
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017 SPORTS PREVIEW Refreshed Barca seek to continue Cup dominance MADRID: Holders Barcelona have a whole squad,” said Barca boss Luis Busquets are close to returning from magic nights on Tuesday,” said the for- delicately poised at 0-0 between Alaves fourth consecutive Copa del Rey final in Enrique with his side going for a second hamstring and ankle injuries respective- mer Liverpool and Chelsea striker. and Celta Vigo. Celta had the weekend sight when Atletico Madrid visit the treble of league, Cup and Champions ly. Atletico were a team transformed in However, the size of the task awaiting off as their La Liga clash with Real Camp Nou today with the daunting task League in three years. the second-half of the first leg as they Diego Simeone’s men is underlined by Madrid was postponed after high winds over overturning a 2-1 semi-final, first One key member of the Barca squad roared back into the tie after the intro- the fact Torres scored twice the last time caused structural damage to their leg deficit. will be missing for Atletico’s visit, duction of Fernando Torres at the break. they won at the Camp Nou during in his Balaidos stadium. Stunning solo goals from Luis Suarez though, as Neymar is suspended. Antoine Griezmann halved the first spell at the club in 2006. Alaves even made a petition to the and Lionel Messi put Barca well in com- Messi will also have to be careful as a arrears, whilst Torres and Kevin Gameiro Atletico will also be without suspend- Spanish Football Federation to have the mand of the tie before half-time at the yellow card would rule him out of the all came close to levelling near the end. ed captain Gabi. second leg postponed, claiming Celta’s Vicente Calderon tomorrow. final should Barca advance. Torres’s impact continued as he Defender Lucas Hernandez returned extra time to prepare handed them an And both are well-rested for the The hosts are also likely to also be scored his first La Liga goals since to training on Sunday after he was unfair advantage. return as Suarez sat out Saturday’s 3-0 without Gerard Pique and Rafinha. Pique September with a double in Saturday’s arrested in the early hours of Friday The Basques, though, have home win over Athletic Bilbao, whilst Messi came off at half-time after picking up a 2-0 win over Leganes. morning on suspicion of domestic vio- advantage and are full of confidence took a rare break for the final 25 minutes groin strain, whilst Rafinha broke his “We know the game on Tuesday will lence. However, the Frenchman is after virtually securing their place in the after netting his 31st goal of the season. nose in a collision with Barca ‘keeper be extremely difficult, but it is in the unlikely to be involved in Simeone’s top flight for next season with a 4-2 win “It is important to realise that to Marc-Andre ter Stegen at the weekend. hard games where our pride comes out squad. at Sporting Gijon on Sunday despite reach our three objectives we need the However, Andres Iniesta and Sergio and we hope to experience one of those Tomorrow’s other semi-final is more resting a swathe of key players. — AFP Saint-Etienne beat Lyon in fiery derby PARIS: Saint-Etienne inflicted a third ly defensive blunder from Emanuel league defeat in four matches on faltering Mammana proved fatal for Lyon as Saint- bitter rivals Lyon and bolstered their Etienne won back possession on the edge European aspirations with a 2-0 victory in of the area with Monnet-Paquet firing Sunday’s tempestuous Rhone derby. Kevin through the legs of Anthony Lopes. Monnet-Paquet scored a ninth-minute Tolisso headed against the crossbar opener at Saint-Etienne’s Stade Geoffroy after he was left unmarked from a Nabil Guichard and Romain Hamouma slotted in Fekir cross, but a rash decision from Lopes a second on 22 minutes as Les Verts closed resulted in the hosts grabbing a second to within a point of fourth-placed Lyon. goal shortly after. The visitors finished with nine men as sub- The Lyon goalkeeper raced out of his stitute Rachid Ghezzal and Corentin Tolisso box to try and cut out a through ball but were dismissed in stoppage time to further lost out to Hamouma, who calmly skipped sour a dreadful evening for Lyon. round the Portugal international to double “It was a negative result and the behav- Saint-Etienne’s lead. iour was unworthy of a derby notably in With the visitors heading towards a third the first half,” complained Lyon coach Bruno straight loss to Saint-Etienne at Le Genesio of the fiery clash. “All defeats are Chaudron (The Cauldron), Lyon capitulated difficult but it’s even harder to swallow in a in the closing stages as Ghezzal picked up derby because pride is at stake.” two yellow cards in quick succession before Saint-Etienne, who face Manchester Tolisso saw red for a wild lunge at Fabien United in the Europa League last 32 this Lemoine. On Saturday, Monaco moved month, have won three games in a row in three points clear at the top of the table Ligue 1, while Lyon’s Champions League with a 3-0 victory over title rivals Nice. hopes look doomed after falling 12 points Valere Germain opened the scoring at behind the top three. “This was surely our the Stade Louis II before Radamel Falcao best start since the beginning of the season struck twice as Nice lost for just the second and just what was needed in a derby,” said time this season. Paris Saint-Germain Saint-Etienne coach Christophe Galtier. climbed above Nice into second on goal “There was a lot of determination, with a difference after winning 3-1 at Dijon. collective force. The players really went Lucas struck first in Dijon, but the hosts after this victory.” equalised just two minutes later through Both sides suffered French Cup last-32 Julio Tavares. Thiago Silva then bundled in exits in midweek, although Lyon were from a corner on 81 minutes, while Edinson boosted by the return from injury of lead- Cavani grabbed his 22nd goal of the cam- ing scorer Alexandre Lacazette. But an ear- paign to secure victory. — AFP TURIN: Inter Milan’s Argentinian forward Mauro Icardi from (c) falls as he vies for the ball with Juventus’ Italian defender Leonardo Bonucci (l) and Juventus’ Swiss defender Stephan Lichtsteiner during the Italian Serie A football match between Juventus and Inter Milan on Sunday at the Juventus Stadium in Turin.— AFP Deeney — from jail to SOCCER Premier League riches LONDON: Watford striker Troy Deeney’s turned when Watford gained automatic Cuadrado sends Juve “light bulb” moment came when the cell promotion to the Premier League in the door slammed and he contemplated a 10- 2014/15 season. month jail term for affray five years ago, he “I just cried,” admits Deeney. “I remem- told AFP. ber I found out on the bus that we got pro- The 28-year-old, locked up for assaulting moted as other results went our way-every- six points clear a student outside a pub, entered prison one went crazy.” with words from his mother ringing in his He added: “I always wanted to be a foot- ears-that it was at times like that she baller and always liked the idea of playing wished he had not been born. in the Premier League. I had played in ROME: Juan Cuadrado broke his Serie A duck header a metre wide. Icardi then glanced a Brozovic and Eder came on for an ineffective But Deeney rebuilt his life and his career League One (the third tier) with Walsall, for the season with a sensational strike that shot wide Buffon’s far post after a great Perisic Antonio Candreva on the hour and the extra then the Championship. sent Juventus six points clear of Napoli thanks delivery from the left, but Juve came fighting legs provided Inter with an initial spur. “My dad and granddad would be so to a 1-0 win over Inter Milan on Sunday. Title back. Miralem Pjanic’s sublime free kick had Yet Inter ran out of steam and were thank- proud. I rang my wife (Stacey and mother hopefuls Roma, currently third at seven points Handanovic in a flap to save at the crossbar, ful to Handanovic for blocking Higuain’s drive of their two children, Myles and Amelia) behind, can move back up to second place but the hosts’ persistence paid off when after he turned on Dybala’s pass in the area. and said I’m going there to his graveside. with a win over Fiorentina in their delayed Cuadrado pounced on a poor clearance to fire Eder went on the counter, but with options “However, at 6 in the evening it was shut game today. through several bodies from 25 yards out and open nearby the Italy striker wasted the so I went out with the team. “Then the next But the Giallorossi, still reeling from a 3-2 beat Handanovic at his near post. chance when he got caught in traffic. morning I went with a thermos of tea to defeat to Sampdoria last week, are now under Juve should have doubled their lead eight At the final corner Handanovic ran upfield the cemetery and had a cup of tea and sat huge pressure not to drop further points fol- minutes after the restart but Handanovic pro- but the ‘keeper earned a caution for his clum- there talking to his gravestone.” lowing another defiant display from the 32- duced a spectacular parry to deny Bosnian sy effort and Inter’s frustration was completed Deeney, who has set up his own founda- time champions in Turin.
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