RED-HOT ROBERT Lewandowski and Pablo Torre struck twice each as Barcelona hammered Sevilla 5-1 on Sunday to stay three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga ahead of next weekend’s Clasico.
Los Blancos beat Celta Vigo on Saturday to pull level with Hansi Flick’s side but Barca swiftly restored their advantage with a dominant display of attacking football.
Veteran striker Lewandowski reached 12 goals in 10 La Liga matches, his strikes sandwiching Pedri’s effort from the edge of the box, before substitute Torre added the fourth.
Stanis Idumbo grabbed a consolation for Sevilla in the final stages but Francisco Garcia Pimienta’s side were roundly beaten on his return to the club he spent nearly three decades with in various roles.
Earlier, Alexander Sorloth’s double helped Atletico Madrid come from behind to beat Leganes 3-1.
Diego Simeone’s team struggled against the minnows from the south of Madrid but after Yvan Neyou blasted the visitors ahead Sorloth levelled with a fine finish and Antoine Griezmann slid home the second.
Norwegian target man Sorloth wrapped up the victory late in stoppage time with a poacher’s finish.
Victory took Atletico third, seven points behind Barcelona.
In Italy, Lautaro Martinez made sure that Inter Milan kept pace with Serie A leaders Napoli by netting the Italian champions’ only goal in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Roma.
Argentina striker Martinez lashed home his fourth goal of the season in all competitions on the hour mark to give Inter a hard-fought win at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Inter remain two points behind Napoli, 1-0 winners at Empoli, as Italy’s top four of Napoli, Inter, Juventus and AC Milan all won this weekend, with a huge match against Juventus at the San Siro coming up in a week’s time.
Finally in France, Marseille got back to winning ways in style with a 5-0 thumping of Montpellier on Sunday to move within three points of Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
A fast start to the season had raised hopes of Marseille challenging for a first title since 2010 under Roberto De Zerbi before they dropped off with a defeat by Strasbourg and draw with Angers.
But OM were at their best at bottom club Montpellier, cutting the gap to PSG and Monaco who are separated by goal difference at the top of the table.
Good read and best of luck to the U20’s for the World Cup.
Ulster steeped to get three young players where the sky is the limit. Best of luck to them all. Wishing them an injury free career. I for one expect to get many years enjoyment watching them.
@Ben Breathnach: young and ambitious.
@Ben Breathnach: Well said. Wonder if Murphy Jnr will be living with his mates and sending his washing home in his old fella’s car after training?!
Are we getting an article on the URC final at all this week ? Or are we just rolling on to the next article printed being the start of next season for our domestic comp?
@Stuart: how do you rate the URC, compared with super rugby?
@Stuart: Yea, it’s a little bit like season over eh. Gonna be a great game, see the Bulls edging it but Glasgow have a nice defence, don’t think they’ll be bullied like either of the Irish were
@brian o’leary: super rugby back in the 00′s was probably better than Champions cup rugby tbh . Some great sides back in those days ..momentum has shifted north. The kiwi sides are still very good and would compete well in the north..difficult to say. maybe its on par with the URC. Top 14 looks the strongest in the world . URC is certainly stronger now than it ever was and growing every year..
@Thesaltyurchin: think it will be a great game ..honestly after last week’s performance if the bulls can put in a shift like that again, can’t see them losing this.They are however up against a decent Scottish pack with a good system Think Willie LR roux is out so big question around tactics. Fancy the bulls to win comfortably if the same drive as last week
@Stuart: Like last week travel and altitude will take its toll on Glasgow. I think that will show in the second half as it did last week. For me this game should be on Sunday to allow the visiting finalists an extra day to acclimatise to the altitude and recover from the travelling.
Is the world cup on virgin media again like last year
@Gary Galligan: on Irish rugby.ie : The World Rugby U-20 Championship will be available to watch everywhere on the planet, either through local broadcast partners in South Africa (Supersport), France (L’Équipe TV), New Zealand (Sky NZ), and Fiji (Fiji Broadcasting Corporation), or via RugbyPass TV which will broadcast all of the matches for free in markets without exclusive deals.
@Gary Galligan: i checked tv listing for 29th june cant see it on irish tv anywhere mayby youtube
Does Humphfreys pay attention to Connacht in the slightest way?
As a foreigner, I cannot look at it at all.
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And I admire Glasgow who was defeated by Connacht in the regular season using allmost best 15. Maybe they did excelent hard-working as possible they could.