Mauricio Pochettino has never shied away from speaking his mind, and this week the Argentine coach made clear where his loyalties stand. Asked if he could ever imagine managing Barcelona, Pochettino answered with a blend of honesty and conviction: “With my coaching style, I could coach Barça, yes. But I would never do it. I’m an Espanyol fan.”
For anyone familiar with Pochettino’s story, the remark was no surprise. Before his rise in England, where he guided Tottenham to a Champions League final, Pochettino’s identity was forged in Catalonia with Espanyol. He arrived as a young defender from Argentina, made …
Lionel Messi marked his 700th game for Barcelona by scoring his 613th goal on Wednesday as the Catalans beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1 to go through as group winners to the Champions League last 16.
Messi celebrated his anniversary in style by putting Barca two up before half-time, between laying on a pair of assists for Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann in a comfortable victory at Camp Nou.
“He was incredible,” said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde. “It’s all about what he does and when he does it. It was a performance to put us through.”
England’s Jadon Sancho fired into the …
Barcelona past, present and future players have another reason to thank Lionel Messi – as it has been revealed that he inspired former club President Joan Laporta to award every single winner of a European title at the Catalan club a lifetime salary.
More than 290 players could be benefiting – with the Nou Camp side having amassed five Champions League titles, four Cup Winners’ Cups and three Fairs Cups.
Juan Carlos Heredia – who was victorious in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1979 alongside Johan Cruyff – is one of the recipients, and explained how the reward was inspired.…
According to Corriere dello Sport, Barca and City are willing to have the player’s signature after falling out of Maurizio Sarri’s first-team choice, making only three starts this season.
The Uruguay international turned 22 back in June and has been in Turin since the summer of 2017 in a €12.5m deal, when he joined from Argentine giants Boca Juniors.
Last season, he made 40 appearances contributing two goals and three assists last season.
Spanish giants, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have sent their scouts to monitor Golden Eaglets captain, Samson Tijani, at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil, reports Completesports.com.
Scouts from the three clubs, according to Spanish news hub, as.comz were in attendance during Nigeria’s first Group B match against Hungary on Saturday which the Eaglets won 4-2.
Tijani was on target twice in the game, the first a well taken penalty and the fourth, a sublime free-kick five minutes from time.
Real Madrid, according to the report, had two of their scouts in attendance during the game, …
