Barcelona‘s Copa del Rey semi-finals win against Real Madrid has been tempered by a growing injury list that will make their clash against Villarreal on Saturday harder.
Andres Iniesta and Alexis Sanchez both limped off in last night’s 2-2 draw, which secured a 4-3 aggregate win.
That means Barca will head to El Madrigal missing six players in total, as David Villa, Ibrahim Afellay and Andreu Fontas are already injured, while Seydou Keita is at the African Nations Cup.
“At the moment, we are not very many in number, but we must move forward,” said coach Pep Guardiola. Read more...(529 words, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)
Real Madrid came back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 with Barcelona, but that was not enough as Barcelona progressed to the Copa del Rey semi-finals 4-3 on aggregate.
Real Madrid will rue their missed chances, especially in the first twenty minutes when they had more than enough chances to win this match. The first chance came just 15 seconds into the game when Higuain was in alone one-on-one with Pinto, but he could not even put his shot on target. Read more...(423 words, 1 image, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)
According to media reports in Spain, Jose Mourinho will quit his job as Real Madrid manager this summer.
For the first time Mourinho was booed and whistled at by the Bernabeu faithful as rumors continue to swirl around the team of divisions within the squad.
The sensational claim that Mourinho will quit came from highly-respected Spanish football journalist Siro Lopez, who said after Real Madrid’s 4-1 win against Athletic Bilbao at the weekend that the former Chelsea boss will walk away from his £11.5 million-a-year job at the end of the season. Read more...(409 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)
What an amazing story Mirandes is. The club, stuck in the third-tier of Spanish football, came from a goal down to beat Espanyol 2-1 in their Copa Del Rey quarter-final second leg and progress to the tournaments semi-finals on the away goals rule.
Espanyol took a precarious 3-2 first-leg lead to Mirandés tiny stadium in Miranda de Ebro in northern Spain. Espanyol were well aware that Mirandes had previously knocked out Villarreal and Real Racing Club in the Copa del Rey this season.
Espanyol thought they were on their way to the semi-finals when Rui Fonte scored in the first minute of the second half to put them 1-0 up on the night and 4-2 on aggregate. Read more...(202 words, 1 image, estimated 48 secs reading time)
Granada have hired former Atletico Madrid coach Abel Resino to replace the sacked Fabriciano Gonzalez and try to save the La Liga strugglers from making an immediate return to the second division.
“Granada CF announces the hiring of Abel Resino as the red and whites’ new coach until next June 30,” the club said in a statement on their website.
The 51-year-old, who also played in goal for Atletico, would oversee his first training session on Tuesday before being presented to the media, they added. Read more...(213 words, estimated 51 secs reading time)
Iker Casillas played down divisions between the Spanish and Portuguese players in the Real Madrid team after Sunday’s win against Athletic Bilbao saying:
“We can’t start losing our minds and pointing the finger at each other. Whistles are really aimed at all of us. We must all be united, team and fans alike. That’s the way to earn good results. We must all row in the same direction if we want to celebrate winning the league title. I don’t have a bad relationship with any of my teammates. You’ll have to ask Marca about what they publish. I have nothing against it, but you’ll have to ask them about today’s article. We’re not here to say if it is or isn’t true. We shouldn’t get dragged into this.” Read more...(278 words, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)
Real Madrid bounced back from their midweek Copa del Rey defeat to Barcelona with a comeback 4-1 victory over 10-man Athletic Bilbao that kept them five points clear at the top of the Primera Division.
In-form Athletic had threatened to add to Madrid’s misery following their 2-1 home loss to Barca in the first leg of their cup quarter-final tie when Fernando Llorente gave them an early lead. However, Jose Mourinho’s men drew level soon after through Marcelo before two second-half penalties from Cristiano Ronaldo and a late goal from Jose Callejon helped Madrid stay clear at the summit. Read more...(747 words, estimated 2:59 mins reading time)
Rumours are circulating of a serious training ground dispute between coach Jose Mourinho and vice-captain Sergio Ramos on Friday.
According to Madrid-based sports paper Marca, Mourinho accused his playing staff of betrayal following their post-match press reaction on Wednesday night.
During Friday’s session, Mourinho is reported to have turned to Ramos and said:
“You [guys] killed me [with your quotes to journalists] in the mixed zone.”
Ramos is said to have replied:
“No, boss, you only read what was published in the press, not everything we said.”
According to Marca, Mourinho then hit out at the supposed Spanish clique as he responded: Read more...(336 words, 1 image, estimated 1:21 mins reading time)
Espanyol extended their unbeaten run to five league games and moved into fifth place in La Liga thanks to a comfortable 3-0 win over Granada. The hosts started brightly and took the lead when Raul Baena headed in from Thievy Bifouma’s flick-on after 26 minutes.
Espanyol doubled their advantage just before half-time as Allan Nyom was harshly penalised for a trip on Vladimir Weiss and Joan Verdu slotted home the penalty. Rui Fonte wrapped up the points in the second half. Read more...(307 words, 1 image, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)
Pep has issued an apology to Lionel Messi for stamping on his hand in last night’s Copa del Rey tie.
“I wish to say yesterday’s incident with Leo Messi was unintentional, but I neverteheless want to apologise to him if he was offended because all I do is defend my team and this institution. I give my heart and soul, and the thought of hurting a colleague has never enetered my mind.”
