MADRID’S WINLESS STREAK PROLONGS

MADRID’S WINLESS STREAK PROLONGS

 

Real Madrid solved one of its problems during its trip to Germany in the Champions League: Cristiano Ronaldo made peace with coach Zinedine Zidane.

Now it needs to find a way to start winning again.

The 2-2 draw at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday was the third consecutive draw for Madrid in all competitions, raising questions about the team's potential to repeat as Champions League champion, and to end a four-year title drought in the Spanish league.

"I am frustrated," Zidane said. "We played a good game in attack and defense and it was a great effort from everyone. We played the game we wanted. At the end, the same (draw) again, it's the third match. I'm frustrated for the players because it's undeserved."

Dortmund's equalizer came in the 87th minute, when Madrid appeared in control. One of the positives that came out of the result was that Zidane got a much warmer handshake from Ronaldo, who created a bit of turmoil after going on a little rant because of his substitution in the league setback at Las Palmas on Saturday. He didn't even look at Zidane while reaching for the coach's extended hand on the sidelines.

After scoring Madrid's first goal in Dortmund, he immediately pointed to the bench and rushed to celebrate with his teammates. He also exchanged a moment with Zidane, apparently trying to erase doubts about any problems in their relationship.

Ronaldo and his teammates have been struggling to put together the type of top-notch performances that led them to the European final last season, failing to capitalize on scoring opportunities and being unable to put games away.

Madrid's first draw was at home against Villarreal, and then it tied Las Palmas after conceding a late goal. In its Champions League opener against Sporting Lisbon, it was losing until the 89th when it rallied to win.

Madrid remains unbeaten, and is in decent shape both in the Champions League and La Liga, but new setbacks could start putting Zidane's team in a difficult position in both competitions. Madrid is tied with Dortmund atop Group F with four points from two matches. It leads the league after six games, one point ahead of Barcelona.

Leicester win again

Islam Slimani kept up his hot streak against Porto by scoring Leicester's first-half goal in a 1-0 victory in the Champions League on Tuesday, maintaining the English champions' 100 percent start to Group G.

The Algeria striker headed home from close range off a pinpoint cross by international teammate Riyad Mahrez in the 25th minute. It was Slimani's sixth goal in four games against Porto in 2016, with the other five coming for Sporting Lisbon in Portuguese soccer before his offseason move to Leicester.

Leicester opened group play with a 3-0 win at Club Brugge and is in good shape to advance to the knockout stage in its first-ever season in the Champions League.

Slimani picked up the nickname the "Dragon Slayer" at Sporting because of his penchant for scoring against Porto, which is sometimes referred to as the Dragons. On his final appearance for Sporting before joining Leicester for a club-record fee $33.5 million in August, he scored in a 2-1 win over Porto.

He was at it again here — and he could hardly miss from Mahrez's inswinging cross from the right. The move started with Marc Albrighton switching play with a brilliant long pass to Mahrez, and ended with Slimani outmuscling his marker to head in from the edge of the six-yard box.

Slimani has now scored three goals in four games for Leicester.

Elsewhere, Juventus' big summer signings proved their worth as Miralem Pjanic and Gonzalo Higuain helped the Italian side to a 4-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday.

Pjanic scored one and set up another to put Juventus firmly in charge at halftime. Paulo Dybala and Dani Alves sealed matters after the break.

Juventus moved top of Group H, level on points with Sevilla after the Spanish side beat Lyon 1-0. Dinamo, which lost 3-0 at Lyon in the first round of fixtures, remained bottom.

Juventus leads Serie A but it has not all been plain sailing for Massimiliano Allegri's team, and it drew 0-0 at home to Sevilla in its opening match in Europe's elite club competition.

Meanwhile, Tottenham coped well despite injury problems to put its Champions League campaign back on track with a 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow.

Son Heung-min scored the winning goal, his fifth of the season, in the 71st minute to keep up his good form in the absence of injured Harry Kane.

Tottenham — missing five first-team regulars — bounced back from its opening loss to Monaco in Group E. Coach Mauricio Pochettino criticized his players' outlook following that defeat, but was full of praise after Tuesday's win made it four victories in a row since then.

Goalscorer Son was frequently a substitute last season but has found himself elevated this campaign due to Kane's injury. With Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele and Moussa Sissoko also having missed the trip to Russia, Pochettino praised the team's strength in depth.

(the pioneer)