Barcelona

Barcelona move 11 points clear of Real Madrid in the La Liga title race with five games to play.

Fermin Lopez and Marcus Rashford’s goals took Barcelona to the brink of the La Liga title with a 2-0 win at Getafe.

The defending champions moved 11 points clear of second-place Real Madrid, who drew at Real Betis on Friday to dent their hopes of finishing the season with a trophy.

Hansi Flick’s side can win their second consecutive Spanish title if they overcome Osasuna next weekend and Real Madrid fail to beat Espanyol.

“It’s not done, we have five more games, and we’re only focused on the next one,” Flick told reporters.

“We will celebrate when it’s time, but not now.”

Barcelona were without vital injured wingers Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, but still did enough to see off Jose Bordalas’s tricky side, sixth, in the Madrid suburbs.

“We were aware of what was going to happen here, we were going to have few chances, and I think we played well, competing well defensively and putting away the chances we had,” Lopez told Movistar.

“We know we’ve got a big advantage [in the title race], but even so, we can’t relax, I know it’s a cliche, but it’s the truth.”

Getafe set out to disrupt Barcelona’s rhythm with small fouls, and Barca struggled to create many clear opportunities.

Flick opted for Swedish winger Roony Bardghji in place of Yamal and chose Lopez on the left over Rashford.

Dani Olmo made the first with a neat dribble, speeding into Getafe territory, but pulled his shot wide of the far post.

Eventually, the hosts made the breakthrough just before half-time when Pedri played in Lopez.

Wearing a protective mask after hurting his face in a collision with Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Juan Musso during Barcelona’s Champions League quarterfinal elimination last week, Lopez stayed calm to slot home.

The midfielder imitated Yamal’s usual “304” celebration in tribute to the injured teenage star.

“The truth is he’s really important for us, it’s a shame that he can’t play any more, but the important thing is that he recovers well and is ready for the World Cup,” added Lopez.

With Getafe needing to come out of their shell to find an equaliser, Barca had more opportunities after the break.

David Soria saved from Olmo after he met Jules Kounde’s cross, and then the French defender headed a Joao Cancelo ball narrowly off-target.

Martin Satriano threatened for the hosts before Rashford, on loan from Manchester United, secured Barcelona’s triumph.

Robert Lewandowski sent the England international charging through on goal, and he slipped a low effort past Soria to help Barca put one hand on the trophy.

“Marcus, in the second half, he came on and used the space they gave us,” said Flick.

“I’m happy that we scored this goal for the team and also for him.”

Getafe goalkeeper Soria acknowledged Barca were clinical enough to clinch victory.

“They were very efficient, you give away two chances, and they score them both,” he said.

“It’s a shame to have gone in behind at half-time because it puts you in a difficult spot.”

From popular beach resorts to bustling European cities, language experts reveal the holiday destinations that British tourists commonly mispronounce — plus how to say them correctly

Brits are passionate about their overseas holidays. One advantage of living in the UK is having Europe right on our doorstep – yet many people may be completely unaware of how to pronounce their chosen destination correctly.

Linguistic specialists at the learning app Preply have compiled a list of locations Brits most frequently mispronounce. If you’re arranging a trip to any of these spots, verify your pronunciation using Preply’s handy guide (below). Mastering the correct pronunciation of your dream destination could help you avoid embarrassment while you’re there, reports the Express.

Cannes, France

The pronunciation of this glamorous French resort continues to catch people out. Many Brits naturally pronounce the final “s” or insert an additional syllable, but it’s actually a quick single syllable “kan”.

Phuket, Thailand

This stunning island getaway is incredibly popular among British holidaymakers but remains consistently mispronounced. The spelling can be deceptive, but the proper pronunciation is much simpler, beginning with a soft “p” to create “poo-ket”.

Cinque Terre, Italy

Renowned for its pastel-coloured buildings and picturesque harbours, this beautiful Italian coastal stretch welcomes millions of visitors annually, and countless people are getting it wrong.

Don’t rely on English pronunciation rules; instead, follow Italian conventions, starting with “cheen-kweh” and finishing with a rolled “teh-rreh”.

Kraków, Poland

This Polish city is regularly mispronounced. The main error is overemphasising the “ow” ending, when it ought to be a gentler “kov”.

Ibiza, Spain

It may be among the UK’s most beloved party destinations, but that hasn’t protected it from mispronunciation. Numerous people continue to overpronounce the “z” when it should actually be a gentle “th” sound.

Lagos, Portugal

This Algarve holiday favourite is frequently mispronounced by visitors. English speakers tend to pronounce it phonetically, whereas in Portuguese, the ending features a gentler “sh” sound, creating “lah-gosh”.

Budapest, Hungary

Common mispronunciation: “Buda-pest”

Hungary’s capital presents difficulties due to its misleading spelling. The proper pronunciation replaces the hard “pest” with a gentler “pesht”.

Barcelona, Spain

Despite Barcelona being an exceptionally popular tourist destination, many continue to anglicise the name. In Spanish, the “c” is pronounced “th”.

Marylebone, London

Despite being on British home turf, many people still struggle to pronounce certain locations. Marylebone is among these places. Instead of pronouncing it phonetically, it’s shortened to “Mar-li-bone”.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Scotland’s capital represents a classic stumbling block for tourists, who frequently over-enunciate every letter while attempting to get it correct. In practice, locals adopt a considerably more casual approach, dropping the ending completely and keeping it brief and low-key: “Edin-bruh.”

Lamine Yamal pulled up injured when scoring the winning goal for Barcelona in their La Liga win against Celta Vigo.

The consensus World Cup favourite could ‌be in danger of missing its top attacking option after Spanish ⁠forward Lamine Yamal ⁠sustained an injury while playing for Barcelona on Wednesday in a La Liga match.

According to reports, club officials believe Yamal sustained a ⁠torn hamstring, though a full prognosis won’t be known until he undergoes scans on Thursday.

The 18-year-old superstar drew a foul that led to a penalty kick, ⁠which Yamal stepped up and scored in the 40th minute against visiting Celta Vigo. However, once the ball hit the net, Yamal didn’t celebrate. Instead, he went down injured, clutching his left hamstring.

“We have to wait,” Barcelona ‌coach Hansi Flick said after the game. “We have to see what it is. There is something. He felt it. After the goal, he would not leave the pitch without reason.

“So it’s something. Something happened. Hopefully it’s not so bad, but we have to wait until tomorrow.”

Midfielder Pedri, Yamal’s teammate with both Barca and the Spanish national team, said, according to ESPN: “Hopefully Lamine will only miss ⁠a few weeks. I wish him the best of luck. ⁠He needs to remain calm because he’s young and will surely recover well”.

The goal was Yamal’s 16th in 28 La Liga matches this season (his 24th in 45 games in all competitions), and ⁠led Barcelona to a 1-0 win. The result leaves Barcelona with a nine-point lead on second-place Real Madrid in ⁠the league standings, so Barca are comfortably on course ⁠to claim the league title, regardless of Yamal’s health.

The bigger question is whether the injury could impact Spain’s chances at the World Cup this summer in North America.

Spain are scheduled for Group H ‌matches on June 15 against Cape Verde and on June 21 against Saudi Arabia, both in Atlanta, then play Uruguay on June 26 in Zapopan, Mexico.

Spain won ‌UEFA ‌Euro 2024, in part due to contributions from the then-16-year-old Yamal. A sublime playmaker and finisher, Yamal has six goals in 25 career appearances for the Spanish national team.

Tourists visiting this holiday hotspot may find it harder to book a hotel room in the future as local authorities are seeking to freeze new hotel licences in a bid to tackle tourist numbers

A European tourist hotspot that’s popular with Brits is eyeing plans to tackle overtourism, including potentially putting a freeze on the opening of new hotels.

The mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, is desperate for his city not to become too overcrowded and overwhelmed by tourists. Haris previously oversaw a ban on new permits for short-term rentals such as Airbnbs in three neighbourhoods in central Athens.

Now, he has told Euronews that he wants to avoid the city becoming like other crowded spots. He said: “We really need to see if and how many more hotels we need and where. We need to see and think about how much extra tourist load we can lift and where.

“We must not become Barcelona. We have to understand that there are saturated areas that cannot afford new beds: whether short-term rentals or not. Talking at events around the globe, we see that capping is not only being put on short-term rentals but also on hotels; in specific, ‘saturated’ areas.”

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Across the Attica region, where Athens is located, there are 68,934 rental apartments, nearly half of which are found in the city center. Across Greece, tourist demand has seen a huge increase in the amount of accommodation available, with 450 new four- and five-star hotels opening between 2019 and 2024.

Should Athens enact the ban, it would join cities including Barcelona and Amsterdam, which already have similar initiatives to tackle the issue of overtourism.

Evgenios Vassilikos, President of the Athens – Attica & Argosaronic Hotel Association – spoke at the same event. He argued that there needed to be a careful planning process when it comes to expanding the number of hotel beds and short-term rentals.

He said: “There are practices abroad which have been implemented. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. The example I gave is that in Barcelona they have completely banned short-term rentals from 2028 and from 2017 onwards no new hotel licences are being issued. So there are, therefore, these restrictions abroad. We will possibly have to see in Athens what we want in terms of where we want to be in 10 to 15 years. “

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He added: “We will definitely need hotel beds there. How many will these be? How many will be five-star, how many four-star, etc. There has to be a specific plan. And of course that drags in all kinds of beds, meaning non-primary tourist accommodation and short-term rentals.”

Athens has become the most popular tourist destination in Greece with about 12 million international arrivals in 2025. This included around 4.5 million British tourists, up from 3.5 million in 2019. The Acropolis alone receives millions of visitors a year, and at peak times can see over 17,000 visitors a day.

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