Re: La Liga

Elche full-back Domingo Cisma believes his team fully deserve to survive in the Primera, having not fallen into the bottom three during the course of the season. They’ll have to prove their worth this weekend at Málaga though, with three points that could practically ensure their survival in the Spanish top-flight.

Following Wednesday’s training session, Elche left-back Domingo Cisma underlined the need for three points at La Rosaleda this weekend as being crucial for his team, with all thoughts centred around that game and nothing more.

“We shouldn’t look beyond the game this Saturday. The only accounts that are worth anything, are the three points on Saturday. For a number of weeks now, we’ve known that all these games have even more importance. If we can take points from this one, we’re closer to our objective.”

Elche haven’t enjoyed the best of form away from their Martínez Valero home, but confident ahead of the trip to Málaga, Cisma still believes his team have shown good performances and can do so again on Saturday.

“We’ve had good games away from home and in some of them, we’ve deserved much more than we’ve taken.”

Ahead of the challenge that awaits at La Rosaleda on Saturday, Cisma is aware that the game presents a fantastic opportunity to prove once and for all, that Elche have earned the right to be where they are, amongst the elite teams of Spanish football.

“In extreme situations, we tend to show the very best of ourselves. We must demonstrate our intensity and that we’ve really got something to play for there. We’ve been outside the relegation zone all season and we deserve to stay in the Primera.”

Re: La Liga

Real Sociedad striker Carlos Vela has explained that he’s happy to stay with the Basque club, but aware of the buyback clause that Arsenal retain, there’s always the possibility he could return to the Gunners at some point.

In an interview with Radio Marca, Mexican striker Carlos Vela spoke about his current situation and Real Sociedad, explaining that he’s content with life at the Basque club, but wouldn’t rule out the possibility of returning to Arsenal one day, given they retain an option to re-sign him for just €4 million.

“I’ve always said that I’m very happy and settled here, but we’ll have to see if there’s an agreement reached or not. I’ve good things there and here too. I’m in a place where I’m happy and at the moment, don’t have any intentions of moving on, but if the time comes to leave, I think I’m prepared to try other things. I’ve matured, I’ve changed my way of thinking and I’ve not closed my mind to anything.”

A return to the Premier League could be an attractive proposition, particularly if Arsenal do choose to activate their buyback clause, but Carlos Vela also pointed out that he’s aware of interest from elsewhere too.

“One possibility is my clause of €30 million, but there’s other options and we’re looking at that, to see what we can and can’t do. Arsenal can come back for me at €4 million at any time, which is €1 million more than Real Sociedad paid. I look at things differently these days and I won’t close the door on Arsenal, or any team in England. I think I’m better prepared to play in another country now.”

Carlos Vela has enjoyed strong performances overall this season for Real Sociedad, with 14 goals in 34 games in La Liga, plus 2 in 7 games in the Copa del Rey, along with 3 in 8 games in the Champions League qualifiers and group stage.

Re: La Liga

Real Madrid’s legendary striker, Raúl González Blanco will reportedly leave his current club, Al Sadd and join North American Soccer League (NASL) side, New York Cosmos this summer.

According to Spanish sports daily, AS, Raúl has made the decision to end his two-year spell with Qatari side Al Sadd and join his former Spanish international teammate, Marcos Senna in New York.

The 36-year-old, who will be 37 upon joining the club, was previously linked with a move to the States last December, with Senna urging the iconic Spaniard to leave the Middle East.

“If you told me I could sign a forward now, I would love to bring in Raúl, because of what he represents as a person – with his professionalism, commitment and ability. He’s exactly the type of person we want at the club.”

There has been official word from Raúl or the Cosmos at the time of publication, yet fans of the club that featured such former greats as Pele, Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer are hoping to relive the glory days with the signing of Raul.

UPDATE: New York Cosmos have issued a formal, yet undefinitive response to the report.

“We have not agreed to terms with or signed any player that is currently not already on our active roster.”

Re: La Liga

Barcelona captain, Carles Puyol is counting down the days until his storied career comes to a close and the iconic centre-back hopes to be fit to face Atlético Madrid in their final match of the season.

Barcelona manager, Tata Martino called up 18 players to face Getafe on Saturday evening, but once again, dropped Carles Puyol as the defender has still not been fully cleared to play.

Puyol continues to experience discomfort in the knee that has plauged him for over a year and will limit his minutes, even keeping him out of his farewell match against Atlético Madrid.

However, Puyol is determined to play in his final match in Blaugrana and Martino is optimistic that he will be fit to do so.

“We’ve spoken with him and he really wants to play in the last game. He has the opportunity of saying goodbye to the fans. We’ll see if he can be medically cleared and the injury allows it. It is something that we have in mind.”

Re: La Liga

AS Monaco will reportedly announce the signing of Barcelona goalkeeper, Victor Valdes within the next couple days.

According to French sports daily, L’Equipe, Valdes, whose contract expires at the end of the season, has repeatedly informed the team internally and publicly that he will not resign and with rumours linking him with the Ligue 1 side, it has been reported that Monaco will indeed announce the signing of the Catalan stopper in the very near future.

Valdes, who had surgery on 31st March to repair a torn cruciate ligament, will be sidelined until October, but has been free to sign a contract since this past January, which was likely the case.

The 32-year-old will rejoin former teammate and good friend, Eric Abidal, who rejoined his first club when his contract was not rewewed by Barcelona this past summer.

Valdes will be just the first of many signings to come this summer, as they have secured second place in Ligue 1 and will join league leaders, Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League next season.

Re: La Liga

Zubizarreta meets with Enrique about the Barca job

Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta held a meeting with Luis Enrique, currently Celta Vigo manager, leading to strong speculation the Catalan club are paving the way for his appointment, ahead of next season.

If comments from Tata Martino, in his post match press conference following the draw against Getafe, weren’t enough to suggest he may not be manager of Barcelona next season, then a further story that has emerged on Monday, may just back up the speculation about the security of his position.

Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta, accompanied by football coordinator Narcís Julía and technical secretary Albert Valenti, held a meeting with Celta Vigo manager Luis Enrique, at his home in Gavá on Monday morning.

Our regular Barcelona correspondent, Xavi Riera, was amongst three journalists at the scene, which included a photographer from Sport, observing the arrival of Zubizarreta, at the home of Enrique at 12:30 on Monday. He reports that the meeting lasted for a number of hours.

Given his contractual ties with Celta Vigo, this meeting can’t have been held without the permission of his club, therefore it suggests that Barcelona may have already sought their approval, before setting up the meeting with Luis Enrique.

With days seemingly numbered for current manager Tata Martino, the possibilities of Luis Enrique returning to Barcelona next season, have gathered pace in the media in Spain. Current players at Celta Vigo such as Nolito, also seem convinced that’s where he’ll be, sooner rather than later.

Luis Enrique began his managerial career with Barca B, between 2008 and 2011, before moving on to try his hand at Roma in Italy. Although that spell wasn’t particularly successful, he was strongly linked with the Barcelona job before the appointment of Tata Martino, although he then accepted the post at Celta Vigo.

Re: La Liga

Atlético Madrid manager Diego Simeone has added his presence to popular social networks, Twitter and Facebook, hoping to put himself a little bit closer to fans.

Argentine coach Diego Simeone now has official pages at Twitter and Facebook. At an event hosted at the residence of the Argentine ambassador in Madrid, he launched his official profiles and explained that he hopes to share both the good times and the bad, with fans of Atlético Madrid and all followers.

“We’ve been talking about this project for some time and we believe now is the best time. We’re exposed to the people who observe us and we looked at this medium, as a way to put ourselves closer to the fans. They’ll get to know us more and we’ll share the sentiments we have. This is a good opportunity for people to get to know who I actually am. I’m transparent.”

Simeone then spoke about the roller coaster ride that awaits his team and the fans, in the final three weeks of the season, with La Liga and the Champions League final to play for.

“These will be three exciting weeks. We have to live them calmly and with hard work. More than it being adrenaline, it’s like having vertigo. We like this vertigo though and we’ll enjoy it. You always have to believe and we believe. That will be my very first message in my social networks.”

As for the pressure his team is now under, rather than see it as pressure, Simeone wants his team to show their strength.

“What we’re doing comes with great responsibility. We’re not going to live through these weeks with pressure; we’ll face them as a time where we have to respond.”

Simeone has used his ‘game by game’ philosophy in press conferences so many times, it would hardly be surprising if the phrase was to become copyrighted in his name. He explained that it’s a mentality that works superbly for his team.

“It’s something that everyone experiences in life. It’s our reality. Since I came here, we’ve always said that we can’t separate ourselves from the ‘game by game’ approach. Working that way, our objective always feels closer.”

The comments he made after the defeat at Levante, caused many to smile at Simeone’s boldness, typical of his approach to football. He simply pointed out that everything is still very much in the hands of Atlético Madrid, when it comes to the title race.

“We’re at an ideal time and we’d all have happily agreed to be in the situation we’re in now. The facts speak for themselves. Against Levante we lost, but we’re still depending on ourselves. We have to confront the situation with strength.”

By winning their next game against Málaga, Atlético Madrid could seal the title. Although acknowledging that, Simeone insisted that his team are just concentrating their preparations, on the game itself.

“We’re just focusing on the game. True, we could have a chance of finishing the game as champions, but all we’re thinking about is doing well against Málaga and that’s what we’ll focus on.”

Asked about the possibility of winning a historic La Liga and Champions League double, true to his ‘game by game’ approach, Simeone insisted that: “We’re not thinking about that, because it’s not good to do so. We’re respectful and we’re focused on Málaga.”

Following the victory at Chelsea that sent his team to the Champions League final, Simeone couldn’t hide his emotions, of just how significant a moment that was. It’s one he also wants to share in his social networks.

“It was a historic moment for the club and for all the players. It was really special. I’ve decided to use a photo from after the game, for my Twitter profile.”

Re: La Liga

Rayo Vallecano manager Paco Jémez feels that the modest clubs, the ones who fight the fight week after week to reach their more humble of objectives, are the most deserving of praise and credit.

Paco Jémez Rayo VallecanoNamed the Liga BBVA Manager of the Month for April, after guiding his team to a marvellous run of form and results, Paco Jémez believes that smaller clubs like his own should gain even more recognition, more so than the teams fighting for the title, as they have the hardest of objectives to secure.

“I always look at the teams lower down, because in my humble opinion, they’re the ones who deserve the most credit, when they achieve their objectives. For ourselves, or for clubs like Almería or Getafe, achieving permanence is just the same, or even more of an achievement, than Atlético Madrid winning La Liga.”

“Without singling anyone out, I would like to remember all these humble people, who day after day, work hard to get their teams and their clubs towards their objectives, or remain in categories of the game where it’s very difficult to stay.”

At his press call after receiving the award, Jémez also praised the effort and most importantly, the belief of his players, for having remained faithful to their task and achieving such good results of late.

“The most important, or what makes me proudest, is how my players have behaved in the most difficult of times. All the doubts on the outside, haven’t penetrated the inside and they don’t reach us in here. That’s the most difficult part and it’s to the merit of the players, that at no moment have they doubted themselves. They have been persistent with their belief and that’s what’s given us the chance to be where we are.”

Re: La Liga

Valencia have released an official statement, confirming total agreement with Racing Club for the signing of highly talented young attacking midfielder, Rodrigo De Paul.

After being strongly linked with moves to a host of European clubs, including Arsenal, Udinese and Inter Milan, it’s Valencia who have managed to conclude the capture of 19-year-old Argentine attacking midfielder, Rodrigo De Paul.

Via their official club website, Valencia announced on Friday that they have reached total agreement with Racing Club, with the signing of the player costing them $6.5 million (just under €4.7 million).

In declarations to valenciacf.com, manager Juan Antonio Pizzi was delighted with the signing of Rodrigo De Paul, with the move to be completed in the next couple of days, subject to a standard medical.

“Rodrigo is the best prospect to come through in Argentina, in the last five years. This is great news for Valencia.”

General manager Francisco Rufete also enthused at the trajectory of the talented 19-year-old and that he will have an excellent future at Valencia.

“He’s a player who has proven himself in Argentina. Despite his youth, he was the captain of his team. He has an abundance of talent and he also shows great maturity in his play. We believe Rodrigo has everything to triumph at Valencia and in European football.”

The official announcement from Valencia, comes following confirmation by Racing Club president, Victor Blanco, that a deal had been agreed. He also added that his club will retain a 10% option on any future sale.

Re: La Liga

Real Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal has praised the club youth system which he graduated from, claiming that it is the best football cantera in the world at preparing young players to become professionals.

Over the last decade, Real Madrid has been associated more with buying big stars than producing their own talents, though that has started to change in the last year with La Fabrica graduates Alvaro Morata, Jese, and Dani Carvajal all getting time in the first team squad.

Carvajal has since come out to defend the academy where he grew up, calling La Fabrica the best football cantera in the world.

“The Real Madrid youth academy is the best in the world. They teach you the core fundamentals of the game when you are young, then they build as you grow into a professional player.”

The Spanish right-back also admitted that he had to leave his boyhood club last season to join Bayer Leverkusen so that he could prove himself at the top level and return as a first team player at Real Madrid.

“I had to leave, but I always kept the hope of returning. It was the move that I needed to make for my career at that time and everything worked out great for me.”

Carvajal then concluded his statements by revealing that no one thought the league title would be this tight at the end of the season.

“We all knew that the title would go down to the last few games, but no body expected this. Atletico have it in their own hands until the last day, but anything can happen.”

Re: La Liga

Vélez Sarsfield striker Mauro Zárate is apparently keen to make a European return, with his agent suggesting that La Liga side Villarreal have been making enquiries.

Various media reports from Argentina say that according to the agent and brother of striker Mauro Zárate, Villarreal have made strong enquiries and are lining up a summer move.

Zárate is currently at the club where he began his career in Argentina, Vélez Sarsfield, following spells in Qatar with Al Sadd, England with Birmingham City and in Italy with Lazio and Inter Milan.

The 27-year-old is said to be keen on making a return to Europe and with Villarreal having qualified for the Europa League, they’re also interested in the goalscoring form he’s enjoyed in Argentina this season, with 14 goals in 25 matches for Vélez Sarsfield.

There are thought to be a number of other European clubs who are interested however, therefore it remains to be seen if the La Liga outfit will follow up their enquiries with a firm bid.

As recently as March this year, Zárate was also linked with interest from Valencia and Argentine compatriot, Juan Antonio Pizzi, who at the time were thought to be particularly attracted to his low-cost release clause, reportedly just €1.5 million.

There were also reports that Valencia’s Argentine representative, Roberto Ayala, met with Zárate’s older brother and agent, Sergio, with the offer of a three-year contract on the table.

Re: La Liga

Malaga manager, Bernd Schuster looks likely to be on his way out of the club, after just one season in Andalusia with the directors heavily monitoring the situation Barcelona manager, Tata Martino to replace the German coach.

Malaga general director, Vicente Casado revealed earlier this season that their first choice to replace Manuel Pellegrini this past summer was then Newell’s Old Boys manager, Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino and the two sides were close to coming to an agreement, but the Argentine stressed that he wouldn’t sign a contract until his team was out of the Copa Libertadores.

Newell’s reached the semi-finals, giving Barcelona the chance to swoop in and convince Martino to replace Tito Vilanova, while Malaga went back to the drawing board, eventually hiring former Real Madrid manager, Bernd Schuster.

However, due to Malaga’s poor form in recent weeks, along with rumoured conflicts between Schuster and several of the veteran players, the club could decided to part ways with the 54-year-old just a year into his five-year deal.

Yet, it seems that Malaga may yet get their man, as Martino appears to be on the outs at Barcelona with rumours of current Celta Vigo manager, Luis Enrique set to take over.

Malaga are said to be closely monitoring the situation and hoping to convince the Argentine to remain in Spain, before accepting offers in his home country.

Malaga are also rumoured to be keeping an eye on the situation of former Real Betis and current West Bromwich Albion manager, Pepe Mel, whose Premiere League adventure could come to a close after just six months.

Finally, should either of those options not come to fruition, Malaga are also considering former Porto manager, Paulo Fonseca to lead their youth-centric project.

Re: La Liga

Rayo Vallecano manager Paco Jémez assured that his team has enough reasons to be motivated, ahead of their match at Villarreal on Saturday. As for his own future at the club, whilst happy to stay and insisting that improvements must be made, he wouldn’t rule out a change of scenery in the future.

Ahead of Saturday’s trip to El Madrigal, Rayo Vallecano manager Paco Jémez assured that even though many are suggesting his team have nothing left to play for, he doesn’t share that view and he’s been trying to ensure his players are fully motivated to finish the season as strongly as possible.

“I motivate the team the best way I know how. We’re training with a lot of intensity and I’ve made them see that finishing in 10th, isn’t the same as finishing in 8th. I’m confident that they’re good professionals, they have ambition and they want to finish the season the best way possible. Nobody should think that we’ve got nothing to play for, otherwise we won’t win.”

Jémez is clearly an admirer of what Villarreal have achieved this season in the Primera.

“I like everything about Villarreal as a whole. They’ve had a fantastic season. They’re a team packed with talent, speed in attack and an abundance of ability. They’ve put together a great team, not just to avoid problems, but to achieve the objective they’ve secured.”

Being the manager of the club with the smallest budget in the Primera, isn’t the easiest of experiences or challenges, yet Rayo seem to defy all expectations. Jémez is keen to see improvements made however, particularly when it comes to providing him with the solid foundations of a squad to work with.

“In principal, we’ll only be counting on those we already have under contract, which is six or seven players. It’s a problem we have. Next season, if I’m still here and will be my third, we have plenty of room for improvement. Having to rebuild the squad with around sixteen players is awful, because there isn’t much time before pre-season to do that, about five weeks.”

In this respect, Jémez is very keen to see any business that needs to be done, completed as best possible before the start of pre-season, so he knows exactly what he has to work with.

“We don’t have all the time we want to bring in so many players and that’s something in which the club has to improve on gradually. We’re bringing in a lot of loan players, many signings on one-year contracts and I think we need to improve there. We all have room to improve, if we want more players to stay. As such, this is a much more complicated project and situations like this only make things even more difficult.”

As for his own future, the message conveyed by Jémez is that he’s happy to stay, but he can’t ever rule out the possibility of his future lying elsewhere. Indeed, he suggested that one can never say never.

“Everyone tries to do the best they can and know how to. I’ve got a year left on my contract, but nobody knows what’s around the corner. Managers and players come and go, even when they’re under contract. I haven’t any thoughts in my mind, whether to go or not. I have a year left on my contract here, that’s for sure and something nobody can shift. However, what happens today, can change tomorrow and the following day, can be something else entirely.”

“The reality is that I have a year on my contract and other than something happening, which could, I hope to come back here and keep working, trying to do things as we have been for the last two season. I don’t know if it’s going to happen or not, because in this life you can never say anything is certain. In football if you say never, there’s always plenty of chances for you to be proven wrong.”

Re: La Liga

Barcelona announced that they will be holding a special event next Thursday 15 May at 13.30 in the Auditori 1899, to honour Carles Puyol’s retirement as a Barcelona player.

The event will be attended by the entire board of directors, the first team squad, coaches, friends, relatives, executives and other dignitaries.

On the official statement on the club’s website, Barcelona recounted all of Puyol’s accomplishments throughout his storied career.

Carles Puyol started out as a footballer in his hometown of La Pobla de Segur. His huge potential soon showed through and in the 1995/96 season he joined the Barça youth system, living at La Masia. It wasn’t long before he was one of the key members of the Barça B team, and on October 2, 1999, his dream finally came true when he made his first team debut.

His first major title as a Barça player was the 2004/05 Liga, when he lifted the trophy at the Camp Nou as first team captain. The following season, 2005/06, the Catalan defender led the team to another Liga title as well as his first Champions League in Paris. In total, he has won six Ligas, three UEFA Champions League, two Spanish Cups, two European Supercups, six Spanish Supercups and two Clubs World Cups.

In addition, with the Spanish national side he has won one World Cup, two European Championships and a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games.

Re: La Liga

Barcelona and Real Madrid seem set to fight it out this summer, for one of the most promising players in the Segunda and a talent who has been on the radar of both the La Liga giants, for quite some time.

Battling to sign the best young talents in Spanish football and further afield, has been a popular past-time for La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, for many generations. Now their eternal competition for the best and brightest youngsters, points to the pair lock horns once more this summer, with a player who has dazzled in the Segunda, during the second half of the season.

18-year-old attacking midfielder Marco Asensio has made a genuine impact, since he burst into the first team at Mallorca, offered his opportunity after impressing then manager Oltra with his trajectory in the youth system. Current Mallorca manager Carreras needs few words to describe the youngster, referring to him as “pure talent” whilst keeping him in his side.

The talent of Asensio has attracted interest from far and wide, with numerous top European clubs keeping a close eye on his development for the last two years. Valencia, Roma, Manchester City are but few who have carefully tracked his progress, but it’s Barcelona and Real Madrid who have maintained the closes focus and having exploded successfully into the first team at Mallorca, they are the two clubs who are expected to make the first moves this summer.

Although Asensio has scored just once in his 18 appearances for Mallorca, since his début against Recreativo de Huelva last October, it’s his creativity, dribbling, ball control and awareness, that have earned him an increasingly important role in their team, as they battle to avoid relegation from the Segunda.

Given the financial difficulties at the Balearic club, it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to resist a welcome injection of cash, that his sale would bring. They won’t be prepared to let him go for peanuts however and will likely hold out for his full €4 million release clause valuation.