Le Journal

Atlético de Madrid played well and deserved their win over Deportivo Alaves on Sunday afternoon, but the Colchoneros were only secure a 1-0 win amid a nervy ending in front of 61,192 fans at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. Alexander Sørloth’s 48th-minute header from Pablo Barrios’ looping cross saw Atlético finally break the deadlock after they recorded 16 shots without scoring in the first half. Atleti held Alavés without a shot on target for the entire match and recorded a 12th successive home win across all competitions, even after the visitors piled on the pressure in the dying minutes and narrowly missed a chance to equalize through Lucas Boyé. Let’s dive into some takeaways after Atleti pulled into a tie with Villarreal for third place in LaLiga: The defense of the future…today! Atlético kept another clean sheet on Sunday. Through 20 rounds, no team in Spain has conceded fewer goals than Atleti’s 17 (Real Madrid have conceded as many). The 56 shots on target that Atleti have conceded is the lowest figure in the league. The recent turnaround has taken Atleti from “below-average” at the back to “above-average” and even “good.” It has a lot to do with Marc Pubill and Dávid Hancko solidifying themselves as Diego Simeone’s starting central defenders. Álvaro Carreras and Eric García are the only defenders who have played more progressive passes in LaLiga than Hancko, who has consistently delivered since his €30 million arrival from Feyenoord six months ago. In a game that missed Koke’s influence for the first hour, Hancko did some traffic direction of his own: he led all players in completed passes. Out of possession, he made five clearances and four recoveries. Like Hancko, Pubill’s ball-carrying and passing range have modernized Atlético’s defense. The 22-year-old’s emergence over the past two months has helped the Atleti back line become more flexible and harder to crack in transition. Pubill won all six of his aerial duels against Alavés, made eight clearances in all and recovered the ball three times. Atleti paid €16 million to get him from Almería; his Spain debut this year feels inevitable. It’s not the biggest sample size, but in the seven games that Hancko and Pubill have started next to one another, Atlético have kept three clean sheets. The team’s record in those games? Five won, one drawn, one lost. “Follow the leader” and it’s Pablo Barrios Speaking to DAZN before the game, Atlético’s Director of Football Mateu Alemany praised the club’s academy setup — a pyramid at the top of which Atlético Madrileño, trying to win promotion to Segunda for the first time this century. “We have a brilliant academy,” Alemany said. “Atlético Madrileño are having an impressive campaign, fighting to be first in a tough division like the Primera RFEF. There are important projects (in lower divisions), the youth players are there to contribute and find spots in the first team.” Giuliano Simeone, one product of this academy, signed a new contract to 2030 earlier this week. Another, Barrios, has been Atleti’s best player this season and is fast becoming one of their leaders. Elite. https://t.co/pVpOvr7WFn— Into the Calderón (@intothecalderon) January 18, 2026 Barrios’ cross for Sørloth marked his first assist in the league, an oddity for someone who ranks as one of LaLiga’s most prolific carriers and distributors into the penalty area. Though Sørloth’s header kissed off the post for a great finish, Barrios’ assist capped his stellar all-around performance with five chances created, five recoveries and six tackles won. Remember last January, when Barrios was picking up red cards and struggling to stay on the pitch? This season, he has yet to pick up a yellow card in LaLiga, let alone a red card. His ball control has improved. He’s capable of organizing the team. He wins the ball cleanly and frequently while driving it forward at a high rate. And best of all? He’s been a Colchonero since the age of 14. Uno di noi. Buenas noches a los que…

Before Sunday, Diggy Coit had shown flashes of a scoring ability that rival anyone in the country. His 41-point explosion against Mount St. Mary’s in November was tied for the third-most points in a game in Maryland men’s basketball history. But even to that standard, Coit’s showing Sunday afternoon against Penn State was a completely new gear. The graduate guard’s 43 points is tied for the second-most in a game in program history. Coit is the second player in program history with multiple 40-point games as a Terp. The other was Gene Shue, who did so in 1953. Shue also invented the spin move. It wasn’t due to extreme shot volume, either — Coit was 14-of-23 from the field and 9-of-15 from deep. That effort was more than enough to guide the Terps to a dominating 96-73 win at Xfinity Center. It’s their first Big Ten win of the season, and only their third win since Thanksgiving. It took an all-out defensive effort from the Nittany Lions to prevent Coit from breaking the record (44). After stellar back-to-back 3-pointers with 5:22 and 4:39 to go, they threw the kitchen sink at Coit — complete with full-court presses, double teams and half-court traps despite being down as much as 24 points. Coit only got two attempts to break the record. Both were long-range and well-contested. They would have been outrageous attempts for anyone without multiple 40-point games on the season. He’s also the only Division I player in the country with multiple 40-point games this season. Coit — generously listed as 5-foot-11, attending his fourth school in five years — has become a Maryland folk hero even amid one of the program’s worst seasons in decades. The former junior college, Northern Illinois and Kansas product showed why head coach Buzz Williams pursued him in the transfer portal so aggressively. Coit was absolutely untouchable in the first half. He dominated the ball and used his diverse dribble package to get into his signature step-back look; which he drilled shots from repeatedly. Some of those 3-pointers were from spots that haven’t been attempted from at Xfinity Center since Caitlin Clark came to town in February 2024. Coit had 22 points in the game’s first 15 minutes. After Isaiah Watts nailed a 3-pointer and Penn State’s Melih Tunca missed an attempt of his own, the ball was back in Coit’s hands. First, he tried to get open via the stepback. But he was covered. He tossed the ball over to Aleks Alston, who handed it right back and set a soft screen. Coit fired away from the court’s side logo — a preposterous idea on 99 percent of occasions. But the immediate roar from the crowd when he released proved Sunday afternoon was one of that 1 percent. I have no argument against those who don’t want to tune into this Maryland team.But if there’s any reason to, it’s because of this guy. That’s 25 first-half points for Diggy Coit with 3:37 to go. Just such a fun player when he’s on. pic.twitter.com/N7twDpuIHN— Harrison Rich (@harrisonrich_) January 18, 2026 That shot gave Coit 25 points, matching Penn State’s entire total. By halftime, he had the Nittany Lions beat by himself, 30-26. 26 points by his teammates meant Maryland led, 56-26, at the break. Penn State gave Maryland its only scare of the night in the second half’s opening, embarking on a 15-0 run out of the break. By the 11:33 mark, the Terps’ 30-point halftime lead was down to just 10. But back-to-back Andre Mills baskets ended the scare, and it was just minutes later that Coit got back into form. He scored seven points on an eight-point Maryland run to bring the lead back over 20, and Penn State began to focus more on preventing the record than winning the game. Three things to know 1. First-half defensive excellence. Coit’s 30 points weren’t the only reason Maryland led by exactly that much at halftime. It was also in large part due to Penn State being held to just 9-of-27 from the field and 2-of-12 from deep in the opening 20 minutes. Kayden Mingo was the only Nittany Lion to top…

Atlético Madrid secured a first league win of 2026 by beating Alavés with a header from Alexander Sørloth, but much talk again focused on the transfer market. Pre-match, sporting director Mateu Alemany assessed the market by saying that Conor Gallagher was the only player to have left who featured regularly. Mateu Alemany en DAZN: "Las cuatro salidas hay que matizarlas. Excepto Conor, que tenía participación importante, el resto, con matices, jugaba poco. Raspadori poco y Carlos y Javi, nada. Hay que valorar lo que podemos traer y lo haremos, siempre y cuando mejore lo que tenemos".— Rubén Uría (@rubenuria) January 18, 2026 “It’s true that (Javi) Galán and Carlos Martín had played little, but we could count on them if necessary,” Simeone responded in his press conference after the 1-0 victory. “Today they are not here, and there is still no one else. “We are waiting for this to progress according to our needs,” he continued. “Today Conor might have come on, because we needed a midfielder with those characteristics, that’s why Llorente played as a midfielder (and later) as a forward. One day, Llorente is going to ask me where else he wants me to play him! We’re adapting to everything.” Diego Simeone on suffering despite being superior “That’s football. We played very well, the first half was one of our best, we played in the opposition’s half, they didn’t have any dangerous chances on the counter-attack, we moved the ball well from side to side. We continued in the same vein, (Pablo) Barrios with a cross to (Alexander) Sørloth who couldn’t finish, then the goal, then (Thiago) Almada’s (chance), (Álex) Baena’s, which was an extraordinary move and hit the post. You get to the last 10 minutes, the opposition feels they can equalise because the lead is only one goal. It’s normal to go through those moments where you feel they can equalise because you were only winning 1-0.” Diego Simeone on Julián Álvarez “For me, he played a great game, just like in A Coruña and against Real Madrid. For me, he played well and the goal will come. The truth is that I’m not worried, because he has the goal in him. He’ll have to keep working with the stability he finds at Atleti and soon we’ll surely be talking about Julián’s goals.” Diego Simeone on whether he was angry about suffering at the end “No. There’s no other way to accept things that can’t be changed, because football is football. Sometimes you’re strong and sometimes you’re not, I’ve accepted that now.” Diego Simeone on the atmosphere “(The fans) were singing, cheering and we need them close by.” Diego Simeone on Alexander Sørloth being more prolific in winter “To be honest, I didn’t know about these situations. I think that since Alex joined the club and the team, this is his best run of form. I was telling him today in an individual video session that he’s much more stable, consistent. He was proving it with goals and goal-scoring opportunities, one day he scores one, another day two and another day none, but what he brings to the team is what we need in that position.” 5- No player in @LaLigaEN has scored more headers in all competitions than @Asorloth 🇳🇴 this season (five as Mallorca's Muriqi), scoring three headers in his last four matches, the same as in his previous 51 appearances for @atletienglish. Air-controller.#AtleticoMadrid 🤍❤ pic.twitter.com/tncwhxvy3i— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 18, 2026 Diego Simeone on a lack of decisiveness “(The players) have the talent. It comes in waves, some fresher moments where the play is better resolved and others where it is not. The team creates, has chances, tries to compete as it is doing. I prefer this to not attacking throughout the match and not being able to talk about the good play that the team is demonstrating.” Diego Simeone on defensive substitutions “You forgot about Baena and (Antoine) Griezmann, who were among the changes. Marcos moved further forward, but maybe the team interpreted that they had to defend the 1-0 lead. And…

Au sommaire : Pélicot, la police l’avait confondu dès 2010. Époux Muller, un double meurtre barbare et sadique. Casse du Louvre, les images inédites. Dans les coulisses de la Police scientifique.