The Athletic Bilbao forward is not a prolific scorer but, against Sevilla, his incredible sprint and finish astonished San Mamés When the ball came to Iñaki Williams and he spun, turning it sharply around Sergi Gómez and into the centre circle, a single thought and word occurred to everyone inside San Mamés, Iñaki included: Run! And so he ran. He ran like no one they’d ever seen run before: faster and faster until somehow, eight seconds later and 70 metres away, he was standing before them roaring, and Athletic were 2-0 up with five minutes left, Sevilla beaten. All around they went wild, as breathless as he was. Related: 'All guilty': Marseille fans spell out their anger at players, coach...
There may not be many more Seville derbies for Joaquín Sánchez, but even at 37 he managed to settle the latest oneAt the end of the final training session before the Seville derby, coach and captain sat on the bench together at the Benito Villamarín, surrounded by empty green seats. The following night 53,451 people would fill Real Betis’s stadium with noise but for now it was quiet. “So,” Quique Setién asked, “what do you think? How do you feel?” Joaquín Sánchez looked at him and said he didn’t know; still not quite right. He knew better than anyone that this was the game – nobody’s played more of them – but a calf injury meant he was yet to...
The derby, one of the few matches of the penultimate weekend with anything riding on it, didn’t disappoint Betis’s bus made its way through a cloud of green smoke, while Sevilla’s passed the police cordon down the last, short stretch of empty street, turning off palm tree avenue to the Benito Villamarín. It was momentarily quiet outside, just a few stall holders in the sunshine, but inside the bus was different. On the right, a window had been smashed – not there, but four kilometres away, where a Sevilla fan had waved his team off over-enthusiastically – and sitting alongside it was the manager Joaquín Caparrós, exposed and in his element. Someone had put the club anthem on and he...
Sevilla had been agonisingly close to beating Barcelona but substitute Lionel Messi came on after an hour to score an equaliser in the dying minutesIt took FC Barcelona 358 days to lose their record and 54 seconds to get it back again. Saturday night, week 30 in La Liga and Sevilla were 2-0 up at the Sánchez Pizjuán, but it could have been three, four or five. They had overrun their opponents and although they were exhausted they didn’t have long to hang on now. On the touchline, the fourth official was fiddling with the board; high above him, the scoreboard crept beyond 87 minutes, and there would only be two more added. Alongside the time were two names: goalscorers...
Uefa’s president wants to improve competitive balance but the top clubs’ financial dominance equates to power too, and it is unlikely his mooted measures will make a significant differenceFor football people raised on the foundational European Cup feats of Manchester United’s home-schooled Busby Babes and Celtic’s 1967 triumph with a team of local lads, the modern Champions League is a mixed blessing. Over the last 23 years the tournament has constructed a glittering stage for Lionel Messi and the world’s greatest players but European football’s concentration of wealth is delivering the final rounds and trophy itself to the same few richest clubs. Related: Chelsea given painful reminder of declining European status by Barcelona | Dominic Fifield The measures Ceferin has...