La Liga
‘I’LL DO THE FIGHTING, LUIS SUAREZ DOES THE BITING’ – DIEGO COSTA THRILLED WITH NEW ATLETICO MADRID STRIKE PARTNER
Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa looked forward to a fruitful partnership with new team mate, Luis Suarez after his side thrashed Granada 6-1 on Sunday (Sept 27), making a cheeky reference to the Uruguayan’s disciplinary problems over the years.
Costa opened the scoring with a headed goal and then came off the pitch in the second half to make way for Suarez, who quickly made his mark following his switch from Barcelona by scoring twice and providing an assist in the final 20 minutes.
“He is very good, one of us can do the fighting and the other can do the biting,” Costa said, recalling Suarez’s infamous bite on Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in the 2014 World Cup.
The Uruguay striker also committed similar offences for Liverpool and Ajax Amsterdam, but has long been considered one of football’s best finishers.
Costa said he could barely believe his side’s luck in landing Suarez, who scored 198 goals in six seasons with Barca but was deemed surplus to requirements by new coach Ronald Koeman.
“We are very lucky to have Luis, I don’t understand how Barca could have let him leave,” Costa said.
“He’s going to help us with lots of goals as well as his warrior spirit and his hunger to win trophies. I hope he can help us win another trophy for our fans, but we need to take each game as it comes.”
Costa, who fired Atletico to the La Liga title in 2014 but has struggled since returning from Chelsea in 2018, has been linked with a move away from the club but vowed to fight for his place, while declaring he will leave if necessary.
“I don’t want to fight with them and become a drain on the club, I’ve spoken to the club and the coach, and told them I’m ready to leave if they think I should go,” he said.
“But if I stay, I’m going to fight to play and I hope I don’t get injured so I can get a good run of games. I have to make the most of my opportunities. Anything can happen this season, the important thing is to be ready and score goals.”
Suarez is also relishing his new challenge at Atletico and feels that switching clubs could be just what he needed.
“Barca reached a point where they decided they needed a change and some fresh air, so it was important to accept that and change club,” the 33-year-old told Spanish network Movistar.
“For a player, sometimes, it’s important to make a change and I’ve come to club who have given me a spectacular welcome. You can sense that there is a very good atmosphere around the club and today, we saw it on the pitch.
“The team were in a good place when I came on and I just wanted to kill the game off. I’m very happy with my debut and for the three points. When you make your debut and help the team with goals, you’re always going to be happy.”
Atletico coach Diego Simeone highlighted Suarez’s work off the ball as well as his goals.
“I’m not just pleased with his two goals but also his assist, his movement and his runs,” said the Argentinian.
“His arrival will generate a lot of internal competition and if all 23 players in the squad accept the minutes they are given, then I’m sure we’ll compete well.
“The arrival of an important player like Suarez will always improve the team but we were already working very well.”
-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
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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
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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
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