Barcelona Fight Back to Defeat Sevilla to Win Spanish Supercup Barcelona’S 13Th Supercup and Sixth in the Last Nine Seasons
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27 Sports Tuesday, August 14, 2018 Barcelona fight back to defeat Sevilla to win Spanish Supercup Barcelona’s 13th Supercup and sixth in the last nine seasons TANGIERS: Barcelona battled back to defeat Sevilla 2- was easily saved by Ter Stegen. 1 and win the Spanish Supercup on Sunday with French The match had endured a controversial build-up World Cup winner Ousmane Dembele hitting a sensa- when Sevilla threatened to file a complaint against tional winner to help give Lionel Messi a winning start Barcelona if the La Liga champions fielded more than as captain. three non-EU players. It was Barcelona’s 13th Supercup and sixth in the The Spanish football federation (RFEF) said on last nine seasons. However, Sevilla squandered a golden Saturday that there would be no restrictions on players chance to send the match into extra-time when Wissam from outside the EU for the Supercup, despite only Ben Yedder missed a last-minute penalty. three being allowed in squads for league matches. Pablo Sarabia gave Sevilla Sevilla said they could file a the lead after just nine min- complaint if Barca name an utes on a counter-attack. “improper lineup” in Tangier. Gerard Pique, who announced New signings Malcom, Arturo his international retirement Super Cup hero Vidal and Arthur were with Spain on Saturday, lev- expected to be Barca’s three elled three minutes before the Dembele hits a non-EU players on Sunday, interval for Barcelona after he although Brazilian centre- was fastest to respond to a sensational winner back Marlon also travelled loose ball following a Messi with the squad. free-kick. In the end, 21-year-old That set the stage for winger Malcom, signed from French star Dembele to take Bordeaux in the summer, was the headlines with a 78th minute screamer from 25 left out of the match day line-up. Philippe Coutinho has yards and again Messi played a crucial role with the reportedly acquired a Portuguese passport through his key pass. wife in the last week, while his fellow South Americans There was still time for late drama when Barca goal- Messi and Luis Suarez are already EU citizens. TANGIERS: Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (C) carries the cup as they celebrate at the end of the keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen brought down Aleix Sevilla qualified for Sunday’s match as last season’s Spanish Super Cup final between Sevilla FC and FC Barcelona at Ibn Batouta Stadium in the Moroccan city of Vidal in the area as the Sevilla youngster closed in on Copa del Rey runners-up, after Barcelona won the Tangiers on Sunday. Barcelona defeated Sevilla 2-1 to win the Spanish Super Cup. — AFP an equaliser. But Ben Yedder hit a weak penalty which league and cup double. — AFP over Bayern in last season’s German Cup final. front of goal. At the other end, Lewandowski faced Lewandowski Yet there was no time for sentimentality on Sunday, increasingly rough treatment from the Frankfurt as Bayern took brutal revenge for their cup humiliation, defence, and Eintracht captain David Abraham was also Lewandowski leaving the Frankfurt defence in tatters. lucky to escape a red card when he appeared to elbow hat-trick leads “It was a really good performance today, we scored the Polish striker late in the game. Egyptian fans hope at all the right moments,” Kovac told ZDF. There was no stopping Lewandowski, however, who Bayern to Frankfurt “Of course I feel some sympathy for my former play- danced free of Abraham to rifle in his third goal on 54 for more Salah magic ers and my former club, but I think it will still be a good minutes. Kovac’s perfect evening was sealed in the 63rd season for Frankfurt. “I am very optimistic for this sea- minute when Kingsley Coman bundled in Bayern’s cup revenge son. I have a great team and a lot of strength in depth.” fourth. The new Bayern coach had focused on low CAIRO: As A ruthless Bayern took the lead with their first crosses in training the week before, and watched hap- Mohamed Salah chance on 21 minutes. Joshua Kimmich’s cross picked pily on as David Alaba’s low cross found Coman at the took to the field FRANKFURT: A brilliant hat-trick from Robert out Lewandowski at the far post and the Polish star far post to make it 4-0. for the start of the Lewandowski led Bayern Munich to a comfortable 5-0 fired a header across Frederik Roennow in the Frankfurt Thiago delivered the final flourish five minutes new Premier victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in Sunday’s German goal. The striker nodded in a second from almost exact- from time, gratefully receiving a pass from Coman to League season, Supercup, giving former Frankfurt coach Niko Kovac a ly the same position five minutes later, heading Arjen slot home Bayern’s fifth. Sandro Wagner could even fans in his native memorable start to his reign at the Bavarian giants. Robben’s corner past the stranded Roennow. have made it six, missing an open goal from two yards Egypt prayed Kovac returned to Frankfurt for his first competitive The game could have turned in Frankfurt’s favour out, but that didn’t stop Bayern celebrating a winning Sunday for anoth- game in charge of the Bundesliga winners, having end- just before half-time when Mats Hummels escaped with start under Kovac and a successfully defended er miracle cam- ed two successful years at Eintracht with a shock win a yellow card after bringing down Mijat Gacinovic in Supercup title. —AFP paign from the tal- ismanic striker. Two dozen mem- bers of the local Liverpool sup- Real face up to life porters club gath- ered in a Cairo cafe to clap, cheer Mohamed Salah without Ronaldo and celebrate as their hero got off to a winning start some 4,000 kilome- tres (2,500 miles) away. MADRID: Following up Zinedine Zidane’s “We used to struggle to find places to watch treble Champions League success with Real Liverpool play,” die-hard Reds fan Seif Mahdi, 18, Madrid was always going to be a difficult told AFP. “But now everywhere shows it-you just job for Julen Lopetegui, but having to do it have to tell them you want to watch Salah play.” without Cristiano Ronaldo is a monumental The reason for the excitement is obvious-last sea- challenge. son the Egyptian star smashed a string of records Real Madrid finished third in La Liga last as he scored 44 goals for his English club. season after a thoroughly disappointing cam- Those performances propelled Salah into the paign, 17 points behind arch-rivals and cham- elite of world football and helped cement his status pions Barcelona, but Zidane papered over the as an icon back home. Now his image stares down cracks by guiding the team to a third at the inhabitants of Cairo from adverts plastered European cup in a row. along the traffic-clogged streets of the capital city. The coach decided to walk away while he His popularity has also helped turn Liverpool was on top and his surprise departure in May from a team few Egyptians knew much about to was followed by another, as Ronaldo joined the most talked about foreign club in this country Juventus. Over the previous nine years of some 100 million people. That’s a strange feeling PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian forward Neymar (L) controls the ball as he vies for it Caen’s Congolese Ronaldo was crowned the best footballer in for the Liverpool fan club members who cheered midfielder Prince Oniangue (R) with during the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain and the world five times, helping Real Madrid to on the team long before Salah’s arrival. The sup- Caen on Sunday at the Parc des Princes, in Paris. — AFP four Champions Leagues, with 450 goals in porters association in Egypt now boasts over 438 games for the club. 12,000 members. However, in that period Ronaldo only won 15-minute cameo at the end of last weekend’s 4-0 rout of “Before, I was unique and special when I told La Liga in 2012 and 2017, often losing out to Neymar on the Monaco in the Champions Trophy in China, Neymar made people who I supported,” said business student Lionel Messi’s Barcelona. While Barcelona a long-awaited return to the line-up in Paris. He needed lit- Omar Nabil, 24. “But now Egyptians are really have reinforced in the transfer window, Real tle time to leave his mark as Caen goalkeeper Brice Samba supporting Liverpool.” have not replaced Ronaldo and have found it mark as PSG was punished for a sloppy pass, with Christopher Nkunku Sports shop owner Karim Nasr has seen the setting Neymar up for a calm, side-footed finish on his left hard to secure their reported targets. surge in Liverpool’s popularity first hand. At his They have only added Real Sociedad foot. Buffon, who was expected to retire at the end of last up and running season before electing for a new adventure abroad, store in the Cairo district of Maadi, the club’s defender Alvaro Odriozola and Chelsea goal- shirts are the only ones that have run out of stock. keeper Thibaut Courtois, who is expected to became the oldest PSG player in Ligue 1 history at 40 years and six months. The 2006 World Cup winner was “Over the summer months we sold more than replace Keylor Navas in the team and they can under Tuchel called into action for the first time midway through the 1,000 of them,” he said.