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Tag: Barcelona

  • If Barca don’t want me, I’ll retire from playing – Pique

    If Barca don’t want me, I’ll retire from playing – Pique

    FC Barcelona’s veteran central defender Gerard Pique said on Friday that he would hang his boots and retire from football if the club wanted him to leave.

    The 34-year-old, who is also the owner of third-tier side FC Andorra, ruled out playing for the club he owns.

    “The day I stop playing for Barca, I will leave football. I will never play for another team.

    “If [FC Barcelona coach] Ronald Koeman told me tomorrow that I had to go, I will retire from the game,” he insisted.

    Pique was asked about the criticism that players receive in the modern game, and replied that “criticism is part of football.”

    “When you run out onto the pitch, you know what you could be letting yourself in for. Football attracts more sentimental responses than anything.

    “It is like politics and you have to accept criticism,” commented the defender.

    Pique’s off-field activities, such as the purchase of FC Andorra and of the Davis Cup tennis tournament through his company Kosmos Holding, have led to speculations.

    It has been said that he may one day run to be FC Barcelona president, something the defender did not deny.

    “It’s something I have always said I am interested in. It’s the club I’ve supported all my life, but there is still a long way to go and I want to continue as a player.

    “We’ll see what my plans are when I retire,” he said.

  • I hope Haaland comes to Barca – Pique

    I hope Haaland comes to Barca – Pique

    Barcelona defender Gerard Pique would welcome Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland to the Nou Camp.

    The Blaugrana’s finances are in a perilous position, but there is still optimism that they could lure a big-name player to the Camp Nou this summer.

    “I have no idea, I hope that he comes [to Barcelona],” Pique said during a chat with YouTuber Ibai Llanos.

    “The great players should be with us, but that’s a decision for the club to make. They will know.”

    The 33-year-old Sergio Aguero has joined Barcelona on a free and Pique has admitted that they have a pre-existing relationship.

    “I already got on well with him. For years, we’ve always been connected on social media,” he commented.

    “I played the U20 World Cup against him, because we are from the same generation. Leo [Messi] speaks very well of him.”

  • No reason to rush Barcelona – Xavi

    No reason to rush Barcelona – Xavi

    Al Sadd coach Xavi stands by his decision not to accept an offer to return to Barcelona.

    Xavi has been offered the job twice but, while the Spaniard admits that turning down his boyhood club was difficult, he felt it wasn’t the right moment.

    “Fortunately or unfortunately I have said no to Barcelona twice, due to different circumstances, family, professional, contractual…,” he told La Vanguardia.

    “And of course it was very difficult because I am a Barcelona fan, but it was not the [right] time.”

    “Whatever comes will come, it will be evaluated and we will decide. [Offers] arrived years ago, but it was not the time. Barcelona came and it was not the time. There is no hurry.”

  • Barca change qualifications to become club member

    Barca change qualifications to become club member

    La Liga club Barcelona have changed the criteria to become a club member.

    Barcelona’s board of directors have agreed to launch a campaign to make it possible for anyone to become a member of the club, without the need to fulfil any specific criteria.

    The announcement sees previous restrictions lifted, such as the need to have a family member who was already a member or to have a history of commitment to the club.

    “From tomorrow, anyone who wants to can become a member,” said spokesperson Elena Fort.

    “We’ll modify the statutes to so people can join via phone call.

    “We want to make Barcelona for everyone and allow any who wants to to be able to join this family.

    “The goal is to make us the club with the most members in the world.”

    The club also released a statement explaining the change in policy.

    “Until now, only those people who had a first or second degree relationship with a member; those that, previously, had already been for two consecutive years; those who had an antiquity of three years as peñistas, or who had the commitment card during this same period could be members of Barcelona,” it said.

    “All these requirements are eliminated based on the principles of democracy and universality. It is about liberalising the entry of members into the club, making it possible for all those people who love Barcelona all over the world to be so, effectively.”

  • La Liga: Lionel Messi agrees terms with Barcelona

    La Liga: Lionel Messi agrees terms with Barcelona

    Lionel Messi is happy with new contract terms offered by Barcelona.

    Cadena COPE reports Messi has reached an agreement with Barcelona and only needs to put pen to paper to sign a new two-year deal at the Camp Nou.

    Cadena COPE’s Miguel Rico reports only the finest of details are to be settled and the Barcelona captain will renew his contract at the club.

    Having tried his utmost to leave the Camp Nou at the beginning of the 2020/21 season due to his relationship with then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu, Messi now appears to have found happiness since Joan Laporta’s arrival as president.

    The club’s signing of Sergio Aguero, a close friend and international teammate of Messi’s, has also helped him to finalise his decision.

  • Barca table new contract offer to Messi

    Barca table new contract offer to Messi

    La Liga side Barcelona have tabled a new contract offer to Lionel Messi.

    TV3 says Barcelona have offered Messi a new contract, with his current deal at the Camp Nou set to expire on June 30.

    The Catalan club have therefore decided to not wait for the results of the audit that Joan Laporta commissioned when he took office and have presented an offer to Messi.

    But Messi will not respond until he is aware of Barcelona’s plans for the 2021/22 season.

    Messi is currently on international duty with Argentina as the Albiceleste continue their preparations ahead of this summer’s Copa America, which could be a chance for the 33-year-old to lift his first major honour with his country.

  • Super League clubs at war with eachother over break-up

    Super League clubs at war with eachother over break-up

    The Super League breakaway group are at war with each other.

    The New York Times reports Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus are now threatening legal action against the clubs preparing to withdraw from the project.

    It comes as only nine of the 12 founder members agreed to a peace deal with UEFA on Friday and accepted being fined millions of pounds.

    The three European giants who are yet to renounce the Super League have warned their former partners they will extract millions of dollars in penalties if they walk away from the league.

    But Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are set to face “appropriate action” under UEFA’s disciplinary process after failing to distance themselves from the Super League, with the organisation’s chief Aleksander Ceferin praising the nine clubs who had “quickly realised their mistake”.

    Ceferin said: “I said at the UEFA Congress two weeks ago that it takes a strong organisation to admit making a mistake especially in these days of trial by social media. These clubs have done just that.

    “In accepting their commitments and willingness to repair the disruption they caused, UEFA wants to put this chapter behind it and move forward in a positive spirit.

    “These clubs recognised their mistakes quickly and have taken action to demonstrate their contrition and future commitment to European football. The same cannot be said for the clubs that remain involved in the so-called ‘Super League’ and UEFA will deal with those clubs subsequently.”

  • Valencia made us suffer – Pique

    Valencia made us suffer – Pique

    Barcelona defender Gerard Pique was delighted with their 3-2 win at Valencia.

    Two goals from Lionel Messi and another from Antoine Griezmann ensured the Catalans remained within two points of leaders Atletico Madrid.

    Pique said, “The knee’s fine, it was a small problem but nada. After the unexpected loss (against Granada) this was a very important game to keep fighting until the end.

    “We knew there would be no easy games. This means we are still in the fight for the title. To be there until the end is an achievement, that’s what we wanted at the start of the season, even more after the first half of the campaign. It was a similar game to Villarreal today, dominating, we had the chances … Valencia scored the first but the team was good, turned it around and we were able to control the game. A golazo from Soler meant we suffered a little at the end.”

    On the result, Pique also stated: “We would like to kill games off earlier … these are things that happen. We also have to analyse the goals. The problem is all the chances opponents have are going in, we have to analyse that.

    “Thursday was completely unexpected and the defeat damaged us, but winning at Villarreal and Valencia was complicated and gives us confidence. We’re still competing and if you look back six months that’s an achievement.”

  • Again! Guardiola supports Messi to remain with Barca

    Again! Guardiola supports Messi to remain with Barca

    Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has reaffirmed hopes of Lionel Messi playing out his career with Barcelona.

    Off contract in June, Messi has been linked with City and PSG this season.

    But Guardiola told TV3: “I hope he can finish his career at Barça. Messi will not find a better home than Barça. The only thing to do, as our dear professor said, is to go back to the origins, to save the cause of things, which makes Barça special in many areas in the way they play.

    “The future of Messi? We know how to do it. The founding thing is already done. All you have to do is dust it off, put oil on it, nails … and start over. There is no better club to do it.”

  • Ex-agent: Hazard should’ve joined Barca not Real Madrid

    Ex-agent: Hazard should’ve joined Barca not Real Madrid

    The former agent of Real Madrid attacker Eden Hazard says he should’ve joined Barcelona.

    Real Madrid signed Hazard in 2019 for €120m.

    But John Vico told La Dernière Heure: “It was a mistake to go to Real at that time. It is his choice. A choice of heart but no reason. He should have gone a year before or later but never the year Ronaldo left. Passing after him is like scaling the Himalayas with bare hands. You have to know how to dare to say no to Eden and, unfortunately, some do not dare. I would have advised him against it telling him to go the year before or to leave through the Chelsea gate a year later.”

    On Real Madrid, Vico continued: “People do not realise and forget the athletic dimension of this team which has a game with a lot of physical demands in terms of rhythm and intensity because the technical level of the team is approaching 10/10.

    “Great talents like James have failed to adapt. On this point, Eden is not a player for Real but for Barça. It is at Barça where he should have gone, where the ball runs more than the players unlike Real where the project does not correspond to the physiological memory of his body. That’s why he’s cracking up everywhere. He should have stayed an extra season at Chelsea to go through the front door and above all prepare his body for the changes to come.

    “At Barça, he would have had a blast, he would have had more freedom on the pitch, he would have had the ball constantly at his feet.”