Marca
No sign of Sergio Ramos in Real Madrid shirt launch
Sergio Ramos was one of the noticeable face that didn’t appear in any of the photos of Real Madrid’s kit launch campaign for the 2021/22 season. MARCA has learned that he wasn’t present at the photo shoot for the new kit, which was launched by Real Madrid and Adidas this Tuesday. While it’s true that the entire squad doesn’t attend such photo shoots, Ramos has always been a central figure in such campaigns. It’s not known if this decision was the club’s or Ramos’ or a mutual one. It could also be the case that the photo shoot was held when Ramos was in isolation due to COVID-19, but Adidas always want as many stars as possible present and the dates would have been moved if there had been a desire for the captain to be present. It should also be pointed out that this has nothing to do with ...
Mo Salah dreams of future La Liga action
Mohamed Salah has hinted his future could lie in Spanish football amid continued speculation the forward could leave Liverpool. The Premier League’s joint-top scorer this season is under contract at Anfield until 2023 but has been linked with a move elsewhere, with Barcelona and Real Madrid often touted as potential destinations for Salah if he were to depart Merseyside. Last year, the forward described the Spanish sides as two “great” clubs, but Jurgen Klopp later played down any transfer talk surrounding the Egypt international. Liverpool play Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in April as the two sides meet for the first time since 2018’s final in Kiev which finished 3-1 to the Spanish side and ahead of the games, Salah refused to rule out a future move to La Liga...
Lucas Vázquez rejects first offer from Real Madrid
Real Madrid have got down to work with the renewal of Lucas Vázquez and for now, there’s no agreement. ‘Marca’ published that the winger has rejected the first offer from the club. A few months ago it was clear that Lucas Vázquez’s cycle at Real Madrid had ended, but the winger has surprised both as a full-back and in his natural position. He is another totally different player and this has led to the renewal. Lucas’ contract ends on 30th June and at the start of the season, there were doubts about his continuity. Only the insistence of Zinedine Zidane, who always trusted him, kept his options open. But in the end, he has ended up winning him over on the park. For that reason, with the arrival of the new year, Real Madrid have got down to work with the extension of his contract. The Madrid...
Barcelona boss explains decision to rest Lionel Messi for Real Betis win
Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has confirmed he opted to leave Lionel Messi on the bench for their 5-2 La Liga win over Real Betis as a precaution. Messi started as a substitute at the Camp Nou after reports of a minor injury picked up in the 2-1 midweek Champions League win over Dynamo Kyiv. Koeman brought the Argentinian international on as a second half substitute against Manuel Pellegrini’s side with the 33-year old playing a vital role in their first win for a month. Messi’s dummy created a perfect chance for Antoine Griezmann to make it 2-1 to the hosts before he netted twice himself in the final half hour. “Since yesterday we talked and he had some discomfort from the game against Dynamo Kyiv,” Koeman told a post game interview with Marca. “We decided it was best to leave him on the b...
Barcelona boss angry with team and individual performances
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 ...
Bayern star ready to accept pay cut for La Liga return
Bayern Munich midfielder Javi Martinez is willing to take a pay cut to re-join Athletic Club Bilbao this month but negotiations have stalled, as per Marca. Martinez, 31, is said to have been negotiation to join on a two-year deal with the option of a third, with Bayern now open to selling for less than €10m – which was their original asking price. However, talks have hit a brick wall in recent days despite Martinez willing to reduce his salary from Bayern – reported to be €8m per annum – to be in line with others in the squad at San Mames. It is claimed by the report that Martinez only intends to return to Los Leones if he is to return to La Liga during his career and already has a verbal agreement to join the club this summer, should Bayern facilitate a deal. A year ago, the Basque club’s...
Manchester City name new captain after Silva departure
Getty Images Fernandinho will be Manchester City’s captain for the 2020-21 season, manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed. David Silva took the armband after the departure of long-serving skipper Vincent Kompany last season before the Spain playmaker opted to call time on his decade-long stay at the Etihad Stadium. It means the responsibility will now be passed to Fernandinho, another stalwart of City’s modern era, after the 35-year-old was voted captain by his team-mates and other members of staff. “He will be good [as a leader], as he always has been since I met him,” Guardiola said of the Brazil international who joined City from Shakhtar Donetsk for £30million in 2013 and is out of contract next June. “It doesn’t matter [whether or not Fernandinho has] the armband, he is always a guy who ...
Fabio Capello: Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard has sunk under weight of expectations
Eden Hazard has struggled to deal with the weight of the Real Madrid shirt following his high-profile move from Chelsea, former Real manager Fabio Capello has said. Hazard joined the Spanish club from Chelsea on a five-year contract for a reported 100 million euros ($116.54 million) ahead of the 2019-20 season. The Belgium international inspired Chelsea to two Premier League trophies during his time at Stamford Bridge but has failed to hit similar heights in Spain, with injuries limiting him to 21 appearances in all competitions this season. “He hasn’t been the player he was at Chelsea and he was injured for a long time, he hasn’t adapted,” Capello told Marca. “I’ve always thought of him as a great player but the Real shirt weighs heavily and Hazard has sunk this year. It’s clear that he’l...
Portuguese side join chase to sign Edinson Cavani
Edinson Cavani’s brother and agent, Fernando, is in Lisbon holding talks with Portuguese side Benfica. The 33-year-old striker is a free agent after leaving Paris Saint-Germain after his contract expired on June 30. Benfica are interested in signing Cavani and have made an offer to the player. However, as MARCA understand, it will be difficult for Benfica to agree terms because of the forward’s financial demands. Edinson himself is currently back in Uruguay and looking to try a new league as he nears the end of his playing career. La Liga Santander is a league that interests him, but don’t rule out a possible switch to Portugal either. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It beg...
UEFA releases possible dates for Champions League games
UEFA’s plan to complete the Champions League and Europa League continues. The plan says that they will be played throughout the month of August once the leagues are done in July. UEFA have an idea which is to end the season by the end of August. Therefore, the domestic leagues need to be completed by the end of July. The proposal is for the remaining last 16 games to be played in the first week of the month. On 26th and 29th August, Gdansk and Istanbul will host the Europa League and Champions League finals respectively. ‘Marca’ says that they will try and stick to that instead of playing both the finals at the same venue. There are 17 Champions League and 27 Europa League matches left to play. Confirmation of the new calendar depends first on leagues getting back underway and then on the ...
