Fussball » Galvez blasted a free kick just inside the near corner

MONTREAL - The tightly cornered Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is a different track than most in Formula One, but dont expect the Mercedes AMG team to be any less dominant. The Mercedes duo of three-time Canadian Grand Prix champion Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg has won all six races to start the season, finishing one-two in the last five. They will be the favourites again despite the close walls and hard braking on the 4.361-kilometre circuit. "I dont think it will be different from the other weeks before," a resigned Nico Hulkenberg of the Force India team said Thursday. The race weekend begins with practice on Friday, and qualifying on Saturday, before the grandstands on the island track across from downtown Montreal fill up on what is expected to be sunny, warm day for the 45th Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday. It will be first experience for Canadian fans of the quieter, more fuel-efficient 1.6-litre turbo engines introduced this year, which have dropped the formerly dominant Red Bull team down the grid and raised Mercedes AMG to near-invincibility. In the opening six events, Rosberg has two wins and finished second four times to lead drivers standings with 122 points. Hamilton has four wins and one second to sit second with 118 points. Next closest is Ferraris Fernando Alonso, a two-time world champion, with 61 points. Sebastian Vettel, the F1 champion the last four years with Red Bull, is sixth with 45. Some felt the peculiar Gilles-Villeneuve track, which features long straightaways leading into sharp turns, a hairpin and some tricky chicanes, might close the power gap on Mercedes. No such luck, said Hamilton. "Ill be guessing, but I dont feel that will be the case," the 29-year-old Briton said. "Were particularly strong in the straights, the Mercedes are, but I dont know. "Maybe well be surprised this weekend, but the long straights do suit us very well. We have a very good power unit in our engines. Mercedes has done the best job with the engines, so Renault and Ferrari would have had to have done an exceptional job coming into this weekend in that area to be able to keep up with us on the straights." The Mercedes supremacy is drawing comparisons to 1988, when the McLaren Honda team of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost won 15 of the 16 races on the schedule, with the Brazilian taking eight and Prost winning seven. "In a way Im honoured to hear those comparisons because that was an extremely high-level, big battle at the time, but I leave it at that," said Rosberg. "I dont really compare myself to that era. I want to do my own thing." It seems the only thing that can stop Mercedes may be infighting between Hamilton and Rosberg, but even the tension that was building between them looks to have abated since a blow-up at Monaco two weeks ago, when Hamilton felt Rosberg cheated him of a chance to claim pole position. Hamilton tweeted recently "we spoke and were cool, still friends #noproblem." The Hamilton-Rosberg duo already has Mercedes 141 points clear of Red Bull and 162 points ahead of Ferrari in the constructors championship. Vettel has had bad luck in Canada in the past, but broke through last year when he cruised to win from the pole, finishing 14 seconds ahead of Alonso. Now hes grasping at any edge to stay competitive. "It will be difficult to match the Mercedes-powered cars down the straights," the German said. "There are also some corners here and weve been competitive in the past. "We were in a very good position in to win the race in 2011 and we won last year, so we have reason to be confident. But we know it could be a difficult weekend. "We know that the corners are very tricky and demanding here and you can make up a lot of time in the corners. Well try to do our best down the straights and try to do better than everyone else on the corners." Another leveller could be the infamous wall of champions, a concrete barrier at the chicane leading to the final stretch to the finish line. Over the years, some of the sports greatest drivers have crashed into it. Jenson Button of McLaren Mercedes is confident that even with the lighter back end on this years cars they should get through the turn OK. "Weve been driving these cars all year and if we can drive these cars around Monaco, I think well be all right around here," he said. The McLaren, Force India and Williams teams also use Mercedes engines, but none has put the package of engine and car together quite like Mercedes AMG. "In terms of the development of the car, it is working and were going in the right direction," said Button, the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix winner who has found himself battling just to get into the points by finishing in the top 10 this season. "Its tough. "When youve been fighting for wins and the team is used to fighting for wins, its difficult when you find yourself in this situation." Cheap MLB Jerseys USA . Sundays game against the Colorado Rapids at B.C. Place Stadium has important implications in determining Major League Soccers playoff picture and will also mark the final game in the career of veteran South Korean defender Young-Pyo Lee. Authentic MLB Jerseys Cheap . -- The NFL cancelled its Hall of Fame game between St. http://www.chinajerseysmlb.com/ Wholesale MLB Jerseys .com) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to win two straight games for the first time since mid-January on Monday night as they play host to the struggling New York Islanders. MLB Jerseys For Sale .com) - The Miami Heat will try to close out the Charlotte Bobcats Monday night in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first round series. BARCELONA, Spain -- Getafe eased past 10-man Granada 2-0 on Sunday to match a club record with a fourth consecutive win that kept the Madrid side close to the top four in the Spanish league. Rayo Vallecano and Elche also had players dismissed but both earned victories away from home, while Sevilla conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes to slip to a 2-2 draw at Valladolid. Visiting Getafe was helped by a disastrous day for Granadas centre backs, with one being sent off early and the other opening the scoring with an own goal. Pape Diakhate received his second yellow card in the 31st minute and defensive partner Jeison Murillo knocked Pedro Leons cross into Granadas goal two minutes after halftime. Leon sealed the result for Getafe in the 55th with a first-touch strike from the edge of the area. "Not long ago we were in second-to-last place and now we have won five of our last six games, thats a tremendous run in the first division," said Getafe coach Luis Garcia. "Im very happy for my players and our fans. They should enjoy this, but stay humble and keep working." Getafe climbed to one point behind fourth-place Villarreal before it plays at Athletic Bilbao on Monday. Barcelona leads the league after a 0-0 draw at Osasuna on Saturday when Atletico Madrid lost 1-0 at Espanyol to fall one point behind. Real Madrid is a further two points back in third place after beating Malaga 2-0, also on Saturday. Granadas struggles in attack continued with a league-low five goals through nine rounds. Its fourth loss in five home games this season sparked sections of the Los Carmeenes Stadium crowd to call for coach Lucas Alcaraz to step down.dddddddddddd Rayo defender Alejandro Galvezs stinging free kick in the 78th lifted his team 1-0 over last-place Almeria, which remained the only side in the top flight without a win this season. Rayo appeared to be in trouble after defender Saul Niguez was dismissed with his second booking in the 65th. But Almeria failed to take advantage of the extra man before Galvez blasted a free kick just inside the near corner of the upright to give Rayo its second win in a row. "We are down, just like everyone who feels something for this team," said coach Francisco Rodriguez, who hired by the promoted Almeria this off-season. Elche built an early lead and held on after going down a man to edge Real Betis 2-1, giving the promoted side its third straight victory. Elche struck first in Seville when Manuel del Moral headed in Domingo Cismas well-placed cross to meet his run at the first post in the 29th. Fidel Chivas extended Elches lead five minutes later, only for Jorge Molina to pull one back for Betis in the 41st. Elche resisted for almost the entire second half after Cisma saw his second yellow card a minute after the break. Sevilla dominated Valladolid for 80 minutes after going in front on striker Carlos Baccas precise strike two minutes in that Alberto Moreno doubled in the 31st with a long-range effort. Yet when it looked like Valladolid was done, substitute Manucho rose over his marker to head home a cross in the 81st, and three minutes later Patrick Ebert curled in a free kick to split the points. ' ' '