La Liga
PRO-INDEPENDENCE PROTESTS ERUPT NEAR BARCELONA STADIUM BEFORE EL CLASICO
Chanting “Independence” and “Free political prisoners”, several thousand Catalan protesters gathered near Barcelona’s Nou Camp stadium on Wednesday hours before the local side was to face rivals Real Madrid in Spain’s most high-profile match.
Despite a heavy police presence, some of them blocked a major avenue near the stadium, disrupting traffic.
The La Liga game, known as “El Clasico,” had initially been scheduled to occur two months ago.
However, it was postponed on security concerns due to unrest in the wealthy northeastern region after Spain’s Supreme Court in October sentenced nine Catalan separatist leaders to up to 13 years in prison.
Wednesday’s protest was called by secretive Catalan protest group Democratic Tsunami, which says it favours peaceful civic disobedience and whose main goals are to get Spain to negotiate on Catalonia’s right to self-determination and to achieve freedom for the jailed separatists.
Many protesters carried banners that read “Spain, sit and talk” and the organisation said on Twitter it would distribute 100,000 of those banners to the people attending the game. It also told them to bring inflatable balls and to write on them a “message for the world”.
Democratic Tsunami, which organised mass protests at Barcelona’s airport in October and blocked a major highway, said it does not wish to blockade or suspend the match.
Authorities have assembled a 3,000-strong force of public and private security officers to guarantee the match will not be disrupted, but declined to say how that compared to other El Clasico games.
The Spanish central government has sent around 500 additional anti-riot police to Barcelona, who would only intervene if the Catalan police asks for their help, said a national police spokesman.
Protesting in front of a hotel near the stadium where both teams were resting, pro-independence voter Marta Canaves, 53, said that the venue was a “great place to make visible to the rest of the world” the situation in Catalonia.
“We want to be heard and to vote,” added her friend Emma Castells, 55, referring to separatist demands to hold a referendum on independence.
-Reuters
It was mission accomplished, said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after his side fought back from two-goals behind to snatch a rip-roaring 4-4 draw on Tuesday for a 5-4 aggregate win that put them through to the Copa del Rey final.
Ancelotti brushed off questions about a sub-par performance by his side and praised his players’ effort in what he considered a highly entertaining encounter.
“We have achieved our goal today which was to reach the final and there is not much time to think about it,” Ancelotti told a press conference.
“It was an entertaining game with some mistakes and a lot of good things. It was fun and we are in the final.
“I never saw ourselves out of it because anything can happen at the Bernabeu. When we have to come from behind, we never give up. We never give up, especially at home, with the fans by our side.”
Ancelotti said David Alaba was not to blame after he deflected two balls into his own goal, calling it “bad luck” by the Austrian defender, but urged his defence to play with better focus moving forward.
“It’s not good to concede four goals in a game,” Ancelotti said.
“Right now we are a team that has a lot of effectiveness up-front, but little balance.
“However, we can’t ignore what we did in attack, scoring four goals against Real is not that easy. I think we are doing quite well.”
Real Madrid, who have won the Spanish Cup only once in over a decade, will play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid in a mouth-watering final in Seville next month.
Atletico fought back to hold Barca to a thrilling 4-4 draw ahead of Wednesday’s second-leg in Madrid.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Real Madrid’s legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti will go on trial next week for allegedly failing to declare income to Spain’s tax office, the Madrid court which will hear the case has said.
Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of four years and nine months for the 65-year-old Italian, accusing him of having cost Spain’s treasury more than one million euros ($1.1 million) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.
The trial will begin on Wednesday and it is expected to last two days, a spokesman for the court said.
Ancelotti, who as a coach has won a record five Champions League trophies including three with Real, must be present for the hearings, he added.
Prosecutors accuse him of only declaring in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid during those two years even though he himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated his home was in Madrid.
They accuse Ancelotti of allegedly setting up a “confusing” and “complex” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings from his image rights as well as from other sources such as real estate.
A Spanish court in 2023 ordered Ancelotti to stand trial over the affair, but did not set a date.
Ancelotti dismissed the affair last year as “an old story that I hope will be resolved soon” when he was asked about the case.
He took over at Real Madrid in 2013, leaving in May 2015, before being appointed at Bayern Munich the following year.
The former Italy international midfielder, who as a player won the European Cup twice with AC Milan, later managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021.
Aside from his success in the Champions League he has won domestic league titles with Madrid and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.
-AFP
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Spain’s former soccer chief Luis Rubiales told Reuters on Thursday he would appeal a court ruling which found him guilty of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent.-
-Reuters
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Remo Stars are Nigeria’s 21st League Champions
AMAC Crowned Inaugural Champions of FCT FA Women’s Inter-Area Councils Football Tournament
Ayanwale, Aiyelabegan set to defend titles at 2025 National Table Tennis Championships in Osun
- WOMEN'S FOOTBALL1 week ago
Naira rain falls on Nigeria’s Flamingos after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria
- OBITUARY5 days ago
NFF mourns the demise of former FIFA referee, Bosede Momoh
- Nigerian Football4 days ago
Financial rainfall awaits Nigeria’s Flamingos for every goal scored in Algeria
- U-17 AFCON1 week ago
Morocco crowned CAF U-17 AFCON champions after dramatic penalty shootout win over Mali
- U-20 FOOTBALL1 week ago
Nigeria begin CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations title chase with Tunisian clash
- Nigerian Football1 week ago
Remo Stars maintain ‘7Up’ lead over Rivers United
- Nigerian Football4 days ago
Former WAFU President, Ogufere mourns Christian Chukwu
- feature6 days ago
Ghana’s Cardinal, Appiah Turkson, listed as a possible Pope