Tag: barcelona

Did Atletico give glimpse of what could follow in Spain? | Football News – Times of India

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Atletico Madrid’s aberrant ouster from the Champions League to a suddenly slick Chelsea, is perhaps both picture and trailer of what is and what could be a revealing season in Spain. Eleven games to go, a comfortable ten-point lead more than halved in no time and Atleti, famed working class battlers of the Spanish game, are suddenly showing the fear of the finish line.
Simeone’s side made Chelsea look a lot better than they have become under Thomas Tuchel. In doing so, they have also sparked a now-valid argument that Spanish clubs are probably no longer the monsters they once were across Europe. With Barcelona too gone and Real Madrid limping on, the rise of Mbappe and Haaland imminent, the debate over this alarming dip in standard – and loss of appeal – will rage once the season winds down.
For now, was it the fear of the looming domestic scrap that made Simeone give up on Europe so feebly? With a small, tight squad, he would be wary of an advancing Barcelona, who dug deep and eked out a streak to be within striking distance as they lock horns in the penultimate week of the season. Add to that, that tricky laid-back guile of Zidane and Real Madrid in the distance, and Atletico probably would have thought it best to preserve their resources to defend their Liga lead than expend it on the continent – another manifestation of a less rich club navigating the home stretch. Atletico had a budget of just 253m euros this season. For all their financial goof-ups, Barcelona still enjoyed 382.7m euros, while Real Madrid had 468.5m.
Atletico’s early surge, as Barca squabbled and Real sought new vision, was in large part to the ambition of Luis Suarez, seeking a vindication in his typical underdog fashion, almost making him the story of the season. In the 149 minutes over two legs against Chelsea, he had a mere two shots at goal. He hasn’t had a Champions League goal all season, but with 18 goals in 24 games so far in the Liga, his was the impetus that Atleti rode on at home.
Once top of the charts, the Uruguayan has since relinquished the top scorer spot to Messi – old friends, now rivals – and both seek personal redemption of sorts this season. Messi was adamant to leave Barcelona, Suarez was off-loaded unceremoniously. Now, as one seeks to cancel the other out, in Spain, a chasing pack sputters and a runaway leader finds himself lacking in pace.

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Lionel Messi: I’ll do everything to get Lionel Messi to stay at Barcelona, says club president Joan Laporta | Football News – Times of India

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BARCELONA: Barcelona chief Joan Laporta gave Lionel Messi a hug and then pledged to do everything in his power to convince the club’s all-time top scorer to stay after being officially sworn in as the club’s new president on Wednesday.
Laporta’s pitch to Messi came two days after the Argentine equalled Xavi Hernandez as the club’s highest appearance maker on 767 games, marking the occasion by scoring twice in a 4-1 rout of Huesca.
“I’ll do everything I can to make Leo stay because he’s the best player in history,” Laporta said in his speech at the Camp Nou as Messi and fellow captains Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto and Sergio Busquets watched on.
“You know I love you, you know Barca loves you and if this stadium were full when you played, you wouldn’t want to leave. Whatever you decide is fine in the end, but we’ll try.”
Laporta, who presided over one of Barca’s most memorable periods between 2003 and 2010, which included Messi’s rise from the youth ranks to become their best player ever, won the election on March 7 with 54% of members’ votes.
He then faced an unexpected scramble to secure a guarantee of 125 million euros ($149.70 million) within 10 days of winning the election to secure his position and avoid a second election, eventually getting over the line thanks to the backing of Catalan businessman Jose Elias, CEO of renewable energy firm Audax.
“We’ve had some night, and it wasn’t exactly a party,” he said, in reference to securing the guarantee before Wednesday’s deadline.
Laporta inherits a deep financial crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and said getting the accounts in order would be his priority, also predicting the club would soon return to earning the same amount of revenue as before the pandemic hit last year.
“It’s our priority to make the club sustainable economically and we have an immediate plan to do that. But we’re not scared by the situation and if we have to make big decisions in Barca’s interest then we will,” he added.
Barca were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris St Germain last week but Laporta urged the players to try to achieve a domestic double.
They trail La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid by four points with 11 games to go and face Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final next month.

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Current Bayern team as good as Barca with Messi, Xavi and Iniesta: Klinsmann | Football News – Times of India

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CHENNAI: The Bayern Munich-Borussia Dortmund rivalry has been one of the standout features of the Bundesliga over the last decade. While Bayern have been a footballing superpower for many decades now, the emergence of Dortmund in recent years has ensured the presence of a worthy challenger to the Bavarian giants’ overwhelming dominance.
This season, though, there has been no such challenge from Dortmund. Bayern have a 13-point advantage over Dortmund ahead of this weekend’s ‘Der Klassiker’ and are on course for a ninth successive Bundesliga title. Bayern is indisputably the best team in the world right now, having won the Champions League and Club World Cup among six trophies last year.
What makes them so good? Former Germany and Bayern Munich striker Jurgen Klinsmann, who has also coached the national team, believes that their consistency and drive to succeed make them stand apart.
“Over the last few years, Bayern have just been a role model for consistency. They have an extremely driven culture within the club as well as within the entire city. They always want titles. That is their goal every year. They won six titles in 2020, which is a bit out of normal. But their winning culture is exceptional. To keep that in place is very challenging,” Klinsmann said during a virtual interaction.
Bayern’s feat of six trophies in a calendar year has only been matched once previously – by Barcelona in 2009. Not surprisingly then, Klinsmann went on to say that the current Bayern team can be compared to the great Barcelona team of the late 2000s, when the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta were ruling the roost.
“You can compare Bayern to the great Barcelona team that had Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and (Carles) Puyol. They seem almost unbeatable right now. In every position now, they have two players of absolute quality. If you can leave (Kingsley) Coman or (Leroy) Sane on the bench, it’s insane,” the 56-year-old, who is currently in Los Angeles, said.
Dortmund, on the other hand, are going through another rebuilding phase with a promising group of young players. Klinsmann sympathized with Dortmund, who kept losing their best players to rival clubs in Europe.
“Dortmund have had mixed fortunes. Often, Dortmund have had to deal with their best players leaving the club at a specific moment in time when they seem to be on top. (Robert) Lewandowski was the biggest loss in recent years,” Klinsmann observed.

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