Briefly
Barcelona clinch women’s Spanish league title
Barcelona won its seventh straight women’s Spanish league title with a 4-1 victory over Espanyol.
The win gave Barcelona an insurmountable 16-point lead over second-place Real Madrid.
It is the 11th league title for the Catalan club.
Barcelona has won 25 of its 26 matches in this year’s competition. Its only setback was a 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad in November.
The team, coached by Pere Romeu and led by players such as Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati and Caroline Graham Hansen, has scored 116 goals and conceded seven, with a goal difference of 109. The goal difference for Madrid is 38.
Carla Julia put Barcelona ahead two minutes into the match against Espanyol. Graham Hansen added to the lead before halftime and Martine Fenger netted twice after the break.
Espanyol, sitting in 11th place, had equalized with a penalty converted by Laia Balleste in the 28th.
Edoardo Motta saves four penalties in shootout
Lazio’s 21-year-old goalkeeper Edoardo Motta saved four consecutive spot kicks as the Roman club beat Atalanta in a penalty shootout to reach the Italian Cup final.
The score was 1-1 after extra time. The first leg ended 2-2.
Motta — who joined Lazio in January — stopped shots from Gianluca Scamacca, Davide Zappacosta, Mario Pasalic and Charles De Ketelaere as Lazio won the shootout 2-1 with Gustav Isaksen and Kenneth Taylor converting for the visitors. Lazio will face Serie A leader Inter Milan in the May 13 final. Inter came back from two goals down for a 3-2 victory over Como on Tuesday after a 0-0 first leg.
Alessio Romagnoli and Pasalic traded goals in the final minutes of regulation. Motta then pushed a header from Scamacca off the post in stoppage time.
Giacomo Raspadori thought he had won it for Atalanta in the first extra time period but his headed goal was waved off by the VAR for offside.
Ederson also had a goal for Atalanta chalked off on the hour after a lengthy VAR check that determined there was a foul on the Lazio goalkeeper.
Buenos Aires bans stadium confetti after fire sparks panic
Throwing confetti from the stands, one of the most deeply-rooted traditions among soccer fans in Argentina, will no longer be allowed in the capital city of Buenos Aires.
The Buenos Aires Sports Security Committee issued a “preventive” ban on the use of confetti in stadiums in the district on Wednesday, following the fire that broke out during last Sunday’s match between River Plate and Boca Juniors at the Monumental Stadium. Firefighters had to intervene to extinguish the flames that damaged several stadium seats and caused spectators to flee.
City authorities said that “even though the home club had previously approved contingency protocols and the necessary resources for their implementation, an incident occurred that clearly demonstrates the potential ignition risk that these materials pose in contexts with high concentrations of people.”
The day before the game, River Plate’s supporters’ subcommittee called on the fans to cut thousands of confetti pieces to give the “Millionaires” a colorful welcome. Boca won 1-0 with a penalty by Leandro Paredes.
The tradition of throwing confetti from the stands became popular during the 1978 World Cup hosted by Argentina and was later imitated by fans around the globe.
