Carlo Ancelotti emerged with a sense of personal satisfaction after Karim Benzema's two late goals secured a 3-1 win for Real Madrid at Espanyol.
The head coach saw his substitutes come good in the closing stages of the game to pave the way for Benzema's heroics.
Regarded as a humble man, this time Ancelotti was happy to take credit for the decisions that saw him shuffle his Madrid pack in the second half of a hard-fought contest.
He brought off Luka Modric and Federico Valverde in the 58th minute, introducing Eduardo Camavinga and Rodrygo, before replacing Toni Kroos with Dani Ceballos.
Camavinga brought fresh vibrancy to the Madrid midfield, Rodrygo set up Benzema's first goal in the 88th minute, and Ceballos was fouled for the free-kick that led to a red card and Benzema's late clincher.
That final goal of the game came 10 minutes into stoppage time, after a marathon delay for the VAR to resolve the moment when home goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte clattered Ceballos. Lecomte was sent off and home captain Leandro Cabrera, a defender, took over in goal, Benzema taking advantage by firing home from the set-piece.
"We won the game because of that energy. That of Camavinga, Rodrygo or Ceballos," Ancelotti said. "The game was slow and we changed it. Each game has its own story."
He said it was impossible to know how the game would have flowed had he fielded his substitutes from the start, allowing the likes of Modric and Kroos to come on and change the game in the second half.
"Sometimes team selection is a gamble and today I think the Real Madrid coach has gambled well."
The veteran Italian coach said Madrid had started brightly, as was exemplified by the sharp movement that brought about Vinicius Junior's early goal.
Former Madrid reserve striker Joselu equalised with his seventh goal in nine LaLiga matches against Los Blancos, before Benzema's double provided the late twist.
Three days after picking up the UEFA men's player of the year award, Benzema showed why he is earning such accolades at this stage of his career. He turns 35 in December but shows no sign of slowing down.
Benzema has scored 28 goals for Madrid in 2022 across all competitions, the joint highest of all players from Europe's top five leagues. It puts him alongside Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe, who snubbed a move to Madrid in favour of signing a new PSG deal in May.
In all, Benzema had eight shots, the highest of any player in a single game during the opening weeks of the LaLiga season.
The late show poured salt on Espanyol wounds, with the team from Barcelona having now failed to win in their last 10 league games, going back to last season.
Kroos told Movistar: "It's to be expected that we suffer against a great rival, also away from home. We controlled the game until their goal. We suffered a bit in the second half, but in the last 30 minutes we regained control.
"They looked tired and we took advantage of that. Winning away is not easy and we have done it three times in a row."
Madrid's first three league assignments have indeed come away from the Santiago Bernabeu, while work is carried out on the stadium, and wins over Almeria, Celta Vigo and now Espanyol have made it an ideal start.
Madrid sit top of the table but are joined on nine points by Real Betis, the team they host next Saturday.
Kroos says Madrid are braced for a busy run of games, as the Champions League group stage begins.
He said: "Every three to four days we are going to play against difficult opponents and there are always times when we are going to have to suffer."
Luis Enrique does not expect PSG-Lyon league game to have a bearing on cup final
Paris St Germain head coach Luis Enrique believes his side’s Ligue 1 meeting against Lyon this weekend will have no bearing on next month’s Coupe de France final.
PSG host Lyon at the Parc de Princes in the league on Sunday and the two sides will clash again in the cup final on May 25 in Lille.
Enrique’s believes this meeting will be a good test for his side, fresh from their Champions League quarter-final success in midweek, but does not see it as a dress rehearsal for next month.
He told a press conference: “Tomorrow’s game will be completely different to the final in the Coupe de France based on the importance.
“But as a game that comes above others, given the context, it is a really good test for us to see how we are doing against the best team in Lyon.
“They have put in the best results and they have got to the final, so that shows they are working very hard and it will be a real test for us, but I don’t know if there will be any similarities between tomorrow’s game and the final. Finals are different.”
PSG go into Sunday’s clash 10 points clear of Brest at the top of the Ligue 1 table while Lyon sit in seventh and are aiming to clinch a European spot.
Only six league matches remain for the Parisians, who are on track for a 12th league title, but Enrique is in no rush to wrap up first place so they can focus on the Champions League and the cup.
He said: “There is no urgency of any sort. The aim is the same as always, which is to win the league sooner or later.
“But what matters is being competitive in any match and representing this club in the best way and we want to be competitive whether we win it sooner or later because with the competitions that we are in we need to be competitive in every game, whether we win Ligue 1 in two or three weeks.”
Having already clinched the French Super Cup in January, PSG remain on course for four trophies after their midweek European success.
They completed a 6-4 aggregate success against Barcelona on Tuesday to reach the last four of the Champions League and Enrique praised the impact of all of his players.
“In order to be able to compete for every trophy as I have said, you need a really big squad of at least 23 players,” he added.
“That is what we need here and as the season has progressed we have seen the importance of those players. As for who is important in the last month and a half we have seen the players need to be ready and work hard when we need them.
“I think the team is continuing to progress and I am happy to see the players’ attitude in training.”
Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy goals secure vital Leicester win over West Brom
Leicester returned to the top of the Championship with a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion and two more victories from their remaining three games would secure promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Enzo Maresca’s side could go up on Tuesday if they beat Southampton at the King Power Stadium.
Jamie Vardy’s 15th league goal of the season effectively sealed the victory and made up for him missing a penalty in the first half.
Leicester took the lead through Wilfred Ndidi in the 22nd minute after Albion had dominated the early stages and missed a string of chances to take the lead.
West Brom manager Carlos Corberan will wonder how his side managed to squander so many oppportunities to score, and their second successive defeat means their play-off place is by no means certain.
They did eventually find the net through their captain, Jed Wallace, with 14 minutes left, but could not force an equaliser.
Leicester’s win owes much to central midfielder Hamza Choudhury who made three goal-line clearances – two of them coming within seconds of one another.
But with both teams recording a combined total of almost 30 shots, the game was partly a tale of the opportunities that were squandered.
West Brom could have had the match won inside the first 20 minutes. With Maresca’s team playing out from the back, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall passed the ball straight to Okay Yukuslu, but he put his hurried shot over the bar.
Mikey Johnston was then involved on three occasions, seeing an effort cleared off the line after 14 minutes. He then had a shot saved by Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen before putting another chance over the bar.
Leicester made Albion pay for their wastefulness in front of goal by taking the lead. Stephy Mavididi pulled the ball back for defender Wout Faes who crossed for Vardy. His header was kept out by Albion goalkeeper Alex Palmer but Ndidi converted the rebound from close range.
Maresca’s side looked set to take a two-goal advantage into the break. Vardy ran on to a long ball from Hermansen a minute before half-time and was pushed over by West Brom defender Conor Townsend in the 18 yard box. Vardy had scored four penalties from four this season, but he hit the post from his fifth spot kick of the campaign.
Choudhury then cleared off the line twice in the space of a few seconds after 51 minutes. First, he blocked a shot from Yann M’Vila and then denied Grady Diangana. The drama continued as, from the resulting corner, Kyle Bartley headed against the bar with Diangana unable to get the vital touch from close range.
Again, Albion were punished for missing their chances as Vardy increased Leicester’s lead after 65 minutes. Choudhury found Abdul Fatawu on the right and his cross was met by Vardy who headed in from close range.
West Brom finally found the net when defender Cedric Kipre’s inch-perfect pass found Wallace who slid the ball past Hermansen.
Chelsea stun Barcelona to take first-leg lead back to Stamford Bridge
Erin Cuthbert gave Chelsea a priceless first-leg lead in their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona after inflicting a first home defeat for five years on the holders.
Cuthbert’s 40th-minute strike was enough to secure a 1-0 win at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys – Barca’s first defeat of the season – on an afternoon when the Blues produced a superb defensive display to deny the free-scoring defending champions a single shot on target.
Things might have been different, however, had referee Stephanie Frappart not been advised to review her decision to award the hosts a second-half penalty for handball to leave Emma Hayes and her players with something to defend at Stamford Bridge next Saturday.
Jess Carter and Kadeisha Buchanan had to be resilient at the heart of the Blues defence early on, although it took a well-timed intervention by Ingrid Engen to prevent Johanna Rytting Kaneryd from making the most of Cuthbert’s 10th-minute ball over the top.
Carter had to be in the right place at the right time to block Salma Paralluelo’s 16th-minute shot after a pacy break by Aitana Bonmati and Buchanan was equally alert to deny the same player after she had burst clear six minutes later.
The visitors were growing into the game with Mayra Ramirez making in-roads down the left and they got their reward five minutes before the break when Sjoeke Nusken held the ball up and then squared for Cuthbert, whose shot looped up off Engel and over keeper Catalina Coll.
But they looked to be in trouble seconds later when the referee awarded a penalty against Buchanan after she had blocked Patri Guijarro’s goal-bound effort with her arm, only for a lengthy VAR review, which showed that Paralluelo had been offside in the build-up, to come to their rescue.
Paralluelo volleyed horribly wide after being picked out at the far post by Caroline Graham Hansen and substitute Alexia Putellas missed the target with salvation beckoning with the final kick of the game.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
