Daily News Channel
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his fourth goal in as many La Liga outings as Spanish champions Barcelona matched their best start to season since 1997-98 with a 4-1 trouncing of Racing Santander, but the summer signing also suffered an injury blow.
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his sensational scoring form as Real Madrid again flattered to deceive before overwhelming bottom club Xerez 5-0 to take top spot in Spain. Ronaldo netted two more goals, the first after only 45 seconds, to maintain his record of having scored in every game for his new club following his world-record $130 million transfer from Manchester United
Argentina star Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona thrashed Atletico Madrid 5-2 in the Camp Nou to maintain their perfect start to the Spanish league season. Messi celebrated his lucrative contract extension at Barca, sealed on Friday, with a superb display against a flagging Atletico who have made a poor start to the season.
Last season’s losing finalists Manchester United opened their Champions League campaign with a 1-0 win away to Besiktas, while Wolfsburg beat CSKA Moscow 3-1 in Tuesday night’s other Group B clash. United made the daunting trip to Istanbul without England defender Rio Ferdinand, who is believed to have a groin problem following his comeback last weekend, and started with only one striker in Wayne Rooney
Barcelona and Real Madrid made it two wins from two in Spain as star signings Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo both scored for a second successive match for their new clubs. Champions Barcelona won 2-0 at Getafe with second-half goals from forwards Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi, while Real crushed Espanyol 3-0 in their trip to the Catalan capital thanks to strikes from Granero, Guti and substitute Ronaldo.
Rio de Janeiro’s chances of becoming the first South American city to host the Olympics received a boost when the IOC published its evaluation of the four contenders for the 2016 Games on Wednesday. Rio is competing with Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo for the right to stage the 2016 Summer Olympics, with the final decision being made in Copenhagen on October 2.
The closure of the transfer window in the Britain marks the end of the close- season trading, with clubs all over the continent tying up last-minute deals to ensure their teams have fresh talent for the coming campaign. Weeks of wrangling over contracts and transfer fees need to be brought to a close by 1600 GMT today, to fall within the allocated time for swaps to occur. The close season has already seen the world record transfer fee for a footballer smashed after Real Madrid paid $130 million to Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo
European champions Barcelona began the defense of the Spanish Primera Liga title with a 3-0 demolition of Sporting Gijon in the Camp Nou on Monday night. Barca were missing Lionel Messi, who is on international duty with Argentina, and injured key midfielder Andres Iniesta, but it made little difference against the visitors, who narrowly avoided relegation last season.
World-record signing Cristiano Ronaldo scored on his debut as Real Madrid kicked off the Spanish football season with a shaky 3-2 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday night.
Holders Barcelona will face Inter Milan, pitting Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic against their former clubs, after the draw for the Champions League group stage was made in Monaco on Thursday.