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Tag: Barcelona

  • Laliga Celebrates Oshoala’s Impressive Scoring Form After Goal Vs Real Betis

    Laliga Celebrates Oshoala’s Impressive Scoring Form After Goal Vs Real Betis

    Spanish top flight organiser Laliga congratulated Super Falcons striker Asisat Oshoala for her impressive scoring run, after she scored in Barcelona Ladies’ 5-0 win at Real Betis on Saturday.

    Oshoala Scored Barcelona’s third goal which was her second in four league appearances this season.

    READ ALSO: Messi Difficult To Manage- Ex-Barca Coach, Setien

    It was the reigning African Women’s Player of the Year’s 29th goal in 30 games.

    And reacting to her goal, Laliga wrote:”30 games, 29 goals. Another goal today… (Saturday) @AsisatOshoala’s record for @FCBfemeni is crazy!”

    Barcelona top the league table on 12 points after winning all their four opening games.

    They were awarded the league title last season after the campaign was abandoned due to Covid-19.

  • Guardiola takes final decision on leaving for Barcelona

    Guardiola takes final decision on leaving for Barcelona

    Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has insisted his time at Barcelona is “over”.

    Guardiola stated this on Saturday, after a 1-0 win at Sheffield United in the Premier League.

    The Spaniard was responding to speculations linking him with a return to the Nou Camp, where he coached the first team from 2008 to 2012.

    READ ALSO: How I lost 2 pregnancies in SARS custody, teacher tells Lagos Judicial Panel

    One of the candidates to replace Josep Bartomeu as Barcelona president, Victor Font, revealed his hopes of bringing Guardiola back to the club if he is successful in the upcoming presidential election.

    “I said many times: my period as a manager in Barcelona is over,” Guardiola told BT Sport.

    “I think in life there is once, in a lifetime you have to do the things. There are incredible people who can be in charge.

    “Now, for example, Ronald Koeman is an excellent manager. It’s over.

    “I will come back to my seats to see my club to watch the game. But it’s done.

    “I am here, incredibly happy, and still have the desire to do well. This is the most important thing.

    “Now there will be elections in Barcelona, hopefully, they can choose the right person to the right board, to maintain this incredible club at the highest level.”

  • Guardiola sends clear message to Barcelona over potential return

    Guardiola sends clear message to Barcelona over potential return

    Pep Guardiola has made the clearest statement yet that he will not be leaving Manchester City to re-join Barcelona and has no desire to ever return to the Camp Nou dugout.

    The Spaniard is in the final year of his contract at the Etihad and is Barca presidential candidate Victor Font’s top target to take over as manager should he win the upcoming election.

    Guardiola has previously been coy on his long-term future, but has now completely ruled out the prospect of returning to Barcelona and believes that chapter of his life is over.

    ‘I’ve said many times, my period as a manager in Barcelona is over,’ the City boss told BT Sport after his side’s 1-0 victory over Sheffield United in the Premier League on Saturday.

    ‘I think in the life there is once in a lifetime you have to do the things and there are incredible people who can be in charge now, for example Ronald Koeman is an excellent manager. ‘So it’s over. I will come back to my seeds to see my club to watch the game.

    ‘It’s done. I am here [at Manchester City], I am incredibly happy here. ‘I still have a desire to do well and this is the most important thing.

    Now there will be elections in Barcelona, hopefully they can choose the right persons, the right board, to maintain this incredible club that Barcelona is at the highest level.’

    Manchester City won in Sheffield on Saturday thanks to a solitary goal from local boy Kyle Walker, moving up to seventh place in the Premier League table and are now just two points off top spot.

  • Barcelona troll Juventus, Ronaldo after UCL win

    Barcelona troll Juventus, Ronaldo after UCL win

    Barcelona trolled Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus on Twitter following the Spanish side’s 2-0 win over the Italian champions on Wednesday.

    The Catalans took down Juve at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, moving atop their Champion League group with two wins from as many games.

    Barca benefitted from a first-half goal from Ousmane Dembele, whose shot deflected up and over Wojciech Szczesny for the game’s opener.

    They added a second in the 91st minute with a Lionel Messi spot-kick, with Juventus having seen Merih Demiral sent off moments earlier for a second yellow.

    Originally billed as a clash of two of the greatest of all time in Messi and Ronaldo, Juventus were without their talismanic striker once again on Wednesday.

    The Portuguese star has been absent after testing positive for the coronavirus during the international break, and he did not produce a negative test in time to take part in Wednesday’s Champions League clash.

    In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Ronaldo said he was “feeling good and healthy” but the Juventus star then commented questioning the accuracy of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests that ruled him out for the Barca match.

    “PCR IS BULLSH*T”, he wrote, before eventually deleting the comment.

    Without Ronaldo, Juventus were unable to produce a goal, although Alvaro Morata did see a trio of finishes ruled out due to offside calls.

    And Barcelona took to social media to troll their opponents after the match, saying: We are glad you were able to see the GOAT on your pitch, @juventusfcen!”

    Having defeated both Juventus and Ferencvaros, Barca currently sit atop the group, with Juventus just behind on three points. Goal

  • President Josep Maria Bartomeu announces the resignation of the FC Barcelona Board of Directors

    President Josep Maria Bartomeu announces the resignation of the FC Barcelona Board of Directors

    Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu and his entire board of directors have resigned following increasing pressure from fans and his public fall-out with the club’s striker, Lionel Messi.

    Bartomeu, who became president in 2014, was set to receive a vote of no confidence as fans tried to push for his removal.

    At a press conference on Tuesday evening, October 27, in Nou Camp, he announced the decision to walk away following a board meeting on Monday in Catalonia after the 3-1 El Clasico defeat to Real Madrid.

    After the Monday meeting, Bartomeu had insisted that he would not step down, despite an impending vote of no confidence.

    He said: ‘There is no reason for me to resign. ‘It’s not an appropriate time to hand in my resignation. No one will be able to make the decisions if I decide to resign.

    ‘The idea of stepping down has never crossed my mind. Never.’
    An interim board will now take over and prepare for presidential elections.

    Bartomeu was the centre of Lionel Messi’s criticisms when he announced his shock transfer request to Barcelona earlier this summer.

    The Barcelona captain accused the president of not keeping his words, saying: ‘I told the president and, well, the president always said that at the end of the season I could decide if I wanted to go or if I wanted to stay and in the end he did not keep his word.’

  • Barca post 97 million euros loss for 2019-20 due to COVID-19

    Barca post 97 million euros loss for 2019-20 due to COVID-19

    Barcelona have announced a loss of 97 million euros (88 million pounds) after tax for the 2019/20 financial year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, while a projected estimate of breaking the one billion euro mark in revenues was also scuppered.

    The Catalan club also said in a statement on Monday that they had made revenue of 855 million euros, 14% down on the 990 million they posted in 2018/19, while their overall net debt had more than doubled to 488 million euros.

    The club said 47 million euros of losses was due to lost match day revenue, 35 million to reduced club shop sales and 18 million on stadium tours, with further losses expected until fans could return to stadiums in Spain.

    Predicted revenue for 2020-21 is 791 million euros.

    The players took a wage cut in order to help combat the deficit while football was suspended due to the coronavirus.

    Read more: Thiago Alcantara tests positive for COVID-19

    The club have also sold players who were on lucrative contracts, such as Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal, in the close season in a bid to get salary expenditure within La Liga guidelines, which directly relate to projected income.

    This has also meant a fairly quiet transfer window for new coach Ronald Koeman, with local media saying Olympique Lyonnais’ Dutch forward Memphis Depay could only join if they sold forward Ousmane Dembele, who has been linked to Manchester United.

  • Update: Lionel Messi Confirms his stay in Barcelona

    Update: Lionel Messi Confirms his stay in Barcelona

    Lionel Messi has publicly spoken for the first time about his desire to leave Barcelona – and has confirmed to Goal.com he has given up on attempting to force a move.

    The Argentine said he thought and was sure that he was free to leave adding that the Barcelona president always said that at the end of the season he could decide if he stayed or not.

    He said the club is now clinging to the fact that he did not say it before June 10, when it turns out that on June 10 Barcelona were in the middle of competing for La Liga in the middle of the awful coronavirus disease which altered all the season.

    “ Now I am going to continue in the club because the Pres. told me that the only way to leave was to pay the €700 million (£624m) clause, and that this is impossible.”

    He concluded by saying, that is the only reason why he is going to continue at Barcelona.

    He adds that he will continue in the club because the president told him that the only way to leave was to pay the €700 million (£624m) clause which is impossible.

  • Lionel Messi remains in Barcelona Despite Transfer Row

    Lionel Messi will stay at Barcelona: reports

    Argentine superstar, Lionel Messi, has reluctantly decided that he has to stay at Barcelona for another year to see out his contract and leave on a free next summer, according to reports out of Spain and Argentina.

    This is following on from an earlier statement credited to his father and agent, Jorge Messi disputing the validity of the release clause in his contract which according to Barcelona and the Spanish La Liga stands at 700 million Euros.

    The decision to stay is due to the stage of the dispute between Barcelona and its greatest ever player is at with the player said to be reluctant to take the case to court with the club unwilling to accept his departure on a free transfer despite the fact he thinks he is right.

    The sticking point being Barcelona’s belief that the release clause is still valid having not received any notice from Messi of his decision to leave on a free by June ending as stipulated in his contract with the player insisting that hos contract said end of 2019-2020 season and not June.

    With the Covid19 pandemic forcing the season to end later than usual he believes his decision to leave on a free is still legally valid but this according to the Sky sports news Gary Cotterill may prevent him from leaving as Barcelona still insist on a big pay out if he leaves.

    He is expected to speak in a few hours to a issue a statement and also speak in an interview with a local journalist in Catalonia.

    The new season promises to be an interesting one for Barcelona and its greatest ever player if he indeed ends up staying as he will be playing for a coach and president he does not like nor want to play for.

  • BREAKING: Barcelona announce Ronald Koeman as new coach

    BREAKING: Barcelona announce Ronald Koeman as new coach

    Former Barcelona midfielder Ronald Koeman has been appointed the club’s new coach, the La Liga giants’ president Josep Maria Bartomeu said on Tuesday.

    Koeman, who has been in charge of the Netherlands since 2018, replaces Quique Setien who was sacked after Barca were knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals in a 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich on Friday.

    According to reports Koeman and his agent were negotiating a two-year contract late on Monday, with the second year dependent on the outcome of the presidential elections.

    “Koeman will be Barca’s coach next season,” Bartomeu told the side’s television channel.

    “If everything goes OK, Koeman will be the coach we announce and will guide this team and the players with a different project.

    “It’s someone the supporters know well, not just as a player but also as a coach.”

    Koeman is a hero at Barca after starring for them as a player under Johan Cruyff and scoring the winning goal in the 1992 European Cup final — the Catalan club’s first ever success in Europe’s top club competition.

    His coaching career has been mixed and he arrives with Catalans in crisis.

    Setien was fired on Monday after the heavy loss which meant Barca finish the season trophy-less for the first time since 2007.

    Earlier on Tuesday sporting director Eric Abidal was axed, who also paid the price for the Bayern trouncing and a campaign of internal conflict by surrendering the La Liga title to Real Madrid.

    Abidal came under fire for his handling of the dismissal of then coach Ernesto Valverde in January.

    The former left-back blamed the players for Valverde’s dismissal in an interview, provoking an angry reaction from the club’s normally discreet superstar Lionel Messi.

    Bartomeu’s own position is also under threat according to reports with June’s presidential elections moved forward to March 15.

    Mauricio Pochettino was also considered as a replacement for Setien but his previous comments dismissing Barca due to his links with rivals Espanyol have counted against him.

  • BREAKING: Barcelona Sack Sporting Director Eric Abidal

    BREAKING: Barcelona Sack Sporting Director Eric Abidal

    Barcelona have sacked Eric Abidal as sporting director, the club announced in a statement on Tuesday, a day after dismissing coach Quique Setien.

    “FC Barcelona and Eric Abidal have reached an agreement for the ending of the contract that united them,” the club said on its website.

    Like Setien, Abidal, a former French international defender, has paid the price after Barca ended a season of internal conflict by surrendering the La Liga title to Real Madrid and then suffering a humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

    Angry supporters had hoped they would be held immediately but that possibility was ruled out, meaning under-fire president Josep Maria Bartomeu will continue.

    Details later…