La Liga
ALEX IWOBI’S FORM, GIVES BARCA HEADACHE OVER SUAREZ’S PERMANENT SWITCH TO ARSENAL
There are strong indications that the hope of Spanish Giants, FC Barcelona to push for a permanent move for their Loanee midfielder, Denis Suarez to Arsenal next summer may hit the brick wall following good performance of Super Eagles forward, Alex Iwobi in the present squad.
The Nigerian forward moved from the feeder team in the final years of Arsene Wenger days at the North London side and his stint so far has impressed the new coach Unai Emery.
However in a bid to strengthen the squad, the manager agreed with Barcelona for a loan spell for Suarez who has played below par with the Catalan side and wanted to offload many of its fringe players alongside Andre Gomez who moved to Everton FC from the beginning of the season.
Reports from Spain indicate that Barcelona are willing to push for permanent sale to make funds available to fortify the squad with players to understudy ageing Luis Suarez and a decent backup for Jordi Alba.
According to Marca, the Catalans already know where they will get a good part of the money fund they require for these deals: from the sales of Andre Gomes and Denis Suarez to the Premiership clubs.
Denis extended his stay at Barcelona until 2021 to spend the remainder of the current, 2018/2019 season on loan at Arsenal. The Gunners will pay the player’s salary. The contract also includes a buyout clause for the London-based club.
A loan fee is reported to be in the region of £2.1million. The Gunners would have to pay around £20m if they want to sign Denis on a permanent deal. The Spaniard found it hard to get into the starting XI at Arsenal, but Barcelona still expects the Gunners to use the clause and make the transfer permanent at the end of the season.
However, while Gomez has settled down with the Everton and could translate to a permanent deal this summer, the same cannot be said of the fresh Loanee has only played an hour and six minutes of football since he joined the London side and according to James Benge, a senior football reporter with Football. London on his Twitter handle said ” Iwobi trained with the first team today (Tuesday) after suffering right ankle injury against Southhampton and that will probably change on Wednesday (today) because Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan aren’t making it easy for the Loanee to earn a permanent switch from Barcelona
Failure to displace either of the duo will mean the player will return to Spain which is not a good report for the side who are aiming to offload dead weight players from its payroll.
Barcelona turned the Clasico into a coronation on Sunday, swatting aside Real Madrid 2-0 at a roaring Camp Nou to claim their 29th LaLiga title.
Hansi Flick’s side moved to an unassailable 91 points, 14 clear of second-placed Real with three games remaining.
The triumph capped a dominant campaign in which they lost only four league matches. Villarreal are third on 69 points.
Real arrived needing victory to keep their wafer-thin title hopes alive, but Marcus Rashford crushed those aspirations just nine minutes into the game.
Antonio Rudiger fouled Ferran Torres just outside the box, and Rashford bent a superb free kick into Thibaut Courtois’ top-left corner, giving Barcelona the early lead and sending the home crowd into raptures.
Nine minutes later, Barcelona doubled the lead. Fermin Lopez crossed into the area, and Dani Olmo produced a clever backheel that sent the ball into the path of Torres, who rifled a fierce strike into the top corner.
The win completed back-to-back league titles for Flick, who also delivered the LaLiga and Copa del Rey double in his first season last year.
Both sides were heavily depleted. Barcelona were without Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Jules Kounde from the starting lineup.
Real’s list of missing players was longer, with Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, Arda Guler and Rodrygo all absent. Federico Valverde also missed out after suffering a head injury following a midweek changing-room fight with team-mate Aurelien Tchouameni, with both players fined 500,000 euros over the incident.
Kylian Mbappe did not travel because of a leg muscle injury, forcing manager Alvaro Arbeloa to start Vinicius Jr alongside academy striker Gonzalo, with Jude Bellingham and Brahim Diaz pushing forward in support.
Real threatened through Vinicius and Gonzalo before halftime, but Barcelona carried the greater menace. Courtois kept the visitors alive with fine saves from Torres and Rashford before the interval.
Barcelona continued to press after the break, Rashford repeatedly tormenting left back Fran Garcia down the right, while Courtois produced another sharp stop with his left foot to deny Torres from point-blank range in the 56th minute.
Bellingham had a goal ruled out for offside in the 62nd minute, and Joan Garcia was quick to deny Vinicius in a one-on-one, preventing the Brazilian from lifting the ball over him.
Real kept probing late on, but there was little bite in their attack, and Barcelona calmly saw out the win before the title celebrations began.
“This title is even more special because we won it at home against Real Madrid. Now it’s time to enjoy it with the fans,” Frenkie de Jong told Spanish broadcaster Movistar Plus.
“Every title has to be celebrated in style. Especially LaLiga, which is a year-long competition. We’ve clearly been the best in Spain.”
-Reuters
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Real Zaragoza goalkeeper Esteban Andrada was sent off for punching Huesca captain Jorge Pulido in a fiery Spanish second division clash on Sunday that descended into a mass brawl, with Huesca keeper Dani Jimenez dismissed for punching Andrada.
Zaragoza’s Dani Tasende was also dismissed after a VAR review of the brawl.
With tensions simmering in a relegation scrap, Argentine Andrada lost his composure moments before the final whistle. Ignoring the run of play, he approached Pulido and struck him in the face with his right hand, sparking chaotic scenes eight minutes into stoppage time.
It was an ugly flashpoint in a match already short on finesse and heavy on nerves, and could carry serious consequences for the goalkeeper.
Huesca manager Jose Luis did not attempt to defend the scenes.
“It’s hard to explain; I think it’s a complete loss of control. I can put myself in their shoes, given what was at stake and all. But it’s unjustifiable. It’s just that I don’t know what to do or how to stop it; a brawl breaks out,” he said.
“It’s ugly; this was supposed to be a celebration of Aragonese football. I’d like people to talk about the match, even though it was ugly, with little play but a lot of hard work.”
Oscar Sielva’s goal secured a 1-0 win for Huesca, lifting them to 36 points in 19th place, while Zaragoza remain second-bottom on 35.
-Reuters
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Joan Laporta has been re-elected as Barcelona president after winning over 68 percent of the vote and will begin his second consecutive term, and fourth overall, from July 1, the club said on Sunday.
The 63-year-old took office in March 2021 and stepped down last month in line with club statutes in order to seek re-election.
Laporta described the election as a “celebration of democracy and civic responsibility” and said the tasks ahead included finishing work on the Camp Nou and strengthening the men’s team.
-Reuters
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