Re: La Liga

Real Madrid coped with 'violent' Atletico, says Carlo Ancelotti

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti was pleased to see his side cope with "violent" Atletico to secure a point that keeps them top of La Liga.

Cristiano Ronaldo's late strike rescued a 2-2 draw for Real in a fiercely-contested derby at the Vicente Calderon stadium on Sunday.

The result means Real are one point clear of title rivals Barcelona.

"They [Atletico] tried to impose a violent game. We tried to play and in the end we did it," said Ancelotti.

"We drew a game that we were losing.

"The response was good and overall we can be satisfied because Atletico are a good team, particularly at home.

Atletico Madrid assistant coach German Burgos Atletico Madrid assistant coach German Burgos had to be pulled back as he argued with the referee during Sunday's derby with Real.

"We're top and that's good. Now we have seven games at home and five away."

Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Real but strikes from Koke and Gabi gave Atletico a 2-1 lead at the break.

Tempers flared in the second half when Atletico assistant coach German Burgos had to be restrained on the touchline after striker Diego Costa had a penalty appeal turned down.

Ronaldo's goal eight minutes from time extended Real's unbeaten run in all competitions to 28 games, and kept them three points clear of third-placed Atletico.

"I always say that the result is what it is. What matters to me is the way in which it comes about and the team showed that it [the title challenge] is still alive," said Atletico coach Diego Simeone.

"There are still 12 games left, which is a lot. For us to be just three points behind is a very good position to be in."

Re: La Liga

Pique: Run for Barca president? I’m too easily recognised

Barcelona centre-back, Gerard Pique recently took on journalists to give his perspective on how the criticisms of the press affect the players and insists that his personal life, which has been tabloid fodder, has no effect on his performance on the pitch.

In Monday evening’s event, ‘Footballers vs. Journalists’, Pique spoke about the enormous pressures of playing for on of the biggest clubs in the world but also the criticisms they receive, which at times, can be overwhelming.

“To be recognised, to work in front of so many people…gives us the feeling that we want to isolate ourselves. A protective barrier where no one can hurt us. The criticisms are very hard. When you win, everything is great, but when you lose, everything is too cruel. When a journalist writes something harsh, would he say it to their face?

“Imagine that you work in front of 90,000 people. Do you really think a player goes out and doesn’t try to do his best? Against Valencia, it wasn’t that we didn’t want to run. The match was complicated and mentally we weren’t superior to our opponent. I’m always hungry. We live for this, we live to be footballers.

“I think we are still playing at a top level, if you look at the stats, we’ve scored the most goals in La Liga and conceded the fewest.”

Pique then explained some of the comments from his press conferences and admits that we must exercise caution.

“Many times I think I’m going to stick to certain topics, but by the second question my mouth gets the best of me and I say a headline. Little is discussed about football, about the referees, yes, whether they saw something or not, very little about football.”

Pique went on to add that he wished he’d enjoyed the 2-6 El Clasico win over Real Madrid.

“I would’ve liked more time to enjoy the 2-6 El Clasico. It was crazy, everything happened so fast, I’ didn’t have time to digest it.”

Pique concluded by discussing a potential run for the president after his playing days, which he remains coy, but discussed the life of a Catalan.

“I can’t imagine running for president, I’m easily recognised.

“The slogan ‘more than a club’ does good and harm. The members can do whatever they want, but we throw a lot of stones in our own glass house.”

Re: La Liga

Puyol: I will be leaving Barca at the end of the season

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol has officially announced his decision to leave the club, at the end of the current season.

Inspirational defender, captain and central figure at Barcelona, Carles Puyol, has announced on Tuesday that he will be leaving the Catalan club at the end of the season.

At a brief press conference at 4pm CET, held at the Joan Gamper training complex and ahead of the evening training session, Puyol simply began by announcing: “I want to announce that I won’t be a Barcelona player at the end of the season.”

As well as being packed with journalists, Puyol was also supportively joined by sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta, great friend Ivan de la Peña, agent Ramon Sostres, physio Juanjo Brau, club doctor Ricard Pruna, as well as team-mates Pinto, Bartra, Tello, Montoya, Affelay, Adriano and Oier.

Puyol, who will celebrate his 36th birthday next month, continued by making it clear that he’ll be giving everything he’s got to help the team, for the remainder of the season.

“There’s still three months of the season to go and I won’t be relaxing. I will be helping the team.”

Ahead of the press call, it had already been made clear that Puyol wouldn’t be taking any questions, following his announcement. Given there would be strong interest in what the future would hold beyond the summer, he explained: “I don’t know yet what I’ll be doing when the season ends, but certainly in the summer, I’ll be having a rest.”

That last comment, a clear indication that he doesn’t expect to be part of the Spain squad in Brazil, that will be defending their World Cup title, of which he was such a central figure during the 2010 tournament.

Puyol concluded by announcing that at the end of the season, he will hold another press conference, to say his farewells. No doubt the club and the fans will also now begin planning ways to say goodbye to their captain, in style.

Re: La Liga

Málaga players try to calm protesting fans

Málaga first-team training was delayed on Tuesday, when around 150 angry fans gathered around the Ciudad de Málaga athletics stadium, to convey their dissatisfaction at dismal performances this season.

Costa del Sol based sports portal, El Desmarque de Málaga, have reported that following calls from fan groups via social networks, a disgruntled group of around 150 fans gathered at the Ciudad de Málaga stadium, in order to protest at the first-team training session

Amidst chants favouring former manager Pellegrini and for German coach Bernd Schuster to quit, the players didn’t appear on the training pitch until an hour and fifteen minutes later than scheduled, apparently holed up in a team meeting with coaching staff in the locker rooms.

Later however, leading first-team players Duda, Camacho, Santa Cruz and Angeleri, attempted to speak with the protesting fans, at the gates where they normally exit the stadium.

Duda calmly tried to to gain calm and understanding from the gathered supporters, whilst explaining that they’re all in the same boat and that just like the banner one fan was carrying – “Ahora más que nunca, todos a una” (Now more than ever, all for one) – everyone needs to row in the same direction.

Since the complete shift in the sporting project at Málaga, compared to the big-spending last couple of seasons that propelled the team into the Champions League, the swift-selling of the biggest names and earners at the club, now sees Los Boquerones fighting to avoid relegation. For many fans, this has been an unacceptable change of fortunes.

Re: La Liga

Uefa look into alleged racist abuse in Manchester City youth game

Uefa has opened a disciplinary case against Atletico Madrid over claims of "improper conduct" by the team and "racist behaviour" of supporters in a youth game against Manchester City.

Devante Cole, son of former Manchester United and England striker Andrew, scored as City's under-19s won 1-0 in Madrid on 26 February.

The victory sent City into the quarter-finals of the Uefa Youth League.

Uefa's disciplinary panel will judge the case on 20 March.

City's match report described a "vocal home crowd eager to play their part in intimidating Patrick Vieira's men".

Both Uefa and Manchester City declined to comment on the incident.

Re: La Liga

La Liga’s alarming attendance deficit demands actions

When Europe were hit by an economical crisis, Spain was among those who suffered most. Unemployment rates went up and the country’s economy was hanging by a thread. Naturally, the Spanish football took a knock as well. Ticket prices went up, smaller teams would struggle to pay their players’ salaries and the attendances at the stadiums went down. The worst of the financial meltdown has gone past, but many issues in Spanish football persist. Among them is still the lack of attendance.

The average capacity of a La Liga stadium is roughly 37,000. During the ongoing season, the average attendance in the entire league, counting all teams, is just below 27,000. This means that each round, over 25% of the home matches’ seats are left empty. Over a quarter.

To only highlight one of the roots of the problem – exceptionally late kick-off times – the attendances are ever lower in the matches with a late kick-off. Around 24% of the seats were filled at Anoeta when Real Sociedad faced off against Elche in a match kicking off at 22:00 local time. 26% of Nuevo José Zorilla’s seats were filled in Valladolid’s 10 p.m. match against Celta. Just over 12,000 people turned up at Cornella El Prat for Espanyol’s Monday night fixture against Villarreal. Low attendances in such late matches have been seen all across the country, naturally even more so on Sundays and Mondays.

As easy as it would be to blame the fans for lack of interest, things aren’t, however, that simple. The late-kickoffs have been bashed for a long time, as they make it difficult for people to attend games knowing they have to go to work the next morning. Equally difficult it is for families.

What’s more, the matches could be at any time from Friday to Monday, and sometimes, the date and kick off time are only set in stone shortly before the fixture.

La Liga recently took a big step in attempt to – in their own words – “bring the league to the world”, as they agreed with Twitter and Mediapro to bring an official La Liga account -previously ‘LFPNews’ – on the social networking platform. The new feature includes access to more content on the league, including highlights and more videos. This will hopefully bring the league closer to the fans and spread the brand all over the world even more than ever before.

As these promising steps have been taken, it is important to remember, however, that the global visibility of the league isn’t exactly the primary issue, not when the league has been flirting with the global markets with midday kickoffs and Asian tours, and especially not when the league struggles to fill stadiums locally. As for now the LFP should take similar steps in attempt to bring the attendances of the league back up. There is only so much the clubs can do in cases of exceptionally late kickoff times that more than anything make the fans frown, and in the end, the teams do rely a lot on the income from the matchday sales.

La Liga might be adorned by talent, quality and arguably some of the best players in the world, but in terms of attendances, it loses to both English Premier League and the German Bundesliga. In fact, it does so by a large margin. If it is to call itself the best league in the world, La Liga can’t bear half-empty stadiums from one weekend to another, and must also offer its fans the best possible circumstances to follow their idols live in action. Otherwise, the discontent among the fans will only grow – understandably so – and the league will be shot in the leg by the people running it.

Re: La Liga

Mourinho: Real Madrid players would queue in front of the mirror while the referee waited in the tunnel

Former Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho has ripped into his former club’s players for being examples of greed and vanity that exists in world football today and wishes that more youth players would play for the love of football rather than the fame and money.

In an interview with the UK edition of Esquire magazine, Mourinho slammed the players and praised his current Chelsea players for being the opposite.

“What I feel is that before, players were trying to make money during their career, be rich at the end of their career. But in this moment, the people who surround them try to make them rich when they sign their first contract, when they didn’t play one single match in the Premier League, when they don’t know what it is to play in the Champions League.

“Lots of times at Real Madrid, the players would be queuing in front of the mirror before the game while the referee waited for them in the tunnel.”

Mourinho then made the point that winning titles and playing at a higher level should be the focus, as everyone gets rich in the end, anyway.

“So we are working hard to give the best orientation to young players, to follow examples of guys from the past – the Lampards, the Terrys –who were always fanatical for victories.

“How can I stop my players on the bus doing, er, what do you call?…Twitters and these things? How can I stop them if my daughter and my son do the same?”

Re: La Liga

AC Milan preparing bid for Levante’s Keylor Navas

Italian Serie A giants, AC Milan have reportedly shown interest in Levante goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, who has quickly become one of top goalkeepers in Europa.

According to Mundo Deortivo, Navas has been linked with Villarreal, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid, Milan have targeted the Costa Rican international as the ideal candidate to replace the aging Christian Abbiati.

Navas has a contract with Levante until 2015, but the Valencia-based club realise that signing Navas to a big-money contract extension may be out of their budget and could be willing to sell the keeper for €15 million, €5 million about the player’s release clause.

Navas, for his part, has expressed his desire to remain with Levante but is aware of the financial implications from his sale for the low-budget club.

The 27-year-old joined Levante in the summer 2012 and after spending his first season on the bench behind Gustavo Munua, took the reins and has proved himself capable of playing at the highest level in Europe and the World.”

Re: La Liga

Manchester City lining up a record-breaking €200m bid for Messi?

Lionel Messi has been subject to interest from other clubs for as long as we can remember, and even when the transfer season is off, the speculation seems to persist. El Confidencial claims that this time, it’s Manchester City who is willing to put a record-breaking €200m on the table to secure the Argentine’s services.

It is claimed that Messi is feeling unhappy in Barcelona, not least due to the tax-cases surrounding him and his father, and the source also goes to say that the Argentine is not content with his current contract and the renewal negotiations with the club. The uncertainty over Tata Martino’s future has also, according to the source, made Messi feel unsettled.

It is claimed that Messi would be open to a move and would feel less pressured in England than he currently does in Barcelona. Meanwhile, Manchester City are looking to take advantage with a €200m bid.

It is certainly not the first time Messi is being linked with a move elsewhere, and the player himself has repeatedly stated that he is happy in Barcelona and has no intentions to leave. Along with Manchester City, PSG are also reportedly interested in the Argentine.

Just less than a month ago, the new Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu made his stance clear, stating that Barcelona “will not sell Messi”, and that the Argentine is happy in Barcelona and the club will do everything they can to keep him happy.

Re: La Liga

Manchester United make Atletico Madrid’s Arda Turan a top priority

Manchester United are reportedly willing to pay the €24 million release clause for Atletico Madrid’s Turkish midfielder, Arda Turan.

According to English daily, Metro, Turan’s agent, Ahmet Bulut has revealed that there has been a lucrative offer on the table for his client, but admits that Turan is in no rush to leave the Vicente Calderon.

“We have received an offer from an English club. We will see. There are two sides to every transfer, the player and the club, it’s up to both to decide. Arda is playing at a big club with big goals and wants to be a part of their success.”

Turan has admitted openly in the past that he’d one day like to play in the English Premier League, however, the Turkish international has fallen in love with the city, fans and club and it would take an especially unique offer to wrest the 27-year-old away from the club.

Atletico Madrid, for their part, have insisted they will not be forced to sell their players this summer and will do everything they can to retain Turan’s services.

Re: La Liga

Real Madrid reportedly make first contact with Juventus over Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba

Real Madrid have reportedly contacted Juventus over the possible summer transfer of midfield duo Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba in exchange for cash plus Spanish U21 star, Isco.

According to Spain’s Cadena SER and Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport, Juventus general manager, Giuseppe ‘Beppe’ Marotta and Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez met on Wednesday night to open initial talks over what would be one of the biggest transfers in football.

Following the meeting, Marotta was quoted by Sky Italia stating, “Today I did visit Real Madrid, but even if I had spoken about Pogba and Vidal I wouldn’t tell you.”

However, other reports state that only a swap between Pogba and Isco was being discussed and according to BeIN Sports, the deal has already been agreed upon and completed.

This isn’t the first time that either Pogba or Vidal have been linked with a move to Real Madrid, but Vidal has publically pledged his loyalties to Juventus, while Pogba is not only targeted by Real Madrid, but French Ligue 1 giants, Paris Saint Germain.

Real Madrid bought Isco from Malaga last summer for €24 million, but the 21-year-old has hardly been given the chance to make it in the Blancos XI and has been linked with moves to Manchester City and now Juventus.

Re: La Liga

Ankle injury sidelines Valencia defender Costa for five weeks

Valencia defender Ricardo Costa has ruled out for at least four to five weeks, after further analysis diagnosed a more severe ankle injury, than previously thought.

Having performed further examinations on the ankle injury, which Ricardo Costa sustained in the first-leg of the Europa League clash with Dynamo Kiev, the medical services at Valencia have published their findings.

Following scans and tests, the club announced that Costa is suffering an ankle edema affecting the tibia and talus, therefore causing pain and restricting movement in the joint.

Fortunately however, the Portuguese centre-back won’t require surgery to correct the injury, with rest, recovery and physiotherapy the best course of treatment, in his particular case.

As such, Costa is now expected to be sidelined for an estimated period of four to five weeks.

Re: La Liga

Escribá: If we stay in the Primera, it will be much easier to attract players

Elche manager Fran Escribá and his team are in confident mood ahead of their trip to Espanyol this weekend, even though they know it will be a tough encounter, whilst also noting that the club are planning ahead for next season.

Fran EscribáAhead of Saturday’s encounter with Espanyol at the Cornellà-El Prat, Elche manager Fran Escribá explained that he’d be happy to see his side repeat the 2-1 victory in the first half of the season, that his team secured in the first half of the season at the Martínez Valero.

“Espanyol are an excellent team. At their place, they’re very intense and have dangerous players from midfielder through to their attack. They’ve also got a great striker and a good second line. Here, we were able to make the game uncomfortable for them, so we’ll be looking to repeat that there.”

As for the morale of his team, Escribá suggested that whilst additionally buoyed by last weekend’s win against Celta Vigo, confidence is always positive.

“This group of players always trains well and with enthusiasm. After a win, even more so. They know that what remains of the season will be difficult and they’re confident about what they’re doing.”

Asked if he feels his team are in the best form of the season, the Elche manager took a more demanding view.

“The team has been very average. I don’t have the sensation that we’re better or worse than at any other time. We’re getting better results at home now, but the scores remain very tight, both home and away.”

Thirteenth in La Liga and six points above the relegation zone, whilst there’s still plenty of points to play for, Elche are looking a safe bet to remain in the Primera. During his press conference, Escribá highlighted that the club is already beginning to plan ahead for next season.

“We’ve had two meetings with the sporting commission, already thinking ahead to next season and they’ve gone well, looking at players that we may need. If we stay in the Primera, it will be much easier to attract players. If we can achieve our objective weeks ahead of the end of the season, especially in a World Cup year, we’ll have more than enough time to plan for next season.”

Re: La Liga

Guardiola: Puyol is one of the greatest in Barcelona history

Former Barcelona manager, Pep Guardiola recently praised Carles Puyol on his empeccable leadership and role in creating the Barcelona we know today.

In a press conference before Bayern Munich’s match against Wolfsburg, Guardiola spoke about the Catalan captain, who announced that he’d be leaving the club at the end of the season after 15 years, and feels he’s one of the greatest players in Barcelona history.

“His track record speaks for itself. He’s been the captain and an example for the rest. He was always the first to run and get to training, first in everything. He helped me a lot throughout my career. Undoubtedly, he was one of the greatest players. I only have words of gratitude for him. Normally, when we speak about talent, we speak about offensive players, but he showed defensive talent. He looked like he enjoyed defending. He was a very intelligent player, one of the greatest in the history of Barcelona.”

Re: La Liga

Lionel Messi sees specialists after vomiting during games

Barcelona star Lionel Messi has been to see medical experts after vomiting during recent matches.

Messi, 26, was sick on the field during Argentina's midweek draw in Romania.

"Something is not right, but it doesn't affect his performance. It happens to him regularly," said Barcelona boss Gerardo Martino before Saturday's match at Valladolid.

"But it isn't a cause for concern. It doesn't affect him at all in terms of doing his job."

The four-time Ballon d'Or winner also appeared to vomit on the pitch during half-time of Argentina's friendly against Bolivia in March 2013.

It has been previously reported that he has been sick during matches for the Spanish champions.

"He has even gone to see specialists at certain times but their tests have proved inconclusive," added Martino.

Meanwhile, the Barca coach says skipper Carles Puyol, who will leave the Nou Camp at the end of the current season, is irreplaceable.

The 35-year-old Spain defender has made 593 appearances for the reigning La Liga champions since making his senior debut in 1999.

"I've only worked with him for seven or eight months, but that's enough to say what I said," said the Argentine.

"He is the type of player that a club has only once every so often. Life goes on at Barcelona, and the club will look for a replacement, but he'll always be in everyone's heads because he leaves an indelible mark."