La Liga
Suarez denies Koeman’s jab in phone gesture goal celebration
Luis Suarez has declared that his phone call gesture after scoring for Atletico Madrid in the 2-0 defeat of his former club, Barcelona was not aimed at Ronald Koeman.
It will be recalled that the now under-fire Barcelona coach made a phone call to Suarez last year that the Uruguayan’s services were no longer required in Barcelona.
The Uruguayan assisted Thomas Lemar’s opener at the Wanda Metropolitano before turning scorer in a similar move to inflict a first La Liga defeat of the season on the out-of-sorts Catalan giants.
The 34-year-old refused to celebrate after netting against his former club but did appear to send a message to Koeman by forming a phone with his right hand and putting it to his ear before play restarted.
Last year’s phone call by Koeman triggered Suarez’s exit.The phone call gesture was believed to be directed at his former boss. But speaking after the game, Suarez said he had agreed on the gesture with his three children and was not a dig at Koeman.
‘(The celebration) was for the people who know I have the same number, so they know I’m still on my phone,’ Suarez told Movistar. ‘It was something I had agreed on with my kids. It was not for Koeman, not at all.’
In an interview with Spanish radio station, Onda Cero in February, Suarez said: ‘When Barcelona told me that they did not count on me it was hard, I did not expect it.
‘They were very difficult moments because of the manner [in which it happened].
‘Koeman called me and told me that I was not in his plans. When Barcelona made it official that they did not count on me, conversations began with Atleti, with Cholo [manager Diego Simeone], with [CEO] Miguel Angel.’
But accompanying the gesture barely a couple of seconds after scoring was a Mohamed Salah-esque action of clasping his hands together in prayer with his eyes closed.
Suarez insists he had also decided before the game he would not celebrate if he netted against the club for whom he scored 198 goals and with whom he won four LaLiga titles along with a Champions League crown.
‘I also did not celebrate fully out of respect for Barcelona. I knew if I scored I wasn’t going to celebrate,’ he added.
The result nevertheless heaps the pressure on under-fire Barcelona boss Koeman, after following up their Champions League defeat by Benfica in midweek with a league reverse in the capital.
The ex-Everton and Southampton boss was assured of his future by president Joan Laporta just hours before the defeat by Simeone’s men, and insists there is now clarity between them.
When asked about Laporta’s comment earlier in the day that the Dutch coach deserved to be given time, Koeman said: ‘We spoke last night and this morning. We have spoken about the squad and there is clarity.’
But asked if the vote of confidence could have come sooner he added: ‘Yes that could be. But I’m grateful that it’s been said. It’s never too late.’
Regarding his long-term future Koeman suggested he had urged Laporta to back him publicly.
He said: ‘I thought that it would be good to have clarity. But I know results always decide. We have to win our three home games after the international break.
‘I believe that I can improve the situation. We are missing important players. All I have been able to do is get the best of the players we have had available.’
Barcelona said their request for a permit to return to the Camp Nou for Sunday’s LaLiga match against Real Sociedad has been denied, with the city council highlighting safety and security issues with the revamped venue.
Barca had been hoping to return to a reduced-capacity Camp Nou with 27,000 spectators but have failed to obtain the necessary permits from Barcelona City Council.
Barca will instead host the match at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Montjuic, where they played during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons with renovations at Camp Nou now nine months behind schedule.
“We have spotted different elements that need to be fixed and have an impact in the safety and security of the stadium,” chief of civil protection Sebastia Massague said at a city council meeting.
Barca had to begin their LaLiga home campaign at the Estadi Johan Cruyff in their own training complex, where only 6,000 fans attended their match against Valencia on September 14, after a Post Malone concert left the Lluis Companys pitch in poor condition.
“The club is currently working on the new amendments that the council has shared today,” Barca said in a statement.
On Friday, the Catalan club also announced that their Champions League group stage match against Paris St Germain on October 1 would also take place at the Lluis Companys.
Barca are second in LaLiga, trailing leaders Real Madrid by five points but having played a game fewer.
-Reuters
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Villarreal midfielder Thomas Partey on Wednesday appeared in a London court and pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault involving three women.
Partey, a Ghana international, is accused of five counts of rape relating to two women, plus a charge of sexual assault against a third woman, between April 2021 and June 2022.
The alleged offences took place when Partey played for Premier League soccer club Arsenal. He left the club this summer and signed for Spain’s Villarreal.
The 32-year-old appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and enter his not guilty pleas.
Partey was released on bail ahead of his trial, which was listed for Nov. 2, 2026 and is due to take between six and eight weeks.
He was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59.2 million) in 2020 and became a key member of the English side’s first team, before his contract expired at the end of June.
Partey played for Villarreal in their Champions League game against Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.
He came on as a second-half substitute and was booed loudly by the Spurs fans every time he touched the ball.
-Reuters
Villarreal and Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey, who has been charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, walks outside Southwark Crown Court, in London, Britain, September 17, 2025. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska
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Real Madrid on Tuesday denounced plans to stage a LaLiga match between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami, warning the proposal could undermine football’s competitive balance and vowing to petition global governing bodies to block the move.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Monday approved the December 20 fixture at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which could become the first LaLiga match held abroad and the first European league fixture staged in the United States.
“Real Madrid wish to express to its members, supporters and football fans in general its firm rejection of the proposal,” the club said in a statement, revealing they have already urged FIFA, UEFA and Spain’s Higher Sports Council (CSD) to intervene.
The club accused the RFEF of making its decision “without informing or consulting the clubs participating in the competition” and argued that staging the match in Miami “violates the essential principle of territorial reciprocity” in home-and-away league formats.
Real further stated that the move would “alter the competitive balance” and grant “an unfair sporting advantage” to the clubs involved.
The club also warned that approving the proposal could compromise sporting integrity and “set an unacceptable precedent,” insisting any change of this nature should require “the express and unanimous agreement of all the clubs participating in the competition”.
The plan still requires approval from UEFA, US Soccer, CONCACAF and ultimately FIFA before LaLiga President Javier Tebas can realise his long-held ambition of taking Spanish football to the U.S.
-Reuters
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