All-Spanish Euro final still on the Situs Judi QQ cards

Football doctor Jose Gonzalez told AS that soft tissue injuries are often not detected by X-Rays until two or three days after they occur and that team doctors in general are used by clubs retroactively, instead of being involved to help plan training.

To add to Carlo Ancelotti’s headaches, right-back Marcelo misses the return leg through suspension having been booked at the Manzanares.

Chicharito should get his chance in place of Benzema up front, but Real’s midfield needs reshuffling, with Illarra, Isco, Sami Khedira and Pepe in the mix as replacements.

The onus will fall on James, Toni Kroos and Cristiano Ronaldo to carry the hopes of the home crowd.

Barcelona had no trouble scoring three away goals at the Parc des Princes to probably guarantee their progress to the semi-finals in a 3-1 victory over PSG.

A more open and less pressurized game than the Situs Judi QQ Madrid derby allowed the Catalans plenty of space to weave their magic and PSG to attack too.

Neymar finished a zig-zagging attack diagonally in the 18th minute and Suarez then grabbed a brace of top-drawer finishes. For his first he showed his strangth in holding off defenders and the second was an outside of the boot curler into the top corner. For both goals he nutmegged David Luiz, who had gone back to his clumsy World Cup showings for Brazil.

Edinson Cavani drew a great diving stage from Marc-Andre Ter Stegen before Jeremy Mathieu deflected a late PSG shot into his net to give the French a glimmer of hope, though Barca will go through as long as they don’t lose by three at the Camp Nou.

Barça had enjoyed 63% of the ball, in Suarez they had a world-class striker on top form and with the silence of the home crowd confirmed the blaugrana were a class apart. Indeed, it looks harder than ever to bet against them lifting the trophy, such have they excelled away from home in Europe this season.

Elsewhere, the prospect of Pep Guardiola locking horns with his old club receded as Bayern Munich, featuring Spaniards Xabi Alonso, Juan Bernat and Thiago, lost 3-1 at Porto.

“It’s a very difficult result for the return leg,” said the former Camp Nou coach, “but we are going to try.”

Sevilla made it a trio of Spanish wins in Europe by emerging victorious in the Europa League on Thursday, but found a dogged opponent in Zenit St Petersburg, whom they finally downed 2-1.

Having drawn two-all with Barcelona last week, the Andalucians had high hopes of grabbing a healthy first leg lead in the passionate confines of the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

But sleepwalking defenders allowed the visitors’ Alexander Ryazantsev two bites of the cherry to snatch a shock lead just short of the half hour.

The subsequent Sevillian siege finally bore fruit in the 73rd minute as Zenit failed to clear their lines en masse and Colombian ace Carlos Bacca leaped to head a snap cross from Aleix Vidal into the net.

Seville kept the pressure up, backed by a fiery 35,000 crowd, and took the lead with an exquisite dipping volley from the edge of the box from Denis Suarez in the 87th.

21 shots to seven confirmed the home side deserved the win but Zenit’s away goal means they only need one strike to advance in the return leg next Thursday in Russia.

Back in La Liga, Barça maintained their two-point advantage over Real after defeating Valencia 2-0 at the Camp Nou, while Real won 3-1 at home to Malaga.

Real hopes that the league leaders might slip up for a second week in a row, this time against the fourth-placed side, were dashed as early as the first minute as Suarez slotted home from a Lionel Messi assist.

The Argentine added a second in the 94th minute, his 400th strike for the blaugrana, to seal the deal, running fifty yards unchallenged as the visitors had all pushed up. Valencia did not help their fate after nine minutes when Dani Parejo hit a powder-puff penalty at Claudio Bravo.

Written by Margarita Murphy