Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has criticized his club for their recent treatment of him and for trying to force his departure last year. The Croatian has been at Barca since 2014 but has fallen out of contention this campaign due to the arrival of Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong and has only started 10 of Barca's 27 LaLiga matches.
Former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has proposed a grand idea for the return of football. The current FC Porto shot-stopper tweeted on Monday the thought of bringing all the former Real Madrid and Barcelona stars together for a massive El Clásico charity match.
The 2019-20 edition of LaLiga was proving to be one of the best yet. After Matchday 27, two points separated league-leader Barcelona and Real Madrid. Meanwhile, the race for Champions League spots was hotly contested as five points were the difference between third-place Sevilla and seventh-place Valencia. Fans of the league are begging for the return of competition and ask: When will La Liga resume?
Barcelona players will make an extra contribution on top of the 70% pay cut they have agreed to take during the enforced LaLiga break so that the club's other employees can earn their full salaries during the coronavirus crisis, captain Lionel Messi said.
The club's all-time top scorer was among many Barcelona players who released identical statements on social media on Monday to confirm the decision.
Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium will be used as a makeshift storage facility as Spain faces an uphill battle against the coronavirus, the club announced on Thursday in conjunction with the country's Superior Sports Council.
Spain is second only to Italy in numbers of deaths due to the virus, with the toll passing 4,000 on Thursday. Over 56,000 people have so far tested positive for the coronavirus in the country. The lockdown in Spain is expected to be extended once the initial 15-day measure is completed this weekend.
Current contracts for players and coaches should be extended until the end of the delayed domestic soccer seasons, according to an internal FIFA document presented to its Coronavirus Working Group. The confidential document, seen by Reuters, also recommends allowing transfer windows to be changed in accordance with new season dates and urges clubs and players to work together to find solutions to salary payments during stoppages.
Real Madrid forward Marco Asensio has missed the entire season with a serious knee injury but the time away from the pitch paid unexpected dividends when he was crowned champion of LaLiga's FIFA 20 video game tournament on Sunday.
With Spanish soccer on hold along with most live sports while the world fights the coronavirus pandemic, players traded the pitch for PlayStation in an online tournament organized by eSports commentator Ibai Llanos and endorsed by LaLiga.
The Spanish soccer calendar has been postponed until further notice, LaLiga and the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) said in a joint statement on Monday. All organized soccer in Spain had been postponed for two weeks due to the spread of the coronavirus but was initially due to resume on April 3.
The statement said a joint commission between the two bodies had agreed to postpone all professional soccer competitions until the Spanish government considered they could start again "without creating any health risk.”
On March 21, the legendary Ronaldinho celebrated his 40th birthday (while in prison in Paraguay). Of his 40 years on this planet, the most celebrated are the five he spent with Barcelona between 2003 and 2008.
The Brazilian enjoyed a stratospheric rise at the Camp Nou and made the Blaugrana No. 10 shirt his own while winning two LaLiga titles, one Champions League crown and the 2005 Ballon d’Or.
MADRID — Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz has died aged 76, his son Lorenzo said on Saturday.
The former Real president was taken to hospital on Tuesday, with newspaper El Mundo saying he had been suffering from the novel coronavirus. His son said he had a respiratory disease.
Comunicado Oficial: fallecimiento de Lorenzo Sanz.#RealMadrid