for 5 years

Spain's top soccer league has generated 4.95 billion euros (USD 5.6 billion) from the sale of subscription broadcast domestic rights for five seasons.

Real Madrid shreds Atletico's title defense with 2-0 derby win

Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio inflicted the latest blow on Atletico's title defense after leading Real Madrid to a 2-0 win Sunday to keep their team comfortably at the top of the Spanish league

La Liga: Koeman's future on the line as Barca visit Atletico Madrid

FC Barcelona face a crucial game on Saturday when they travel to play Atletico Madrid in the eighth round of matches in La Liga.

Money in the game: Football is the next big thing for hedge funds, PE

European soccer has always been desperate for cash, but that's grown more acute after the pandemic kept crowds away from stadiums

La Liga: Real Madrid's attack stalls in 0-0 draw against Villareal

With Karim Benzema and Vincius Jnior finally contained, Real Madrid saw its five-match winning streak come to an end with a 0-0 draw against Villarreal at home in the Spanish league.

La Liga: Marco Asensio, Benzema star as Real beat Mallorca 6-1

Asensio scored a hat-trick and Karim Benzema struck a brace of goals as Real Madrid soared on their goal-scoring prowess to thrash Mallorca 6-1 and rose to the top of the table in the Spanish La Liga.

Barcelona held by winless Granada at Camp Nou in La Liga

Less than a week after a demoralizing loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Barcelona faltered at Camp Nou again, being held by winless Granada 1-1 in the Spanish league.

La Liga: Narrow wins for Real Madrid, Bilbao, Real Sociedad

Dani Carvajal's 61st minute goal gave Real Madrid a narrow 1-0 win on their difficult trip to Betis on Saturday night

Heat is on in every sense of the word as new La Liga season kicks off

Fans will be back in the stands after over a year of empty grounds when the new La Liga season kicks off this weekend in Spain

La Liga without Messi: A look at top contenders for Spanish league title

The Spanish league starts on Friday. Here is a look at the top contenders expected to fight for the title and top positions in the table. ATLTICO MADRID Atltico Madrid defends the title it won last season with the goals of Luis Surez and the tireless preparation of coach Diego Simeone. Its position as champion has been strengthened by the exit of top players from both Barcelona and Real Madrid. Atltico has kept all its talent and added Argentine midfielder Rodrigo de Paul. Simeone, who signed a contract extension in July through 2024, will have Surez back to lead his attack. The Uruguay striker was crucial to Atltico's title march, leading the team with 21 league goals. Can he, though, at the age of 34, maintain the same production? Expectations are big for Joo Flix to become a leader with his playmaking in an otherwise workmanlike squad. But Simeone has shown that with a strong defense anchored by goalkeeper Jan Oblak his side can grind out wins without many frills. REAL MADRID

Messi banner at Camp Nou taken down ahead of impending PSG move

A large banner of Lionel Messi on the side of the Camp Nou was taken down ahead of his impending move to PSG. Messi has reportedly agreed a two-year deal to join the Ligue 1 club and is believed to be flying to Paris later on Tuesday to finalise his agreement and complete a medical. Barcelona announced on Thursday it could not keep its greatest player because it wasn't able to fit a new contract within the Spanish league's financial fair-play regulations. Messi spent nearly two decades with the Catalan club since making his first-team debut as a 17-year-old in 2004. He played 17 seasons winning the Champions League four times, the Spanish league 10 times, the Copa del Rey seven times and the Spanish Super Cup eight times. Messi leaves as Barcelona's all-time leading scorer with 672 goals.

After 17 seasons, post-Lionel Messi era begins in Spanish league

The Spanish league season begins this weekend and it will be unlike any other in the last 17 years. It will be the first without Lionel Messi, its all-time top scorer and one of its greatest players ever. For the first time since 2004, Barcelona will be without Messi because it couldn't sign the Argentina star to a new contract due to its troubled financial situation. The last time the league didn't feature Messi, the likes of Diego Simeone, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Enrique were still playing instead of coaching. Real Madrid forward Vincius Jnior and Atltico Madrid forward Joo Flix were only 4 years old. Former Barcelona player Neymar was entering his teenage years and had just signed his first contract with the youth squad of Brazilian club Santos. Real Madrid target Kylian Mbapp was a 5-year-old whose bright future was as yet unknown. Barcelona won the league only twice in the decade before Messi debuted. In the next 17 seasons, it won it 10 times. He won the league's scoring ti

Spain's La Liga gets $3.2 bn investment from private equity giant CVC

The private equity firm's investment values La Liga at about 24.3 billion euros, according to a statement Wednesday, and comes at a crucial time for the league

Impossible for Barcelona to match previous salary of Messi: La Liga prez

La Liga president Javier Tebas believes it would be impossible for FC Barcelona to match the salary Lionel Messi was on as the Catalan club is currently going through a financial predicament.