Extra-time winner lightens mood as Barcelona reach Spanish Cup final

Barcelona needed extra-time to reach the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday, with a 3-2 aggregate win over Sevilla coming just two days after a police raid on the club and the arrest of their former president.

Having trailed 2-0 from the first leg, Danish international Martin Braithwaite hit the crucial goal in the fifth minute of extra-time with a diving header off a Jordi Alba cross.

Gerard Pique had equalized in the fourth minute of stoppage time with virtually the last play of the game to save Barca.

The veteran international headed in at the near post after a fine cross from Antoine Griezmann.

That was after Ousmane Dembele, who scored in the 2-0 win at Sevilla in La Liga at the weekend, had given the 30-time Spanish Cup winners a 12th-minute lead in the second leg with a right-foot drive from outside the area.

Sevilla could have killed the game off in the 73rd minute to deny Barca their place in the final for a 42nd time.

They were awarded a penalty when Lucas Ocampos was brought down by Oscar Mingueza.

However, Ocampos saw his tame right-foot effort from the spot saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Flagging Sevilla were then reduced to 10 men in injury time when Brazilian Fernando was red-carded for a foul on Francisco Trincao.

“The team deserved to qualify,” said Barca coach Ronald Koeman.

“For their work and honesty. We are more aggressive, we’ve always created chances, the team has improved enormously.

“This is a very important result for the club, for the players, and for me of course as well. This is an important step in earning a title.”

It was a much-needed win for Barcelona after former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, current chief executive Oscar Grau, head of legal services Roma Gomez Ponti and Bartomeu’s advisor Jaume Masferrer were arrested by Catalan police, who searched the club’s offices on Monday morning.

They were all questioned in relation to last year’s “Barcagate” scandal.

The club holds its presidential elections later this week.

The search of Barcelona’s stadium was part of a probe into allegations the club carried out a defamation campaign against current and former players who were critical of Bartomeu.

Spanish radio station Cadena Ser claimed in February 2020 that Barca covered up inflated payments to a company called I3 Ventures which it had hired to boost the image of the club on social media.

Part of the social media campaign included criticizing current and former players like Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez, and iconic coach Pep Guardiola.

Barcelona will face either Athletic Bilbao or Levante, who are 1-1 in their semifinal, in the final on April 17 in Seville.

Before that, however, Barcelona will attempt another comeback effort when it takes on Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie next week.

Barca trails 4-1 from the first leg.

Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui admitted Wednesday’s defeat was a “bitter pill to swallow”.

“We are disappointed and sad to be deprived of a final.

“We experienced the most crushing feeling in football, conceding with the last kick of the game (in normal time).”

Agence France-Presse

Barcelona FC to cut salaries during coronavirus stoppage

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona will reduce the salaries of its players amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The Spanish club said late Thursday that its executive board decided to temporarily suspend player contracts, which leads to a “proportional reduction of the remuneration provided for in the respective contracts.”


The player contracts will remain intact during the suspension. Employers in Spain are allowed to reduce labor costs while guaranteeing that workers will return to their jobs once conditions improve.

The club said it had not decided by how much the salaries will be lowered.

Barcelona is the first Spanish league club to say it will reduce salaries.

In the 2018-19 season, Barcelona said player salaries for its sports teams accounted for 671 million euros ($727 million) of its 973 million euros ($1.05 billion) in expenses. Barcelona also fields teams in basketball, handball and other smaller sports, but its soccer squad takes up most of its salary costs.

The Spanish league stopped play two weeks ago because of the coronavirus outbreak.

AP

Lionel Messi back in training, could be fit for weekend’s game

BARCELONA, Spain — Lionel Messi was back in full training again on Wednesday and may be fit to face Real Betis in the Spanish league on Sunday.

Messi had been training separately from the squad since injuring his right calf in the preseason.

He missed the team’s 1-0 loss to Athletic Bilbao in the league opener on Friday.

Barcelona has not said how long it expects Messi to be sidelined.

Coach Ernesto Valverde is also dealing with injuries to forwards Luiz Suárez and Ousmane Dembele.

Dembele is certain to miss Sunday’s match at the Camp Nou because of a left thigh injury that should keep him out for about five weeks.


Suárez also isn’t likely to play this weekend because of a muscle injury sustained before halftime of Friday’s game in Bilbao.

Two-time defending champion Barcelona hadn’t loss a league opener in 10 seasons.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Barcelona on the brink of another Spanish league title

MADRID — Now it’s just a matter of time for Barcelona.

The Catalan club is on the brink of another Spanish league title after beating Alaves 2-0 on Tuesday to move within three points of clinching the championship. And that was with Lionel Messi staying on the bench until after both goals had been scored.


The celebrations for a second consecutive league trophy — and eighth in 11 seasons — could even start as early as Wednesday if Atletico Madrid loses at home against fifth-place Valencia. If not, a win against relegation-threatened Levante at home on Saturday would also secure Barcelona a 26th league title.

“It doesn’t matter when it happens,” coach Ernesto Valverde said. “We just want to win it whenever we can, because we know it’s very hard to win this league.”

Carles Alena and and Luis Suarez scored goals six minutes apart after halftime to leave Barcelona 12 points ahead of Atletico. If Diego Simeone’s team fails to earn at least a draw, it won’t be able to catch Barcelona in the final four matches because it loses to the Catalan club on the head-to-head tiebreaker.

“We’ll see what happens in Atletico’s match,” Alena said. “I would like to win it on Saturday at home so we can celebrate with our fans, but if it happens tomorrow, it will be welcome as well.”

Messi entered the game in the 61st minute to replace Ousmane Dembele. It was the third time in seven matches that Valverde rested the Argentine playmaker, who also started on the bench in a 4-4 draw against Villarreal and missed the team’s 0-0 draw against relegation-threatened Huesca.

Barcelona was coming off difficult victories against Manchester United in the Champions League and Real Sociedad in the Spanish league, with Messi playing from the start in both matches. Barcelona will travel to face Liverpool in the first leg of the semifinals of the Champions League next week.

Other regular starters rested by Valverde on Tuesday included midfielder Arthur, central defender Clement Lenglet and left back Jordi Alba.

Alena opened the scoring with a low shot from inside the area in the 54th after Suarez helped set him up by letting Sergi Roberto’s pass go through his legs. Suarez sealed the victory by converting a 60th-minute penalty following a handball confirmed by video review.

The result extended Barcelona’s unbeaten streak to 21 matches in all competitions. It hasn’t lost in the league since November, when it fell 4-3 to Real Betis at home.

Alaves, winless in six consecutive matches, stayed eighth in the standings.

VALLADOLID’S RELIEF

Valladolid took a step toward escaping relegation with a 1-0 home win against Girona, which is also trying to avoid demotion.

Owned by former Brazil striker Ronaldo, Valladolid moved to 15th in the standing with the victory, one point from safety with four matches remaining.

Michel scored the winner with a shot from outside the area in the 67th minute, ending his team’s five-match winless streak.

Girona, which has lost six in a row, dropped to 17th, just outside the relegation zone which is currently occupied by Levante, Huesca and Rayo Vallecano.

HUESCA LEAVES BOTTOM

Huesca left the bottom of the table for the first time since the seventh round by beating Eibar 2-0 at home with two remarkable second-half goals.

Enric Gallego opened the scoring with a back-heel touch in the 54th minute at El Alcoraz Stadium, and Chimy Avila added to the lead three minutes later with a spectacular volley off a corner kick, striking a powerful first-timer from just inside the area.

The victory moved Huesca past Rayo Vallecano to 19th place in the 20-team standings, five points from safety. 



Playing in the first division for the first time, Huesca had drawn four straight and hadn’t won in seven games.

It was the third loss in four matches for Eibar, which stayed 13th.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Neymar heading back to Barcelona after World Cup qualifiers

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona says that Neymar won’t rejoin the team until after he plays in Brazil’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

That means that Neymar will miss Sunday’s Spanish league match at Athletic Bilbao.

Brazil plays Ecuador in Quito on Sept. 1 and five days later it hosts Colombia in Manaus.

On Saturday, Neymar scored the decisive penalty in a shootout to help Brazil beat Germany for its first Olympic gold medal in men’s football.

Despite the striker’s absence, Barcelona has won all three of its matches this season.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Neymar defends his party boy lifestyle

Brazilian football star Neymar is a party boy and he’s not going to apologize for it.

At a sometimes tense press conference on Tuesday at the facility where Brazil’s Olympic football team is training for the Rio Games, the Barcelona striker told reporters he would not change his ways.

“I’m 24 years old. (…) I have my faults, I’m not perfect. I like to go out and have fun with my friends. Why shouldn’t I go out and party? I don’t see why not,” Neymar said at the training camp in Teresopolis, outside Rio.

Growing increasingly irritated, the Barcelona star went on: “I really don’t see the problem. It’s my private life. On the pitch, I always give everything I have.”

One of the journalists had asked Neymar how invested he was in the national team, given a recent spate of suspensions and the fact that he went out clubbing after a 2-2 draw with Uruguay in the 2018 World Cup qualifying rounds — a match that saw him earn a yellow card.

Directly addressing the journalist, he said: “If you were 24… wouldn’t you be the same way? I’m asking you.”

Last week, Brazil’s Olympic coach Rogerio Micale surprised some when he said: “I want to be dependent on Neymar.”

The next day, national coach Tite — who will take over the Selecao after the Olympics — warned against putting too much pressure on Neymar, saying it was “inhuman to put all the responsibility on one person.”

Brazil, a five-time World Cup champion that has never won Olympic gold, has struggled recently to escape accusations of being a one-man team with little threat beyond its Barcelona star.

When asked about Micale’s comment, Neymar compared himself to Argentina star Lionel Messi, his Barcelona teammate.

“We have great players, and wouldn’t we say that we rely on Messi? Of course we rely on him. We rely on the best players.”

Brazil’s Olympic squad will play a friendly against Japan on Saturday in Goiania.

The team is in Group A with South Africa, Denmark and Iraq.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Barca not interested in NFL type scrap, says Luis Enrique

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique compared Espanyol’s roughhouse tactics to the NFL after the visitors had two men sent-off in the second bad-tempered Catalan derby in four days as Barca came from behind to win 4-1 in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.

Hernan Perez and Papakouli Diop were shown red cards in a four-minute spell in the second-half with Barca already leading 3-1 thanks to a Lionel Messi double.

Messi then teed up Neymar for a stunning fourth to all but seal Barca’s place in the quarter-finals ahead of the second leg on January 13.

Espanyol’s intense approach had worked in frustrating Barca with a 0-0 draw on Saturday.

Yet, they lost their discipline completely in the final quarter with goalkeeper Pau Lopez escaping punishment for a blatant stamp on Messi.

And there were reports that the players from the two sides even came to blows in the tunnel after the game.

“The referees are the ones to set the limits. They are responsible for ensuring this is football and not American football,” said Enrique.

“Anything that takes us away from football worries me. All we are looking for is to play.

“When someone goes beyond the limit with their actions, there is a referee there (to act).

“We are teams used to playing in our own way and we have to understand that in a positive light.”

Felipe Caicedo had put Espanyol into a shock lead before Messi replied four minutes later.

A wonderful Messi free-kick just before half-time put Barca in front before the Argentine provided two fine assists for Gerard Pique and Neymar to put the tie beyond Espanyol’s reach.

And Pique admitted Messi had been the key to opening up the visitors.

“Derbies are always intense and they have a way of playing on the limit. There are referees that allow it like the other day and referees that don’t like today,” said the Spanish international.

“Their plan is to play very tough and they made sure we didn’t have fluidity in our play.

“Leo helped us a lot with the first two goals to open the game up and then we took advantage to create more chances and score the third.”

However, Espanyol captain Javi Lopez claimed the negative media attention given to his side after Saturday’s stalemate had influenced the referee.

“I like to define us more as an intense team,” he told Canal Plus.

“We are proud of the team, we are very intense and they lacked respect for us calling us violent. We are hurt with how they have us treated during the week.

“The media campaign we have suffered since the league game has taken effect.”

source: sports.inquirer.net