Atletico vs Barcelona Barca look to clinch La Liga thriller

Barcelona will be looking to wrap up the first part of a potential treble by beating Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday.

In a quirk of fate, Atletico won last season's Primera Division title at the Nou Camp after holding Barca to a 1-1 draw on the final day of last season - and now the Catalan club can do likewise on Atletico's home ground after strike action in La Liga was called off on Thursday.

In the next three weeks Barca will have two opportunities to win the league as well as facing Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final and Juventus in the final of the Champions League.
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It is a chance for the Catalan giants to emulate their historic haul from 2009, when they won all six trophies available to them in the calendar year, but defender Gerard Pique knows they cannot afford to get ahead of themselves.

"Looking at the teams that have won the treble gives you an appreciation of how difficult it is," he said.

"There are other teams vying too and the way people are talking it's as if we'd already won the treble, and that's not the case. The finals are against two historic clubs and we still haven't won anything yet.

"We're close but and we have to keep our feet on the ground."

Barcelona could be without striker Luis Suarez as he is nursing a hamstring strain while midfielder Tiago is suspended for Atletico.

Although they can no longer retain their title, Atletico still have something to play for this season as they try to protect their third place from Valencia, who are four points back.

Rojiblancos goalkeeper Jan Oblak knows it will not be easy to get anything off Barca, but is not throwing in the towel.

He said in AS: "There's no fear, but we know that it's not easy to stop them.

"I'm sure that we can beat any team in the world. We have to play with a lot of intensity, be very focused and do a lot of running, and in the end we'll see what happens."

He added of a top-three finish: "The objective was to be third and we're going to achieve that. If we do get it, the view of the season will be positive."

collected from:http://www1.skysports.com

Tamin Iqbal stars credit in Bangladesh's historic win over Pakistan

Tamim Iqbal smashed a second consecutive century to steer Bangladesh to their first ever one-day series win over Pakistan with an emphatic seven-wicket victory in Dhaka on Sunday

The left-handed opener hit an unbeaten run-a-ball 116 as the hosts, chasing Pakistan's 239 for six, cruised home in the 39th over to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
The new-look Pakistan, with just four World Cuppers in their ranks and led for the first time in a series by Azhar Ali, needed a massive improvement after their 79-run defeat in Friday's opening match.

But a top-order collapse pushed them in a corner and left the tourists seeking a consolation win in the third and final match at the same Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza, who had missed the opening match due to a one-match ban for his team's slow over-rates at the World Cup, wanted his team to push for a 3-0 whitewash.

"The boys are obviously very happy, but the job is not done yet because we have one more match to go," he said. "This one was almost a perfect match for us and we want to continue like this.

"Tamim and Rahim have been brilliant with the bat in this series and Shakib has led from the front with the ball."

Pakistan's Ali said the two games so far were were a learning exercise for his young, inexperienced team.

"I don't think 240 was enough on this good wicket and that was because we did not bat well at the top," he said.

"But as everyone knows, Pakistan are in the process of rebuilding. The boys will learn from this and help them come back strongly. We have to trust the younger players and be patient with them

Saad Nasim and Wahab Riaz hit unbeaten half-centuries to lift Pakistan to a seemingly competitive score after they were reduced to 77-5 by the 22nd over of the day-night international.

Tamim, who made 132 in the previous match, made a mockery of the target after racing to his half-century off just 31 balls.
Junaid Khan removed fellow-opener Soumya Sarker cheaply for 17, but Tamim calmed the home supporters' nerves with three successive boundaries off both Saeed Ajmal and Wahab Riaz.

By the time Ajmal bowled Mahmdullah for 17 to give Pakistan their second wicket, Bangladesh had taken control of the game by reaching 100 in just 14 overs.

Mushfiqur Rahim, who also hit a century in the first game, continued his good form with 65 off 70 balls as Bangladesh ended their series drought against Pakistan with 71 ball deliveries to spare.

Shakib Al Hasan hit the winning run soon after Tamim, who struck 17 fours and six, completed his sixth one-day century by gliding Junaid to fine-leg.

Earlier, Nasim was unbeaten on 77 in only his second international and Riaz struck 51 off 40 balls as Pakistan crossed the 200-run mark on the slow pitch.

Nasim began the rescue act by adding 77 for the sixth wicket with Haris Sohail, who made 44.

Ali and Sarfraz Ahmed put on an opening stand of 36 before the top-order crumbled in dramatic fashion.

Mortaza, playing his 150th one-day international, claimed one wicket when he took a return catch to end Sohail's resistance.

Pakistan will also play a Twenty20 match and two Tests on their month-long tour of Bangladesh.

collocted from:http://sports.yahoo.com