Month: April 2019

AP
Published 5:12 p.m. ET April 27, 2019 | Updated 6:27 p.m. ET April 27, 2019

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Without Cristiano Ronaldo around to at least keep it interesting, a spectacular Lionel Messi had no rival to stop him from helping Barcelona successfully defend its Spanish league title.

Barcelona clinched the crown with three rounds left on Saturday, after Messi scored to beat Levante 1-0 at Camp Nou.

But this was coming for a long time. Barcelona lost only two games in 35 rounds, and opened up a significant lead early in the season.

It brushed off the only timid attempt to give it a fight, by Atletico Madrid, to secure an eighth title in 11 seasons.

Overall, Barcelona has 26 Liga trophies, second only to Real Madrid with 33.

Now Barcelona can put all of its focus on completing a rare treble of titles. It will face Liverpool in the Champions League semifinals from Wednesday, and plays Valencia in the Copa del Rey final on May 25.

How did Barcelona do it with such apparent ease?

Here are a few reasons:

MESSI

When Messi couldn’t possibly get any better, he did just that and guided Barcelona to its 10th league title of the 15 he’s disputed.

Messi will be in the running to win a record sixth Ballon d’Or for his season, after scoring 46 goals in all competitions so far and setting up a bunch more for his teammates.

The Liga’s all-time leading scorer was particularly deadly from set-pieces. Six of his 34 league goals came from direct free kicks. At one point, Messi scored from a free kick in three straight matches in late March and

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 600th club goal on Saturday as Juventus held Inter Milan to a 1-1 draw in Serie A at the San Siro.

Inter opened the scoring after just seven minutes when Juventus failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to Radja Nainggolan, who spectacularly volleyed home past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

The hosts were easily the better side in the first half, but manager Massimiliano Allegri made changes after the break, bringing on Leonardo Spinazzola and Moise Kean.

The changes paid dividends when Miralem Pjanic teed up Ronaldo for the equaliser just after the hour mark.

The midfielder laid the ball off to the 34-year-old, and his low shot beat Samir Handanovic and crept inside the post for a milestone strike for the forward:

Juventus missed the best chance to win the game late on. Ronaldo sent in a low cross for substitute Matheus Pereira, but he could not convert from close range as Inter held on for a point.

   

Ramsey can’t save Juve’s slow, predictable midfield alone

Juventus lined up against Inter Milan with a midfield of Emre Can, Blaise Matuidi and Pjanic, but the trio’s performance simply highlighted the champions’ need to strengthen in the summer transfer window.