Tag: Barcelona

Bartomeu resigns as Barcelona president as Messi achieves his dream

The Barca boss has left his post amid ongoing criticism and a looming vote of no confidence

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has resigned with the entire board also stepping down from their posts.

Bartomeu’s decisions come after several months of criticism in the wake of Barcelona’s 8-2 Champions League elimination to Bayern Munich as well as Lionel Messi’s shocking request to leave the club shortly after.

Although the club was able to keep hold of Messi, with the longtime Barca star staying to avoid having to take the club to court, Bartomeu’s position has been under scrutiny for weeks,.

The president had been due to officially end his tenure next year with elections called for March, but the club’s members called for a vote of no confidence in an effort to get Bartomeu out immediately.

A total of 20,687 votes were gathered for the motion against Bartomeu, passing the threshold of 16,250 signatures required for the vote to go ahead.

The Barca board repeatedly tried to suspend or postpone the vote but, on Monday, local authorities rejected the club’s push to delay the proceedings.

As a result, the vote was set to go ahead in the coming weeks, but will no longer be necessary as Bartomeu and the board step down.
Bartomeu originally joined Barca during Joan Laporta’s presidency, and he ascended to the role himself in January 2014.

He replaced Sandro Rosell, becoming the fortieth President of Barcelona as he signed on to complete the rest of Rosell’s tenure following his resignation.

During his time in charge, Barca won La Liga four times as well as the 2014-15 Champions League, but his tenure will largely be defined by the club’s failings in his final seasons.

Having struggled in the transfer market since Neymar’s departure to join Paris Saint-Germain, Barca finished the 2019-20 season trophyless.
Their 8-2 loss to Bayern only furthered unrest, with Messi’s request to leave proving the final straw for the president.

Messi said in September that Bartomeu “did not keep his word”, with former Barca star Luis Suarez saying that he believes Messi will stay at Barca if a new board arrives.

Bartomeu said on Monday that he believed that Messi could lead Barca to titles this season, admitting that he could not let the Argentine leave for the good of the club.

And now, it is Bartomeu that is leaving, as he ends his time in charge of Barca after nearly seven years.

Barcelona are set to face Juventus on Wednesday in the Champions League.

  • GOAL

Mensah explains why his move to Barcelona collapsed

 

The youngster has shed lights on why his much-publicised deal to the Catalans fell through last summer

Ghana youth international Gideon Mensah has confirmed media reports that he was on the verge of joining La Liga champions Barcelona during the summer transfer window.

The 21-year-old, who is currently plying his trade in Austria with Red Bull Salzburg, caught the eye of Barcelona’s scouts and was rumoured to be one of their main targets for the junior team in Segunda division.

However, the move never materialised, as Barcelona failed to make an official bid to Red Bull on deadline day.

‘Yes, it was true but the only thing that will keep people doubting the story was that Barcelona never came to Red Bull [officially] to make a proposal,” Mensah told FMIG TV.

“But I had a call from one [agent] that they are working on this for me and that it was true and they had to make a board meeting.

“The next day, I saw news about it on the internet. A friend sent it to me from Ghana I and opened to read that I might go the Barcelona B and train with their first.”

“I called this agent and asked ‘did you tell anybody about this move? He said no and later called that the story was also circulating in the Spanish press because there was one scout from Barcelona who published the news already.

”The only hitch was that [Barcelona] didn’t come to Red Bull,” he added.

Mensah, who joined Red Bull from Ghana Premier League side Wafa, is part of Ghana U23 squad (Black Meteors) that eliminated Algeria to qualify for the Africa U23 Cup of Nations holding in Egypt for a place to the 2020 Olympic Games.

Kevin-Prince Boateng joins Barcelona in a shock move

The Ghanaian international has joined The Blaugrana and says he hopes to score in the next Clasico

Barcelona have confirmed the surprising transfer of Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng from Sassuolo just hours after he was linked with the club.

The transfer, according to reports, includes a €8 million (£7m/$9m) option to buy, while Barca will pay a €2m loan fee for Boateng to feature for them the remainder of the season.

The 31-year-old will be presented on late on Tuesday morning, with a private contract signing set to be followed with a photo session on the Camp Nou pitch and a press conference at noon UK Time.

A statement on the club’s official website reads: “Kevin-Prince Boateng is a player who will surely adapt quickly to the team. With experience of playing in four of the biggest leagues in Europe, the Premier League, the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga, he is a man who has scored goals wherever he has been.

“Furthermore, Boateng is a player who versatile to a fault. During his time with Las Palmas with Quique Setién as coach he played as an out and out striker, a typical number ‘9’. However, he is also able to play further back as he did at AC Milan, scoring twice against Barça in his time with the Rossoneri.

“His ability to bring people into the game means he is excellent at playing behind the main striker.”

ON MY RADAR: Rejoinder: Messi is a “fraud” video.

 

it’s somehow ridiculous for a section of football loving fans and pundits to mischievously say the Argentina captain has failed to glitter at the highest stage for his country

By: Samuel K. Obour

First, it’s flagrantly false that Messi has failed to shine for Argentina. He has scored 64 goals, the highest in Argentina’s history.

To put this in perspective, the great Maradona scored 34 goals in 91 appearances for Argentina. That’s roughly one goal every three matches. Messi has scored 64 in 126 appearances. That’s one goal every two matches.

It’s either naive, malicious, dishonest or something far crazier to suggest that Messi does not perform in an Argentina jersey. Just four years ago, the guy was playing in the World Cup final with Argentina. They lost 1-0 in extra time to a solid Germany side that had crushed Brazil 7-1 in the semifinal.
Messi scored four goals and played a key role in several other Argentina goals. For his effort, he was named player of the tournament and later footballer of the year.

At that same World Cup, Ronaldo’s Portugal were knocked out in the group stage. There was no hullabaloo about it. Ronaldo managed to score only one goal – a gift from Ghana’s goalkeeper.

Altogether, Messi and the Argentina senior national team have played in at least three championship finals, all of which they, unfortunately, lost. However, the fact that Argentina qualified to those finals in the first place is proof that Messi’s national team performance has been good, contrary to what some so-called analysts would have us believe.

It’s true that Argentina have been poor at Russia 2018, but that should take nothing away from the fact Messi is – alongside Pele and Maradona – one of the three greatest footballers of all time.

Second, it’s true that Messi’s achievement at Barcelona has been aided by some great midfielders like Iniesta and Xavi. So? What’s the point? Every great footballer achiever, including Ronaldo, is supported by a team of very good players.
However, LA Liga statistics show that in the last nine years, Messi has been Barcelona’s best goal scorer and best midfielder at the same time.

It was only twice in nine years that two Barcelona midfielders, Iniesta and Fabregas, created more goals than Messi.
In eight of nine years, Messi has been Barcelona’s top goalscorer. But forget about his goals. In seven of nine years, Messi has created more goals than any other Barcelona player.

The stats show that he has created more goals for Barcelona than Iniesta and Xavi combined. Therefore, to suggest that Messi is nothing without those players is dishonest and naive.Messi, rather, Barcelona would not have achieved as much as they have. We must give credit where it is due.

Although, Messi is not the only player at Barcelona, he is the only one making such crazy numbers. Even Suarez has not been able to match these numbers. That should tell you something about Messi’s quality.

Another useless argument is that Messi cannot perform in a different club from Barcelona.
Even Lukaku, Morata, Sterling, Vardy and co are scoring like crazy in the premier league. Recently, Salah has started killing it there. And you think Messi, arguably the greatest footballer of all time, will not perform in a decent Premier League club? Please.

Breakdown (LA Liga):

Goal king – 5 times in 9 years (8 times in Barcelona)
Assist king – 5 times in league in 9 years ; 7 times in Barcelona

2017/2018
Goals – 34
Assists – 12 – Best in league

2016/2017
Goals – 37 (Best in league)
Assists – 9 (Best in Barcelona)

2015/2016
Goals – 26
Assists – 16 ( Joint best with Suarez in league

2014/2015
Goals – 43
Assists – 18 (Best in league)

2013/2014
Goals – 28
Assists – 11 (2nd best to Fareham (12) in Barcelona)

2012/2013
Goals – 43 best in league
Assists – 12 (Second to Iniesta (16) in league

2011/2012
Goals – 50 (Best in league. Record)
Assists – 15 (Best in Barca ; 2nd to Ozil (18) in league.

2010/2011
Goals – 31
Assists – 18 (Best in league)

2009/2010
Goals – 34 (Best in league)
Assists – 18 (Best in league)

Neymar: I’m not worth world-record €222m

The Paris Saint-Germain star feels too much attention is paid to his world-record transfer fee and admits he is not worth that much

Neymar is not worth the €222 million (£200m/$262m) Paris Saint-Germain paid to sign him, the star himself says.
The Brazilian attacker became the most expensive player in football history when the Ligue 1 side paid the release clause to free him from Barcelona.

Neymar impressed in the French capital in his first year until an injury brought a premature end to his campaign.

The 26-year-old feels PSG paid over the odds for him, but says he has always wanted to be seen as a “special” player.
“I’m not proud of the transfer fee, nor of the fact I’m the most expensive player ever,” he told Spox .

“That’s just money and nothing else. I cannot help it. Personally, I would have paid less for myself.

“I always wanted to be special. That was my goal very early – actually from the moment I started playing football for a club. That was at the age of 11. It may sound clumsy, but from then on I’ve tried to get better every single day and get to my best.

“I really worked and sacrificed every day of my life to become a professional one day. That was the only dream I ever had. I dreamed of playing for Santos’s first team, being invited to the national team and one day going to Europe. It was not foreseeable at the time that I would succeed, but I kept thinking about it. There was nothing else for me.

“I’m proud that I’ve achieved my childhood goal. That was, and is, most important to me. As a player you always have to show who you are and assert yourself. Just referring to the transfer fee does not help you and says nothing about how good you really are.”

Brazil are hoping for a more successful World Cup campaign this year after crashing out at the semi-finals in 2014 with a 7-1 loss to Germany.
Neymar missed that match four years ago due to a back injury, but still feels the hunger for revenge heading into the tournament in Russia .

“I felt as beaten as the team was and was affected like everyone else,” he said. “The expectations on us in our own country were almost inhumanly high and Germany are an excellent opponent.

“We knew it would be hard. Unfortunately, it went as it did. Now we finally have the opportunity to wipe out the last World Cup. Maybe we will meet Germany again – and then hopefully we will have a real revenge.”

_Goal

Cristiano Ronaldo boasts; No one will be compared to me

The Portugal ace has said that it was while with Manchester United that he started to realise how good he could become

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo believes “no one will be compared” to him because there are not many who can rival his “talent” or “dedication”.

Ronaldo came through the ranks at Sporting CP before joining Manchester United in 2003, developing into one of the world’s best under Alex Ferguson.

He claimed his first Ballon d’Or while at United in 2008, but he has undoubtedly enjoyed the best years of his career in Madrid, creating an incredible legacy at the club.

His long personal duel with Lionel Messi has become a hot topic of debate, particularly since moving to LaLiga, where the Portugal star has won everything there is to win with Los Blancos, while he has also collected four more Ballons d’Or.

Although many insist his Barcelona rival Messi is the more naturally gifted of the pair, few doubt Ronaldo’s dedication and work ethic, two elements he believes will help ensure no one is able to be compared to him.

Speaking in a new Nike advert posted on his official Instagram account, Ronaldo said: “In the beginning, I was dreaming to be best player in the world.

“Friends of mine [would] look at me like: ‘What are you talking about?’ I played for fun, for a joke, but in my mind that potential started in Manchester, that’s when I started to believe.
“I don’t see many people with my talent, dedication, my work, my ethic, my football. No one is going to be compared with me; no one is going to be Cristiano Ronaldo. You’re going to be yourself, I’m going to be myself.”

Ronaldo has scored 33 times in 34 outings this season, including 18 in LaLiga, where he has scored 14 in his last eight matches.

-Goal

Klopp’s Liverpool handed tough opponents Manchester City in Champions League quarterfinals

While the two English clubs face off in an intriguing tie, there is a repeat of last season’s final for Real Madrid and Juventus

Liverpool have been draw to face Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, two-time defending champions Real Madrid have been tasked with a clash against Juventus – a repeat of last season’s final – while Barcelona will tackle Roma and Sevilla’s reward for ousting Manchester United is a meeting with Bayern Munich.

It is, however, the clash between the two Premier League clubs that is the tie of the round.

The Reds swept past Porto 5-0 over two legs to reach the last eight of the competition while Pep Guardiola’s men defeated Basel with almost equal ease, seeing the Swiss off 5-2.

The clubs have played twice already this season, with City getting the better of Jurgen Klopp’s men 5-0 when the sides met in September – a match infamous for Sadio Mane’s challenge on home goalkeeper Ederson, which left the goalkeeper with a gruesome injury and saw the Liverpool attacker sent off.

Klopp’s side have better memories of their meeting in January, though. The Reds won a storming match at Anfield 4-3, with Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Roberto Firmino, Made and Mohamed Salah all on target. Leroy Sane had levelled for City at 1-1, but their late rally through Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan proved fruitless.

It is just the second time in history that City have reached the last-eight of the competition. In 2015-16, they defeated PSG 3-2 on aggregate but lost to Real Madrid in the semi-finals.

Liverpool, on the other hand, have won the European Cup on five occasions.
The first legs will take place on April 3 and 4, while the second legs of the ties will be played on April 10 and 11.

-Goal

Chelsea supporter Nana Yaw confirmed dead in Kumasi after defeat to Barcelona

The football fan could not survive the humiliation his side suffered in the hands of Barcelona at Camp Nou

Chelsea FC fan Emmanuel Offin collapsed and later confirmed dead in Asuoyeboah, suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, after the 3-0 thrashing suffered in the hands of Barcelona in the round of 16 second leg of the Uefa Champions League.

A brace from ‘demigod’ Lionel Messi and another striker from youngster Dembele did the work for the Spanish giants at Camp Nou and qualified them to the quarterfinals of the competition with a 4-1 aggregate scoreline following a 1-1 stalemate in the first leg.

The 24-year-old also known as Nana Yaw, was a Mobile Phone dealer and according to his family members, the die-hard Chelsea supporter who always leave the house to watch Premier League giants’ matches with his friends, died few minutes after the final whistle and efforts to save him by those around ended fruitless.

The deceased Chelsea supporter

According to Otec News’ reporter Rhoda Dankwa, who visited the family house of the late Nana Yaw at Asuoyeboah on Thursday, reported that the body has been deposited at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Morgue for autopsy.

AshesGyamera understands that the family Will observe his one-week traditional celebration on March 21 before the final date for his burial service and funeral rites is announced.

Messi missing for Barcelona due to ‘personal reasons’

The Argentine superstar will sit out a La Liga fixture with Malaga after being freed from Ernesto Valverde’s squad and replaced by Yerry Mina

Lionel Messi has been removed from Barcelona’s squad to face Malaga for “personal reasons”, the Primera Division giants have announced.

The Argentine superstar will play no part for the Catalan club in their latest outing as he has been freed to leave Ernesto Valverde’s ranks.
His spot has been filled by January signing Yerry Mina.

Messi’s wife, Antonella, is due to give birth to the couple’s third child any day, with the impending new arrival mooted as the reason for the star turn’s absence from professional duty.

The 30-year-old forward revealed in October 2017 that his family was to welcome another addition .
He then announced in February that a third son would be called Ciro , with Mateo and Thiago set to get a little brother.
Barcelona are yet to confirm the reasons for Messi’s absence, but will feel that they have enough quality at their disposal to cope without him.

Valverde’s side have opened up an eight-point lead at the La Liga summit and remain well on course to return the Spanish top-flight crown to Camp Nou.

[LAST MINUTE] Change to the squad. Messi is out for personal reasons and Yerry Mina takes his place
9:19 AM – Mar 10, 2018
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Messi has enjoyed another standout season for Barca in 2017-18, with 32 goals netted in just 41 appearances.

_Goal

Suarez insists he was right to block Adiyiah’s header with hands at 2010 World Cup

 

Barcelona superstar Luis Suarez has opened up on things that were going through his head in the moments during and after his infamous handball for Uruguay in the quarterfinals of 2010 World Cup against Ghana.

The 30-year-old blocked Dominic Adiyiah’s goal-bound header in the dying minutes of extra-time when the game was still 1-1.

Although, Ghana were awarded a penalty and Suarez subsequently sent off, Asamoah Gyan fluffed that chance after the resulting kick was denied by the crossbar.

 

“The truth is, it was a bit of everything,” Suarez recalled as he sat down with Barça team-mate Gerard Pique for a lengthy chat for publication by The Players’ Tribune.

“Of being depressed, of being sad, of being sent off. Because we were going to lose, but if they weren’t scoring that goal we weren’t going to lose [so I was right to block it].

“You get up within 30 seconds when he takes the penalty kick, the satisfaction of taking a risk in a situation of which I have been blamed for anti-fair play. However, the Ghana player missing the penalty is not my fault.”

He added: “I didn’t kick anyone or anything like that, that’s why I think that I celebrated like that, for having taken a risk for something that was worth it.

And I remember that I celebrated it more than a goal. I left screaming and went to the locker room to watch the penalty kicks (in the shootout). And, the truth is, it was painful watching the penalty kicks in the locker room.”

Suarez also believes that their defeat to Netherlands in the semifinals would’ve been different if Uruguay had the full complement of their squad. Jorge Fucile was banned for multiple yellow cards, while captain Diego Lugano was also out injured.

“It’s easy to talk now, but yeah, if we would have played the semi-final against Holland with Diego Lugano, who in that moment was spectacular, Jorge Fucile, I believe, the best left wing-back of the World Cup, and me, who had been suspended,” he explained.

“If the three of us would have played, it would have been different.”