Barcelona snatched an unlikely victory after Ronald Araujo headed home the only goal of the game in the third minute of stoppage time at Real Sociedad.
The defending LaLiga champions had captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen to thank after the German goalkeeper made several crucial saves to keep an energetic Sociedad side at bay.
Xavi’s side struggled to muster any genuine openings until the final embers of the match and cruelly took all three points when Araujo planted a power header through the legs of goalkeeper Alex Remiro, which was initially ruled offside, with virtually the last attack to seal the 1-0 victory.
The hosts made a rapid start when Ander Barrenetxea forced ter Stegen into a fine diving save inside the first minute.
Aihen Munoz was next to try his luck and should have done better, while Mikel Merino glanced a free header wide during a frentic opening three minutes.
La Real continued their momentum as Barcelona struggled to get into the match and Takefusa Kubo found himself with a great chance to break the deadlock, but ter Stegen denied the Japan international’s fierce far-post effort.
Mikel Oyarzabal should have done better when he latched on to a slack back pass from Barca defender Jules Kounde, but the Sociedad captain poked his effort wide when one-on-one with ter Stegen.
Sociedad ensured play was deep in Barca’s half and piled on the pressure further through a series of corners around the half-hour mark, which created more opportunities to opening the scoring.
Martin Zubimendi juggled the half-clearance from a Kubo corner before sending in a low cross. His centre was deflected to ter Stegen, but he spilled the ball and Oyarzabal was fastest to react as he stabbed an effort goalwards, only to be denied by the goalkeeper for another corner.
As half-time approached, Barcelona appealed for two penalties, firstly when Robert Lewandowski went down under a challenge before Joao Felix jinked past Zubeldia, where there was substantial contact, but referee Javier Alberola Rojas and VAR decided it was not worthy of a spot-kick.
In the 66th minute, the home side appealed for a penalty when Oyarzabal was felled in the area but to no avail, before Sociedad tested the visitors’ goal once more.
A long throw was half-cleared by the Barcelona defence, which fell in the direct of Barrenetxea on the edge of the box to fire a brilliant volley which was pushed wide by ter Stegen.
From the following corner, Kubo then raced around Gavi to get to the byline inside the area, but his cutback was cleared by a retreating Pedri.
Substitute Raphinha fired a 25-yard free-kick just over for the away team before they produced one of their best moves of the match, with a flowing counter-attack resulting in Ferran Torres picking up the ball on the edge of the area, but he blazed way over.
Barcelona almost snatched victory when another break led Pedri to patiently lay off to Gavi inside the area, but his effort was expertly saved by Remiro.
Araujo initially looked in anguish as he headed home Ilkay Gundogan’s teasing cross after the assistant flagged him offside. However, following a VAR check, the Uruguayan defender had timed his run to perfection to be Xavi’s unlikely match-winner.
Montreal boss Courtois encouraged by progress, but still envies Messi and Miami
CF Montreal coach Laurent Courtois has been delighted by the way his players have adapted to his methods this season, though he joked he would still swap any of them for Lionel Messi ahead of Saturday's clash with Inter Miami.
Montreal sit 11th in the Eastern Conference standings with 12 points from their first 10 league games under Courtois, 12 adrift of early pacesetters Miami.
However, plenty of outside factors have impacted their start to the season, not least the fact they have played eight of their matches – including each of their first six – on the road.
Courtois is proud of the way his players have learned on the job, though he still believes there is more to come from them.
"I keep telling them that I have no in-between. I'm either going to be your biggest fan, or really tough and really demanding. Because we don't have time to play. We don't have time to lose," he said.
"At the same time, I'm such a fan of what they've been doing, accepting the stuff that I've been asking them to do, while being on the road for three months.
"I think they want to play soccer in the right way. I have a few codes that I think can be helpful.
"We need together to come up with common ground to execute in this way. They're still far from what I think they can do."
However, Courtois does see one area for improvement ahead of Saturday's clash with the Herons, quipping: "I wouldn't change any of my players for any others – except Messi."
Miami trounced the New York Red Bulls 6-2 last week, with Messi scoring once and laying on five assists in an incredible performance.
That display left coach Gerardo Martino in disbelief, as he said: "I always say this, and it's redundant at this point, but he always does something new.
"To have an involvement in all six goals of a team's goals in a 6-2 is something that will be difficult to see again."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
CF Montreal – Jonathan Sirois
Last week's 4-1 defeat at Nashville SC was the seventh time Montreal have conceded four or more goals in a regular-season MLS game since the start of 2023, more than any other team.
Only two MLS goalkeepers have faced more shots than Sirois (55) in 2024, though he has conceded 2.1 goals fewer than Opta's expected goals on target (xGoT) model suggests he should have. He will need a big performance against Messi and company.
Inter Miami – Lionel Messi
Messi has 10 goals and 12 assists in eight league matches this season. No player in MLS history had reached 10 goals and 10 assists in fewer than 16 appearances in a season before.
The Argentine has also reached 25 goal contributions in 14 MLS matches overall, seven fewer than any other player in MLS history required to bring up that figure.
MATCH PREDICTION – CF MONTREAL WIN
Montreal have won six of their nine all-time meetings with Miami (one draw, two defeats), including a 3-2 victory over the Herons on March 10.
Only New York City FC (2.22) and the Chicago Fire (2.17) average more points per match against Miami than Montreal (2.11) among teams the Herons have faced five or more times.
While Montreal are winless in their last three league games, the last two of those were played on the road.
On home soil, they are a different proposition, going unbeaten through their last six games (two wins, four draws), including a win and a draw in their first two home matches of 2024. They have only lost three of their last 17 regular-season home games dating back to last April (10 wins, four draws).
Miami, despite their star quality, have been vulnerable this campaign, trailing in nine MLS games – a joint-high alongside the San Jose Earthquakes. They cannot keep relying on rescue acts.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
CF Montreal – 47.2%
Inter Miami – 25.7%
Draw – 27.1%
Olympiacos 2-0 Aston Villa (6-2 agg): Villans fall in last four as El Kaabi strikes again
Olympiacos will face Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final after an Ayoub El Kaabi double secured a 6-2 aggregate win over Aston Villa.
After a stunning 4-2 win at Villa Park last weekend to take the ascendancy in the semi-final tie, first-leg hat-trick hero El Kaabi struck early before netting again late on to stamp out any hopes of a Villa comeback.
After a strong start from the visitors, El Kaabi scored his fourth goal of the tie just 10 minutes into Thursday's second leg at Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki, getting on the end of Quini's low cross to turn home at the far post.
It looked an uphill battle for Villa, who dominated the possession throughout the contest in Greece but struggled to make a dent in the stubborn hosts.
Douglas Luiz saw a long-range effort saved by Kostas Tzolakis while the Olympiacos goalkeeper also denied Moussa Diaby. El Kaabi made sure late on, getting on the end of a long ball to fire past Martinez and secure Olympiacos' final berth.
The fairytale comeback never materialised for Villa, and it will be Olympiacos who take on Fiorentina at the Agia Sophia Stadium in the Greek capital of Athens on May 29, looking to utilise familiar surroundings to claim their first major European trophy.
Data debrief
El Kaabi was the hero again for Olympiacos as his two second-leg finishes took him to 10 Europa Conference League goals for the campaign, more than any other player, while his 13 strikes in major European competitions are also more than any other player when factoring in his three Europa League goals.
Villa had 73.9 per cent of the ball in the second leg, yet their 1.14 xG (expected goals) was still inferior to Olympiacos' 1.23 as the Greek Super League side's ruthlessness clinched their spot in the final.
Charlotte FC v Nashville: Smith looking to grow 'belief' following Montreal triumph
Gary Smith believes his Nashville side's thumping of CF Montreal last weekend is a step in the right direction as they look to build their "belief".
The 4-1 victory over Montreal, which saw striker Sam Surridge net a hat-trick, ended a run of five games without a win and moved Nashville up to 12th in the Eastern Conference.
As Nashville look to push further up the table when they travel to Charlotte FC this weekend, Smith is looking for his players to build on the Montreal performance.
"[The Montreal victory was] the first step in a long journey for us to get back to some rhythm, some success, put ourselves back in a position where there’s some belief here again that we can get results," Smith told reporters.
"We've seen we can score goals. I think that belief that we can win games again, this is the first step on that road.”
Charlotte also tasted victory last time out, beating the Portland Timbers 2-0 at home to leave them sixth in the East.
Midfielder Ashley Westwood hopes he and his team-mates can carry on the momentum from that triumph, saying: "It was a complete performance.
"During the game it felt comfortable. We felt like were in control with the ball and without the ball. We need to push on from that now."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Charlotte FC – Nikola Petkovic
Petkovic scored his first goal of the season against Portland, becoming one of 10 different players to score a goal for Charlotte this term, the most of any MLS team. Having netted his first of the campaign, he will be hungry for more this weekend.
Nashville – Hany Mukhtar
Mukhtar has scored four goals in four career regular season matches against Charlotte FC, one of five opponents he's scored at least four times against in his MLS career. Though Surridge got the plaudits last time out, Mukhtar may be the main goal threat against a side he seems to have success against.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
Charlotte have lost only two of their last 24 home matches in all competitions since March last season (13 wins, nine draws). Every MLS team besides Charlotte and the Columbus Crew (one loss) have at least four home losses in that time.
Nashville's 4-1 win over Montreal was just the club’s second win since the beginning of March in all competitions. Nashville's only other win in that time was a victory over Charlotte on March 16.
Charlotte won their first meeting with Nashville, a 4-1 home victory in July 2022. However, Nashville are unbeaten in the three meetings since, and though they are on the road, they may have enough to earn a point this weekend.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Charlotte: 38.1%
Nashville: 32.2%
Draw: 29.7%
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