Cristiano Ronaldo has been banned for five matches after pushing referee Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea during Real Madrid’s 3-1 Spanish Super Cup first-leg win at Barcelona on Sunday.
Ronaldo’s 24 minutes as a substitute at the Camp Nou saw him score a superb goal, pick up a booking for removing his shirt during the celebration, and then quickly receive a second yellow after De Burgos Bengoetxea ruled the Portugal captain had dived to try to win a penalty.
Ronaldo reacted to being sent off by pushing De Burgos Bengoetxea. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) banned Ronaldo for one match for drawing the red card, and the other four for pushing the official.
That was just one major talking point on a night which also saw Gerard Pique’s own goal put Madrid ahead, Lionel Messi equalise with a controversial penalty won by Luis Suarez and Marco Asensio score a screamer to put his side fully in control ahead of Wednesday’s second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ronaldo has also been fined €3,805 for his actions, while Madrid was fined €1,750.
Ronaldo is set to miss the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona as well as Madrid’s four opening La Liga games against Deportivo La Coruna, Valencia, Levante and Real Sociedad.
His next domestic appearance will come at home to Real Betis in La Liga in the midweek round of fixtures of Sept. 20, though he will be eligible to play in Real Madrid’s Champions League group stage opener a week before and the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy friendly against Fiorentina on Aug. 23.
The RFEF says Madrid have 10 days to lodge an appeal with its appeals committee, while adding in its report that the club attempted to get the offence downgraded from a push to a minor “disregard” for the referee.
The official match report sent to the RFEF from the Camp Nou included Ronaldo’s push in the “other incidents” section.
“Cristiano Ronaldo Dos Santos Aveiro — having been shown the red card, the player pushed me slightly in a sign of his disagreement,” the Basque official wrote.
The RFEF’s disciplinary code appears clear that the punishment for such behaviour, even if only “slightly violent,” is an extra suspension of four to 12 games.
“Pulling, pushing or shaking, or a general attitude towards the match officials which, even if only slightly violent, without confirming an aggressive attitude on their part, will be punished with a suspension of four to 12 games,” says the code’s article 96.
At the postmatch news conference, Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said the second yellow was “a bit too much” and hoped Ronaldo could still be cleared to play in Wednesday’s Spanish Super Cup second leg.
Madrid captain Sergio Ramos told Telecinco after the final whistle that he believed Ronaldo had not dived, and therefore the club would be able to appeal the decision.
“I was far away,” Ramos said. “But I believe Cristiano lost his balance and did not fake anything. We can appeal as it leaves us without a very important player, with 10 minutes left. [The referee] should have thought about it a bit more.”
Ramos also said that De Burgos Bengoetxea had erred in earlier awarding a penalty when Suarez fell to the ground dramatically, having been challenged inside the box by Madrid keeper Keylor Navas.
“There is a lot of tension in these type of games,” he said. “For me it was not a penalty. I don’t believe the referee blew the whistle if he did not see anything, he must have seen it clearly. But for me there was nothing.
Madrid left-back Marcelo told the club’s official website that the red card was “bizarre” while acknowledging that referees make mistakes.
“Cristiano being sent off was bizarre, but sometimes that can happen,” the Brazil international said. “Referees can make mistakes, along with the things they get right.”
Ex-Madrid full-back Alvaro Arbeloa, now popular among fans and pundits for his regular defence of his former club, tweeted after Ronaldo’s sending off: “They are laughing in our face. Lamentable.”
“Not even with 12!” Arbeloa added on the final whistle, in reference to Madrid still managing to come out on top.
The celebration in front of the Park End and the look on Wayne Rooney ’s face said it all. Passion, emotion, elation.
Wayne Rooney Scoring on the stroke of half-time – in the same goal where it all started 15 years ago, with that spectacular strike against Arsenal – meant so much. It truly mattered.
After Stoke had been beaten 1-0, there was almost a relief in the Everton striker’s words, and most certainly a quiet conviction that he has begun the process of proving himself to the Goodison supporters.
That may sound crazy.
This is Manchester United’s all-time top scorer, England’s record goal-scorer and, quite possibly, the greatest player of the Premier League era
Yet the team he supported as a kid, the blue shirt he dreamed one day of wearing, means so much to him there is trepidation and self-induced pressure.
“There is a lot of expectation, coming back here. There are some fans who maybe thought I wasn’t good enough to come back here. But it is up to me to prove myself,” he said.
“I have been working hard and I am ready for that challenge to prove myself. I could have gone to another Premier League team and taken my foot off the gas and seen the last few years out. But coming back here? I have got to be the best I can be.
“It is the club I grew up supporting, it’s the club I want to play for. I want to do well. I knew when I came back, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. That is how I like to play.”
That motivation was so evident in a performance that Stoke boss Mark Hughes said was written in the stars.
Even before his wonderful, arching header on the stroke of half time sent this famous old stadium into raptures, Rooney was the hosts’ most influential player, his passing range and sheer experience lifting a subdued team.
Blues manager Ronald Koeman said: “We did not sign Wayne because he will score 25 goals a season. No, he will bring experience, a winning mentality and cleverness to the team. That is the main reason we signed Wayne.
“He is an intelligent player and has experience when the team needs patience. When the team needs a fall, he is going down.
“When it’s Idrissa Gueye or Tom Davies, they try to always stand and win the battle. That is down to the cleverness of the player. With Wayne, it was every time the right choice and the right decision that he made on the pitch. That is quality, that is experience and that was really important today.”
It was Rooney’s wise head that saw Everton through a late Potters rally, when Peter Crouch’s entry from the bench changed the dynamic of the contest, and asked real questions of the home defence.
And in those dying moments, the same sceptical fans who wondered if it was a sentimental signing, suddenly saw its logic.
Chairman Bill Kenwright said emotionally afterwards: “I’ve waited 13 years for that… it was glorious.”
The player himself knows he can bring something important to this young Everton side, even if it is not the same qualities they saw all those years ago.
“Everyone knows I’m not the explosive player who was here when I was 16 to 18. My game has changed,” Rooney added. “But I’m a lot cleverer than I was back then. My game has changed and they will see that in the next few weeks.”
Jonjo Shelvey has admitted he is seeing a psychologist in a bid to curb the anger which is threatening to blight his career.
The 25-year-old Newcastle midfielder, who served a five-match ban last season for allegedly racially abusing Wolves counterpart Romain Saiss, was sent off on his return to the Premier League on Sunday after stamping on Tottenham’s Dele Alli.
Shelvey, who was also dismissed at Nottingham Forest last season for kicking out at Henri Lansbury only to have the red card rescinded later, apologised to his team-mates after the game as television pundits and fans queued up to condemn his behaviour.
Speaking in an interview conducted on Friday, but not published until Monday, he told the Daily Mail: “Look, sometimes I just need to rein it in on the football pitch. I need to just shut up and stuff. I need to not get involved and walk away.
“I started to see a psychologist last year to work on the mental side of things. It was after the Forest game. I was sent off. I had kicked out at this lad and it was just childish.
“When people wind me up, I should just laugh. I do need to get that out of me. Sometimes you can’t help it.
“I started to work with this fella and after that, there wasn’t really an incident when I did that. I started to learn to keep my head down and just get on with the game. But it’s an ongoing process and I am still working with him.
“Sometimes I can lose my head and it can’t keep happening.”
However, Shelvey did just that four minutes into the second half of Sunday’s game and referee Andre Marriner sent him off, in the process ending any chance of a positive result for the promoted side.
Goals from Alli and Ben Davies eventually secured victory for Spurs to leave manager Rafael Benitez bemoaning his captain’s indiscipline.
Keeper Rob Elliot revealed Shelvey, who now faces a three-match ban, cut a disconsolate figure in the dressing room afterwards, but admitted he needed to channel his passion if he is to make the most of his career.
Elliot told NUFC TV: “He was down, he was dejected. He knows he’s messed up and he held his hands up.
“It doesn’t make it right, but that’s Jonjo. He’s come a long way since he’s been here – the training regime he does on and off the pitch, he’s working, he’s working on things and he’s a great lad.
“He cares, he’s passionate and sometimes that boils over, and he’s got to learn to deal with that because he could honestly play for any team he wants to and we are very fortunate we have got him here.
“But also on the same side, we have got to make sure we help him to be the best player he can be and take us up the league and to do that, we need him on the pitch.
“Hopefully this is a good learning curve for him, we can get him back out there and he can push on and help us get up the league.”
Tottenham striker Harry Kane might have suffered a similar fate, in Elliot’s opinion, for a challenge on Florian Lejeune which left the defender on crutches but cost him only a yellow card.
The Republic of Ireland international said: “In today’s game, I don’t understand why that’s not a red card. Poor Flo, I don’t know how bad it is, but he’s in a bad way.
“No excuses for Jonjo, he knows he’s got to hold his hands up and he will, but I was a bit disappointed with the tackle on Flo. I didn’t think it was a very good tackle, if I’m honest.
Roger Federer will consider his fitness before continuing his pursuit of history and a return to world number one at the Cincinnati Masters this week. The 19-time grand slam champion could become the oldest man ever to sit atop of the ATP standings if he wins the latest Masters 1000 event of the season but his run to the final of the Rogers Cup has potentially jeopardised his plans.
Defeat to Alexander Zverev in Montreal denied Federer the chance to go above Rafael Nadal and gives the Spaniard the upper-hand in the race to replace Andy Murray at the summit of men’s tennis. Federer must reach the semi-finals to stand any chance of denying the 10-time French Open champion a return to number one, with anything less ensuring Nadal goes back to the top for the first time in three years
Neither player has any points to defend this week and with last year’s beaten finalist Murray having withdrawn due to an ongoing hip problem, either one of Federer or Nadal will be the new number one heading into the US Open when the rankings are recalculated next week. But after his two-set loss to Zverev, Federer admits the physical after-affects from playing five matches in as many days could thwart his campaign again.
“I’ll travel to Cincinnati, then take a decision in the next couple of days and see how I feel after five days of playing, if I’m ready to play in Cincy next week or not,” he told reporters.
“You know, felt all right all week. Had a bit of muscle pain, aches and pains here and there, just because it’s back on the match courts, on the hard courts. After vacation and practice, it’s always a bit of a shock for the body. We’ll have to wait and see now how I feel in the next couple of days.”
Both Federer and Nadal have first round byes in Cincinnati. Nadal is the top seed and could face either Richard Gasquet and John Patrick-Smith in the last 32 while Federer’s opening opponent will come from Diego Schwartzman and Karen Khachanov’s opening round clash.
Should Federer play his second round match then he will go ahead of Murray in the rankings, ensuring that he starts his US Open campaign at Flushing Meadows inside the top two in the world again. New York could yet be the scene of Federer’s 20th major title, and third of the year, a feat the 36-year-old feels would be “insane”.
“Oh, it would be totally incredible,” the five-time previous winner added. “From right now on till the US Open, I got to think what’s my best opportunity to feel well there. There’s going to be a ball change, as well, which creates a lot of different plays, if you like.
“I’ve never played in the new stadium as such because I missed last year’s edition. Yeah, like I said, next couple days are important for me to take the decision on Cincinnati.
“Then looking ahead to the US Open, obviously I want to be in the best possible shape. Winning my third of the year, my 20th Grand Slam, would be completely insane. I just hope I’m going to be 100% ready when the moment arises.”
Real Madrid will appeal Cristiano Ronaldo’s second yellow card for diving in the Spanish Super Cup first leg at Barcelona, coach Zinedine Zidane said after the Portuguese showed the best and worst side of his game in Real’s 3-1 win
Cristiano Ronaldo spent 24 minutes on the pitch after not starting the game at the Nou Camp but still had the biggest impact.
The 32-year-old, who was given a hostile reception by Barca fans as he warmed up before replacing Karim Benzema, hit back moments after Lionel Messi’s equaliser with a brilliant strike into the top corner to put Real 2-1 up in the 80th minute.
The Portuguese threw off his shirt after scoring and provocatively held it up to the crowd and was booked.
Two minutes later he was sent off for trying to win a penalty in a challenge from Samuel Umtiti, angrily pushing referee Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea before leaving the pitch.
We played a great game but I am annoyed by Cristiano’s sending off,” Zidane told a news conference.
“Perhaps it wasn’t a penalty but the red card is a little harsh. We can’t change it, but we’ll try and make sure he plays on Wednesday.”
Madrid captain Sergio Ramos also leapt to Ronaldo’s defence.
“I think he was caught off balance and he didn’t dive,” said the defender. “We should try and appeal it. It should be analysed a little more.”
Marco Asensio scored Real’s third with a stunning long range goal in the 90th minute, giving Madrid a healthy advantage as they seek to win a fourth trophy in four months and earn their first Super Cup since 2012.
“We fought with 10 players, we believed until the end but it’s only one game, we have the second leg up next,” added Zidane.
Barca coach Ernesto Valverde said his side had not deserved to lose 3-1.
“I don’t have the sensation we were as far away from them as the scoreline suggests,” he said. “They scored three times, but we played well and had our chances.
“They caught us on the counterattack when it was 1-1 and scored a great goal, and then another one. But it’s not just about getting into the danger zone, it’s about putting your chances away.”
Muhammad Ali ‘s life is to be turned into a knockout stage musical.
The Greatest is to be honoured by producer David Sonenberg with the show based on the legendary documentary When We Were Kings, which told the story of Ali against George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974.
The former world heavyweight champion of the world died in 2016 from Parkinson’s disease, aged 74, and Sonenberg is eager to pay tribute to the great man“We can’t wait to be doing it. We have no clue who will play Muhammad but it’s going to be great
He told The Sun the musical would be based on his Oscar-winning documentary When We Were Kings.
He said: “We can’t wait to be doing it. We have no clue who will play Muhammad but it’s going to be great.”
Heavweight champ Ali died in June 2016 aged 74 after a 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.
When We Were Kings tells of his 1974 Rumble in the Jungle bout with George Foreman.
A theatre source said: “The popularity of the film will no doubt get audiences down to the theatre.”
The popularity of the film will no doubt get audiences down to the theatre.”
Ali became an icon for not only his achievements in the ring, but his political beliefs, particularly his stand against fighting for the United States in Vietnam war.
The decision would cost him his boxing license for almost four years, but seal his legacy as a man of the people, with the musical set to spread his story yet further.
Barcelona have agreed a deal with Guangzhou Evergrande to sign midfielder Paulinho for €40million (£36million), the Spanish club announced on Monday.
Philippe Coutinho has been left out of the Liverpool squad that will travel to Germany on Monday ahead of their Champions League play-off first leg against Hoffenheim, with the midfielder’s future growing increasingly uncertain by the day.
Chelsea striker, Diego Costa says the club is treating him like a criminal, demanding he trains with the reserves and to stay away from the first team dressing room.
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