Articles by "La Liga"
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at April 20, 2019 0

BARCELONA are expected to rotate their squad for the visit of Real Sociedad to the Nou Camp this evening (7.45pm) following their win over Manchester United.

Ernesto Valverde’s side booked their spot in the Champions League semi-finals with a comfortable 3-0 win over United on Tuesday, securing a 4-0 aggregate victory.
Lionel Messi was in superb form, scoring twice while Philippe Coutinho also bagged a brilliant curling goal before proceeding to taunt his critics with an inflammatory celebration.
Despite his strike, the Brazilian could be set to drop out of the starting XI as Barca look to rotate in preparation for their meeting with Liverpool next month.
Ousmane Dembele came on as a substitute against United and should be named in the starting XI against Sociedad, who are currently 10th in La Liga.
While Messi and strike partner Luis Suarez is expected to continue in the attack, Valverde could ring the changes in midfield with Arturo Vidal and Carles Alena selected.
Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets are most likely to be rested while Arthur will keep his place following an impressive display in midweek.
Meanwhile, Samuel Umtiti has missed training this week and looks set to miss out again – having been plagued by injury troubles this season.
Clement Lenglet will deputize in his absence and Nelson Semedo should start at right-back in place of Sergi Roberto after being benched against United.
Barcelona team news predicted line up Sociedad
Barcelona team news: Samuel Umtiti has been struggling with injury this season (Image: GETTY)
Rafinha and Thomas Vermaelen are the only other injury concerns for Valverde.
Barcelona is currently nine points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga with just six matches remaining.
The defending champions were held to a goalless draw against Huesca last weekend but will be looking for another three points as they continue to chase a hat-trick of trophies.
As well as La Liga and the Champions League, Barca is into the final of the Copa del Rey and will face Valencia at the end of May so squad rotation in the next few weeks will be key.
Barcelona team news predicted line up Sociedad
Barcelona team news: Is this how Barca will line up against Real Sociedad? (Image: buildlineup.com)

Barcelona predicted line-up vs Real Sociedad – La Liga

(4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Semedo, Lenglet, Pique, Alba; Vidal, Alena, Arthur; Messi, Dembele, Suarez
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at April 18, 2019 0

The Real Madrid 2019-2020 project is taking shape and to do things well  Zinedine Zidane  has applied the saying "let go before entering." Florentino Perez knows that he has to sell to be able to incorporate the Galacticos that the French coach wants, but he must do it in a way that the other teams do not need.
The white president knows that  Gareth Bale will not leave the club, nor announce his departure before he has signed Eden Hazard because otherwise, the price of the signing will be higher and so with each of the additions.
For this Zidane has already warned the players he does not have and, for now, there are five:  Gareth Bale himself, Mariano Diaz, Dani Ceballos, Marcos Llorente, and Brahím Díaz.
The Welsh forward was the first to know his luck and his agent would already be talking to several clubs in the Premier League to find an agreement that benefits Real Madrid and the player.
Mariano Díaz will leave as soon as the arrival of Raúl De Tomás becomes official. The idea of ​​Mariano is to stay in the Spanish League or return to Olympique de Lyon. Sevilla seems to have the best position to take the scorer.
Dani Ceballos has important offers of Champions teams and does not count for Zidane. Florentino Pérez hopes to make cash with his sale. Juventus is the favorite.
Marcos Llorente does not quite convince although his performance has been good as long as he has been allowed to play. Borussia Dortmund and several teams of the Premier League have asked for him.
Finally, there is  Brahím Díaz, who does not like Zidane, but that Florentino Pérez does not want to give up and will surely be transferred to a team in the Spanish league.

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at April 14, 2019 0

LIONEL MESSI will be fit for Barcelona’s Champions League quarter-final second leg with Manchester United despite taking a blow from Chris Smalling.

Messi was left bloodied and bruised after the United defender clattered into him during the first leg at Old Trafford.
That was after the Argentinian had set up Luis Suarez to head in, via a deflection off Luke Shaw, as Barcelona earned a crucial 1-0 lead to take back to the Nou Camp.
But the blow left Messi looking out of sorts, and he failed to have his usual impact for the rest of the game.
Messi was left out as Barcelona faced Huesca in La Liga on Saturday, with a number of other stars rested.
But Barca boss Ernesto Valverde has revealed Messi has recovered from his clash with Smalling.
“I spoke to him and he is fine, but it was a hard knock,” Valverde said.
“He wasn’t feeling good the day after nor during the rest of the match.
“It was like a truck had run over him.”
Manchester United ace Smalling caught Messi in the face with an arm as the two challenged for an aerial ball.
And the duo spoke after the game, with no hard feelings between the pair.
“Yeah, we spoke after,” Smalling said. “I didn’t realize at the time actually that I caught him like that.
“But, after the game we just had a brief chat, shook and hands and he said ‘yeah, it was an accident’.
“[I spoke to] Suarez after as well. We had a good tussle and he just shook my hand after and we said good luck.
“It’s nice when you can have that battle on the pitch and then there’s full respect after the game.

We started sloppy and a bit nervous. After their goal we settled and played well.
"We had very good individual performances in midfield. At times it felt like a proper United team - the crowd were behind us, we got out wide and got crosses in.
"We didn't start great, but it was a great goal and movement from Messi and Suarez but they're fortunate it comes off Luke Shaw.
“It's a blow but we settled well. We're still in this tie."

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at April 13, 2019 0

LIONEL MESSI holds no ill feeling towards Chris Smalling after the Manchester United defender left him bloodied and bruised at Old Trafford - insisting he KNEW it was an accident.

Smalling caught the Barcelona star in the face with his arm as the two challenged for an aerial ball in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
Messi was unusually quiet but still managed to have the last laugh as he played a key role in the only goal of the game that saw Luke Shaw turn past into his own net.
It was a feisty affair between two European heavyweights and Smalling was involved in incidents with both Messi and his Barca team-mate Luis Suarez.
However, he insists there is no problem between the players and revealed they discussed it after the game.
“Yeah, we spoke after,” Smalling said. “I didn’t realize at the time actually that I caught him like that.
“But, after the game we just had a brief chat, shook and hands and he said ‘yeah, it was an accident’.
“[I spoke to] Suarez after as well. We had a good tussle and he just shook my hand after and we said good luck.
“It’s nice when you can have that battle on the pitch and then there’s full respect after the game.
Ultimately you’re just trying to do your best and enjoy the game.”
United will go into the second leg next Tuesday as big underdogs as they need to score at least once at the Nou Camp.
However, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes there were positives to take from a game in which United was not overawed by one of the favorites to win the competition outright.
"There were pluses and negatives,” the Norwegian said.

We started sloppy and a bit nervous. After their goal we settled and played well.
"We had very good individual performances in midfield. At times it felt like a proper United team - the crowd were behind us, we got out wide and got crosses in.
"We didn't start great, but it was a great goal and movement from Messi and Suarez but they're fortunate it comes off Luke Shaw.
“It's a blow but we settled well. We're still in this tie."
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at April 12, 2019 0

MANCHESTER UNITED manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer muttered just eight words to Lionel Messi after the Argentine laid on the goal which succumbed United to a 1-0 home loss against Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

Messi was silenced for most of the game at Old Trafford, largely due to a bloody nose which the forward sustained after a reckless aerial challenge from behind by Chris Smalling.
Barcelona’s talisman had to leave the field for treatment before returning with blood somehow smeared around his eye, but the bloodied magician’s work had already been done.
After untypically miss controlling an incisive chipped pass from Sergio Busquets, Messi curled a pinpoint cross to Luis Suarez at the back post and Manchester United’s old foe headed into Luke Shaw, whose torso diverted the ball in.
Solskjaer was seen talking with Messi after the final whistle but the United manager brushed off the significance of the chat.
Asked what he said to Messi, Solskjaer replied: "'All the best and see you next week'. That's it."
United now face the daunting task of overturning the deficit at the Nou Camp next Tuesday, where Barcelona have not lost in the competition since September 2013.
United thwarted Barcelona well for the majority of the game but lacked potency in the final third.
Doing the same, especially to Messi, in Catalonia next week will be a different kettle of fish, but Solskjaer was pleased with how his team coped last night.

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at April 11, 2019 0

Paul Pogba believes that, in Barcelona, Manchester United saw a team they can beat last night, despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side needing a memorable comeback to rescue their Champions League campaign.
United must overturn a 1-0 deficit at the Nou Camp next Tuesday if they are to reach the semi-finals of the competition following their first-leg defeat at Old Trafford.
Luke Shaw's 12th-minute own goal proved to be the difference between the two sides in a game low on quality and clear-cut chances.
United reached this year's quarter-finals thanks to one of their greatest European results, overturning a 2-0 home leg deficit to qualify on away goals against Paris Saint-Germain.

And Pogba, who missed the 3-1 victory in Paris last month through suspension, believes Barcelona are so strong that another turnaround is impossible.
“Of course, we saw a team we can beat," he said. "If you don’t believe that then you just let them go through. We believe we can beat them. 

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at April 11, 2019 1

Man Utd lost to Barcelona 1-0 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Old Trafford but still have a hope of progressing.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was coy about his post-match discussion with Barcelona captain Lionel Messi following Manchester United's Champions League defeat.

Messi was somewhat subdued in his second appearance at Old Trafford, where he was left with a bloodied nose following a robust first-half challenge from Chris Smalling. At his post-match press conference, Solskjaer - who exchanged pleasantries with the officials on the pitch at full-time - was asked what he said to Messi.
"All the best and see you next week," Solskjaer said. "That's it."
He added to BT Sport: “He’s a fantastic player. We did as well as we could against him. We kept our shape well. It could have gone both ways. We didn’t hit the target and that’s one of the disappointing things. We’ll go there with work to be done but we will create chances."
United must win at Camp Nou for the first time next week if they are to have any chance of progressing to the semi-finals of the Champions League. Luke Shaw's 12th-minute own goal separated the sides in a tepid encounter at Old Trafford as United failed to score in their fourth home European match out of five this season.
Diogo Dalot had United's outstanding chance with a free header at the far post but United was otherwise reduced to half-chances. Having seen his team fail to register an effort on target, Solskjaer does not anticipate a glut of opportunities to overturn the deficit at Camp Nou on Tuesday.
We need to hit the target," Solskjaer stressed. "We created some opportunities, Rashy had a volley after a cross was punched out, Diogo had a great chance at the back post, so we have to take our chances, we have to be very effective and efficient over there. READ MORE

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at April 11, 2019 0
To the barricades. The situation of Gareth Bale in Real Madrid has unleashed a warlike climate that threatens to end in civil war.
The Welshman, who has the support of assets such as Modric or Kroos, lives facing the vast majority of a staff captained by Sergio Ramos who cannot stand his lack of rigor and camaraderie.
Bale, who is looking for a low-cost exit to keep his millionaire card in the destination club, warns these days to send if the club does not facilitate their departure. And he does so through statements by his agent, Jonathan Barnett, who put the hair on end in Madrid.
"He's very happy, he's a Real Madrid player," explains Barnett. "He is not thinking of returning to England, although I can not predict the future," he warns.
A threat, that of continuity, which has the nail group that wants to lose sight of Gareth as soon as possible. Also Zidane.
And in the case of Welsh, it rains on wet.
 
'Zizou' reproached him in his first stage the lack of professionalism when it came to abiding decisions, such as the substitution, which did not favor him.
Bale was a problem then and it is now again. And in the dressing room, they are fed up. Or it will go or there will be trouble and the fat ones.

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at April 07, 2019 0

The colchoneros want changes.

There is a lot of talk about the bad campaign of big teams in Europe , but the silent drama that Atlético de Madrid is living is left aside , waiting with a tense calm that the ship sinks, as several referees of the squad have announced that This will be his last season as a mattress, which puts the leadership and Cholo Simeone in a difficult situation, who with much effort had been making the ideal team to capture a characteristic style of play.

In the search of a forced renewal, Simeone tracks players of a very good level, but who are not having the desired continuity in the great teams to which they belong. From the next summer market wants Rafinha as red and white, the Brazilian would have asked Messi opinion and the Argentine crack advised him to leave, since it will have continuity, because it has been evident that Ernesto Valverde does not count among the main alternatives to integrate the titular team, aside, the fact of being sharing with Simeone can enhance its characteristics.

The negotiation could include the fear clause, because it would be an assignment with purchase obligation as in the Villa case . With this transaction both clubs come out winning, on the one hand, Valverde reduces the excess of players he has in midfield, and, on the other hand, Simeone can start to rearm with all the casualties that he is aware he will have in a short time.

This is just one of the many changes that we will see at Atlético de Madrid for the next year, variations that may end up disturbing several LaLiga and European clubs. There remains the question of whether the Cholo Simeone will be able to find substitutes that maintain the level of a team that became great based on experience.
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