Barca two good for Cadiz, Atleti win

Madrid, February 20

With yet another win, Barcelona left their problems off the field after a turbulent week.

Barcelona defeated Cadiz 2-0 on Sunday as they extended their winning streak and lead over Real Madrid in the La Liga.

Sergi Roberto and Robert Lewandowski scored late in the first half to give Barcelona their seventh straight league win and get their lead over second-place Madrid back to eight points.

Madrid had cut the gap to five points with a 2-0 win at Osasuna on Saturday.

“We played well in the first half,” Barcelona coach Xavi said. “There was a bit of a let-down in the second, but it was expected. We have been playing a lot, the team is tired.”

Roberto opened the scoring in the 43rd with a shot from the middle of the area after Lewandowski’s header off a cross by Ferran Torres was cleared by a defender on the goal-line. Lewandowski added to the lead before halftime with a low shot from just inside the area for his league-leading 15th goal – and first overall after three scoreless matches in all competitions.

It was the 17th clean sheet for Barcelona in the league this season.

Antoine Griezmann made a great run from near the halfway line to score for Atletico Madrid in a 1-0 victory against Athletic Bilbao, allowing Diego Simeone’s team to strengthen its hold on the final Champions League place. The goal saw Griezmann speeding past two defenders before entering the area and firing a low shot into the net in the 73rd minute, giving Atletico their fourth win in five league matches.

Sevilla lost some momentum after being held to a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano.

Suso scored in the 29th for 12th-place Sevilla, who were looking to win their third in a row in the league. The result kept Sevilla unbeaten in seven straight league games at Rayo, which equalised with Florian Lejeune in the 65th. — AP

As Liverpool host Real, memories haunt Klopp

Liverpool: Liverpool coach Juergen Klopp conceded that he had not been able to bring himself to rewatch last season’s Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid until this past weekend, insisting reliving the experience was “torture”. The Reds won their first three matches against Real in European competition, between 1981 and 2009. Since then, however, they are winless in six games against them, with five of those ending in defeat. Two of those losses came in the 2018 and 2022 finals, the latter being particularly painful for Klopp ahead of the visit of Real to Anfield for the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie tomorrow. “Different things happened to us with Real Madrid,” Klopp said today. “One of the biggest clubs in the world, super experienced. Our own story, we played this final in Paris (last year). I didn’t watch it back until this weekend and I know why I didn’t watch it back now, it was proper torture.” reuters