Sports

AMMAN — Jazira maintained their leading heading into the final week of 2016 as Week 9 of the Jordan Professional Football League kicks off Friday. 

Jazira beat That Ras 4-0 to stay six points clear of all-time rivals Wihdat and Faisali who remained second and third after Wihdat scored a 3-2 win over Shabab Urdun while Faisali beat Sarih 1-0. 

In the upcoming week, Jazira play Ramtha, who beat Sahab 2-1 to move to 8th while Wihdat take on That Ras and Faisali are up against Hussein Irbid, who held Ahli 2-2.

Manshieh climbed to fourth after a 2-0 win over Baqa’a ahead of their upcoming match against Sahab. Ahli, who are now 6th, next play last placed Baqa’a as Shabab Urdun take on Sarih.

Jazira have so far scored three convincing wins over former champions Faisali, Wihdat and Shabab Urdun. Jazira’s Syrian pro Mardig Mardigian leads the scorers list with six goals. 

Meanwhile, in Round 3 of the Jordan Cup this week, Hussein upset Jazira 3-2, Wihdat beat That Ras 3-0, Faisali beat Baqa’a 1-0, Ramtha beat Manshieh 1-0, Sahab held Ahli 1-1 and Shabab Urdun beat Sarih 2-0. Round 4 resumes on January 9.

Ahli won the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar, making history when they beat reigning league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup. In the Jordan Football Association Shield — back on the calendar after four years — Shabab Urdun scored a major 5-1 win over Faisali. It was Shabab Urdun’s second Shield title after they first won in 2007.

Last season, Wihdat retained the title with Faisali, Ahli, Jazira and Shabab Urdun in top five spots. It was Wihdat’s third consecutive and 15th league title since they moved up to the Professional League in 1975. Faisali beat Wihdat to clinch the Super Cup while it was Ahli, who after years in the backstage, beat Shabab Urdun to win their first Jordan Cup final.

LONDON — Toppling forward, Henrikh Mkhitaryan looked like he had misjudged the right-wing cross as he surged into the box seeking a clinching goal for Manchester United.

What came next brought Old Trafford to its feet — and underlined Mkhitaryan as perhaps the next cult figure at the English giant.

With an acrobatic flick of his right heel, the Armenian somehow managed to turn a ball that was behind him into the far corner from eight metres out, before plunging to the ground. Paul Pogba was the first United player to celebrate with Mkhitaryan and walked away shaking his head in disbelief.

It was a goal-of-the-season contender in the English Premier League, another piece of art from a player who is coming into his own after a tough start to life at United when he struggled to adapt to the fast pace of English football following a move from Borussia Dortmund.

Mkhitaryan sealed a 3-1 win for United over Sunderland on Monday and a fourth straight league victory for a side that is beginning to motor under Jose Mourinho. United might still be 13 points behind Chelsea, who won a club-record 12th straight game to extend their lead to seven points, but a finish in the Champions League qualification places looks increasingly likely.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic provided the cross for Mkhitaryan’s goal, set up Daley Blind for United’s 39th-minute opener and scored the other goal for his 16th goal of the season in all competitions. Mourinho will be delighted to see his trio of high-profile offseason signings — Ibrahimovic, Mkhitaryan and Pogba — looking the real deal.

Monday marked the opening batch of games in the first of three Premier League rounds over the festive period. All the title-chasing teams won.

Chelsea 3, 

Bournemouth 0

Two goals from Pedro and Eden Hazard’s penalty kick ensured Chelsea bettered a run of 11 victories set over two seasons in 2009.

Only once — Arsenal in 2001-02, with 13 straight wins — have a top-tier club had a longer winning streak in one season since World War II.

Hazard starred in the absence of suspended duo N’Golo Kante and Diego Costa as the league leaders recorded their 10th clean sheet of the 12-match winning run.

Hull 0, Manchester City 3

City wore down last-placed Hull, with all its goals coming late in the game.

Yaya Toure converted a penalty in the 72nd minute after Raheem Sterling was tripped as he drove into the area. Up until that point, City lacked inspiration going forward as Hull defended valiantly and in numbers, but more spaces opened up to allow the visitors a second goal.

Kevin De Bruyne played in David Silva, whose pinpoint cross was tapped home by Kelechi Iheanacho at the far post in the 78th. In the third minute of stoppage time, Sterling weaved his way into the area and sent in a cross that was deflected into his own net by Curtis Davies.

It was a third straight win for City, lifting the team into second place ahead of Liverpool by two points. Liverpool play their game in hand against Stoke on Tuesday.

Arsenal 1, West Bromwich Albion 0

Olivier Giroud marked his first league start of the season with a late winner as Arsenal avoided another stumble after back-to-back losses on the road.

The France striker headed home Mesut Ozil’s cross in the 86th minute to end West Brom’s stubborn resistance at the Emirates Stadium.

Fourth-place Arsenal are tied for points with Liverpool.

Swansea 1, West Ham 4

American coach Bob Bradley’s future at Swansea looked increasingly fragile after the team lost again to remain in relegation trouble.

Angry Swansea supporters turned on Bradley as Swansea slumped to a seventh loss of his 11 games in charge, with a chant of “We want Bradley out” reverberating around the Liberty Stadium.

“I don’t have regular dealings with the board,” Bradley said after goals by Andre Ayew, Winston Reid, Michail Antonio and Andy Carroll sunk Swansea. “As a manager, when results go bad you understand there will be discussion. It’s not anything you control.”

Swansea are in next-to-last place, tied on points with Hull.

Other results

Former England coach Sam Allardyce’s first game in charge of Crystal Palace ended in a 1-1 draw at Watford, Burnley beat Middlesbrough 1-0 to continue their strong home form, and Leicester lost 2-0 at home to Everton in the latest result of its stuttering title defence.

Leicester are only three points above the relegation zone nearly half-way through the season.

AMMAN — Jordan Motorsport, the sporting authority for all motorsport events held within the Kingdom, on Tuesday announced a new point system for the Speed Test events.

The 2017 season will have five Speed Test events, including one event to be held under the title Power Speed.

Othman Naseef, Jordan Motorsport CEO, told The Jordan Times that the new system is in favour of the driver. 

“We have created new point system in which driver’s points are calculated as one factor while in the Power Speed as 1.5 depending on a driver’s results in the event,” he said.

“Meanwhile, additional 10 points will be added to the general total of points of the Jordan Speed Test Championship when a driver also participates in the Rumman Hill Climb,” he added.

In addition, 10 points will be added to the total when a driver participates on tarmac rallies whether as a driver or co-driver with the condition of finishing the rally. Two points will be added in the general standing of the Speed Championship to each driver who finishes in the 13th position and above.

According to Naseef, the points will be calculated to the driver and not the car and if a tie is reached the system will calculate the number of the first place wins by the driver taking into consideration the number of events and best positions. 

“The new point system will give 25 points to first place, 22 to the second, 20 third, 14 fourth, 16 fifth, 14 sixth, 12 seventh, 10 eighth, 8 ninth, 6 tenth, 11 eleventh, 4 twelfth and 3 to the 13th,” he said. 

In 2016, Mohammed Tayseer captured the Speed Test Championship title after winning the fifth and final round held in Aqaba with the participation of 59 drivers from Palestine and Jordan. 

Tayseer topped the standings with 98 points, followed by Ayman Najjar with 80 points and Ghaith Wraikat with 60 points. Ibrahim Al Bajeh from Palestine won the Palestinian participation cup and Sultan Shadeed from Aqaba won the city’s participation cup.

In the final round, Tayseer clocked 1m02:35s in his Mitsubishi Evo 6, followed by Ayman Najjar with 1m03:37s in his Mitsubishi Evo Proto and Khatchik Shadian with 1m03:65s in his ALF3 Cosworth.

MANCHESTER, England — In one sense, normality has returned to the English Premier League after the craziness of Leicester’s improbable surge to the title last season.

The top six on Christmas Day are the teams most pundits predicted would be challenging for the title: Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United.

There is nothing normal about Chelsea’s current form, however.

After 11 straight wins, Chelsea leads the league by six points from Liverpool, heading into the hectic period of festive fixtures that is unique to British football. Only once — Arsenal in 2001-02, with 13 straight wins — has a top-tier club had a longer winning streak in one season since World War II.

In the first year of the “super-coach” era in the Premier League, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is standing head and shoulders above the rest, although it needed a September switch to his favoured 3-4-3 formation to get the team to click.

With a stingy defence (two goals conceded in the last 11 games), a dynamic midfield marshalled by N’Golo Kante and a forward line led by the league’s top scorer, Diego Costa, there are no apparent weaknesses in Conte’s line-up. On current evidence, it is hard to see how the team from southwest London can be stopped.

One thing is for sure, there will be no miracle sequel for Leicester in the Premier League. Languishing in 15th place in the 20-team standings, the reigning champions are closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League qualification spots.

It is back to the heavyweights challenging for the title. And Chelsea is the big favourite.

Title race

One factor is particularly helping Chelsea and Liverpool in their quests for the title: No European competition.

Such was the extraordinary nature of last season that neither team qualified for the Champions League or even the Europa League. That failure is now allowing them to focus purely on the domestic games, give their players more rest, and have a full week of preparation for Premier League games.

Chelsea has not dropped a point since a 3-0 loss at Arsenal on September 24, during which Antonio Conte changed formation to a 3-4-3 and has not looked back. Like Chelsea, Liverpool has two losses so far.

Man City is in third place, a point behind Liverpool, as coach Pep Guardiola gets to grips with the physical and non-stop demands of English football, including no rest at Christmas. Arsenal is a further two points back on 34 points in fourth, Tottenham has 33 and Jose Mourinho’s Man United has 30. For United, some 13 points behind Chelsea, the target has already switched from winning the league to securing Champions League qualification with a top-four finish.

Chelsea has three tough away games left — at Spurs, Liverpool and United — and is proving adept at eking out 1-0 wins. Four of its last six games have finished with that scoreline, including the last three.

Pick of the players

While Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho, Man City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante and Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez have starred in patches, Diego Costa has been the only player to have had a consistent impact this season.

Last season, the Spain striker appeared to be more interested in picking fights than scoring goals. Costa is a changed man, though, and has scored a league-high 13 goals while providing five assists.

Five of the goals were winners (against West Ham, Watford, Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace), an overhead kick earned a draw at Swansea, and another goal sparked a come-from-behind win at Man City in December.

Emerging talent

There is another “Harry” making a splash at White Hart Lane.

The 20-year-old Harry Winks is a central midfielder who is getting a run in Tottenham’s first team, starting four of the past eight games at the expense of internationals like Moussa Sissoko and Eric Dier. He scored against West Ham on his full league debut in November and is an intelligent passer with a good technique.

Mauricio Pochettino is renowned for giving youth players a chance to shine during his time at Southampton and now Tottenham. Harry Kane has matured into one of the best strikers in the Premier League under Pochettino, and Winks could be next in line.

Surprise team

When it was announced in August that West Bromwich Albion had been bought out by Chinese investors, the future of manager Tony Pulis looked precarious despite his record of never having been relegated from the Premier League.

The new owners were wise to keep hold of the 58-year-old Pulis.

Away from the likely title contenders, West Brom is proving to be the best of the rest in the Premier League and at one point early in December was in the top six.

Known for setting his teams out with a solid defensive structure, Pulis has added some flair up front in forwards Nacer Chadli — a club-record signing in the offseason — and Matt Phillips, who operate behind Salomon Rondon. The Baggies have scored three or more times in four games this season, testament to their new-found attacking approach.

Points to prove

The season started with rival coaches Pep Guardiola and Mourinho expected to be battling it out for the title. The way things are going, they will be fighting just to secure Champions League qualification.

Both coaches have had tough spells in the first season with their respective clubs, with Mourinho in particular criticised for public outbursts against his players and a run of poor results over September and October. United has won its last three league games to get back on track, but a current position of sixth is not good enough.

Mourinho explained how happy he was with his Manchester United project on Friday, acknowledging that it was “easy to feel at home” with one of the world’s biggest clubs.

It was not the most comfortable nor consistent of starts for Mourinho at Old Trafford as he struggled to find his best team and the Portuguese coach often cut a distracted figure as he bemoaned the pitfalls of living alone in his Manchester hotel.

Guardiola started his City tenure with 10 straight victories but has only won six of his next 17, raising questions about his tactics, the team’s defensive stability and whether Guardiola can get to grips with English football.

It will help Guardiola to have Sergio Aguero on the field. The Argentina striker has missed seven of City’s 17 league matches through suspension, and needs to make amends in the second half of the season.

MUMBAI — Roger Federer believes his six-month absence due to a knee injury could help prolong his playing career, with the 17 times Grand Slam winner saying he has enjoyed the break.

The 35-year-old Swiss had surgery on his left knee in February and, after missing the French Open with a back injury, announced in July that he needed extensive rehabilitation and would be sidelined for the rest of the season.

Federer returns to action at the Hopman Cup, starting on January 1, which he will play in for the first time since he teamed up with his now wife Mirka in 2002. He will partner compatriot Belinda Bencic, 19, at the international team tournament in Perth.

Federer said it was a tough call to take a six-month break and he looked at the bigger picture before deciding.

“I do believe that it could be very beneficial for the future of my tennis career,” he told reporters on a conference call.

“To have had this six-month lay-off, rejuvenated, refreshed... maybe mentally I needed this rest more than I thought I would. Maybe my body needed a rest more than I thought it would. I tried to look at the big picture, I hope it is going to pay off.

“At least one thing I know now is I have no regrets. I did everything this year to get my body back in shape. It didn’t feel too gruelling, too long, too hard to go through this process. I have actually enjoyed it.”

Unique year

For much of his career, the former world number one had been blessed with a body that seemed bullet-proof against the aches, pains and injuries suffered by most top athletes.

Until May this year, Federer had appeared in 65 successive Grand Slam tournaments and the last time he was absent from one of the four majors was at the 1999 US Open.

But his semifinal defeat by Canadian Milos Raonic at Wimbledon, which saw him drop to 16 in the world rankings, was his last professional match this year.

Federer said his goal was to get fully fit and he was looking forward to a few matches in Perth before the year’s first Grand Slam starts later in the month in Melbourne.

“This year is unique because maybe this is the year more than any time before where I do need matches at the beginning of the season,” Federer said, adding that he was doing everything possible to add more majors to his trophy cabinet.

“Matches have a different intensity about it and your body reacts according to it.”

Federer said he had expected Andy Murray to be world number one at some point but was surprised the Briton finished the year at the top of the rankings ahead of Serb Novak Djokovic.

“That just gives even more credit to Andy for not becoming World No. 1 but finishing World No. 1,” he said. “Those are two separate things.

“Becoming World No. 1 for a week or finishing a year as World No. 1, it’s a different animal.”

AMMAN — Round 3 of the Jordan Cup Round kicks off on Monday with Jazira taking control of the competition as well as keeping their lead in the Profession League.

Jazira lead Group B after they beat That Ras 2-0. They next face Hussein who beat Sarih 2-1. Wihdat moved up the standings after they beat Shabab Urdun 2-0 and next play That Ras.

Hussein now tie Wihdat, That Ras and Shabab Urdun in second place trailing leaders Jazira in the group with only the top two teams from each group moving on to the semis, which will be played over two rounds with no Division 1 teams playing this year.

 Group A leaders Ramtha and Manshieh face off after Ramtha held Faisali 1-1, Manshieh held Sahab 0-0. Baqa’a play Faisali after holding Ahli 1-1 while bottom placed Sahab play Ahli. 

So far in the current season, Jazira leads the Pro League standings ahead of Wihdat and Faisali. Ahli won the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar, when they beat reigning league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup. In the Jordan Football Association Shield — back on the calendar after four years — Shabab Urdun scored a major 5-1 win over Faisali. It was Shabab Urdun’s second Shield title after they first won in 2007.

Last season, Wihdat retained the league title for their third consecutive and 15th league title since they moved up to the Professional League in 1975. Faisali beat Wihdat to clinch the Super Cup while it was Ahli who made history when they beat Shabab Urdun to win their first Jordan Cup final. 

It was momentous for Ahli fans and officials as the title came after years in the backstage. Although the club is a long-time veteran and founder of the game in the Kingdom, Ahli were relegated to Division 1 in 2004 for the first time in their history. However, they have been back in the headlines after making it back to the Pro League in 2014, finishing fifth in 2015 and third last year.

AMMAN  — The final FIFA Rankings of 2016 were issued on Thursday with Jordan going up four spots to 105th.

It is again the worst since 2009 as Jordan also dropped out of the Asian top 10 trailing Iran (29), South Korea (37), Japan (45), Australia (47), Saudi Arabia (54), Uzbekistan (62), the UAE (64), China (82), Qatar (87) and Syria (96). 

Argentina is still No. 1 ahead of Brazil, Germany, Chile, Belgium, Columbia, France, Portugal, Uruguay and Spain.

Jordan’s best ranking was 37th in 2004 while the lowest ranking was 152nd in 1996.

In its latest board meeting, the Jordan Football Association appointed UAE coach Abdullah Misfer to lead the national squad in its upcoming agenda for the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers. The appointment of Misfer came soon after the termination of contract of Abdullah Abu Zam’eh, after the team’s latest unimpressive results in three friendlies in which they lost to Uzbekistan 1-0, held Iraq and Lebanon to a goalless draws.

Observers have been scrutinising the national team’s plan over the past period as Jordan was eliminated from 2018 World Cup qualifiers. That has led to more inconsistent results with five coaches leading the vital qualifying process in crucial qualifiers. The line-up was led by Briton Ray Wilkins under whom the team failed to advance past the group of the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in 2015 before Ahmad Abdul Qader took over in the transitional phase under whom the team played the first qualifier for the 2019 Asian Cup doubling as part of the qualification for the 2018 World Cup.

Belgian Paul Put took over in July 2015, but his tenure was also suspended when he was caught in the midst of a match fixing court case in the Belgian league. Harry Redknapp led the team in the last two qualifiers with a focus on reaching the Asian Championship and keeping World Cup qualifying chances alive. After elimination Abu Zam’eh who assisted Harry Redknapp led the team during the past summer. 

The Jordan Football Association entrusted Abu Zam’eh in the interim period and the coach recalled players from the Olympic squad and shifted focus towards a younger line-up to compete in the Asian qualifiers kicking off in March 2017.

During 2016, Jordan played 13 matches, including 11 friendlies coming out a winner in three matches, drawing in 5 and losing 5. Jordan scored 18 goals and allowed 16. Only two were official matches in which Jordan beat Bangladesh 8-0 and lost to Australia 5-1 in the double qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

The squad’s last tournament was the King’s Cup, an international football tournament organised in Thailand, where Jordan beat the UAE 2-1, but lost 2-0 to hosts in the final. 

After putting behind elimination from 2018 World Cup qualifiers, the upcoming Asian qualifiers will see group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup. 

LONDON — Portugal emerged triumphant at Euro 2016 but it was surprise packages Wales and Iceland who supplied the best memories from the tournament in France.

Not many experts chose Fernando Santos’ team as likely title winners at the start while punters would hardly have rushed to put money on his side when talisman Cristiano Ronaldo limped off in tears after 25 minutes of the July final against the hosts.

And had anyone asked fans of Swansea City whether Eder, who failed to score in 15 games for the English Premier League side before being farmed out to Lille, was a good bet to grab the winner they might have countered by saying there was more chance of Brexit followed by Donald Trump becoming US president.

But if 2016 taught us anything it is that unlikely characters can shape major events, on and off the football pitch.

Portugal’s final triumph came despite only producing one shot on target in 90 minutes plus two more in extra-time, an underwhelming end to a largely forgettable tournament where 22 of the 55 matches were goalless at half-time.

Similarities were drawn between Portugal and the Greece team that chugged to victory 12 years earlier and it was Wales and Iceland, who reached the semifinals and quarter-finals respectively, who really captured the imagination of the Euro 2016 fans.

Iceland’s followers entertained everyone with their unique “Viking Thunder-Clap” celebration.

It was not all good news among the crowds, however, with violence marring the lead-up to Russia’s game with England and several other unsavoury outbursts involving other countries.

England manager Roy Hodgson and Belgium coach Marc Wilmots paid with their jobs for failing to get the most out of their talented squads.

Italy’s Antonio Conte used Euro 2016 as a springboard, quickly forgetting the disappointment of his team’s quarter-final defeat by Germany to finish the year strongly with English league leaders Chelsea.

Portugal’s title success was particularly harsh on the player of the tournament, France forward Antoine Griezmann who produced several mesmerising performances and ended top scorer with six goals in seven games.

Less than two months earlier the same striker also lost out in the Champions League final with Atletico Madrid who went down on penalties to city rivals Real, Ronaldo this time taking centre stage to score the decisive penalty.

Third honour

Ronaldo went on to bag a third honour in 2016, beating Barcelona rival Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d’Or for a fourth time.

Other winners in 2016 included Leicester City, who overcame odds of 5,000-1 to win their first top-tier title in England while Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain, Barcelona and Juventus were more predictable champions in Europe’s other top leagues.

Juve midfielder Paul Pogba left the club at the end of the season to rejoin former team Manchester United for a world record fee of £89.3 million ($111.89 million).

United acquired a new manager in Jose Mourinho while Pep Guardiola took up residence at Manchester City as English football continued to draw the game’s top coaching talent.

It also attracted many foreign investors with Chinese businessmen snapping up several clubs as a country not known for its football tradition established a major foothold in an increasingly globalised game.

At home the Chinese Super League emerged as a likely destination for top footballers with around £200 million spent on the likes of Graziano Pelle and Hulk.

According to media reports, Brazilian forward Hulk is earning £340,000 per week, a salary bettered only by Ronaldo and Messi.

Off the field, Gianni Infantino was elected president of football’s governing body FIFA in place of the disgraced Sepp Blatter.

Infantino promised to “bring football back to FIFA” and also said he wanted to increase the number of teams that take part in the World Cup finals from 32 to 48.

MADRID — It has been nearly a decade since Real Madrid was this dominant heading into the halfway point of the season.

Not even in 2012, when it last won the Spanish league title.

With Cristiano Ronaldo at his best and Zinedine Zidane flourishing in his first full season as a head coach, Madrid looks closer than ever to ending its title drought in the league.

Madrid also had the lead after 16 matches in 2014-15, when it had also won the Champions League and the Club World Cup. That team eventually collapsed under coach Carlos Ancelotti and ended the season in disappointment.

“We all know what happened in 2014 after we won the Club World Cup. It can happen at any moment,” said Zidane, who had been an assistant to Ancelotti. “I think that the season will be long and difficult for us. If we work hard I don’t think that things will change.”

With two more games without a loss, Madrid will match Barcelona’s Spanish record of 39 games unbeaten, a mark set last season.

Title race

After struggles by defending champion Barcelona and city rival Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid has a three-point lead going into the break. It also has a game in hand — at home against Valencia — because of its participation in the Club World Cup.

Madrid, the only unbeaten team in the league, has been nearly perfect except for a spell of three consecutive draws beginning in September. It won seven of its last eight league games since then, with the only setback a 1-1 draw against Barcelona at Camp Nou when Sergio Ramos scored a 90th-minute equaliser.

Second-place Barcelona has already lost twice, including at home to promoted Alaves. The Catalan club drew three straight — including twice at home — before finishing with two consecutive victories.

Atletico, enduring its worse slump since coach Diego Simeone took over, is only sixth, nine points behind Madrid.

Pick of the players

Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed a remarkable year but had an up-and-down start in the league thanks in part to a knee injury that kept him from playing in the first few games.

Lionel Messi also missed some matches because of an injury, but has been thriving recently and finished the year as the league’s leading scorer with 12 goals, along with Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez.

On loan from Manchester City, Samir Nasri has been crucial in Sevilla’s third-place campaign, while Pablo Piatti’s first season with Espanyol has been highly successful with five goals and six assists, the most in the league.

Emerging talent

Iago Aspas’ outstanding season with Celta Vigo helped him land a spot in Spain’s national team for the first time in his career.

He is one of the tournament’s leading scorers with 10 goals, three of them scored in the last three matches before the break. He has succeeded despite a Celta team that has been struggling and is only 13th in the standings.

The 29-year-old Aspas, who had a stint with Liverpool in 2013-14, returned to Celta a season ago after a year on loan with Sevilla.

Surprises

Real Sociedad started the league with a 3-0 home loss to Real Madrid and had only one victory in its first four games.

It all improved quickly, though, and the team led by Brazilian striker Willian Jose heads into the break in fifth place, ahead of Atletico Madrid and just behind Sevilla and Villarreal.

A two-time champion in the early 1980s, Real Sociedad had an emphatic 2-0 win over Atletico and drew Barcelona 1-1 in a game in which it deserved to win.

Points to prove

Coach Diego Simeone needs to put Atletico Madrid back on track quickly if he wants the team to contend for another league title.

After experimenting with different formations, the team struggled with inconsistency and has already conceded 14 goals, only four less than the 18 it conceded in all 38 games last season. Among its four losses — which is two less than it had last season — was a 3-0 setback against Madrid at home.

Former Italy coach Cesare Prandelli also has to turn things around at Valencia, which is winless in seven league games and has won only twice under his command.

In Barcelona, Neymar has not scored in nine official matches, his worst slump since coming to Spain.