Barcelona's 3rd home loss leaves Real Madrid grinning

Madrid, April 25

With an unprecedented third straight home defeat, Barcelona are unintentionally clearing the way for Real Madrid to clinch the Spanish league title.

Barcelona lost 1-0 to Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, marking the first time it lost three in a row at home in all competitions in the same season, and leaving leaders Madrid just a point away from winning their second league title in three seasons.

Madrid will have their first chance of winning the trophy Saturday when they host Espanyol. They are 15 points ahead of second-placed Barcelona with five rounds to go. The Catalan club has the better head-to-head tiebreaker. Fans at the Camp Nou stadium booed the team after the final whistle.

“We have been struggling at home,” Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets said. “We’ve been conceding goals early and then it becomes difficult to recover. We are in a bad dynamic right now.”

AC Milan going strong

Rome: If AC Milan wins its first Serie A title in 11 years this season — and that’s looking more and more like a distinct possibility — its last-gasp comeback victory at Lazio might go down as one of the keys to success.

Sandro Tonali scored in stoppage time as Milan came back from a goal down for a 2-1 win that restored the Rossoneri’s position atop the Italian league table. — AP

City need to forget history when facing Real, says Guardiola

Manchester: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says his team, who face Real Madrid in their Champions League semifinal, first-leg on Tuesday, need to put aside the different European pedigrees of the two clubs and draw on their collective strength. Real have won Europe’s top trophy a record 13 times while City remain in search of their first Champions League title after losing in the final to Chelsea last year. “If we have to compete with their history, we don’t have a chance,” Guardiola said. “We have the desire to compete against them. For us playing against them is an incredible test and we want to try it. …try to do as best as possible.” Reuters