Joao Felix sinks parent club Atletico Madrid as Barcelona move third

By Sports Desk December 03, 2023

Joao Felix undid his parent club as a first-half finish from the Portugal international earned Barcelona a 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium.

Felix lifted the ball over goalkeeper Jan Oblak in deft fashion in the 28th minute as Xavi’s men replaced Atletico in third in the LaLiga table, with a four-point gap to leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Girona

Sevilla were held 1-1 at home by Villarreal, Hector Bellerin was shown a red card in the 27th minute of Real Betis’ goalless draw at Almeria, and Mallorca and Alaves also drew a blank.

Kylian Mbappe inspired 10-man Paris St Germain to a 2-0 victory over Le Havre to send them four points clear of Nice at the top of Ligue 1.

PSG found themselves down to 10 men after just 10 minutes when goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was sent off for a high challenge on Josue Casimir.

The visitors went in front in the 23rd minute through Mbappe and while the hosts did their best to find an equaliser, Vitinha scored against the run of play in the 89th minute to seal three points.

Goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier saved two penalties as Lille claimed a 2-0 win at home to Metz. The 22-year-old denied Simon Elisor before two goals in first-half stoppage time from Yusuf Yazici and Jonathan David put Lille in control.

More heroics from Chevalier 10 minutes into the second half to keep out Lamine Camara’s penalty helped preserve victory for the home side.

Third-placed Monaco are two points behind Nice following a 2-0 win over 10-man Montpellier, who saw Boubakar Kouyate sent off in the second half, while Brest beat Clermont 3-0 and Toulouse played out a 1-1 draw with Lorient.

Both sides were reduced to 10 as Marseille beat Rennes 2-0 at home, Christopher Wooh being dismissed for the visitors just past the hour mark and Iliman Ndiaye going soon after.

Marseille’s goals came via an early Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty and Azzedine Ounahi effort between the red cards.

Inter Milan moved back above Juventus to the top of Serie A with a 3-0 win at defending champions Napoli, with Hakan Calhanoglu, Nicolo Barella and Marcus Thuram on the scoresheet.

Rasmus Kristensen scored the winner for Roma as they came from behind to beat Sassuolo 2-1.

Matheus Henrique fired in a first-half opener for Sassuolo, but it all came undone after the break when Daniel Boloca was dismissed and Paulo Dybala scored from the spot, before Kristensen fired home a second.

A Lucas Beltran spot-kick and further goals from Riccardo Sottil and Giacomo Bonaventura earned Fiorentina a 3-0 victory over Salernitana, while Udinese and Verona drew 3-3.

Bologna looked poised for victory at Lecce but had to settle for a point after Roberto Piccoli’s penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time cancelled out Charalampos Lykogiannis’ 68th-minute opener.

In the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund were on course to leapfrog fourth-placed Leipzig with a vital victory at leaders Bayer Leverkusen after Julian Ryerson fired the visitors ahead after five minutes, but Victor Boniface salvaged a point when he levelled late in the second half.

Elsewhere, Augsburg beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 and Freiburg won 1-0 at Mainz.

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    Kylian Mbappe has confirmed that he will leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season.

    Mbappe, who joined PSG on a permanent deal from Monaco in 2018 after spending a season on loan, has made 305 appearances for the club, scoring 255 goals, 42 of which came in European competition.

    The 25-year-old helped them win Ligue 1 six times, including this season, three Coupe de France titles and two Coupe de la Ligue trophies.

    Mbappe, who is out of contract this year, will not be staying at the Parc des Princes at the end of the season, with reports suggesting he could join Real Madrid.

    In a message posted on his social media channels, Mbappe said: "I've always said that I would speak with you when the time comes, and so I wanted to announce to you all that it's my last year at Paris Saint-Germain.

    "I will not extend, and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks.

    "I will play my last game at the Parc des Princes on Sunday."

    "It's a lot of emotions, many years where I had the chance and the great honour to be a member of the biggest French club, one of the best in the world, which allowed me to arrive here, to have my first experience in a club with a lot of pressure, to grow as a player by being alongside some of the best in history, to meet a lot of people and to grow as a man with all the glory and the mistakes I've made.

    "I want to thank the teammates, all of the teammates that I had. All the coaches, Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Christophe Galtier and Luis Enrique.

    "It's hard, it's hard and I never thought it would be this difficult, to announce that to leave my country, France, the Ligue 1, a championship I have always known, but I think I needed this, a new challenge after seven years. 

    "It's difficult and, of course, there are some people, I want to thank above all these are the fans. I know I am not the most demonstrative player. I haven't always lived up to the love you all gave me for the seven years, but I never wanted to cheat. I have always wanted to be effective. 

    "PSG is a club that never leaves anyone indifferent. We can love it or hate it. I made the choice of loving it and I did it for seven years, with ups and downs, of course, but I do not regret any moment, signing with this prestigious club.

    "It's a club that I will keep in memory my entire life. I will tell everybody my whole life, that I had the chance to play here. I won't be a player anymore, but I will continue to watch every game, of course, because it's a club that I will always be interested in, and I will always closely follow up its news.

    "It was me with my qualities and defects, but I tried to give the best version of myself during those seven years. But beforehand I want to say thank you because without you all I would not have experienced half of the emotions I felt. And just for that, I am grateful for life. 

  • Chelsea sacking would not be the end of the world - Pochettino Chelsea sacking would not be the end of the world - Pochettino

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    The Blues have lost just one of their last 12 matches in the Premier League, and they thrashed West Ham 5-0 in their last game to make it four home wins on the bounce.

    Chelsea now sit in seventh place with a place in Europe next season within their reach, but rumours continue to spread that Pochettino’s future at the club is not safe.

    Pochettino stressed that he wants to be involved in the conversations about the club’s plans at the end of the season, which is when a decision will be made.

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    "If we split it’s not a problem, it will not be the end of the world."

    At the other end of the table, Nottingham Forest boosted their survival hopes with a 3-1 win over already-relegated Sheffield United last Saturday to move three points clear of the drop.

    With Forest still not safe with two games to go, Nuno Espirito Santo admitted this was his toughest season as a manager so far.

    "It’s been hard but I’m repeating myself. Since day one we embraced the challenge," said Nuno.

    "There were a lot of things we were not expecting, but we dealt with them in the proper moment and in the right way. With the right attitude and working together, we can overcome the obstacles, and we have had a lot."

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood

    Wood has scored more goals than any other Nottingham Forest player in the Premier League this season (12). However, in 11 meetings with Chelsea in the competition, he has never found the back of the net, something he will want to change at the weekend.

    Chelsea – Cole Palmer

    Palmer has been involved in 30 Premier League goals this season, scoring 21 and assisting nine.

    The last Chelsea player to be involved in more was Eden Hazard in 2018-19 (31 – 16G 15A), while 2009-10 was the last time a Blues player scored more in a league campaign (Didier Drogba 29, Frank Lampard 22).

    MATCH PREDICTION: CHELSEA WIN

    Chelsea have lost just one of their last 12 Premier League games (W6 D5), though they are winless in their last five away from home (D4 L1).

    The Blues have won just two of their last 10 away league games against Forest (D4 L4), winning 1-0 in November 1994 and 3-1 in February 1999.

    Following their 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge in September, Forest are looking to complete their first league double over Chelsea since 1978-79, when they were reigning top-flight champions under Brian Clough.

    Indeed, Forest have only lost their final home league match in one of their six previous Premier League campaigns (W4 D1), doing so against Sheffield United in 1992-93 with a 2-0 defeat that confirmed their relegation.

    Chelsea’s Premier League games have seen 129 goals this season (F70 A59), the third most after Sheffield United (135) and Newcastle (134). Only in 2009-10 (135) have the Blues' games produced more goals (F103 A32).

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    Nottingham Forest – 25.5%

    Draw – 27.6%

    Chelsea – 46.9%

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    That result also stretched their unbeaten run this season to 49 matches across all competitions, surpassing Benfica's long-standing European record of 48, set between 1963 and 1965.

    "A special action at the end of a special season. Bayer 04 are offering fans, until the end of the season, the opportunity to choose one of many Bayer 04 tattoos for free," the club said in a statement.

    "Book your appointment now to eternalise this unique season on your skin."

    Having sealed their first ever Bundesliga title, Leverkusen are also through to the DFB-Pokal final.

    They will face second-tier Kaiserslautern in that showpiece game on May 25, three days after they take on Atalanta in the Europa League final.

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