THE STORY
At the beginning of November, we asked ourselves the question: who wants La Liga? Real Madrid are offering us their answer today. With radiance.
With their 2-0 victory in the Madrid derby against Atlético on Sunday, Real are 10 straight wins in all competitions, including 7 in the Spanish league.
We almost feel bad to have made the apology, on November 2, of the chances of Real Sociedad to win the Spanish title this season. They have won only once since our column and have lost their last three games. Real Madrid’s rise to power seemed, in retrospect, inevitable.
These successes, the Merengues owe them in particular to the young Brazilian Vinícius Júnior. The winger is booming this year. He already has 12 goals in 23 games, more than in his last two seasons at Real combined (6 in 2020-2021, 5 in 2019-2020).
Viní did not score on Sunday, but it was he who lobed in the box for Karim Benzema in the 16e minute. The French international concluded a great action from Real Madrid to score the first goal of the match.
It was again Vinícius who passed brilliantly to Marco Asensio in the penalty area in the 57e for the 2-0.
Diego Simeone’s Atlético could not find an answer. With 29 points, the defending champions are now 13 points from the lead, during a season that looked promising.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Real is comfortably leading with 42 points. Sevilla FC is 2e, to 34 units. Xavi’s FC Barcelona (24 points) is treading water in eighth position after a 2-2 draw with a defeat flavor on Sunday.
CANADIAN WOMEN
PHOTO FROM READING FC WEBSITE
Deanne Rose
She crossed almost the entire field with a ball. She followed up with a one-two in the box with her teammate Emma Harries, before scoring the only goal of the match in the 3e minute. The Canadian Deanne Rose gave her team, Reading FC, a surprise against Chelsea in the English Women’s Super League (WSL).
Chelsea, coached by Emma Hayes, one of the great technicians of her time, is the defending champion of the women’s championship. The London club, which also field the Canadian Jessie Fleming, had won seven straight WSL victories. He has just suffered his first defeat since the first game of the season. It is also a first victory for Reading against Chelsea in its history.
Fleming’s Blues point at 2e rank, 4 lengths from Arsenal with 13 games to go. Reading, at 8e rank, is in good shape: it’s a 4e victory in 5 games for the city to the west of London. He still has a lot of work to do before he hopes to qualify for the Champions League, however. Only the first three teams in the standings go there.
In addition, another compatriot will soon be added to the large contingent of Canadian players playing on the other side of the Atlantic. Gabrielle Carle has reached an agreement with Swedish club Kristianstads DFF for a one-year contract.
PHOTO PHILIPPE BOIVIN, PRESS ARCHIVES
Gabrielle Carle
The Lévisienne will therefore be part of the Champions League in 2022, her new club having finished in 3e rank of the Swedish Premier League in 2021.
Carle won gold with Canada at the Tokyo Olympics, in addition to walking away with the NCAA varsity title with the Florida State Seminoles.
She decided not to make herself available for the NWSL draft, the highest level of women’s soccer in the United States. His goal was to join a team “where his role would be important from the start,” according to a statement from his agency Obelisk.
THE GOAL
Did Bamba Dieng know that Dimitri Payet, his team’s top scorer, was just behind him loading his shot, before attempting his perilous chisel? We’ll never know.
Dieng thus scored his fourth goal of the season – and his best, it goes without saying – for Marseille, who took a 1-0 lead against Strasbourg. OM came away from this trip to the north-east of France with a 2-0 victory. This result allowed him to regain second place in Ligue 1 with 32 points, 1 unit from Rennes.
PSG largely leads the French championship with 45 points.