Soccer

La Liga leaders Barcelona held at Getafe in second straight 0-0 draw

European roundup of Sunday’s games in the Spanish, Italian and French leagues

Getafe's David Soria clears the ball while under pressure from Barcelona's Raphinha at Coliseum Alfonso Perez. Photograph: Angel Martinez/Getty Images

Guardian sport
Mon Apr 17 2023 - 06:55

Barcelona were held to a second straight 0-0 draw in La Liga after mid-table Getafe managed to take a point off the leaders in a hard-fought game on Sunday.

Xavi’s side, who drew 0-0 with Girona last weekend, still have a healthy lead over second-placed Real Madrid at the top of the standings. Madrid’s 2-0 win over Cádiz on Saturday means Barça’s lead is now 11 points with nine games left in the season.

The visitors had two opportunities to take the lead in the 25th minute when Raphinha was put through on goal but the Brazilian winger saw his shot come off the post before Alejandro Balde’s effort from the rebound also hit the woodwork.

In the second half Robert Lewandowski, La Liga’s top scorer this season with 17 goals, had a header blocked while the Getafe keeper, David Soria, also denied Raphinha with a fine save. Beyond that, Barça struggled to create clear openings in the absence of the injured Pedri and Ousmane Dembélé. Getafe nearly stole all three points at the other end with a counter-attack in the 87th minute. The ball fell to Borja Mayoral but the former Real Madrid striker’s shot from distance flew just wide of the post. The Catalan club’s next game is at home to third-placed Atlético Madrid next Sunday.

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Atlético extended their unbeaten run to 13 league games as Antoine Griezmann scored twice in a 2-1 home win over Almeria on Sunday; their sixth straight win in La Liga. The win moves Diego Simeone’s side back within two points of second-placed rivals Real Madrid but still 13 points behind Barcelona.

Sevilla warmed up for the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final at home to Manchester United by winning at Valencia. Sevilla, who drew 2-2 with United at Old Trafford thanks to two late own goals, won in more conventional style with second-half goals from Loic Badé after 55 minutes and Suso 20 minutes later. Valencia, who had Ilaix Moriba sent off six minutes from time, remain in the relegation zone.

In Italy, Roma are third thanks to a 3-0 win over Udinese in the Stadio Olimpico, although they are five points behind their city rivals Lazio in the race for second place. Napoli are the runaway leaders with a 14-point advantage over Lazio. Tammy Abraham scored in injury time at the end of the second half after Edoardo Bove and Lorenzo Pellegrini had put Roma in charge by the 55th minute.

Juventus’s hopes of even qualifying for the Europa Conference League took a hit with a 1-0 defeat at Sassuolo. Juve are now four points behind Atalanta, who are in the only ECL place available. Grégoire Defrei scored the game’s only goal.

In Germany, Union Berlin’s faint hopes of making a late return to the title race are surely over after they were held to a 1-1 home draw by struggling Bochum. Josip Juranovic fired the hosts ahead from a free kick, but the visitors levelled 10 minutes into the second half as Kevin Stöger scored from the spot.

Defender Paul Jaeckel was then sent off for the hosts, before Union were denied a second goal by a VAR review for offside. Bochum held on for a point, leaving Union seven points behind Bayern Munich. Fifth-placed Freiburg are only two points behind in the top-four race after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Werder Bremen.

In Ligue 1, Marseille kept up some pressure on PSG by beating Troyes 3-1 to move second and go eight points behind the league leaders. After two minutes, Portuguese striker Vitinha scored his first goal for Marseille since his €32m January transfer from Sporting Braga. Cengiz Under doubled the lead before half-time before Vitinha got his second. Troyes scored a last-minute consolation.

Monaco kept up their hopes for a Champions League place with a 3-1 home win over Lorient. Aleksandr Golovin picked out Krépin Diatta for the opener, then doubled the hosts’ lead with a clinical finish. Kevin Volland added a third, with Ibrahima Koné’s penalty only a consolation.

In a crucial afternoon at the foot of the table, Strasbourg boosted their survival hopes by beating Ajaccio, while Clermont beat rock-bottom Angers despite going down to nine men late on. Auxerre’s 2-1 win over Nantes keeps the Canaries in trouble, while Brest stayed out of the bottom four with a 1-0 home win over Nice. – Guardian

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