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Tag: Ernesto Valverde

  • Losing Dembele a big blow- Valverde

    Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has spoken of his regret about the injury suffered by Ousmane Dembele in Saturday night’s 2-0 defeat to Celta Vigo at Balaidos.

    The French forward injured himself sprinting in the first minute, but remained on the pitch for four more minutes before being substituted.

    “It seems that it is a muscular injury he received, we’re going to wait until Sunday to assess it,” he said.

    “He is an important player for us and it is a major blow with the big games we have coming up.

    “I didn’t replace him with Philippe Coutinho as I didn’t want to run any more risks.”

    Defender Jean-Clair Todibo was substituted in the second half of the game with a knock as well.

    “His injury isn’t clear yet, we’re going to assess it and perhaps it’s only a slight knock,” Valverde stated.

    The 55-year-old coach spoke after the game about the 90 minutes as whole.

    “We dominated the match at moments,” he said.

    “Their first goal came and it gave them the option to go on and win the game.

    “We had no answer.

    “We played with a lot of new faces and in the second half we were unable to generate what we needed to score.”

  • ‘Barcelona putting La Liga title ahead of Liverpool UCL tie’

    Barcelona coach, Ernesto Valverde has said that the Spanish giants will put winning La Liga for the eighth time in 11 years ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League showdown against Liverpool.

    Barcelona host Liverpool in the first leg of their semifinal tie next week, but they have the chance to wrap up the Spanish league title by beating Levante on Saturday ahead of the UCL match.

    Valverde told a news conference that the boost which winning La Liga will bring outweighs the option of making wholesale changes ahead of the game against Jurgen Klopp’s side.

    “You always have upcoming rivals in your head — you’re watching their games, analysing them,” Valverde said when asked if a first European semifinal since 2015 could serve as a distraction.

    “But I want to try and put Liverpool to one side because of the importance of Saturday’s game. I want the Levante game to be the crowning moment of our league season. If we win, we’re champions and that will give us a huge push going into Wednesday’s game.”

    Valverde rested Lionel Messi, Ivan Rakitic and Jordi Alba for the midweek 2-0 win against Alaves, but all three are expected to start this weekend. There could be some subtle rotating elsewhere, though.

    “It’s possible that there will be some changes, but there are four days between the two games,” the coach added. “Winning the league would be a massive boost for the Liverpool match.”

    Read Also: UCL: 5 reasons Manchester United could upset Barcelona

    Barca could even be crowned champions before the Levante game if Atletico Madrid lose to Real Valladolid earlier on Saturday. The Catalans are nine points clear of their nearest rivals with just four games to go and have a superior head-to-head record over Atleti.

    They remain on track for a third Treble since 2009, too, with the Copa del Rey final against Valencia to come in May, but Valverde is particularly pleased with his side’s consistency in the league as they hone in on a 26th title.

    “What this team is doing is really difficult,” Valverde said. “Last year, we won the league with games to spare. We’re in the same position this year. That’s not easy.

    “We win titles because we have extraordinary players. We give a huge amount of value to winning the league, it’s what marks the season. I know there are other competitions, like the Copa and the Champions League, but they depend on certain moments.

    “The league is months of competition, of winning home and away and that has so much value. And the fact the club has won so many titles in recent years says a lot about how things are taken on a day to day basis.”

    ESPN

     

  • Messi must be more involved – Valverde

    Barcelona need to ensure Lionel Messi is more involved in Saturday’s La Liga ‘Clasico’ at Real Madrid than he was in Wednesday’s Copa del Rey semi-final second-leg victory over their arch-rivals, coach Ernesto Valverde said.

    Messi, all-time top scorer in the ‘Clasico’, was unusually quiet in his side’s 3-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu, a game in which Real had many more chances but Barca were more clinical.

    The Argentine has had fitness issues over the last month but bagged a hat-trick and notched an assist in the 4-2 win at Sevilla last weekend.

    “I think he is in good shape, very good shape. You always expect a lot of your players, Messi included,” Valverde told a news conference on Friday.

    “He always performs, even though in some games he performs less than in others. We have to play well in order for him to perform.”

    The coach gave an honest assessment of his side’s overall display in the Cup game, in which Barca had only four shots to Real’s 14.

    “It’s true that the other day there were spells when we did not play well, they kept arriving in our area and looked dangerous and we only created two or three chances.

  • Messi eats at his own table- Alba

    Lionel Messi’s mesmeric display in Barcelona’s 4-2 Champions League win over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday, proved yet again, that he is a class above the world’s other top players, team mate Jordi Alba, has said.

    Messi ran amok at Wembley Stadium, slicing Spurs apart with incisive passes from deep, such as the one that allowed Philippe Coutinho to open the scoring.

    He was as dangerous as ever in front of goal, firing in the Catalan side’s final two goals to end their winless run of three games.

    “Messi eats at his own table; he plays on another level to the rest.

    “When Leo goes on a run, all the rest of us can do is grit our teeth. He is the best in the world and he makes all of us a little bit better,” Barca defender Alba told reporters.

    Messi was a surprise absentee from the three nominees at FIFA’s The Best awards ceremony last week in London, where Real Madrid’s Luka Modric was crowned Player of the Year ahead of Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo.

    “For me `The Best’ is a lie,” said Alba.

    Rakitic, the scorer of Barca’s second goal, said Messi was one of a kind.

    Read Also: 2018 FIFA Best Award: Modric wins to end Ronaldo, Messi dominance

    “With respect to the other players, Messi is unique. Sometimes a player has a great season like Modric did, but we all know Messi is different,” he added.

    Wembley is a happy hunting ground for Barcelona, who won their first European Cup there in 1992.

    They also beat Manchester United 3-1 at the venue in the Champions League final in 2011.

    “If we played like this every day then we’d win every competition every year.

    “If we do things in the right way and work as a team, it’s very difficult to beat us. If we all fight for the same objective the results will come,” said Alba

    The victory keeps Barca joint top of Champions’ League Group B with Inter Milan, who they play next, and saw them snap a run of four Champions League away games without a win.

    “There are some games you look forward to a lot and this was one of those and we’re very happy with how the players responded,” added Coach Ernesto Valverde, who had faced heavy criticism in the media in the build up to the game.

    “I hope the fans are too,” he said.

  • Unbeaten runs in Europe

    Barcelona have joined the longest unbeaten run in Europe alongside AC Milan who still retain the longest unbeaten run in Europe’s top-five leagues.

    Barcelona may have suffered a painful League defeat at the hands of Levante, but Ernesto Valverde’s men have written their names into the Europe history books nonetheless.

    The Spanish Champions, having stretched their unbeaten run to 43 games got crashed out from completing their unbeaten run stead in a thriller 5-4 match against the lowly Levante side early May.

    Barcelona are similarly in elite company as a result of their new landmark, joining the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Bayern Munich in holding a European league record. They currently ranked 10th on the list of clubs with the longest unbeaten run in Europe’s top-five leagues.

    Here, we take a look at the longest unbeaten runs in each of the continents top five divisions: the Premier League, LaLiga, Ligue 1, the Bundesliga and Serie A. They are listed as follows:

    1. AC Milan (Italy), Manager (Fabio Capello)

    58 Games (26/5/1991-21/3/1993)

    1.  Benfica (Portugal), Manager (John Mortimore)

    56 Games (24/10/1976-1/9/1978)

    1. Porto (Portugal), Manager (Bobby Robson)

    53 Games (22/10/1994-23/3/1996)

    1. Ajax (Netherlands), Manager (Louis van Gaal)

    52 Games (28/8/1994-14/1/1996)

    1. Arsenal (England), Manager (Arsene Wenger)

    49 Games (7/5/2011-3/11/2012)

    1. Juventus (Italy), Manager (Antonio Conte)

    49 Games (15/5/2011-3/11/2012).

    1. Barcelona (Spain), Manager (Ernesto Valverde)

    43 Games (11/12/2017-13/5/2018)

  • Barcelona announce South Africa friendly

    FC Barcelona will play a friendly match against South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns in Johannesburg on Wednesday, the club said on Thursday.

    The match will be part of celebrations to mark 100 years since the birth of Nelson Mandela.

    It will be played at the FNB Stadium, formerly known as the Soccer City Stadium, where Spain won the 2010 World Cup.

    The 2010 squad featured Barca players like Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and captain Andres Iniesta, who struck the only goal in their 1-0 win over the Netherlands.

    “FC Barcelona has always professed its admiration for Nelson Mandela, one of the greatest figures of the 20th century.

    “He had after 27 years in prison went on to become the first democratically-elected president of post-apartheid South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

    Read Also: Barcelona president fuels Griezmann speculation

    “Mandela represented the struggle for freedom and equality in the country, and played a huge role in unifying the racially-divided society.

    “It is precisely this kind of spirit with which FC Barcelona has always been identified,” a statement on the club’s website said.

    Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, but it appears the match has been brought forward because of the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.

    The competition holds from June 14 to July 15.

    The friendly is now sandwiched between Barca’s penultimate Liga game away to Levante on May 13 and their final game at home to Real Sociedad on May 20.

    Ernesto Valverde’s side clinched a 25th Liga title, the King’s Cup on and are bidding to become the first team since 1933 to complete a Spanish top-flight season without losing a game.

    NAN

     

  • Barcelona president fuels Griezmann speculation

    Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu has been in contact with Antoine Griezmann’s agent amid reports the Atletico Madrid striker is set to join the Spanish champions.

    Frenchman Griezmann has a 100 million euro (88 million pounds) release clause in his contract and Spanish media reported that Barcelona are ready to pay it.

    “We are analysing the season and we will see what we will do with ins and outs.

    “I have bumped into him (Griezmann) occasionally in the Balearic Islands. I have not spoken to him this year but I did speak to his agent in October.

    “With (Atletico Madrid President Enrique) Cerezo I have spoken about a lot of things, but not about this,” Bartomeu told radio station RAC1.

    Barcelona are looking to strengthen their squad after winning the Spanish title 12 points clear of second place Atletico with three matches left.

    They drew 2-2 with Real Madrid on Sunday in a tempestuous Clasico despite playing the second half with 10 men after Sergi Roberto’s dismissal, and are unbeaten in 42 league matches.

    “We are very happy with (Coach Ernesto Valverde’s) work and that of the players.

    “When they sent off Sergi Roberto, I suffered a bit thinking about the second half, but then we went on to have a great game,” Bartomeu added.

    Barcelona also won the Spanish Cup this season but were knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage by AS Roma after squandering a 4-1 first-leg lead.

    NAN

     

  • Barcelona face team dilemma in visit to tiny Eibar

    Barcelona face team dilemma in visit to tiny Eibar

    FC Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde faces a dilemma before his side’s potentially tricky trip to in-form Eibar on Saturday, having watched his side’s seemingly unassailable La Liga lead grow smaller.

    The lead has been cut to seven points from 11 in the last two weeks.

    The advantage would normally give the coach room to rotate his squad in order to keep his side fresh for the visit to Chelsea in the Champions League three days later.

    But tiny Eibar’s consistency means such a move risks his side falling closer to second-placed Atletico Madrid.

    Eibar hail from a town of 27,000 inhabitants in the Basque region and are the smallest team in the top flight.

    Five years ago they were in the 80-team regional third tier.

    They have overcome a rocky start to the season to grow into genuine contenders for a European spot, rising to seventh place in the standings by losing only one of their last 12 games.

    That run has included impressive 5-0 and 5-1 thrashings of Real Betis and Sevilla respectively, as well as victory over high-flying Valencia.

    They have also developed a knack for edging tight games, snatching a 1-0 win at Leganes in their last outing with an injury-time goal.

    It is a remarkable turnaround from their dismal form at the start of the season when they lost seven of their first 11 games.

    Read Also:Barcelona bids Mascherano emotional farewell

    However, Coach Jose Luis Mendilibar said his side had barely altered their style, which is based on pressing high, no-nonsense defending and frequent crosses into the opposing box.

    “We’ve changed nothing, we don’t care which team we play, we’ll keep doing what we believe we do well,” the coach said.

    “It’s easy for any analyst to see what we do in every game; we change hardly anything so it should be easy to play against us. It’s extraordinary to be in this position at this stage as no-one would have expected that when the season started.”

    Barca have found it easy to play against Eibar, winning all seven of their games since the side were promoted and thrashing them 6-1 at the Nou Camp last September.

    Lionel Messi seems to enjoy playing them too, having scored 12 goals in six meetings, including four in the last fixture.

    The Catalans remain the only unbeaten team in Europe’s top five leagues but head to the tiny, 7,000-capacity Ipurua stadium following unconvincing draws against Espanyol and Getafe.

    They will be boosted by the return of first-choice centre-backs Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti, however.

    Atletico Madrid have won their last three league games and will be looking to keep the pressure on Barca when they host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, while champions Real Madrid visit Real Betis.

    NAN

  • Biafra, Democracy Day dominate Google search

    Biafra, Democracy Day dominate Google search

    Nigerians took to Google during the week to know more about Biafra and the history of democracy in Africa’s most populous nation.

    Google’s Spokesman Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade made the announcement in Lagos on Thursday.

    Kola-Ogunlade, who is Google’s Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Anglophone West Africa, said the searches were apparently to know more about Biafra.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some groups observed a sit-at-home protest on May 30, to commemorate the 50th anniversary since the Biafra uprising ended.

    Kola-Ogunlade said that Nigerians searched for Democracy Day, Biafra News, Biafra Day, Tiger Woods, Ernesto Valverde and Paul Pogba in the search engine.

    According to him, a group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has rejected May 29 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day, describing it as fraudulent, unrealistic and escapist.

    “The group asked the Federal Government to declare June 12 as Democracy Day instead.

    “May 29 was chosen by the last military regime of Gen. Abdul Salaam Abubakar.

    “Nigerian researched more on the topic on Google search using the terms: ‘when is democracy day in Nigeria.’

    The spokesman said that Nigerians also searched for: “why do we celebrate democracy day in Nigeria.

    “History of democracy day in Nigeria and democracy day 2017”.

    The searches commenced on May 25 and ended on May 31.

    Kola-Ogunlade said there was total shutdown in Nigeria’s South East on May 30, following the Indigenous People of Biafra’s sit-at-home order.

    He said that the order was to mark the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the defunct Republic of Biafra and also to honour heroes and heroines of the liberation struggle.

    The Google chief said that the sit-at-home order was totally complied with in the five states in the South East.

    Kola-Ogunlade explained that people searched Google using terms such as ‘Biafra news today’, ‘Biafra latest news’, ‘radio Biafra news’ and ‘radio Biafra’.

    The spokesman said that Golf superstar, Tiger Woods’ arrest and charge for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) by the police in Florida on May 29 also trended on Google.

    He said that the former golf world number one had to deal with a fresh blow as he struggled to resurrect his career.

    “Nigerians went on Google to search for ‘Tiger Woods net worth’, ‘Tiger Woods arrested’, ‘Tiger Woods news’, ‘DUI’ and ‘Serena Williams’.

    The Google chief said that Barcelona FC President, Josep Bartomeu, on May 29 officially confirmed the appointment of Ernesto Valverde as the club’s new head coach, replacing Luis Enrique.

    Kola-Ogunlade said that sports fanatics Googled ‘Ernesto Valverde profile’, ‘Barcelona’, ‘Who is Ernesto Valverde’ and ‘Barcelona new coach.’

    He also said that Paul Pogba’s visit to Mecca to give thanks for a good season trended on Google.

    “Paul Pogba visited Islam’s holiest city, Mecca this week to pray and offer his appreciation for a successful season with Manchester United and to mark the beginning of Ramadan.

    “Nigerians visited Google to search ‘Paul Pogba religion’, ‘Is Paul pogba a Muslim’, ‘Paul Pogba profile’ and ‘Paul Pogba biography’,” Kola-Ogunlade said.

    Google Trends launched in May, 2006, allows one to see how popular search terms and their demography have been overtime on the search engine.

  • Varlverde appointed new Barcelona coach

    Varlverde appointed new Barcelona coach

    Barcelona have confirmed that Ernesto Valverde will be their new coach for the 2017-18 season.

    The 53-year-old stepped down after four seasons in a second spell at Athletic Club last week and was widely expected to take over from Luis Enrique this summer.

    Barca had promised an announcement after the Copa del Rey final and a statement on Monday confirmed Valverde as the new coach on a two-year deal.

    “I have spoken personally with Ernesto Valverde and I told him of our decision,” said club president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

    “He said he is very excited and very happy, that it’s a great challenge to come in as head coach of Barca.

    “There is time to talk about why we chose him. We know he has ability, his knowledge and his experience.

    “He loves youth football and he has a special style, similar to what we do at Barca. He has philosophy similar to Barca’s and trains the way we like to train.”

    Luis Enrique’s three-year tenure yielded nine trophies, including a third successive Copa as Barca beat Alaves 3-1 at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday night.

    Valverde Luis Enrique

    The Asturian announced at the beginning of May that he would not be renewing his contract and Barca began to look at a number of candidates.

    Valverde, twice considered in the past, topped a list that also included Jorge Sampaoli, Ronald Koeman and Luis Enrique’s assistant, Juan Carlos Unzue.

    Born in Extremadura, Valverde spent two years at Barca as a player under Johan Cruyff between 1988 and 1990. As a coach, he won the Spanish Supercopa at Athletic – by beating Barca in 2015 – as well as three Greek titles and two cups with Olympiacos, while he also led Espanyol to a UEFA Cup final in 2007.

    Nicknamed  El Txingurri  (which means bee in Basque) in his playing days, Valverde has also coached Valencia and Villarreal.

    He will be looking to turn Barcelona into the team to beat in La Liga again, with the Catalans having had to settle for second behind arch-rivals Real Madrid this season.

    They also missed out on Champions League glory as Juventus proved to be too strong in the quarter-finals, although they did win the Copa del Rey for a third straight year.