Real Madrid Drops to 2nd Place in League after Being Held by Rayo Vallecano at Home 

 Real Madrid's French midfielder #12 Eduardo Camavinga vies with Rayo Vallecano's Spanish forward #07 Isi Palazon during the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and Rayo Vallecano de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on November 5, 2023. (AFP)
Real Madrid's French midfielder #12 Eduardo Camavinga vies with Rayo Vallecano's Spanish forward #07 Isi Palazon during the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and Rayo Vallecano de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on November 5, 2023. (AFP)
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Real Madrid Drops to 2nd Place in League after Being Held by Rayo Vallecano at Home 

 Real Madrid's French midfielder #12 Eduardo Camavinga vies with Rayo Vallecano's Spanish forward #07 Isi Palazon during the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and Rayo Vallecano de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on November 5, 2023. (AFP)
Real Madrid's French midfielder #12 Eduardo Camavinga vies with Rayo Vallecano's Spanish forward #07 Isi Palazon during the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and Rayo Vallecano de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on November 5, 2023. (AFP)

Jude Bellingham couldn't come through this time and Real Madrid was held by Rayo Vallecano in their Madrid derby on Sunday to drop to second place in the Spanish league.

The 0-0 draw ended Madrid’s perfect record at home and kept it from joining Girona at the top of the standings after 12 rounds.

Girona had moved three points clear with a 4-2 win at Osasuna on Saturday. Madrid would have taken the lead on goal difference by beating Rayo.

Madrid controlled most of the match but couldn’t capitalize on its scoring opportunities, with both Bellingham and Vinícius Júnior unable to break through the Rayo defense.

Vinícius had a goal disallowed for offside in the 66th. Bellingham had a few good chances but wasn't able to find the target.

Bellingham has participated in more than half of the goals by Madrid this season and arrived with 13 goals in his first 13 matches since joining the Spanish powerhouse from Borussia Dortmund this season. In the four games Bellingham failed to score for Madrid this season, the club won only one — against Real Sociedad in September.

“We are upset with the result, but not with how we played,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “Sometimes you win a match that you don't deserve to win and sometimes you don't win a match that you deserve to win. We are still doing well in the standings. We are still in the fight. There's no drama."

Madrid had won 11 straight against Rayo at home in the league. The Madrid clubs had not drawn in their last 21 league matches, with 19 wins for Madrid and only two for Rayo.

The result extended Rayo’s unbeaten run in the league to an unprecedented eight games, with two wins and six draws. The club from southern Madrid had no attempts on target throughout the match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

It was the sixth clean sheet for Madrid in the league this season. Its only loss was at Atletico Madrid in the other city derby.

Barcelona, which won 1-0 at Real Sociedad on Saturday, remained in third place, two points behind Madrid. Rayo was ninth.

Williams brothers thrive

Brothers Iñaki and Nico Williams led Athletic Bilbao to a 3-2 win at Villarreal.

Nico set up a goal by Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta two minutes into the match and scored the second in the 22nd. His older brother Iñaki added to the team's first-half lead in the 30th which proved enough to end a two-game winless run in the league.

The Basque Country club moved to fifth place, four points behind fourth-place Atletico Madrid, which lost 2-1 at Las Palmas on Friday.

Villarreal, sitting 13th, had ended its five-game winless streak in the league with a win over Granada in the previous round. The hosts threatened to grab a point Sunday through goals from Gerard Moreno in the 86th and Alexander Sorloth in the 87th.

Valencia edges Granada

Eighth-place Valencia beat Granada 1-0 with a penalty kick converted by Pepelu seven minutes into first-half injury time at Mestalla Stadium.

Granada, which stayed in second-to-last place, loudly complained about the penalty after Valencia forward Hugo Duro was apparently touched in the face by Granada defender Raúl Torrente.

It was the third straight league loss for Granada, which hasn't won in nine consecutive league matches.

Almeria still winless

Almeria's search for its first win of the season will continue after a 1-0 loss at Alaves.

The last-place Almeria is the only team without a win after 12 matches, with three draws and nine losses.

Alaves defender Aleksander Sedlar scored Alaves' winner in the 79th, and a couple of minutes later had to leave the field on a stretcher because of an apparent knee injury.

Alaves, which is 14th, hadn't won in seven consecutive league matches.



Merino Last-Gasp Goal Sends Spain to Euro 2024 Semis after Dramatic Extra-Time Win over Germany

 Spain's Mikel Merino (6) scores his side's second goal during a quarter final match between Germany and Spain at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP)
Spain's Mikel Merino (6) scores his side's second goal during a quarter final match between Germany and Spain at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP)
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Merino Last-Gasp Goal Sends Spain to Euro 2024 Semis after Dramatic Extra-Time Win over Germany

 Spain's Mikel Merino (6) scores his side's second goal during a quarter final match between Germany and Spain at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP)
Spain's Mikel Merino (6) scores his side's second goal during a quarter final match between Germany and Spain at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP)

Spain and its fans celebrated as if they’d won the European Championship. After eliminating tournament host Germany in a thrilling quarterfinal, Spain has a great chance to lift the trophy in Berlin next week.

Spain snatched a 2-1 win in extra time on Friday thanks to substitute Mikel Merino's header in the 119th minute.

Extra time only came after Florian Wirtz’s equalizer in the last minute of regulation.

Dani Olmo, who set up Merino’s winner, netted the opener early in the second half.

"It was the game we expected," Merino said, "because we were facing one of the best teams in the world. This could have been a final, and it sure played out that way. This was a game between elite teams, a constant back and forth, and we showed that we have a great team."

Spain defender Dani Carvajal was sent off late in extra time for a second yellow card and will be suspended from Tuesday’s semifinal against Portugal or France. Fellow defender Robin le Normand will also miss that match after picking up another booking.

Germany players walked over to their fans morosely as coach Julian Nagelsmann looked on with his hands on hips and his face etched with disappointment.

"We were so close, that’s what makes it so bitter," Germany midfielder Toni Kroos said after the final match of his distinguished career. The 2014 World Cup winner earlier announced he was retiring when Germany's campaign ended.

"To be honest, right now the main feeling is that the tournament is over, because we all had a big goal that we wanted to achieve together," he said. "And this dream we all had has been simply shattered now."

The quarterfinal pitted the Euros' only three-time champions, the teams who have played the best soccer at Euro 2024, and it didn't disappoint.

There was a blistering pace from the start with crunching tackles and end-to-end action.

Kroos was lucky not to be booked for a mistimed challenge that upended Spain midfielder Pedri. Pedri suffered another hefty challenge moments later and left the field injured and in tears. He was replaced by Olmo in the eighth minute, the fastest replacement in Euros history.

From the resulting free kick, Lamine Yamal almost became the youngest ever goal-scorer at the tournament but the 16-year-old’s effort flashed past the right post.

Yamal did have a hand in the opener as he cut inside from the right and rolled the ball across for Olmo to hit it first time into the bottom left corner.

It was Yamal’s third assist of the tournament, the most by a teenager at a Euros.

Substitute Nico Füllkrug hit the post in a late desperate onslaught by Germany, which was rewarded just in the nick of time.

Joshua Kimmich nodded Maximilian Mittelstädt’s cross back to Wirtz, whose effort went in off the far post.

The teams had more chances to win in extra time before Merino leapt high to head in Olmo's cross and send the Spanish fans behind the goal into a frenzy.

"I am exhausted but so proud to see how we fought until the very end," Olmo said. "We hope that Pedri only has a knock because he is so important for the team. This is for him and for the entire team."