Karim Benzema a hit in Madrid's 2-1 win

Barcelona, December 23

Karim Benzema struck two quick goals to lead Real Madrid to a 2-1 win at Athletic Bilbao in a Spanish league game missing several players because of coronavirus infections.

Defending champions Atletico Madrid slumped to a fourth consecutive league defeat after losing 2-1 at Granada, extending their worst run in the competition since Diego Simeone took charge a decade ago.

A total of 12 players between Madrid and Bilbao missed the game after testing positive for Covid-19. That included Madrid midfielder Luka Modric and Bilbao’s Unai Simon, the goalkeeper for Spain’s national side.

Benzema started the scoring for the league leaders with a superb strike four minutes into the match at San Mames. He struck again in the seventh minute for his league-leading 15th goal of the season.

Inter on a roll

Rome: Seven straight wins. Six straight without conceding. Eleven straight unbeaten. Inter Milan concluded the year with a 1-0 win over Torino on Wednesday to confirm their control of Serie A and intention of securing consecutive Italian league titles.

PSG salvage draw

Paris: Runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain headed into the winter break after narrowly avoiding a humiliating defeat as Mauro Icardi’s injury-time goal salvaged a 1-1 draw at struggling Lorient in the French league.

Chelsea set up Spurs clash

London: A much-changed Chelsea side featuring three teenaged debutants beat Brentford 2-0 on Wednesday to reach the League Cup semifinals where they will face London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal beat third-tier Sunderland on Tuesday. — Agencies

Barcelona negotiating with Man City to sign Torres: Guardiola

Manchester: Barcelona are close to agreeing a deal to sign 21-year-old Spanish forward Ferran Torres from Manchester City, the Premier League club’s manager Pep Guardiola said today. Multiple British media outlets reported Barcelona are ready to sign the Spain international for a fee of around ^55 million, and a further ^10 million in add-ons. “It’s not done officially, I know they are negotiating and it is close. When the club announces, it’s done,” Guardiola said. The deal comes despite severe financial difficulties at the La Liga club. They had to let Lionel Messi leave in the summer due to “financial and structural obstacles” and have debts of more than ^1.35 billion. reuters