BARCELONA: Real Madrid will look to take care of business against a struggling Valencia and maintain their La Liga lead this weekend before turning to their demanding match at Liverpool.
Xabi Alonso’s team visit Anfield in a clash of European title hopefuls next Tuesday in the Champions League.
Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 last weekend to end a run of four clasico victories for the Catalan club from last season. The victory allowed Madrid to open a five-point gap at the top of the league standings over second-placed Barcelona.
Key matches
Madrid are on a five-game winning streak that includes a 1-0 win over Juventus in the Champions League.
Kylian Mbappé struck his 11th goal in the domestic league to help defeat Barcelona. The France striker is also joint top of the Champions League with Harry Kane on five goals each.
On Saturday, Madrid will host a Valencia that were jeered by home fans during a 2-0 loss against regional rival Villarreal in the last round. Valencia are winless in five games and have sunk into the relegation zone.
An injury-hit Barcelona will look to lick their wounds from their clasico defeat when they host Elche on Sunday.
Elche have been the surprise package in the first months. The small southern club were promoted at the end of last season and have so far defied expectations. Coach Eder Sarabia has his team in eighth place after just two losses through Round 10.
Third-placed Villarreal can provisionally move ahead of Barcelona on Saturday if they beat Rayo Vallecano.
Players to watch
All eyes in the Santiago Bernabeu will be on Vinícius Júnior and Alonso.
Vinícius was visibly upset when his coach substituted him with around 20 minutes left in the clasico. He went straight to the changing room before rejoining the bench minutes later.
The Brazil forward later apologized on social media saying that “sometimes my passion gets the better of me.”
Alonso, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti this summer, has given Vinícius less playing time than his predecessor.
Out of action
Midfield leader Pedri González has joined a longlist of injured Barcelona players that already included Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, the team’s top scorers from last season’s championship side.
Pedri, who tore a muscle in his left thigh, played 72 of 73 games since coach Hansi Flick took over Barcelona last season. The Spain playmaker’s vision, control and passing skills are unmatched by his teammates.
Lewandowski and midfielder Dani Olmo rejoined team practice this week but as of Thursday they had not been cleared by team doctors to play.
Barcelona midfielder Gavi Páez and goalkeepers Joan García and Marc-André ter Stegen were also out injured.
Madrid right back Dani Carvajal has been ruled out for several weeks after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee this week. Fellow defender Antonio Rudiger remains sidelined.
Off the field
Flick will be back in Barcelona’s dugout for the Elche game. He was suspended for the Madrid match after being sent off for protesting in a 2-1 win over Girona two rounds ago.
Real Madrid play struggling Valencia in La Liga ahead of Liverpool trip
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Real Madrid play struggling Valencia in La Liga ahead of Liverpool trip
- Xabi Alonso’s team visit Anfield in a clash of European title hopefuls next Tuesday in the Champions League
- Madrid are on a five-game winning streak that includes a 1-0 win over Juventus in the Champions League
History-chasing Djokovic and Alcaraz to meet in Australian Open final after epic semifinal wins
- Carlos Alcaraz striving to become the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam
- Novak Djokovic is aiming to be the oldest man in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title
MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic finally beat one of the two men who have been blocking his path to an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam singles title when he edged Jannik Sinner in five sets Friday to reach the Australian Open final.
To get that coveted No. 25, he’ll next have to beat the other: top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
They’re both chasing history in Sunday’s championship decider, with the 22-year-old Alcaraz striving to become the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam.
The top-ranked Alcaraz also had to come through a grueling five-setter. He fended off No. 3 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in a match that started in the warmth of the afternoon Friday and, 5 hours and 27 minutes later, became the longest semifinal ever at the Australian Open.
That pushed the start of Djokovic’s match against Sinner back a couple of hours, and the 38-year-old Djokovic finally finished off a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win just after 1:30 a.m.
“It feels surreal,” Djokovic said of his 4-hour, 9-minute triumph. “Honestly, it feels like winning already tonight. I know I have to come back … and fight the No. 1 of the world. I just hope that I’ll have enough gas to stay toe-to-toe with him.
“That’s my desire. Let the God decide the winner.”
Djokovic was at the peak of his defensive powers, fending off 16 of the 18 breakpoints he faced against the two-time defending Australian Open champion. It ended a run of five losses to Sinner, and a run of four semifinal exits for Djokovic at the majors.
“Had many chances, couldn’t use them, and that’s the outcome,” Sinner said. “Yeah, it hurts, for sure.”
Alcaraz and Sinner have split the last eight major titles between them since Djokovic won his last title at the 2023 US Open.
Nobody knows how to win more at Melbourne Park than Djokovic. He has won all 10 times he’s contested the Australian Open final.
He said he saw Alcaraz after the first of the semifinals was over and he congratulated him on reaching his first final at Melbourne Park.
“He said sorry to delay,” Djokovic later explained. “I told him ‘I’m an old man, I need to go earlier to sleep!”
Djokovic, aiming to be the oldest man in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title, was kept up late.
“I’m looking forward to meeting him on Sunday,” he said.
Final 4
With the top four seeds reaching the Australian Open men’s semifinals for just the fifth time, Day 13 was destined to produce some drama. The season-opening major had been a relatively slow burn, until the back-to-back five-setters lasting a combined 9 hours and 36 minutes.
Alcaraz and Zverev, the 2025 runner-up, surpassed the 2009 classic between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco as the longest ever Australian Open semifinal.
Medical timeout
Alcaraz was as close as two points from victory in the third set but was hampered by pain in his upper right leg and his medical timeout became contentious.
He said initially it didn’t feel like cramping because the pain seemed to be just in one muscle, the right adductor, and he needed an assessment.
He navigated the third and fourth sets and was behind in the fifth after dropping serve in the first game. He kept up the pressure but didn’t break back until Zverev was serving for the match. He then won the last four games.
“I think physically we just pushed each other to the limit today. We pushed our bodies to the limit,” Alcaraz said. “Just really, really happy to get the win, that I came back. I just rank this one in the top position of one of the best matches that I have ever won.”
Believe
Asked how he was able to recover despite being so close to defeat, Alcaraz admitted he was struggling but said kept “believing, believing, all the time.”
“I’ve been in these situations, I’ve been in these kinds of matches before, so I knew what I had to do,” he said. “I had to put my heart into the match. I think I did it. I fought until the last ball.”
Zverev was demonstrably upset about the time out out in the third set, taking it up with a tournament supervisor, when his rival was given the three-minute break for treatment and a massage on the leg.
After the match, he maintained that he didn’t think it was right, but he didn’t think it should overshadow the match.
“I don’t want to talk about this right now, because I think this is one of the best battles there ever was in Australia,” he said “It doesn’t deserve to be the topic now.”
