Gerard Moreno grabbed a last-minute winner to earn Villarreal a vital 2-1 win at Girona in La Liga and boost their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. The Yellow Submarine, fifth, moved two points behind Real Sociedad, fourth, who were facing newly-crowned champions Barcelona late last night.
Yeremy Pino opened the scoring for the visitors after being teed up by Nicolas Jackson at Montilivi but David Lopez pegged Villarreal back. Jackson also set up Moreno’s late strike with a sprint down the left and an inviting cross for the forward to gleefully slam home. The 31-year-old Spain international, brought on as a substitute, has struggled for form and fitness after injury. “We want (Real Sociedad) to lose, I hope they lose, it’s what we want, so we’ll watch the game,” said Jackson.
‘I’m staying at Real until 2024’: Ancelotti dismisses
Brazil interest
Carlo Ancelotti ended any doubt about his immediate future yesterday by saying he will honour the last year of his contract with Real Madrid amid interest from Brazil. Brazilian FA (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues said in March that Ancelotti would be an obvious choice to fill the vacant national managerial position if he was available at the end of the European season. After Real Madrid’s humiliating 4-0 defeat by Manchester City in their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday, speculation grew that his job was under threat with Real also failing to win the La Liga title as bitter rivals Barcelona clinched it with four games to spare “Everyone knows really well what my situation is: I have contract until the end of the 2024 season and I want to stay,” Ancelotti told a news conference, clearly annoyed when asked about the Brazil interest yet again. When a reporter asked if the club had assured him that he was staying, Ancelotti replied with an emphatic: “Yes!”
Real, however, have not made an official statement about Ancelotti’s future. President Florentino Perez gave a vague answer when asked about Ancelotti following Real’s 2-1 victory in the Copa del Rey final. Italian Ancelotti has experienced Perez’s short temper when he was sacked in 2015, one year after guiding Real to their long-awaited 10th European Cup title.
“It could have been a better season, but it was a good one,” Ancelotti said when asked how he would assess the 2022-23 campaign. “Of course, we are not satisfied with La Liga, but we fought to the end in the other competitions... and won three of them.”
Ancelotti was referring to the Spanish Cup, FIFA club World Cup and the European Super Cup victories.