There has been speculation about the future of Clement Lenglet at Barcelona. The 26-year-old has been on the books of the Catalans since 2018 when he joined them from Sevilla. Since his arrival at Camp Nou, he has clocked up 146 appearances across all competitions, scoring seven goals and creating three assists (stats from Transfermarkt). However, the France international struggled for minutes this season under former Blaugrana boss Ronald Koeman. His situation has improved after the appointment of Xavi Hernandez as Barca’s new manager. He has clocked up 13 appearances across all competitions this season, with four of them coming in the Champions League. Now as per Marca, Clement Lenglet wants to stay at Camp Nou and is not thinking about moving to anoth...
Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele has been rewarded for his upturn in form with a recall to the France squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers. The 24-year-old hasn’t featured for Les Bleus since the summer of 2019 but now has the chance to add to his six international caps in matches against Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Other notable returnees include Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Lemar, who hasn’t featured since November 2019, while Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele, a member of their 2018 World Cup-winning squad, is back for the first time in two-and-a-half years. This represents Ndombele’s first international call up since his club-record €60 million (£54m/$68m) move from Lyon to Tottenham. The Frenchman arrived in north London with a reputation as an all-action midf...
Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman is not happy with multiple aspects of the performance of his team and individuals. The Dutchman once again was critical of elements of his side’s play despite edging out a 2-1 victory over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. Koeman told reporters after the encounter, in quotes carried by Marca: “I’m concerned about our performance in attack. “The problem against Dinamo Kiev was our performance without the ball. The problem exists, sometimes you cannot press and when you do, you leave spaces. “We have to talk about this and analyse it as a team, because the whole team has to improve. The game without possession has to improve.” Whilst Koeman did not speak directly about any of his players after the match, it is increasingly evident that he ...
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman was left frustrated at full time as his side slipped to a 3-1 El Clasico defeat at home to Real Madrid. Ansu Fati cancelled out Federico Valderde’s early goal at the Camp Nou but referee Juan Martinez Munuero’s decision to award a second half penalty turned the game on its head. The experienced official agreed with VAR and awarded a penalty in favour of Sergio Ramos after the Spanish international was pulled down by Clement Lenglet. However the home side were angered by the decision, as Ramos converted to make it 2-1, before substitute Luka Modric added a third goal late on. “We played well and created chances in the game. We did not deserve to lose and some of the referee’s decisions, I did not understand,” he told a post match interview with Marca. “The de...
France and Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti does not want to quit the Camp Nou this summer and will fight for his place to stay at the club. According to Diario Sport, the central defender wants to see through his current deal at the club through to the summer of 2023 and attempt to force his way back into the starting XI. Umtiti has had decreasing prominence at the club in recent seasons, primarily due to injury issues surrounding a recurring knee problem. The Cameroon-born defender has lost his place in the France international side with Clement Lenglet – his Barca teammate – often preferred in both line-ups, while Gerard Pique is still first choice central defender at the Camp Nou. Umtiti’s contract at Barcelona runs through to the summer of 2023 and he is still keen to fight for his fi...
Barcelona coach, Quique Setien, insists he wants to win the LaLiga title on the pitch. Spanish clubs are waiting for news when the competition will resume. For now, Barca lead the table and could be crowned champions if the season is now abandoned. Setien said, “Common sense would indicate that if it cannot continue, the logical thing would be for it to remain as it is. “But what we want is to end it. I’m looking forward to finishing it. “I wouldn’t want to win the championship if it stayed like this.” Get more stories like this on Twitter