MADRID: Champions Real Madrid aim to get their La Liga campaign back on track away to city rivals Rayo Vallecano following a dismal start which has seen a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona open up an eight-point lead over them with the season little over a month old.
Many reasons have been offered for the run of just one win in four games, from a demanding pre-season tour to claims that Jose Mourinho has lost the control of the dressing room.
But Real did offer the motivation and fight that had been missing to come from behind to beat Champions League opponents Manchester City at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.
Defeat away to Sevilla last weekend, however, means that Real have only picked up four points so far and afterwards an angry Mourinho was particularly disappointed with the manner of the defeat where the players appeared to lack interest.
Sergio Ramos, one of the heavyweights in the Madrid dressing room and has stood up to Mourinho in the past, appeared to be the one to pay the price as he was dropped against City and Raphael Varane came in to partner Pepe at center half.
The pressure on the shoulders of the Portuguese coach would really have increased with a further defeat, which looked quite possible at 2-1 down with six minutes to go but Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo turned the game around.
“We knew that we were not playing well and we didn’t need the trainer to tell us that,” said defender Alvaro Arbeloa.
“There is a very good relationship in the dressing room and we are in agreement with the coach. Now after that important win (against City) we need to keep going.” Most of the question marks at the start of the season were over how Barca would be able to overturn Madrid with their new coach Tito Vilanova, and with Messi leading the way they have made a storming start with four straight wins in the league and now play Granada at the Camp Nou.
Messi also proved his value on the European stage with two late goals as Barca too had to come from behind to beat Spartak Moscow on Wednesday.
The main concern for Vilanova is the number of players missing from the defense with Gerard Pique adding to the list against Spartak which saw Alex Song come on to partner Javier Mascherano at the back. Carles Puyol and Jordi Alba were also out along with long term absentee Eric Abidal.
The off-field problems concerning Malaga have not affected their start to the season and they sit behind Barcelona on 10 points with Athletic Bilbao their next opponents.
Qatari owner Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani off-loaded some of the star players over the summer and was looking for buyers but the crisis now appears to have passed although he has cut back on investment.
Real’s conquerors last weekend, Sevilla, now travel away to Deportivo la Coruna while Mallorca, who have also made a strong start, have a tough match with the visit of Valencia.
Europa League champions Atletico Madrid entertain newly promoted Valladolid who have slumped to back-to-back defeats.
At the foot of the table Osasuna and Espanyol both have just one point and now take on Zaragoza and Real Betis respectively.
Fixtures (all times GMT)
Saturday
Zaragoza vs. Osasuna (1400), Celta Vigo vs. Getafe (1600), Real Betis vs. Espanyol (1800), Barcelona vs. Granada (2000)
Sunday
Mallorca vs. Valencia (1100), Levante vs. Real Sociedad (1400), Atletico Madrid vs. Valladolid (1600), Athletic Bilbao vs. Malaga (1750), Rayo Vallecano vs. Real Madrid (1930)
Monday
Deportivo la Coruna v Sevilla (1930)
Real Madrid’s bid to get La Liga campaign back on track
Real Madrid’s bid to get La Liga campaign back on track
Qatar’s Al-Attiyah wins Stage 6 for Dacia, retakes Dakar lead
- Al-Attiyah, 55, has now completed 19 successive Dakars with at least one stage win every time
RIYADH: Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah will lead the Dakar Rally into its second and final week after winning the sixth stage in the Saudi desert on Friday to take over at the top from South African rival Henk Lategan.
Al-Attiyah, a five-time Dakar winner now competing for the Dacia Sandriders, had been second overnight but turned a deficit of more than three minutes into a 6 minutes and 10 second advantage over the 326km timed stage between Hail and Riyadh.
Saturday is a rest day before the rally resumes in Riyadh on Sunday with seven more stages to the finish in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast on Jan. 17.
Al-Attiyah won Friday’s stage by two minutes and 58 seconds from teammate and nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, Dacia’s first Dakar one-two, with Toyota’s American Seth Quintero third.
Overall, three different manufacturers filled podium positions with Toyota’s Lategan second and Ford’s Nani Roma third — his first time on the virtual podium since 2019.
Al-Attiyah, 55, has now completed 19 successive Dakars with at least one stage win every time.
Friday was his career 49th stage win in the car category — one off the record held jointly by Ari Vatanen and “Mr Dakar” Stephane Peterhansel.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz, father of the Formula One driver and a four-time Dakar winner still racing hard at the age of 63, was in fourth place for Ford with teammate Mattias Ekstrom fifth and Loeb sixth.
American Mitch Guthrie, stage winner on Thursday for Ford, dropped to seventh from sixth.
In the motorcycle category there was no change at the top, although leader and defending champion Daniel Sanders was handed a 6-minute penalty for riding at 98kph in a zone limited to 50kph.
KTM rider Sanders now leads Honda’s American Ricky Brabec, the stage winner after the Australian’s penalty, by 45 seconds with Argentine rider Luciano Benavides more than 10 minutes behind in third.
“It was an emotional rollercoaster all day. Unfortunately, I got a speeding penalty, so that will set me back a bit,” said Sanders.
“I just pushed as much as I could today but it’s hard to do good in the sand, especially opening. I did the best I could and I’ve got to stop making silly mistakes. I haven’t pieced this first week together so well.”
