Russia Hooligans Warn of 'Festival of Violence'
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SPORTS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2017 German Bundesliga table Spanish League Preview BERLIN: German Bundesliga table ahead of this weekend’s Lowly Leganes hand Barca matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): chance to lick PSG wounds Bayern Munich 20 15 4 1 45 12 49 RB Leipzig 20 13 3 4 36 20 42 Eintracht Frankfurt 20 10 5 5 25 18 35 MADRID: Still reeling from their humiliation at the hands of Borussia Dortmund 20 9 7 4 40 23 34 Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona can’t afford a Champions Spanish La Liga table Hoffenheim 20 8 10 2 36 2134 League hangover as they return to La Liga action at home to Hertha Berlin 20 10 3 7 27 23 33 Leganes tomorrow. Barca trail league leaders Real Madrid MADRID: Spanish La Liga table before this weekend’s Cologne 20 8 8 4 29 18 32 by a point, but have also played two games more than their matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, Freiburg 20 9 2 9 26 34 29 title rivals, leaving Luis Enrique’s men little room for error in points): Bayer Leverkusen 20 8 3 9 31 29 27 their quest for a third straight La Liga title. Enrique has been Moenchengladbach 20 7 5 8 22 27 26 the fall guy for Barca’s disastrous showing in a 4-0 thrashing Real Madrid 20 15 4 1 54 18 49 Schalke 04 20 7 4 9 24 21 25 in Paris on Tuesday with fans, media and even the club’s Barcelona 22 14 6 2 61 18 48 Mainz 05 20 7 4 9 29 35 25 players criticizing his tactical set up. Sevilla 22 14 4 4 44 28 46 Augsburg 20 6 6 8 18 24 24 Key midfielders Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta, who Atletico Madrid 22 12 6 4 39 18 42 VfL Wolfsburg 20 6 4 10 19 28 22 were overrun by PSG’s pace and power, insisted Barca’s Real Sociedad 22 13 2 7 36 31 41 Hamburg 20 5 4 11 19 35 19 problem was not one of attitude one but being outplayed Villarreal 22 9 9 4 29 15 36 Werder Bremen 20 4 4 12 24 42 16 thanks to PSG boss Unai Emery’s master plan. Even Lionel Eibar 22 10 5 7 36 29 35 Ingolstadt 04 20 4 3 13 17 32 15 Messi was off color as his mistake led to PSG’s second goal, Athletic Bilbao 22 10 5 7 28 26 35 Darmstadt 20 3 3 14 14 39 12 but Javier Mascherano claimed the five-time World Player of Espanyol 22 8 8 6 30 29 32 the Year is the only Barca player who can’t be questioned. Celta Vigo 21 9 3 9 33 36 30 “Leo is indispensable and, yes, the rest of us are expend- Las Palmas 22 7 7 8 31 33 28 German League Preview able,” Mascherano told Barca magazine. “He is unique. We Alaves 22 6 9 7 21 28 27 are talking about the best player in the history of this sport Real Betis 21 6 6 9 21 31 24 without any doubt.” Malaga 22 5 8 9 29 36 23 Valencia 21 5 5 11 29 40 20 Lahm backs Bayern’s Fortunately for the Catalans, they couldn’t have picked Deportivo La Coruna 21 4 7 10 26 34 19 better guests for a time of crisis as Leganes travel to the struggling Mueller Leganes 22 4 6 12 15 37 18 Camp Nou having been dragged into a battle against rele- Sporting Gijon 22 4 4 14 24 43 16 gation by a 12-game winless run. Ironically, Enrique had BERLIN: After thrashing Arsenal in mid-week, leaders Bayern Granada 22 2 7 13 17 48 13 Munich return to Bundesliga business at Hertha Berlin today rotated heavily throughout the first two months of the year Osasuna 22 1 7 14 24 49 10 with captain Philipp Lahm backing Thomas Mueller to return to ensure Barca were not physically worn down before their to form. Bayern head to the capital with a seven-point lead in trip to the French capital. Despite a first free midweek of the Germany’s top flight and one foot in the Champions League’s year to come after Sunday, though, Enrique is expected to quarter-finals after hammering Arsenal 5-1 in Wednesday’s ring the changes again with Lucas Digne, Rafinha, Ivan end to leave them four points off the top six. last 16, first-leg. Carlo Ancelotti opted for Thiago Alcantara Rakitic, Denis Suarez and Arda Turan all in contention to And there is little in Espanyol’s recent record against instead of Mueller to run Bayern’s attack against the Gunners. come into the side. Madrid to give former Watford boss Quique Sanchez The attacking midfielder scored two goals in a display his Flores’s men hope as they have lost their last nine against coach hailed as ‘perfect’. Germany star Mueller was left on the Bale back Real and haven’t won in their last 20 meetings. Sevilla can bench but still managed to come on and score Bayern’s fifth Madrid can open up a four-point gap at the top on leapfrog Barca into second for at least 24 hours as they goal in his four minutes on the pitch-after Thiago presented Saturday when Espanyol visit the Santiago Bernabeu. The warm up for their Champions League clash with Leicester him with a simple tap-in. It had been 999 minutes since he European champions enjoyed contrasting Champions City on Wednesday by hosting the on-form Eibar, who har- had previously netted for Bayern. Ancelotti is set to rotate his League fortunes in midweek as they came from behind to bor European ambitions of their own. Atletico Madrid could squad with Mueller poised to make the starting line-up at beat Napoli 3-1 and could have even more firepower avail- also have a return to Champions League action in mind Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. able with Gareth Bale in line for his return after three months when they travel to a Sporting Gijon side suddenly eying Lahm says home-grown Germany star Mueller is working out with ankle ligament damage. Real boss Zinedine Zidane survival after their first win since December at Leganes last tirelessly to rekindle his form. “He has a place in every team,” resisted the temptation to rush the Welshman back into weekend. Any slip up by Atletico could be pounced on by Lahm told Kicker. “It’s unbelievable the way he trains every action after he returned to training last weekend, but is Sociedad, who trail Diego Simeone’s men by just a point in day, he always looks forward and pushes, regardless of expected to at least appear off the bench. Espanyol’s hopes the battle for fourth, and host sixth-placed Villarreal in a whether he plays from the start or not. “It’s just a question of of European football next season were punctured by a first huge clash for the final Champions League place on Sunday time until he finds his form.” All of their six closest rivals lost last weekend and Berlin is a happy hunting ground for the home defeat since September to Real Sociedad last week- lunchtime. —AFP Bavarians. They won the Bundesliga title there with a record seven games to spare in March 2014, and have been victorious in their last 11 games against Hertha. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer Russia hooligans warn could record his 100th clean sheet in the league playing a team that has not scored against Bayern in their last five meetings. Having been as high as third this year, Hertha are down to sixth after winning just two of their last seven league of ‘festival of violence’ games. Hertha striker Vedad Ibisevic is set to play despite an ankle knock. Second-placed RB Leipzig are at Borussia Moenchengladbach tomorrow looking to bounce back from LONDON: Russian hooligans have warned of a “festival ing Euro 2016 in France. A leader of the group predict- defeats in their last two games. of violence” at next year’s World Cup, in a BBC docu- ed a crackdown by Russian authorities, telling the BBC Gladbach are on a roll and up to tenth after last week’s 3-2 mentary aired on Thursday in which the fans celebrate “they will just take down all leaders, all people who are comeback win against Bayer Leverkusen, when they fought street fights at Euro 2016. Hours after FIFA president capable of organizing anything and just lock them back from two goals down. There is a seven point gap Gianni Infantino said he was not concerned about vio- down.” Despite the prospect of tighter rules against behind Leipzig in the table, but the Saxons are wobbling. lence at the tournament, the BBC’s “Russia’s Hooligan hooliganism, the Orel Butchers member said it was Their defense was badly caught out in their 3-0 home loss to Army” showed fans predicting clashes between sup- “100 percent guaranteed” that some fans in Russia will Hamburg, their first home defeat this season, which came on porters. “For some it will be a festival of football, for try to organize against England supporters. the back of a 1-0 defeat at Dortmund. Centre-back Willi others it will be a festival of violence,” one such hooli- Several Russians were expelled from France last year Orban is suspended while striker Yussuf Poulsen is out for the gan told the BBC, interviewed close to the Rostov stadi- after street battles broke out with England fans in coming weeks with a leg injury.