Barcelona’s series of victories continues before his trip to Manchester

The Catalan club entered the match against the backdrop of a disappointing 2-2 draw at home with Manchester United, Thursday, in the first leg of the playoffs that qualified for the final price of the “Europa League” competition.

However, this did not affect the morale of coach Xavi’s men in the face of a team that had formed a complex to some extent in the past few years, as it had only won it once in the last 5 confrontations in a series that included its fall twice.

However, on Sunday, he succeeded in continuing his victories and maintaining his unbeaten record for the 18th consecutive match in all competitions, since his humiliating fall to Bayern Munich, Germany, 0-3 at home on October 26 in the Champions League, which he bid farewell to after finishing third in the group and moved on to complete His continental career in the “Europa League”, where he will visit United next Thursday in the second leg of the play-off.

In light of Badri’s injury on Thursday against United and his joining of Frenchman Ousmane Dembele, and the absence of Uruguayan defender Ronaldo Araujo to be suspended, Xavi made adjustments to his squad, taking into account what awaits his team Thursday at Old Trafford.

Xavi played Ferran Torres in the attack alongside Ansu Fati and the Polish Robert Lewandowski, while Sergio Roberto played in the middle next to Gabe and Eric Garcia in defense alongside Alex Balde.

Barcelona pressed from the start and threatened its guest’s goal on more than one occasion, but it was ineffective until the 43rd minute when Torres manipulated the defenders on the right side before playing a cross that Lewandowski turned his head to find Argentine goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma on its way, but it fell in front of Sergi Roberto, who followed it into the net. .

Soon, Lewandowski added the second goal with a shot from the outskirts of the area (1 + 45), raising his tally to 15 goals at the top of the scorers’ ranking.

The result remained the same in the second half despite the chances, most notably Lewandowski’s crossbar (57), who later left the field, similar to the Dutchman Frankie de Jong and Badri, and after them Fati, and Qadiz’s post after a header by the Honduran Anthony Losano (86).

Atletico is preparing for the capital’s derby with a difficult victory

Atletico Madrid is preparing to face the capital’s derby against Real, the defending champion, with a difficult victory over its guest, Athletic Bilbao, 1-0, thus consolidating its fourth position.

The team of Argentine coach Diego Simeone owes the fourth victory in the last five stages, which witnessed his stumbling once, in a draw with his guest Getafe 1-1, to the French striker Antoine Griezmann, who gifted him the twelfth victory this season by scoring the only goal of the match in the 73rd minute, scoring his seventh goal in ” Liga” this season and eleventh in the 27 games he played against the Basque club, who became his best victim alongside Valencia (11 also, but in 21 matches).

Simeone praised his French striker, saying, “He is decisive for us. Very important. When he is in a good position, the team plays at another level… When he is in a good position, he gives us more attacking options. He allowed us to play with two strikers in front of him and in this way we found our way to the net.” “.

Atletico raised its score to 41 points in fourth place, four points behind its pursuit of Real Betis, who won Saturday at Valladolid 2-1, while it is two points away from Real Sociedad III, who stumbled at home on Saturday in a 1-1 draw with Celta Vigo.

Los Rojiblancos hopes to continue its good results when next Saturday it is a guest on its neighbor Real Madrid, who is ahead of it in second place by 10 points.

A rare win for Espanyol

Espanyol deepened the wounds of its host, Elche, bottom of the standings, by defeating it 1-0.

Espanyol entered the meeting to face a team that formed a knot for it, as it had not defeated it since March 2014 when it emerged from its stadium victorious 3-1, while its last victory in the stronghold of its rival in the league competitions dates back to March 1985 (3-0).

And it seemed that the knot would continue after the Catalan club failed to reach the net of its host in the regular time of the match, before Elche was hit by expelling his defender Jose Angel Carmona (81), which paved the way for Espanyol to strike in the fatal time through Serge Darder (2 + 90).

And after its sweeping victory in its favorite competition, the “Europa League”, over Dutch Eindhoven 3-0 Thursday in the first leg of the play-off, Seville returned to its local suffering after Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli’s team settled for a draw with its host, Rayo Vallecano, with a goal for Suso (29) against a goal for Frenchman Florian Lejeune (29). 65).

The Andalusian club, with its seventh tie for the season, raised its score to 25 points in twelfth place, while Vallecano, who tied for the second stage in a row, after they were preceded by two victories in a row, now has 34 points in sixth place, seven points behind Atletico Madrid, who finished fourth and last qualified for the Champions League.