Borneo Bulletin Digital

Sports

MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2020

BERLIN (AFP) - Bayern Munich

moved to within just one win of

an eighth straight Bundesliga

title as a late Leon Goretzka goal

sealed a 21 victory over Borussia

Moenchengladbach at the Allianz

Arena early yesterday.

Teenage striker Joshua Zirkzee

put Bayern ahead before Benja-

min Pavard’s own goal levelled for

Gladbach, but Goretzka netted his

third goal in ive league games

with four minutes remaining.

Even without the suspended

Robert Lewandowski and Thomas

Mueller, Bayern earned their 13

straight win in all competitions to re-

establish their seven-point lead over

Borussia Dortmund at the top of the

table with three matches left.

Victory at relegation-threat-

ened Werder Bremen tomorrow

night will conirm Bayern as Ger-

man champions for the 30

time in

Hansi Flick’s irst season in charge.

“I’m happy that the team got

the job done with some hard work

- those were three important, ‘big’

points,” said Flick.

Second-placed Dortmund had

earlier trimmed Bayern’s lead to four

points when Erling Braut Haaland’s

last-gasp header grabbed a dramat-

ic 10 win at Fortuna Duesseldorf.

Bayern had to dig deep again,

having also laboured to victory by

the same margin in last Wednes-

day’s German Cup semi-inal win

over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Gladbach made a fast start

but were denied an early lead as

Jonas Hofmann’s strike was ruled

out for oside.

But visiting goalkeeper Yann

Sommer gifted Bayern a 26

MADRID (AFP) - Lionel Messi re-

turned without a beard and with a

goal and two assists as Barcelona

resumed their La Liga title challenge

early yesterday with a thumping 40

victory over Real Mallorca.

After three months away be-

cause of the coronavirus pandemic,

Barca exploded into the lead with

just 64 seconds played when Arturo

Vidal headed in and Martin Braith-

waite struck a second from a Messi

headed assist.

Jordi Alba latched onto a Messi

pass to add a third but not before play

was briely stopped by a pitch invad-

er, who was able to run on, despite

the match being closed to fans.

Messi then scored a fourth in inju-

ry time for his 25

goal of the season.

“I’m happy because starting like

this is an enormous boost for what’s

to come,” said Barcelona coach

Quique Setien.

Victory extends Barca’s advan-

tage at the top of La Liga to ive

points over Real Madrid.

La Liga’s irst match back came

last Thursday between Sevilla and

Real Betis, with teams scheduled to

each play their remaining 11 matches

of the season in less than six weeks.

Messi will be crucial to Barcelona’s

hopes of holding o Madrid but their

captain, who turns 33 this month,

may have to pace himself, especially

after an injury-interrupted season.

Clean shaven, and without any

sign of the thigh problem that pre-

vented him from training earlier this

month, Messi played 90 minutes and

looked like he had never been away.

His goal was set up by Luis Suarez

and the sight of the Uruguayan com-

ing o the bench would have been

welcome for coach Setien too.

Suarez has not played since un-

dergoing knee surgery in January

and was able to recover during the

suspension. He could play an impor-

tant part in the run-in.

Asked what pleased him most,

Setien said, “The satisfaction of see-

ing Luis again on the ield. You have

to admire the performance he gave

in those 35 minutes that he played.

Starting like this is very important

for him and for the team as well.”

Mallorca, who sit 18

in La Liga,

were never going to oer the sternest

of tests but this was a useful outing for

both Barcelona’s itness and morale.

Before matches were suspended

in Spain because of coronavirus on

March 12, Barca had regained top

spot but only after being convincingly

beaten by Madrid the week before.

This performance suggests time

away might have done them good

and it remains to be seen now how

Madrid respond. Madrid’s next four

matches all come after their title ri-

vals have played irst.

Barcelona were in front after just

over a minute as Frenkie de Jong did

well to recover the ball from a loose

touch before Alba sent a deep cross

to the arriving Vidal, who headed in.

Mallorca were under relentless

pressure as Braithwaite and Messi

both went close to adding a second.

Mallorca’s Takefusa Kubo, on loan

from Real Madrid, forced a good

save out of Marc-Andre ter Stegen

on the break.

But Barca scored a second be-

fore half-time as an Alba cross span

up and both De Jong and then Messi

feathered headers across for Braith-

waite to bang in on the half-volley,

his irst goal for the club.

Both teams eased o in the sec-

ond period and there were smiles on

the Barcelona players’ faces when

a pitch invader ran on in the 52nd

minute wearing an Argentina shirt.

He posed for a picture with Alba be-

fore being escorted away.

Alba added a third after inishing

o Messi’s clipped ball over the top

and then Messi grabbed a goal him-

self. Suarez fooled his marker by let-

ting the ball run across his body and

Messi weaved inside where he could

unleash with his right foot.

Messi caps Barcelona win over

Mallorca on La Liga return

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi dribbles past Real Mallorca’s defender Joan

Sastre during the La Liga football match at the Visit Mallorca stadium in

Palma de Mallorca, Spain. PHOTO: AFP

Goretzka winner puts Bayern within

one victory of Bundesliga title

minute advantage when his dread-

ful pass across the edge of his area

was met by the 19-year-old Zirkzee,

who coolly found the net to score

his fourth Bundesliga goal from just

eight appearances.

Gladbach deservedly drew level

though when Pavard turned Patrick

Herrmann’s cross into his own net

eight minutes before the break.

Both sides had second-half chanc-

es, but Goretzka settled matters when

he turned home Pavard’s low cross.

Earlier, Dortmund were heading

towards a frustrating draw at rel-

egation-threatened Fortuna when

Haaland headed home centre-

back Manuel Akanji’s cross in the

minute.

“It’s a bit of a lucky thing that we

were able to walk away with the win

today,” admitted Dortmund goal-

keeper Roman Buerki.

With time almost up, Haaland,

who returned from injury as a sec-

ond-half substitute, licked a header

into the bottom corner for his 14

goal in 15 games since joining Dort-

mund from Salzburg in January.

Dortmund had endured a ner-

vous inal 10 minutes as Duesseldorf

substitute Steven Skrzybski twice

hit the post and ired wide before

Haaland struck.

Haaland’s goal, coupled with Bay-

ern’s win, ensured Dortmund quali-

ied for next season’s Champions

League group stage.

Bayern Munich’s mid ielder Leon Goretzka vies for the ball against

Moenchengladbach’s defender Ramy Bensebaini during the Bundesliga

football match in Munich, Germany. PHOTO: AFP

LONDON (AFP) - Jose Mourinho

believes his Tottenham Hotspur

side must adapt quickly to the

“new reality” of playing matches

without any fans when they re-

sume their Premier League cam-

paign against Manchester United

on June 19.

Spurs faced Norwich City in a

friendly with no spectators at the

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on

Friday this week, with all remain-

ing Premier League matches set

to be played behind closed doors

as a health measure in response

to the coronavirus pandemic

that led the English top light to

shut down for several months.

“It was a good training ses-

sion,” Mourinho told the club’s

website followingamatchdivided

into four periods of 30 minutes to

give more players the chance of

meaningful game time.

“We needed minutes, we

needed to know the feeling of

playing here without our sup-

porters and to have this training

session with another Premier

League team is the best thing,”

the Portuguese boss explained.

“We have to adapt to this new

reality, which is what we tried to

do, to have a feeling of playing

with an empty stadium.

“The points are there to ight

for, and with or without fans, the

points are there on the pitch and

ourselves and United will have to

ight for them.”

Spurs will have to win the

majority of their nine remaining

league games if they are to qual-

ify for the Champions League.

But in an encouraging sign

for the north London club, the

Mourinho tells Spurs to get

ready for empty feeling

likes of Harry Kane, Moussa Sis-

soko, Son Heung-min and Steven

Bergwijn all featured against Nor-

wich after recovering from injury

during lockdown.

Mourinho, a former Chelsea

and Manchester United man-

ager, added, “We decided to mix

them and to give almost the same

amount of minutes to everyone.

“We didn’t want any players

to be into the limits of fatigue

and of course nobody played the

four periods.

“What we work on tactically

we do in the training ground but

the match was much more about

competing, getting minutes, in-

tensity and it’s very important to

do it and to have this last week

without any injuries.

“We all know that in these irst

matches, and in the friendlies,

there’s also the risk of getting

some injuries.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s manager

Jose Mourinho. PHOTO: THE SUN