Real Madrid Beats Villarreal 4-1 to Take Spanish League Lead 

Real Madrid's Luka Modric (C) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the 4-1 goal during the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal CF, in Madrid, Spain, 17 December 2023. (EPA)
Real Madrid's Luka Modric (C) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the 4-1 goal during the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal CF, in Madrid, Spain, 17 December 2023. (EPA)
TT
20

Real Madrid Beats Villarreal 4-1 to Take Spanish League Lead 

Real Madrid's Luka Modric (C) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the 4-1 goal during the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal CF, in Madrid, Spain, 17 December 2023. (EPA)
Real Madrid's Luka Modric (C) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the 4-1 goal during the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal CF, in Madrid, Spain, 17 December 2023. (EPA)

Real Madrid lead the Spanish league after beating Villarreal 4-1 but lost defender David Alaba with a serious knee injury on Sunday.

Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Brahim Díaz and Luka Modric scored for Madrid, which moved one point ahead of Girona ahead of the Catalan club's home game against Alaves on Monday.

Madrid is seven points ahead of third-place Barcelona. The defending champion drew 1-1 at Valencia on Saturday.

“It's always good to open a gap to Barcelona,” Rodrygo said. “But seven points is not a lot, there is still a lot of league left. We have to keep this mindset and keep trying to win every match.”

Alaba had to be helped off the field at the Santiago Bernabeu before halftime when his left knee buckled while he tried to steal the ball from an opponent near midfield. The Austria defender fell and immediately called for help while grabbing his knee. He couldn't put weight on his left leg while being carried off the field in the 34th minute.

Madrid said after the match that Alaba ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament and will need to undergo surgery in the next few days. The club did not immediately say how long he is expected to be sidelined.

“He was sad at halftime,” Rodrygo said. “We have to wait for the tests but it's something that worries us.”

It was the latest serious knee injury for Madrid this season. The club is already without goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and defender Éder Militão because of cruciate ligament injuries that are expected to keep them out of action for a long period. Eduardo Camavinga and Arda Guler also sustained knee injuries.

“We are very sad because it's the third injury like this in the last four months. It's something that had never happened to one of my teams before,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “But the team has been able to overcome these injuries. It has done more than people thought it could do.”

Bellingham and Rodrygo continued their good scoring runs to give Madrid a 2-0 first-half lead. Bellingham scored his league-leading 13th goal with a header off a cross by Modric in the 25th, and Rodrygo added to the lead in the 37th for his fifth goal in his last six games. Bellingham has seven goals in his last nine matches with the club.

Díaz scored the third goal after a beautiful run that started near the midfield line in the 64th. He cleared two defenders before finding the net from inside the area. Modric closed the scoring with another shot from inside the box in the 68th.

José Luis Morales scored in the 54th for Villarreal, which hasn't won in three straight league matches and has dropped to 14th place.

Villarreal has nine losses in 17 league matches so far, its worst run at this point of a season.

Villarreal had been the last team to beat Madrid in the league at the Bernabeu, winning 3-2 last season. That was Madrid's only loss in its last 31 league matches as a host. It lost both of its league matches against Villarreal last season.

Díaz started instead of Joselu, while Lucas Vazquez was the right back in place of the injured Dani Carvajal.

Thrilling draw

Sixth-place Real Sociedad had three goals disallowed and twice hit the woodwork in a 0-0 home draw against seventh-place Real Betis.

It was the ninth consecutive match without a loss for Sociedad in all competitions, and the third straight league draw for Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis.

Elsewhere, Cadiz’s winless run in the league reached 13 matches after a 1-1 draw at Las Palmas.

Cadiz, which equalized with a goal by Chris Ramos in the 83rd, stayed only one point from the relegation zone. Las Palmas, which was seeking its fourth win in a row in all competitions, is in ninth place.

Almeria drew 0-0 with Mallorca at home to remain the only winless team after 17 rounds.

The club has five draws and 12 losses. It is eight points behind the first team outside the relegation zone.

Mallorca, unbeaten in five straight games in all competitions, is in 15th place.



F1 on Jeddah’s Streets - Talking Points Ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP

 McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

F1 on Jeddah’s Streets - Talking Points Ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP

 McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks through the paddock ahead of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)

This weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the final leg of the first "triple header" of the season.

From Suzuka in Japan, to the desert of Bahrain, Formula One now pitches up on the shores of the Red Sea in Jeddah.

AFP Sport looks at five talking points ahead of the fifth round of the 24-race season:

Advantage McLaren

Oscar Piastri put in a faultless display from pole last Sunday in Sakhir to make it three wins out of four for the British marque.

That moved the cool as ice Australian to within three points of championship leader and teammate Lando Norris, who took third in Bahrain.

With Max Verstappen, only sixth, and Red Bull struggling to keep tabs on the world constructors' champions, the 2025 title could well develop into a battle between the two McLaren men.

The team has always been insistent on "papaya rules", theoretically meaning no favoritism between the pair, but that even-handed policy will be put under intense pressure if the season develops into a battle between the two gifted drivers.

Looking ahead to Sunday's race Norris commented: "It's a really fast track and we have a quick car, so we'll be aiming to finish this triple-header strongly."

Red Bull to bounce back?

Red Bull's problems in Bahrain were well documented, and they will be desperate to bounce back on one of their favorite hunting grounds, with Max Verstappen winning in Jeddah in 2022 and 2024.

"Bahrain was quite a difficult weekend for us and didn't really go our way at all. We had some issues that set us back and we still have a lot of work to do on the car to get us where we need to be," said the four-time champion.

He slipped to third in the standings, eight points behind Norris, after trailing in over half a minute behind Piastri in Sakhir.

"We have a final push with this being the third race and final weekend of the triple header so hopefully we can find more pace and bring out a performance similar to Japan (his only win of the season)," he added.

The circuit

Sunday's race presents a radically different test for car and driver than last week in Bahrain. The fastest street circuit on the calendar offers multiple chances for overtaking, in stark contrast to the most famous street circuit of them all, Monaco.

With a record 27 corners and three DRS (drag reduction system) zones it can be counted on to serve up plenty of drama, with the walled sides leaving little room for error.

All the ingredients then for a thrilling race under floodlights on Jeddah's Corniche.

Golf in the Gulf for Gasly

Alpine finally got off the ground in Bahrain, with Pierre Gasly picking up their first points of the season in seventh.

"It's great to leave Bahrain with points on the board after three challenging races at the start of the season," reflected the French driver.

He celebrated his bold show by following Rory McIlroy's emotional Masters triumph at Augusta.

"I really enjoyed staying up late to watch the end of the Masters and I'm delighted for Rory McIlroy, one of our investors, to finally secure the green jacket. Congratulations to him!"

Toto praise for Russell

George Russell will be hoping to concentrate on the job he's paid to do -- driving -- rather than as a part-time electrician. The Briton, enjoying his best ever start to a season, took second last Sunday despite a myriad of issues he had to contend with in the cockpit in the closing stages.

"It was a superb drive from him under extreme pressure," marveled Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.

Russell's teammate Kimi Antonelli did not enjoy the rub of the green and finished out of the points for the first time in his debut season.

"It has been easy to forget that Kimi is in the very earliest stages of his F1 career given his performances so far. Bahrain will prove an important milestone in his continued development," Wolff remarked.