Tag: football news

Zinedine Zidane says Liverpool draw not a distraction for Real Madrid

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Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said Liverpool will be physically demanding opponents after the two sides were drawn together in the Champions League quarter-finals, but the glamour tie will not distract them from their La Liga title bid.

The 13-times European champions were pitted against last season’s Premier League winners in Friday’s draw, in a repeat of the 2018 final, which Zidane’s side won 3-1.

However, with Real sitting third in La Liga, just six points below Atletico Madrid in top spot, their focus for now remains on domestic issues, starting with Saturday’s visit to Celta Vigo.

“We know Liverpool: they’ll demand a lot from us physically, but this is for us to think about after the international break,” Zidane told a news conference.

“This season as a whole is tough. We can’t get ahead of ourselves, we have to take things day by day and be ready for whatever happens. We know we’re alive in the title race and we want to carry on working hard for that.

“Every year the final stretch of the season is do or die. I’m not focusing on the schedule, rather the day-to-day. That’s what really gets us going. We’re alive, we’re working hard and that’s inspiration enough for us.”

The meetings with Liverpool sandwich a Clasico tie against arch-rivals Barcelona, which could have a pivotal say in the title race.

Eden Hazard will be absent for Saturday’s trip to Galicia with a muscle problem as his injury nightmare at the Bernabeu continues, and Zidane said the club are working on a specific plan for the Belgian.

“We want Eden to recover properly, completely. That’s the most important thing for us,” he said.

“We don’t want him to have surgery. We’ll have a distinct plan for him. We want him back and firing.”

Hazard will be joined on the sidelines by defenders Dani Carvajal and Alvaro Odriozola, as well as fellow forward Mariano Diaz.

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‘We can rest when we retire’: Marcus Rashford rejects burnout fears

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With 46 appearances for his club and his country in less than six months, Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is pushing his body to the limit in a condensed soccer season like no other.

He’d have it no other way.

“It’s the life of a footballer… we can rest when we retire,” Rashford said Wednesday, a day before appearance No. 47 when United plays AC Milan in the highest-profile match in the Europa League’s last 16.

“For now, I’m happy playing as many games as I can.”

There’s a chance, if United goes deep in the Europa League and the FA Cup, of a further 18 matches for his club this season. Throw in England’s three World Cup qualifiers this month as well as the European Championship starting in June, and no wonder there are fears of burnout when it comes to Rashford and United’s other stars like Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire.

Rashford is reportedly delaying surgery on a nagging shoulder injury until after Euro 2020 and said he was happy to play through the pain barrier.

“I just focus on the next game at hand, that’s just the way I deal with it,” he said. “What’s needed after, we’ll deal with after. My main focus is just being available for the games as much as I can.”

“I know my body and I know what I can do physically.”

Indeed, his priority is winning trophies with United, which hasn’t happened for nearly four years now since capturing the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017.

United’s chances of silverware this season rest on the Europa League — the team is tied 1-1 with Milan heading into the second leg in Italy on Thursday — and the FA Cup, where Leicester lies in wait in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the semifinals have been the ceiling for United in cup competitions and Rashford said it’s time to put that right.

“We unfortunately got kicked out of the Champions League and our focus was to win the Europa League,” he said, “and we are not going to be happy with anything less than that.”

“That is the atmosphere and culture at this club,” he added.

Solskjaer sees being second in the Premier League, 14 points behind champion-elect Manchester City, as a sign of progress by United given his team finished in third place last season, 33 points behind first-place Liverpool. He pointed out United has 12 more points in the league compared to this stage last season.

“Sometimes a trophy can hide the other facts that are happening in the club,” he said.

“It’s in the league you see if you are progressing, really. Sometimes in the cup competitions, you might be lucky, you might be unlucky.”

“Any cup competition can give you a trophy, but sometimes it is more of an ego thing for managers and clubs.”

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Juergen Klopp Threatens to Withdraw Liverpool Players from FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has threatened to withdraw players from international matches this month if there is a chance they will have to quarantine on their return under coronavirus rules. Arrivals in Britain from “Red List” countries are subject to 10 days’ hotel confinement, which would apply to Brazilian trio Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Fabinho and Portugal forward Diogo Jota. World governing body FIFA has given clubs dispensation to prevent players who may be affected by the regulations from joining up with their countries for the matches, which include World Cup qualifiers.

And Klopp fully intends to apply it, saying: “I think all the clubs agree that with the same problems we cannot just let the boys go and then sort the situation when they come back by placing our players in a 10-day quarantine in a hotel, it is just not possible.

“I understand the needs of the different FAs (football associations) but this is a time where we cannot make everyone happy and we have to admit the players are paid by the clubs so it means we have to be first priority.”

Alisson is set to return to the side for the visit of Chelsea on Thursday after missing the win at Sheffield United as he was mourning the death of his father in a swimming accident in Brazil, while Fabinho could also return to a depleted defence after four games out through injury.

Sixth-placed Liverpool, who are one point behind Chelsea in the race for top-four spots, have not won at home since mid-December as their title defence has collapsed.

Chelsea are still unbeaten under new boss Thomas Tuchel and Klopp is aware of the size of the task facing his side.

Tuchel was Klopp’s successor at both Mainz and Borussia Dortmund and there is plenty of admiration between the German coaches.

“We’ve known each other for a long time, he worked for Mainz as I did, he worked for Dortmund as I did, so a lot of people we know are the same,” said Klopp.

“I think he is an outstanding coach and it will be tricky to play his team, like it always was.”

Tuchel described his compatriot as “always super funny and very, very interesting” but both men will be concentrated on the job at hand of qualifying for next season’s Champions League via a top-four finish.

“A week ago we were out now we’re around it again,” said Klopp after Liverpool took advantage of dropped points by Chelsea and West Ham last weekend to get back to winning ways at Sheffield United. “The challenge and job is clear. We have to win games and as many as possible to make it. We know that.”



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Ex-Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu Released After Appearing Before Judge: Court

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Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his former advisor Jaume Masferrer were released Tuesday after appearing before a judge investigating last year’s ‘Barcagate’ scandal, a Spanish court said. The two men, who were arrested on Monday, “exercised their right not to speak”, and the judge granted them conditional release while the investigation continues, the Barcelona court said in a statement. The court said the judge had sought to question them as part of an investigation opened in May 2020 into the suspected crimes of false administration and business corruption.

Two other club officials also detained as part of the operation which involved a search of Barcelona’s stadium — the club’s current chief executive Oscar Grau and its head of legal services Roma Gomez Ponti — were released late on Monday.

The operation comes less than a week before presidential elections are to be held at the club.

The so-called ‘Barcagate’ scandal involves allegations that the club covered up payments made to a company called I3 Ventures, hired to boost the image of the club on social media.

Part of the social media campaign included criticising current and former players like Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez, and iconic coach Pep Guardiola. Messi described the controversy as “strange” in an interview with Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo.

Spanish radio station Cadena Ser claimed in February 2020 that Barca paid I3 Ventures an inflated fee and put payments through in smaller, separate amounts to avoid the club’s financial controls.

Bartomeu maintained the company had been hired only to monitor posts on social media and announced an internal audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which cleared the club of financial corruption in July.

He resigned in October, avoiding a vote of no confidence triggered after more than 20,000 club members signed a petition against him.

His departure came in the same month Barcelona announced losses of 97 million euros (114 million dollars) for last season and following a dramatic decline in performances on the pitch as well as a personal falling-out with Messi.

His successor is due to be elected on Sunday, when club members will choose between the final three candidates, Joan Laporta, Toni Freixa and Victor Font.



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