Page 19 - Sport Globe, December 5-11, 2012

20 SportGlobe December 5-11, 2012
Email: sportglobe2005@yahoo.com
La Liga Source: sportinglife.com
LA LIGA STANDINGS
MATCHES (DEC 8-10)
Fri 30/11/12
Osasuna 1-0 Rayo Vallecano
Sat 1/12/12
Getafe 1-0 Málaga
Valencia 2-5 Real Sociedad
Barcelona 5-1 Athletic Club
Real Madrid 2-0 Atlético Madrid
Sun 2/12/12
Granada 0-0 Espanyol
Deportivo La C 2-3 Real Betis
Celta de Vigo 1-1 Levante
Mallorca 1-1 Real Zaragoza
Mon 3/12/12
Sevilla 1-2 Real Valladolid
RESULTS (NOV 30-DEC 3)
Sat 8/12/12
Real Sociedad 10:00 a.m. Getafe
Málaga 12:00 noonGranada
Real Valladolid 2:00 p.m. Real Madrid
Osasuna 4:00 p.m. Valencia
Sun 9/12/12
Levante 6:00 a.m. Mallorca
Athletic Club 11:00 a.m. Celta de Vigo
Atlético Madrid 1:00 p.m. Deportivo La C
Real Betis 3:00 p.m. Barcelona
Mon 10/12/12
Rayo Vallecano 3:00 p.m. Real Zaragoza
Team MP W D L F A D P
1 Barcelona 14 13 1 0 48 16 +32 40
2 Atlético Madrid 14 11 1 2 29 13 +16 34
3 Real Madrid 14 9 2 3 34 10 +24 29
4 Real Betis 14 8 1 5 23 24 -1 25
5 Getafe 14 7 1 6 17 19 -2 22
6 Málaga 14 6 4 4 19 10 +9 22
7 Real Valladolid 14 6 3 5 20 15 +5 21
8 Levante 14 6 3 5 16 21 -5 21
9 Real Sociedad 14 6 2 6 21 18 +3 20
10 Rayo Vallecano 14 6 1 7 18 30 -12 19
11 Valencia 14 5 3 6 18 23 -5 18
12 Sevilla 14 5 3 6 19 20 -1 18
13 Real Zaragoza 14 5 1 8 16 23 -7 16
14 Celta de Vigo 14 4 3 7 16 19 -3 15
15 Athletic Club 14 4 3 7 19 32 -13 15
16 Osasuna 14 3 4 7 12 15 -3 13
17 Mallorca 14 3 4 7 14 23 -9 13
18 Granada 14 3 3 8 11 20 -9 12
19 Deportivo La C 14 2 5 7 21 31 -10 11
20 Espanyol 14 2 4 8 13 22 -9 10
B razilian defender
Adriano has
expressed his
delight at his form which
has see him score five
goals so far this season,
the latest coming in
Saturday night’s 5-1
demolition of
Athletic Bilbao at
the Nou Camp.
Two goals in
three minutes,
from Gerard
Pique and a
deflected Lionel
Messi effort,
midway through
the opening 45
minutes put
Barca firmly in
the ascendancy
and Adriano added
a superb third in
first-half stoppage
time.
Cesc Fabregas
notched a neat fourth
soon after the break
and, after Ibai Gomez
had pulled a goal back with
Athletic’s first noteworthy attack of
the match, Messi rounded things off
with a brilliant fifth goal.
Adriano is now ranked the
fourth highest scorer at the
c lub f o l l owing a win whi ch
consolidated their place at the
top of La Liga.
Adriano told the club website:
“I’m very happy to be able to
score goals for the team.
“I have never scored so
many goals at this point of the season.”
Adriano revealed the victory was built on the
team adapting the right approach to the game.
“We were very serious from the start, the first
half was fantastic.
“We prefer to play against teams
that want to play their football (like
Athletic) , it makes you more
focused and it forces to play at
your best.”
Fol lowing his return from
injury, Adriano played in mid-
week in the 3-1 Copa del Rey
win against Alaves and was
then named by coach Tito
Vilanova to start against the
Basque club.
“I had to work hard in order
to recover in time for this
game. I managed to do it and
the manager thought it was a
good idea for me to play.”
Mauricio Pellegrino has
been sacked as coach of
Valencia, the club have
confirmed on their Twitter feed.
Pellegrino only took up the
reins in May, but Los Che, cur-
rently 11th in the Primera
Division standings but just four
points off a Champions League
place, decided to dispense with
his services after the 5-2 defeat
against Real Sociedad at the
Mestalla.
“We have been exchanging
views, and we made the decision
to dismiss Mauricio Pellegrino,”
president Manuel Llorente said.
The defeat followed a humiliat-
ing 4-0 loss at Malaga and,
although they have qualified for
the knockout stages of the
Champions League, this reverse
was one too many to take.
No permanent replacement
has been named, but former
player Salvador Gonzalez,
known as Voro, who has been
part of the set-up at the club
since 2008, will take temporary
charge.
“For the time being, there is
not a (permanent) replacement,”
sporting director Braulio
Vazquez said on the club’s web-
site. “Voro will take charge of the
team at this time and I believe
that is an important decision.
“What is important is to suc-
ceed, regardless of the back-
ground of the coach.”
He added: “If you look at the
future of the team, you can
understand that in this game
we have not been good, but the
progression of the team was
not right.”
AP
FC Barcelona’s Adriano
reacts after scoring against
Athletic Bilbao during a
Spanish La Liga soccer
match a at the Camp
Nou stadium in
Barcelona, Spain,
Saturday,
December 1.
Adriano
pleased
with
form R eal Madrid assistant
coach Aitor Karanka
praised the character of
the team after the 2-0 derby win
over Atletico.
Real ensured Atletico’s run
without a win in the Madrid
derby will stretch into its 14th
year with a comfortable victory
at the Bernabeu.
A wonderful free-kick from
Cristiano Ronaldo lit up what
was an otherwise disappoint-
ing f i rst hal f before Mesut
Ozil secured all three points
with a tidy finish 25 minutes
from time.
Despite the defeat, second-
placed Atletico remained ahead
of their neighbours in the stand-
ings but sl ipped six points
behind Barcelona with Real a
further five points behind.
But Karanka believed Real
had dominated the game and
were not troubled by their
neighbours.
He told the Real website: “We
control led the match more
because we scored first to make
it 1-0. We didn’t have too many
problems at the back and they
didn’t create chances.
“At half-time we talked about
playing the same way and the
team started off in much the
same vein, by creating chances.
It was a hard-fought game, but
we were in control at all times.”
Real rule
Madrid derby
AP
Atletico de Madrid’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois of Belgium fails to stop a shot
by Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, not seen, during a Spanish La
Liga match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Saturday, December 1.
Valencia boot Pellegrino