Category: Random

Sandro Rosell said he wants fewer clubs in La liga

Sandro Rosell said that in Spain, football is going to come up against huge financial problems and he was against selling Spanish clubs to overseas buyers.

“My opinion is that our league has too many clubs,” Rosell said. “We have 20 and we should go down to 18, then to 16. This will mean that all the clubs will be more competitive and we can reduce players’ salaries”.

“It is the only league where TV rights are negotiated individually and some time in the next three or four or five years we have to put it all in one pot and make the distribution the way it is in Serie A and the Premier League,” he said.

“This is something Barcelona and Real Madrid are talking to the other clubs about; we have to listen to the demands of the other 18 clubs”.

He added: “The Spanish league is the second most popular (in Europe), but we are facing huge problems financially speaking”.

“None of the clubs in Spain are in a good position; we owe a lot of money to the banks”.

“Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Osasuna, the situation is not good but it is under control”.

“As for the other 16 teams, some are in a very bad position and I don’t think they will come back; maybe next year they will go to the second or third division or disappear”.

Rosell added: “The most important thing is to reduce the number of clubs for the future and put financial conditions that have to be accomplished, also in terms of people from abroad buying clubs in Spain.
“They are coming to Spain and I don’t like this but it’s happening”.

“They have bought Malaga and Santander and some other clubs; my question is where we go and if this fair on the associations when these clubs can increase capital with no limits”.

“FIFA and UEFA and the national associations are earning more and more money, you have the players’ agents and the players earning more money, but the clubs every year are losing more money. Something is wrong with the equation“.

Ibrahimovic: “Guardiola bullied me!”

In his new autobiography, Ibrahimovic claims Guardiola was key to ostracising him.

“It was a childhood dream and I was walking on air” Ibrahimovic was quoted “It started well but then Messi started to talk.
“He wanted to play in the middle, not on the wing, so the system changed from 4-3-3 to 4-5-1. I was sacrificed and no longer had the freedom on the pitch I need to succeed.

“So I asked for a meeting with Guardiola – for a discussion, not an argument. I said I was being used in the wrong way and that they shouldn’t have bought me if they wanted another type of player.

“I told him what a friend had said to me – ‘you bought a Ferrari but drive it like a Fiat‘. The chat seemed to go well but then Guardiola started to freeze me out.

“I would walk into a room; he would leave. He would greet everyone by saying hello, but would ignore me.

“I had done a lot to adapt – the Barca players were like schoolboys, following the coach blindly, whereas I was used to asking ‘why?’ I like guys who run red lights, not pedantic and strict rules. So I tried to be overly nice, didn’t dare lose my temper.

“But after this I stopped trying to adapt. For example, at Barca players were banned from driving their sports cars to training. I thought this was ridiculous – it was no one’s business what car I drive – so in April, before a match with Almeria, I drove my Ferrari Enzo to work. It caused a scene.”

After a 4-1 win against Villarreal during which the former Juventus and Ajax forward only played five minutes.

“Pep was staring at me and I lost it. I thought ‘there is my enemy, scratching his bald head’. I yelled to him: ‘You have no balls!’ And probably worse things than that.

“I added: ‘You are s****ing yourself because of (then-Internazionale manager Jose Mourinho, whose side beat Barca in the Champions League). You can go to hell!’ I was completely mad.

“I threw a box full of training gear across the room, it crashed to the floor and Pep said nothing, just put stuff back in the box.

“I’m not violent, but if I were Guardiola I would have been frightened.”

Leo Messi “A third hat trick is very difficult”

Two days after scoring his second hat trick in a row, the 13th of his career, and 200 goals as Barca Player – Leo Messi attended a promotional event for Adidas The world’s No. 1 does not reject any questions.

Is it true that you and Villa are not speaking, as published Superdeporte?

This was a surprise for us, this news. I dont know where it came out. The Guaje and I get along very well, as with other colleagues, both inside and outside the locker room. There is nothing to say about that because we dont know anything, and does not worry us.

What did you make of the interpretations of criticism you received for not scoring in three games?

I neither know nor do I care if I wanted to annoy criticizers.

You have always professed undying love for Barça. What would happen if you were to go away from here?

For money I will never leave Barca never. I would go if the club wants me again that my performance was not the mismoo the club or people doubted me, but otherwise I do not look outside.

Jose Mourinho squad is low on morale and unity following a few below-par performances.

“We are all totally united, and the atmosphere is good even after a week which has been quite difficult,” Arbeloa told a news conference.

“Some of us players have come out and denied this talk of supposed divisions or a bad atmosphere, and I do so again.”

What About the outspoken Mourinho of damaging the club’s image with his behaviour?

“Everyone at the club is united, not just from yesterday, but they have been for a long time,” said assistant coach Aitor Karanka.

“We are all working in the same direction. The coach was the first to dismiss this talk of a crisis.”

Ajax coach Frank De Boer said he was especially looking forward to the clash given his background as a former Barcelona player.

“Madrid is a great team, and to win, we must do very well,” the Dutchman said. “Mourinho is a great coach (but) he has made mistakes, and he knows that.”

La Liga – Strike action ended in Spain

The strike action that delayed the Spanish season’s start has now ended, and the weekend’s games will go ahead as planned.

The Spanish league (LFP) and the players’ union (AFE) have struck an agreement which means the season can start on Saturday.

A date has not yet been set for last week’s cancelled games to be played on.

The union demanded greater protection for players’ wages that have not been paid at clubs that have gone into financial administration.

The AFE says around 50 million euros ($72m) is owed to 200 footballers from the end of last season.

Barça will play against Villarreal at Camp Nou on August 29th. A chance to finally see Barça and Lionel Messi play football again 🙂

Barcelona FC vs Villareal CF  (Compare prices for tickets)
Date: August 29th 2011
Venue: Camp Nou stadium, Barcelona, Spain

Piqué defends Xavi

Xavi claimed last week that Fabregas had told him he has been “suffering” because of his desire to rejoin the Barcelona FC.

“Barcelona and the players have always spoken with great respect,” Pique was quoted as saying.

“Any player suffers when there is so much talk about his future due to the uncertainty of not knowing where he will be playing. Saying that is not a lack of respect to anybody.”

“I know how the situation is, but I think we must leave Cesc in peace and let things run their course. The summer is very long, there has been a lot of talk and it doesn’t help at all,” he added.

“I want to defend Messi,” says Maradona

“The national team didn’t attack at all (in the 0-0 draw with Colombia) and we blame him; we are being very unfair to Messi when I hear all those idiots slamming him.” Maradona said.
“I spoke to him during the week and I told him to remain calm,”
“Before the 1986 World Cup I was a disaster and I was criticised by 80 per cent of the journalists. Later, there wasn’t one who didn’t ask me for a story, so I can understand what’s going on.”
“I wish the best in the world to all of the boys who were with me at the World Cup and all of the other players,” he said.
“But not to the others.”

‘To me, Pele is the best,’ says Pele

Maradonna said it best – Pele is a dinosaur. Regardless­ who is the best, and I still think Messi has what it­ takes to eclipse Pele, he should have a little more­ respect for a player than to be lambasting him in­ public. And what is this addressing himself in the­ third person all about. Stop taking the blue tablets­ Pele, its messing with your head.

Take a look at what he said about our beloved Messi below and make up your own mind.

“Messi better than Pele? To get there he needs to score more than 1283 goals,” said the 70-year old.

“Neymar has great talent. I hope Neymar doesn’t end up like Messi, who plays so well for his club but does nothing for his country,” said Pele.

“Nobody did what Pele did. Being champion of the world at 17 years old, won three World Cups, scored more than 1,208 goals – only him! Then until now, nobody did this… to me, Pele is the best,” he said (Pele).

Barca president Sandro Rosell lays into Mourinho

Bad blood boiled up between the Spanish giants around four clashes in three competitions in 18 days in April and May and Rosell used his end-of-season news conference to read out a strongly-worded statement condemning Real.

“We believe that this season Real Madrid has gone beyond all the limits of the necessary sporting rivalry, making accusations against our club that have no foundation,” Rosell said.

“The rivalry will continue next season, but we will not allow the limits of sporting behaviour to be exceeded again.

“Football deserves clean competition, and FC Barcelona will do everything to preserve that.

“If necessary, we will take legal action and take the case to the relevant sporting tribunals.”

“The news conference that the Real Madrid coach gave after the Champions League semi-final first leg at the Bernabeu shamed anyone who considers themselves an athlete,” Rosell said.

Barca were also outraged by a report on Spanish radio station Cadena Cope, which cited an unidentified Real official as its source, that suggested Barca’s players and medical staff were engaged in illegal doping.

“I can assure you that if someone, in the name of FC Barcelona, had accused us of this kind, we would have acted with firmness, denying it immediately and taking those responsible to court,” Rosell said.

“A few days ago, the president of Real Madrid said he would not stop until the club had won a tenth European Cup,” he said.

“We hope that they attempt this on the pitch in a sporting manner and rediscover a way of behaving that I believe many Madrid fans want.

“The president of Real Madrid has a chance to reconstitute our relations, on and off the pitch.

“Football, which usually gives you back what you put in, will be the great beneficiary.”

Messi plays down ‘assault’

Barcelona star Lionel Messi played down an incident in which someone tried to punch him outside a restaurant in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina.

“I wasn’t even touched,” Messi said after a punch thrown by a youth wearing a hoodie failed to make contact.

“I didn’t feel a thing and I only found out after all the kerfuffle it was nothing,” Messi told sports daily Ole from Rosario, 300 km north of Buenos Aires.

On holiday after another brilliant season in which he helped Barcelona win the Champions League, Messi left the restaurant with friends and was surrounded by autograph hunters.

Argentine media, who gave the incident massive coverage, said Messi’s aggressor was a fan of Rosario Central, arch-rivals of Newell’s Old Boys, where the 23-year-old spent his formative years before joining Barcelona some 10 years ago.

“We’re taking photos and we see the arm and he dodges it. (Messi) did not react badly, he left walking and got into the (car),” witness Carolina told the TV news channel C5N.

Messi will report to national team coach Sergio Batista on June 8 to begin training for next month’s Copa America hosted by Argentina.
Reuters

Champions League Final build-up

Ryan where?: Despite being one of the first to arrive at Carrington on Tuesday morning, under-fire winger Ryan Giggs does not take part in a United training session open to the media. This unexpected absence does not spark any speculation as to the reason why. Everyone knows the reason why.

Early arrival: Worried by the prospect of flight difficulties caused by the ash cloud set to emerge from the erupting Gyflljylljkl volcano in Iceland, Barcelona announce they will fly to England two days earlier than planned on Tuesday evening. The club fears a repeat of the 14-hour coach journey to Milan last season to their Champions League semi-final first leg against Internazionale, which they lost. Apparently Barca president Sandro Rosell is driving up in a Seat 600.

Early Doors was looking forward to a repeat of the trip to Osasuna last December, disrupted by an air traffic controllers’ strike, which led to the memorable footage of Pedro sprinting down the station platform and jumping on board just as the doors were closing.

Free the Carrington One: Rob Harris, a journalist from the Associated Press agency, has the temerity to ask Alex Ferguson a question about Giggs in a post-training press conference at United’s training ground. Despite framing his name check of the man briefly known as ‘Footballer A’ in the most harmless way possible (“The most experienced Champions League player in the team is obviously Ryan Giggs. How important is he for the team on Saturday?”), Harris gets a terse reply from Fergie (“All the players are important, every one of them”).

Later in the same presser, as a translator is recounting another answer for the benefit of the assembled Spanish media, Ferguson is caught on mic plotting to ban Harris from the training ground. That’s just the hands-on attention to detail which won him the LMA’s Manager of the Year award earlier in the week.

Pap Attack: The cars of several journalists stationed near Giggs’s house are reportedly attacked by a group of masked men who leap out of a Ford Transit van. Tyres are slashed, bodywork is kicked in and eggs are thrown. “Shortly after 3.20pm on 24 May 2011, police were called to (an address) in Worsley, following reports a number of cars had been damaged,” Greater Manchester Police said. Reports that the men were all wearing rubber Giggs masks in a nod to a scene from Looking for Eric remain unconfirmed.

Worst triple substitution ever: Fans flock to Old Trafford for Gary Neville’s testimonial against Juventus. Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes and Giggs start the match in tribute to their retired team-mate alongside former colleagues Nicky Butt and David Beckham. Hearts are in mouths every time one of the trio set to feature on Saturday touches the ball, but they are replaced unscathed after 30 minutes by Gabriel Obertan, Darron Gibson and Bebe. Beckham shows he has learned his lesson after jumping that tackle against Brazil in 2002 by not shirking a challenge on a teenage pitch invader, wrestling the little tyro to the ground.

Sleeping with the enemy: Barca land in London and head off to their Hertfordshire hotel. Arsenal gracefully offer the services of their London Colney training ground to the team which eliminated them from the competition in the second round. “It highlights the respect between the two clubs and we are obviously very grateful to them,” a Barca spokesman says before sneaking off to ‘have a chat’ with Cesc Fabregas.

It is announced that Barca will lay on coaches for any fans travelling from Catalonia whose flight plans are disrupted, and that the team will be returning home after the final on a plane covered in pictures of the players. It would almost be worth them losing just to see them sheepishly emerge from said plane on to the El Prat runway come Sunday.

Top Gea: Ferguson reveals after Neville’s testimonial that United are set to sign Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David de Gea. The 21-year-old is in line for an £18 million move to Old Trafford this summer. With Sergio Aguero already announcing his intention to leave Atletico, and Diego Forlan mulling over a move to UAE to play for Diego Maradona’s club Al Wasl, the Rojiblancos look set to lose their three best players – as well as their manager – a year after winning the Europa League. There is a warning in there for Porto.

Banner brandisher banned: A United fan has slammed the club for the “horrific treatment” which saw her dragged from her seat and arrested for unveiling a ‘Love United Hate Glazer’ banner at Old Trafford, causing her to miss out on a ticket for Saturday’s final.

The Guardian’s Owen Gibson reports that 27-year-old Carly Lyes, a trainee social worker, was forcibly removed from the ground during the home leg of the quarter-final tie against Chelsea after unveiling the banner for “two to three minutes”.

Lyes said: “I know the ground regulations very well and asked which one I had broken. I was told I’d broken ‘all of them’. (A steward) told me that it was their stadium and, if they didn’t want me in it, I shouldn’t be in it… The police came over and said I needed to leave. They said I had breached the peace and needed to leave. They dragged me down the stairs. I was taken to the concourse, put in handcuffs and taken to a cell underneath the stadium.” Lyes’s season ticket was subsequently suspended, rendering her ineligible to apply for a ticket for the final.

A club spokesman responded: “The individual in question infringed the ground rules of the stadium and was obstructive and aggressive when asked to comply by the stewards.”

Real Madrid’s Valdano thinks Mourinho’s ban is excessive

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho’s five-match touchline ban in European competition is over the top, the club’s director general Jorge Valdano has said.

“It’s excessive,” Valdano told Spanish television after Real’s 6-2 thrashing of Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan.

“Throughout the season there have been many coaches who have made some very hard comments, and the punishments were smaller.”

“I don’t know when he’s (Mourinho) going to come out (to speak),” Karanka said. “But as I said yesterday, when things become clearer and calm down a bit, and he sees why all this has happened, he’ll come out again.”

“We are very pleased, the players are motivated, and the boss has burned a positive attitude into us to be able to start the next season well,” he told reporters.

We think here at Footballticketsbarcelona.com that the man has a lot of issues both on and off the pitch, he is forever saying things that get him into trouble and this ban is the result of that.

Take a look at my top 10 Mourinho vocal blunders.

10.”I studied Italian five hours a day for many months to ensure I could communicate with the players, media and fans. [Claudio] Ranieri had been in England for five years and still struggled to say ‘good morning’ and ‘good afternoon.’ “He has won a Super Cup, a small cup. He has never won a major trophy. Maybe he needs to change his mindset but he is too old to do it.”

9.”If I had wanted to be protected in a quiet job, I could have stayed at Porto. I would have been second, after God, in the eyes of the fans even if I had never won another thing.”

8.”When I saw Rijkaard entering the referee’s dressing room I couldn’t believe it. When Didier Drogba was sent off I wasn’t surprised.” “My history as a manager cannot be compared with Frank Rijkaard’s history. He has zero trophies and I have a lot of them.”

7.”For me, pressure is bird flu. I’m feeling a lot of pressure with the problem in Scotland. It’s not fun and I’m more scared of it than football.”

6.“As for Monaco I do not know who he is. With the name Monaco I have heard of Bayern Monaco (Munich) and the Monaco GP, the Tibetan Monaco (Monk), and the Principality of Monaco. I have never heard of any others.”

5.”I think he is one of these people who is a voyeur. He likes to watch other people. There are some guys who, when they are at home, have a big telescope to see what happens in other families. He speaks, speaks, speaks about Chelsea.” Talking about Catania president Pietro Lo Monaco claimed he wanted to ‘smack [Mourinho] in the mouth’

4.“As we say in Portugal, they brought the bus and they left the bus in front of the goal. I would have been frustrated if I had been a supporter who paid £50 to watch this game because Spurs came to defend.”

3.”It’s not even a game between him and me. It’s a game where a kid made some statements not showing maturity and respect. Maybe [it’s his] education, difficult childhood, no education, maybe [it is] the consequence of that.” He said that about Cristiano Ronaldo!

2.”Ronaldo is a good player, but he is certainly not the best. He deserved the Golden Ball award because his team won the Champions League and the Premier League. But, for me, Ibrahimovic is the best.”

1.“Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m a European champion, and I think I’m a special one.”

JOSE MOURINHO has been given a five-game European ban

JOSE MOURINHO has been given a five-game European ban for his outbursts during the fiery Champions League semi-final first-leg clash against Barcelona.

The Real Madrid boss has already served a one-match ban, and another is suspended, meaning he will miss Madrid’s first three European games next season. Mourinho has also been fined £44,000 by UEFA’s control and disciplinary body for his sending-off and comments after the first leg.

Barcelona reserve keeper Jose Pinto, who was red-carded after a scuffle at half-time at the Bernabeu, has been given a three-game ban.

Real Madrid, who were also fined £18,000 for the behaviour of their fans, have already announced they will appeal.

The club said in a statement: “Real Madrid CF considers this resolution still suffers from the same defects found at the start of the disciplinary case, which made it impossible for our coach to use his right to defend himself since the exact statements for which the disciplinary case was opened are still unknown.

“Real Madrid CF will appeal this decision before the UEFA appeals body.”

Manchester United’s £9m bonus to win the Double

MANCHESTER UNITED’S stars will share a bumper £9million bonus if they do the Double.

United face Barcelona in the Champions League final and are favourites to win the Premier League with just three games to go.

The lucrative bonus system in the players’ contracts means they will hit the jackpot by winning the big two.

For each Prem game, every member of the 18-man squad picks up £1,500 per point won – so that is £4,500 each for a victory.

United have 73 points and will be on 82 if they win their final three games, meaning the total payout will be around £2.2m.

The club will then add between £1m and £1.3m for winning the title, to be shared between the squad based on games played.

In the Champions League, Wayne Rooney and Co are awarded £15,000 for their part in a group stage win and £20,000 in the knockout rounds.

That will total around £2.5m if they beat Barca at Wembley on May 28.

The club will throw in a further pot of £3m for lifting the trophy, again shared based on the number of matches played.

United have reached their third Euro final in four seasons.

They hammered Schalke 4-1 at Old Trafford on Wednesday to win 6-1 on aggregate – a Champions League semi-final record.

Alex Ferguson’s side are three points clear of second-placed Chelsea in the league ahead of Sunday’s title crunch between the pair at Old Trafford.

Fergie seeks Special advice

ALEX FERGUSON will call on The Special One for advice on how to beat Barcelona in the Champions League final.
“His experience is good but I think Real Madrid are a different team to us.

“We will depend on our own knowledge of Barcelona, it’s not like we’ve never seen them before.

“We have watched them many, many times before this season.

“But you know the experience Real Madrid have from Jose’s angle, you always take information from him because he’s always helpful like that.”

“I don’t think we should be going there lacking in confidence. We can’t be frightened out of our skins. Our job is to find a solution when playing against them.”

Champions League – Euro Club Index: Barcelona widen gap

Barcelona’s win and Real Madrid’s loss opens up Pep Guardiola’s side’s lead at the head of our ranking of Europe’s top clubs.

Barcelona’s win and Real Madrid’s loss opens up Pep Guardiola’s side’s lead at the head of our ranking of Europe’s top clubs.

HOW IT WORKS

This season we are using the Hypercube Infostrada Euro Club Index, which scientifically analyses hundreds of thousands of matches from the top divisions in all European nations as well as Europa League and Champions League games.
The Index takes into account all matches played over an eight-year period but with recent results carrying more weight than older ones. The most recent result has 20 times more impact than a result of three years ago.
The performance of a league’s teams in Champions League and Europa League reflects the rise or fall of the sporting level in that league. So, for example, if English teams perform well in Europe, all Premier League teams receive a small bonus in their ECI score. The ranking and its predictive power are thus made even more accurate.

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho admitted that his side’s loss to Sporting Gijon – his first home league defeat in nine years – had all-but ended their La Liga hopes; Barcelona beat Villarreal 1-0 in a game as entertaining as Real’s was poor, opening up an eight-point lead with as many games remaining.

That result is reflected in our rankings as, while Real stay second, the gap increases from 185 to 274 points. Que pena, as they say in Madrid.

Otherwise there is no positional change in the top 10, with a bit of rotation in the bottom half of the top 20 that sees the same sides switch around a few domestic draws and wins here and there: Milan and Manchester City exploiting wins over Inter and Sunderland to move up two spots each, with Valencia gaining five places thanks to a win at Getafe.
Top 20

1 (1) Barcelona – 4194 points
2 (2) Real Madrid – 3920
3 (3) Manchester United – 3833
4 (4) Chelsea – 3576
5 (5) Porto – 3517
6 (7) Internazionale – 3403
7 (6) Arsenal – 3348
8 (8) Bayern Munich – 3275
9 (9) Marseille – 3236
10 (10) Shakhtar Donetsk – 3200
11 (15) Valencia – 3168
12 (14) AC Milan – 3165
13 (11) Lyon – 3156
14 (12) Tottenham – 3152
15(13) Benfica – 3148
16 (16) Zenit St Petersburg – 3086
17 (17) Villarreal – 3055
18 (20) Manchester City – 3052
19 (18) Lille – 3051
20 (19) Borussia Dortmund – 3028

FC Barcelona to play their matches at sea?

Catalan architect Emili Vidal has submitted plans for current European Champions FC Barcelona to play their future home matches in a brand new 150 000 capacity stadium on a man-made island in the Balearic sea. The artificial island is tentatively to be called ‘Illa Barcelona’.

FC Barcelona currently play their home matches at the Camp Nou which has a capacity of 98 000, but as one of – if not the biggest team in world football – demand to see them play is incredibly high. In 2007 FC Barcelona commissioned Norman Foster to re-design the Camp Nou, with the aim of increasing the capacity and modernizing the ageing stadium – however his designs were criticized for only increasing the capacity by 10 000.

‘Illa Barcelona’ would increase capacity for the reigning Spanish and European Champions to 150 000 and be as revolutionary as the team that would play in it. The idea of hosting sports and events at sea is not a new one however as anyone who has visited Singapore will tell you, where they have had a floating stadium since 2007.

The highest earning players/managers in football today

The 10 highest-earning footballers

  1. Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) – £26.9 million
  2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – £23.9m
  3. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) – £18m
  4. Kaka (Real Madrid) – £16.7m
  5. David Beckham (LA Galaxy) – £16.5m
  6. Ronaldinho (Flamengo) – £15.9m
  7. Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) – £13.4
  8. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) – £12.3m
  9. Yaya Toure (Manchester City) – £11.9m
  10. Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls) – £11.5m

The five highest-earning managers

  1. Jose Mourinho (Real Madrid) – £11.7m
  2. Pep Guardiola (Barcelona) – £9.1m
  3. Rafael Benitez (ex-Inter Milan) – £8.8m
  4. Fabio Capello (England) – £7.4m
  5. Alex Ferguson (Manchester United) – £6m