Author: index

Ernesto Valverde is ecstatic about this new chapter in his life

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With the 2016-17 La Liga season already over, Luis Enrique has officially stepped down as the head coach of Barcelona as he was replaced by Ernesto Valverde.


The 53 year old manager already has experience in coaching top clubs as Valverde has been in charge of: Atletic Bilbao, Espanyol, Olympiacos, Villareal and Valencia.

Despite having experience with those aforementioned clubs, Barcelona is on another level as this is one of the teams that is regarded to be as one of the best in the world of football right alongside with: Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Ernesto Valverde has recently voiced his excitement in this new period of his life as the 53 year old Spanish manager said: Continue reading →

Enrique Happy with 3-0 Win over Espanyol

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Barcelona managed a 3-0 win over Espanyol in the latest derby of the two Catalan clubs.


This result may not have been like the swashbuckling 7-1 win over Osasuna a few days ago, but the solid victory keeps the club in the race for the La Liga title. After suffering a number of setbacks in the away games of late, the club managed a 3-2 win over Real Madrid in the 2017 El Clasico to being a major advantage in the La Liga title race. Madrid still have a game in hand and could potentially open up a three-point advantage, but Barcelona have been winning the psychological warfare up until now.

The match against Espanyol was seen as a major test of the team in the title credentials. However, the club managed to pass this test with flying colours after a 3-0 win. Luis Suarez the scoring in the 50th minute Ivan Rakitic provided the crucial second goal. Continue reading →

Luis Enrique Reveals Huge Regrets about First-Half Performance against Juventus

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Barcelona manager Luis Enrique claims that the club lost out to Juventus in the Champions League quarter-finals only in the first half of the first leg.


The club suffered a mammoth 3-0 defeat in the first leg at the Juventus stadium. Even though the club were confident about overturning this huge deficit – just like they did against Paris St Germain in the previous round, they were unable to make any impact in the second leg at the Camp Nou. Barcelona clearly had left themselves with too much to do in the second leg. Enrique says that he is feeling a lot of regrets about the first half at the Juventus stadium.

Paulo Dybala scored twice in the space of 15 first half minutes in order to give Juventus a commanding 2-0 lead, which was then built upon by Giorgio Chiellini’s goal in the 55th minute. This huge lead allowed Juventus to play a defensive style of football in the second leg. Continue reading →

Luis Enrique Says Barcelona Never Stopped Believing against PSG

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Luis Enrique says that Barcelona never stopped believing that they would be able to get past Paris St Germain in the knockout stages of the Champions League.


The Catalan club suffered a 4-0 loss in the first leg. The second leg was at the Camp Nou, not many gave the Spanish table leaders a chance given that no club in the Champions League history has been able to overturn such a huge first leg deficit. Barcelona were on the verge of going out of the competition in the last 16 stage for the first time since 2007. However, they produced one of the greatest comebacks – not just in football – to secure a 6-5 aggregate victory over the French club. Continue reading →

Lionel Messi to get Huge Hike in Salary

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Lionel Messi is all set to get an unbelievable salary hike at Barcelona as his new salary is supposed to match the salaries that the players are getting in the Far Eastern regions.


While the exact figure is not known yet, it’s understood that Messi will be receiving more than 2 million Pounds every month for his services and that is still a hell of an amount in European Football.

But, Barcelona will not be at loss giving this much of an amount to their Premier Player because with him in the team, their brand value will remain as high as ever and they will continue making a huge sum from the sponsors.

Messi has always been the possession of Barcelona as far as the senior club Football is concerned and the club chiefs have always taken care of the fact that he is content at the club in terms of salary and everything.

And that’s why, it never looked like a possibility that Messi would think of a move to somewhere else. Continue reading →

Barcelona Have Come to the End of the Cycle, Says Arrigo Sacchi

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Barcelona have been facing a lot of ramifications after the 4-0 loss against Paris St Germain in the Champions League.


Even though the club has suffered a couple of such heavy defeats in the past, this defeat has started talk about a potential end to the era. One of the greatest managers of all time, Arrigo Sacchi seems to think the same. Arrigo Sacchiwas in charge of the famous AC Milan team that managed to dominate European football during the latter part of the 20th century. He is no stranger to witnessing a team come to the end of its cycle.

In the 21st century, Barcelona have been the team to beat and replicate. Much of the success has been built on the presence of Lionel Messi. However, it seems that the Argentine superstar is not only coming towards the end of his 20s but also the end of his time with Barcelona. Messi was one of the players who was extremely poor in the loss against PSG. The rest of the team also has to take a lot of the blame. Continue reading →

Arda Turan not interested in leaving Barcelona

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ArdaTuran is an off and on player in terms of appearances with Barcelona as the Turkish midfielder is a regular starter in the team of Luis Enrique but the 30 year old player is not a consistent starter as there are many matches where he has to spend time on the sidelines before actually getting into the pitch.


Turan is not a key figure in the team of Luis Enrique, he does play an important role but the Turkish player is not as influential or significant as Lionel Messi or other high-profile players of Barcelona and this is why ArdaTuran is currently serving a substitute role in Camp Nou. Continue reading →

Barcelona Will Benefit from Andres Iniesta’s Return, Says Luis Enrique

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Luis Enrique says that he is betting big on the return of Andres Iniesta boasting the Barcelona team immensely ahead of the El Clasico of the season with Real Madrid.


After having been involved in two consecutive draws, there is immense pressure on Barcelona to win this match. Since the game is at the Camp Nou, the Barcelona players will also be feeling confident ahead of the tie. Numerous injuries and poor form have curtailed Barcelona’s defence of the league title. The club are in danger of falling nine points behind leaders Madrid if they lose the game.

The club has certainly struggled without the creative presence of Iniesta in the centre of the park. There has also been a major shift in terms of tactics compared with last season, as Barcelona are more focused on getting the ball to the forwards – Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suarez – as soon as possible. Continue reading →

Luis Enrique Reflects on a Dominant First Half but a Poor Second Half against City

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Luis Enrique says that Barcelona probably played the best football – under his management – in the first half against Manchester City.


The game ended in a disappointing 3-1 loss, which was their first against City, for the Spanish club, but Barcelona still remain in a strong position as far as qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League is concerned. Enrique has made it a priority to do well in the European competition after failing to win the title last time around. However, he believes that Barcelona were at their best only in the first half.

Even though the away team led to a goal from Lionel Messi, they were undone in the second half by a quite brilliant City team that seemed to have matured finally under Pep Guardiola. The new City manager has been experiencing problems with regard to formation and personnel over the last few games.

They were coming into the game on the back of just one win in the last seven games. As a result, they were not really confident and this clearly showed in the first half. Guardiola made some changes to the team and it paid off quite brilliantly. City have now put themselves in charge of their Champions League future after moving three points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen.

“If you look at the first 40 mins in Manchester it was the best 40 minutes of my time here. There was another 50 minutes where City were better than us. So in short it doesn’t matter what you do, how well you play, if you don’t win the game. I have to recognise we were deservedly beaten [by City] and focus on the next game. People are quick to praise [us] when we do well and to criticise when we’re poor,” said Enrique after the game.

SAGNA AND DELPH’S INJURY UPDATES

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Guardiola gives Man City injury update on Delph and Sagna. Fabian Delph has not played for Manchester City since the back end of August while Bacary Sagna’s last match was against Bulgaria in World Cup Qualifier clash.


Fabian Delph is on the mend after a successful operation on his groin. The Manchester City midfielder appeared in three of the first four Manchester City matches under Pep Guardiola. But injury problems have kept him out of the squad since August 24.

“Fabian, after being operated upon in Barcelona with Ramon Cugat, is doing really, really well,” Guardiola said. “When I spoke with him and the doctor, they assured me that there is no pain now. He is happy. But he is still out and training alone.”
Bacary Sagna was also out of the match against Middlesbrough as he continues his recovery from an injury suffered with France in the last international window. The right-back is expected to be available again before the end of the month and the former Barcelona and Munich coach Guardiola, who has had a few run-ins with medical teams in his time as a coach still feels satisfied with the state of his squad.

“Bacary is getting better,” the coach announced. “I suppose after the international break he will be fit enough to return to training then back to the squad.

“Luckily for us, we have a marvelous medical and physio department. We have 21, 22 players available and ready, so that seems fantastic in a period when there are a lot of injuries.”

Manchester City dropped to 3rd on the league table after their tragic late minute draw against Middlesbrough while the table leaders, Liverpool trashed Watford 6-1. Chelsea’s 5-0 win over Everton pushed them to second position on the table as Arsenal and Spurs occupy fourth and fifth position respectively after their 1-1 draw.