La Liga Thread

[Vesper 27,417]

13 trophies and 198 goals – but was Luis Suarez underappreciated at Barcelona?

https://theathletic.com/2081659/2020/09/24/luis-suarez-barcelona-transfer-atletico-la-liga/

“This is a very difficult day for me,” said Luis Suarez as he choked back tears at his farewell event as a Barcelona player.

“Playing at Barca — the best team in the world — was a dream. I must be very proud of all that I have done here, living such spectacular moments, winning so many trophies, playing alongside such marvellous players, including the best footballer ever. I will always appreciate the warmth and support from the fans from the first day till the last. Everyone here at the club must know that they will always have another ‘culé’ forever in me, wherever I am.”

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu was also gushing in his praise of the Uruguayan.

“This is a special day; a legend of our club is leaving, having won 13 trophies and becoming our third-highest goalscorer ever. We appreciate that enormously. I thank you, in the name of Barca fans all over the world, and hope you are happy in the future on and off the pitch.”

Despite the warm words, there was still a forced feel to the proceedings, and a sense Suarez and Bartomeu were keeping their real opinions to themselves.

During a Zoom chat with reporters, Suarez agreed it has been a “crazy month” and admitted he had things “to keep to myself” about the transfer saga.

Both Suarez and Bartomeu are winners, in a way.

Suarez secured his aim of getting a sizable pay-off to leave (€9 million) and has joined a club in Atletico Madrid who have ambitions to challenge for all possible trophies this season. His signing has caused huge excitement at Atletico. Bartomeu, meanwhile, has pushed through his very public aim of moving on one of the club’s highest earners.

Following August’s embarrassing 8-2 Champions League quarter-finals loss to Bayern Munich, Bartomeu made clear Suarez was one of the players he wanted rid of as he looked to rebuild the team.

However, Bartomeu must still fear Suarez coming back to haunt his former side over the coming months.

Suarez was told he was not wanted at Barcelona by their new manager, Ronald Koeman, on August 24. Three days earlier, he had said he would be happy to stay at the club even in the reserves, all the while trying to negotiate an exit on the best terms possible. The 33-year-old suffered the embarrassment of a trip to Perugia for an Italian language exam which has led to a police investigation into the validity of the certification he was given, when it appeared Juventus was his most likely destination. The University of Perugia has denied wrongdoing and there is no investigation into Suarez.

Both Atletico and Barcelona thought they had reached an agreement on Monday for Suarez to leave, only for Bartomeu to block the move when it emerged he was heading to Diego Simeone’s team for free. Frantic talks took place on Tuesday evening with Bartomeu meeting Suarez’s lawyers at the Nou Camp, while fans protested outside calling on Bartomeu to resign.

A deal was eventually struck and Barcelona issued the statement confirming his departure five minutes before midnight on Wednesday. Barcelona wanted it out there they were receiving €6 million from Atletico, not just letting him go for nothing.

Atletico, however, believe no money is changing hands now and they will only be out of pocket should they reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League with Suarez in their team over the next two seasons (the striker has signed a two-year contract).

Behind the smiles at Thursday lunchtime’s press conference, there was a feeling Suarez and Bartomeu will be happy to see the back of each other. It was not always like that.

“When Pere (Guardiola, his agent) called me to say I had signed for Barca, I could not believe it; I started to cry,” Suarez said, soon after joining in 2014. “I thought that it had all been broken after the Chiellini stuff. The club made a big effort for me which I will value all my life.”

Suarez was especially grateful then to Bartomeu, who pushed hard for his signing from Liverpool for €80 million, even while he was serving a four-month ban by FIFA for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini playing for Uruguay at that summer’s World Cup. That incident was the latest in a controversial career which also featured a ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra when he was at Liverpool.

There were also doubts from the likes of Johan Cruyff over how the “individualist” Suarez would fit in a side whose recent successes had been based on midfield control and teamwork. However, after having to wait until the October to make his debut in a Clasico against Real Madrid, which Barcelona lost, Suarez quickly settled into the team. Hitting it off with Lionel Messi was a huge help. Soon after becoming neighbours in the suburb of Castelldefels, the Suarez family were being invited to barbecues in the Messi’s garden, and the two South Americans started driving to training together. Their partners, Antonella Roccuzzo and Sofia Balbi, also became friends and started a fashion business together.

On the pitch, Suarez and Messi were proving a perfect match. The Uruguayan’s ability to click with the introspective but judgmental Argentinian contrasted with the experience of other top forwards at Barcelona over the last decade, including Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Villa, Alexis Sanchez, Philipe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and most recently Antoine Griezmann. Neymar was also inhibited during his first season but, after a few teething problems, the MSN (Messi-Suarez-Neymar) forward line clicked. Suarez scored the winner in the return Clasico to all but secure that season’s La Liga title, then helped clinch the treble by scoring in the Champions League final against Juventus.

In his second season, Suarez outscored both Messi and Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, to become the only other player besides those two to win the Pichichi award for La Liga’s top scorer in the last 11 years.

His 198 goals for Barcelona included every type of finish, and he scored prolifically in every competition, especially in finals — Club World Cup, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and Champions League.

Suarez goals in Clasicos more or less ended the reigns of both Rafa Benitez and Julen Lopetegui at the Bernabeu. He was just as motivated and hungry to make an impact in La Liga games against less glamorous opponents. He also racked up 97 assists.

“Maybe he is a bit different than the typical player with Barca DNA but he always fit very well, especially for his finishing and the balance he brought with Messi and Neymar,” a source heavily involved in bringing Suarez to the Nou Camp told The Athletic. “Maybe when you play alongside the best (Messi) everything is reduced a little bit, because all the praise tends to go to him, but Suarez is at the level of the greatest ever Barca players.”

Meanwhile, he managed to keep his dark side under control.

In typical Suarez fashion, there have been a few scrapes with opponents but he generally stayed on the right side of the law, with just one red card in his 283 appearances.

---

So, why were Barcelona so keen to move Suarez on now?

The first reason is money. Bartomeu desperately needs to cut the wage bill, and Suarez was the second-highest earner at the club on €18 million (including tax) a year. He had just one season left on his contract, and had he played more than 60 per cent of the games during the 2020-2021 season a clause would have kicked in extending that for another 12 months.

Given Barcelona’s huge financial problems — even before the COVID-19 crisis — it became imperative to shift Suarez, along with Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic and others whose hefty salaries no longer matched their contributions. That was even more the case when Messi decided to stay for at least another year. Koeman is keen to bring in his Dutch countryman Memphis Depay from Lyon and space had to be cleared both in the team and on the wage bill before that can happen.

The second factor is Suarez’s injuries. He has had two serious knee operations over the last 18 months and his movement has been significantly diminished. He can still get himself into scoring positions inside the box but his work rate off the ball has dropped a lot, which is especially a problem when Messi is also in the team. That has contributed to Barcelona’s pressing of opponents becoming woeful in recent seasons.

Suarez has also been sold to a rival to appease angry Barcelona fans who have grown increasingly frustrated with their No 9’s performances. Although he scored 21 goals and contributed 12 assists in 36 games last season, there were grumbles around the Nou Camp about him missing too many chances.

“Of course his exit is linked to reducing the salaries of the first team,” says a source involved in the motion of censure against Bartomeu. “It’s true that he has scored 15 or 20 goals a season, but his general performance over the last two years has not been that of the decisive No 9 the team needs.”

There are also those inside the dressing room who felt Suarez was no longer a positive influence. A source says some senior players grew “tired of his behaviour” and a clique of Suarez, Messi and Vidal were able to put too much pressure on coaches and directors even to the point of “taking decisions themselves” around tactics and training.

The president did not want Suarez. Neither did his coach, a large number of the supporters, nor even some of his most influential team-mates.

So his time was up.

---

Which begs the question: why was Atletico coach Simeone so keen to sign him?

Atletico need a regular goalscorer. And badly. In recent years, Simeone has signed Mario Mandzukic, Jackson Martinez, Kevin Gameiro, re-signed Diego Costa and last summer spent €55 million on Alvaro Morata.

None of them have been able to score regularly enough for Atletico to even challenge for trophies.

After Griezmann left them for Barcelona last summer, Simeone’s team scored just 51 goals in their 38 league games and never challenged in a title race which Real Madrid won without really impressing. However, the coach known as El Cholo believes he has the core of a new, strong Atletico team — from Jan Oblak in goal, through Jose Gimenez and Renan Lodi in defence, and Koke and Saul in midfield. Joao Felix should be able to replace Griezmann’s creativity, but the team needs a pure finisher. A fit and firing Suarez would bring that.

His aggression, intensity and will to win are also qualities Atletico lack at present.

The hope around the Wanda Metropolitano stadium is that Suarez will have a similar — or even bigger — impact as David Villa, who Atletico signed from Barcelona in the summer of 2013.

In his only season with them, Villa helped Atletico win their sole La Liga title of Simeone’s nine years in charge.

Simeone clearly feels Suarez, who he has called “a hugely important player — tremendous, marvellous, extraordinary, strong, aggressive, intense” will have a similar impact on his team as Villa. Or at least that he will be a lot more decisive than Morata, whose diffident personality is so different from Suarez’s (and Simeone’s).

It is also relevant that Suarez was so often decisive against Atletico — providing eight goals and five assists in 18 meetings, including a superbly struck goal at the Nou Camp which more or less decided the 2018-19 title race between the two teams.

The idea that Suarez is leaving Barcelona with something to prove is also surely attractive to Atletico, and something that Simeone will be keen to fuel over the coming months. At his Thursday farewell, Suarez could not help showing regular flashes of pride and gave the feeling he does not at all feel finished as a player.

“When Barca put me on the market, there were many calls, obviously, from many clubs,” he said. “But I am going to a team which can compete as equals with anyone, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, with a lot of excitement and motivation for a new challenge.”

Suarez could come up against Barcelona as soon as October 22, when Atletico will host Koeman’s team.

The return in the Catalan capital is next May, when the title race should be coming to a climax.

Suarez will be hoping to show his previous employers just how dangerous a player he can still be.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

https://www.eurosport.com/football/liga/2020-2021/spanish-federation-axes-signings-outside-transfer-windows_sto7914221/story.shtml

SPANISH FEDERATION AXES SIGNINGS OUTSIDE TRANSFER WINDOWS

The much-maligned rule which allowed Barcelona to sign Martin Braithwaite outside of a transfer window last February has been removed.

The rule, article 124.3 in the federation's regulations, allowed clubs to sign a player from another team after the window had shut if a player in their squad in the same position had been declared injured for a minimum of five months.

But the rule was removed from the new set of statutes published by the federation on Tuesday, and now only players who are out of contract or unemployed may join clubs outside of a transfer window.

The rule, which only existed in Spain, came under global scrutiny when Barcelona signed Denmark striker Braithwaite from fellow La Liga side Leganes in February, after Ousmane Dembele was ruled out for six months due to rupturing his hamstring.

Leganes, who vented their anger at the continued existence of the rule, were helpless to prevent the transfer after Barca triggered Braithwaite's release clause of 18 million euros and were unable to sign a replacement forward.

The Madrid side were eventually relegated from La Liga on the final day of the season.

Braithwaite's signing led to condemnation from FIFA while federation president Luis Rubiales conceded at the time that the rule was unfair and pledged to end it.

 

[Vesper 27,417]

Crunching the numbers: what’s going wrong for Zidane at Real Madrid

https://theathletic.com/2231678/2020/12/04/zidane-real-madrid/

Real Madrid’s performance in Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League group defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk was so bad it had to be seen to be believed. But the limp defeat in Ukraine was also strangely predictable due to the trajectory the team has been on for quite some time now.

Third in the group going into Wednesday’s final game at home to Borussia Monchengladbach, Madrid have to beat the Germans to ensure progress in the competition. A draw could see them drop to the Europa League for the first time ever, while a defeat would see them eliminated from a UEFA competition before Christmas for the first time since 1994-95.

Meanwhile, Madrid’s domestic form is so poor there are serious concerns as to whether Zinedine Zidane’s side will make the top four to qualify for next season’s Champions League. They have taken just one point from their last three games against Valencia, Villarreal and Alaves.

All this leaves Zidane under huge pressure, with some well-connected sources around the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu claiming club president Florentino Perez has been troubled and embarrassed by recent performances. Should the team fail to progress to the Champions League last 16 and suffer more upsets in La Liga games against Sevilla today and Atletico Madrid next weekend, then even Zidane’s past glories as a player and coach might not save him from the sack.

Autumn or winter crises are not exactly a novelty at Madrid.

Zidane became their coach the first time around in January 2016 when Rafael Benitez’s six months in the job had gone badly, while just over 12 months ago there was widespread speculation the Frenchman was about to be replaced following a poor start to the season culminating in a disappointing 0-1 La Liga defeat at Real Mallorca.

Bouncing back from such early-season setbacks to finish the campaign with a big trophy is important to Real’s self-image. Zidane won the first of three Champions League trophies just five months after replacing Benitez, while last summer his team came on strong post the COVID-19 enforced lockdown to win the 2019-20 La Liga title.

This current crisis does seem different though and now there are new issues and challenges which Zidane has to face.

---

The back-to-back losses against Shakhtar in the week and Alaves last weekend probably add up to the worst week of either Zidane’s stints as coach.

Things could get bleaker still if he fails to get a positive result against former Madrid head coach Julen Lopetegui and his Sevilla side on Saturday afternoon. A win would, at least temporarily, reduce the current seven-point gap to leaders Real Sociedad. A defeat could see them drop to as low as eighth in the table.

Lopetegui’s side have had a tough week themselves, losing 4-0 to Chelsea at home on Wednesday night. That game represented Sevilla’s worst result of the season, however they finished November with a 100 per cent record and, all things considered, are having a strong season. Real though are on the slide.

The chart below shows the xG (expected goals) and goal difference over time for Real since the start of 2017-18. The yellow line represents the underlying quality of the team, considering their expected goals over time. The red line shows their goal difference over the same period. The thinking is that where expected goals go, goals will follow (so the higher the yellow line, the better).

Focusing on the very end of the chart shows Zidane’s side this season are on a slide. Results have been poor, and so have performances. This current spell is the worst that Real have been in for some time, nearly on par with the end of 2018-19, where they lost three of their last four matches of the season (albeit when they had little to play for and many players knew their time at the club was almost over).

Lopetegui’s spell at the club coincides with a time where, over a short period of time, performance levels were relatively stable, albeit slowly on the decline.

So what are the issues this season that are leading to that downfall in performance?

Attack-wise, Real are in fact creating slightly fewer but far better chances per game compared to last season. Their non-penalty xG per game of 1.66 is the second-highest in the league behind Barcelona. That’s ahead of last season’s 1.45. Over the course of a whole season, that’s an additional eight goals, enough to turn losses into draws and draws into wins.

It’s also the same personnel providing those chances. Real’s top performers in terms of non-penalty xG last season were Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos, Vinicius Junior and Casemiro. This season, it’s the exact same four.

The issues, therefore, are at the other end of the pitch. Real last season were the best side defensively in the league, conceding just 0.71 non-penalty xG per game. This season, they are just the eighth-best side statistically, conceding 0.99 non-penalty xG per game. It also doesn’t help that Real have conceded five penalties already this season (compared to just two all of last season).

An increase in both volume and quality of shots conceded doesn’t just happen for no reason. From the eye test at least, it seems to be down to a fairly unstructured pressing scheme. Real dominate possession as much as they usually do, up slightly from 58 per cent last season to 61 per cent this, but where they struggle is to control the game when in transition.

Real are something of a pressing team, not to the extent of Getafe or Athletic, but more so than a large number of sides in La Liga this season. Real’s PPDA (or opponent passes allowed per defensive action) is one of the lowest in the league.

Unlike those sides, though, opponents find it easier to beat that press and progress through Real. This season, only Cadiz allow opponents to move the ball upfield more in an average possession than Real do.

This idea that Madrid want to press, but are not doing it particularly well, is especially interesting as Zidane refers to pressing more often than any other tactical element when speaking to the media. He even suggests it as the key thing he wants his team to do.

“Football has changed from a physical point of view and the intensity is very high nowadays,” the Frenchman said before the first meeting with Shakhtar last month. “I’m all in favour of that, pressing high up and taking the game to the opposition. We could play deeper too and wait, but that’s not for me.”

The problems with Madrid’s midfielders rushing forward to press haphazardly, and opponents taking advantage to counter effectively, were shown up the following day when Shakhtar repeatedly ripped their defence apart in a 3-2 win at the Alfredo Di Stefano.

The same pattern was also evident in the 4-1 La Liga defeat at Valencia in early November, after which goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois appeared to suggest Zidane’s tactics were taking covering players out of their positions and leaving him less protected.

“We are being more attacking, including by pressing high up the pitch now, and opponents can break easier,” Courtois said that day.

So while pressing high up the pitch and forcing the opposition into mistakes could be helping Madrid to maintain a good number of chances created per game, it has a serious knock-on effect on their defensive numbers.

The same pattern was also clear when Cadiz could have been 4-0 up by half-time in their 1-0 La Liga victory at Madrid in early October, despite the Andalusians scoring just eight goals in their other 10 La Liga games so far. Just last weekend, Alaves also had plenty of other chances to win by more than their ultimate 2-1 scoreline.

---

Madrid’s players themselves seem to feel they are not really playing that badly, instead citing a lack of confidence.

“It is difficult to explain, above all after the first half we played, when we were really good, making lots of chances, but we did not score,” said Luka Modric on Spanish TV after the Shakhtar loss. “The second half, after their goal, everything changed and from there it was a different game. We began to be very nervous and we did not repeat what we had done in the first half. We lost a bit of confidence. We have to change that.”

Another midfielder Toni Kroos echoed the idea the team’s struggles was down to a loss of confidence caused by conceding poor goals.

“We didn’t start the game badly, but it is a bit like what is happening to us all season, in the games when we do score first we have more confidence and it is a different game,” Kroos said. “If the opponent scores first it is more difficult for us. It’s annoying when they score, and we’ve helped them to do it.”

It does seem strange that a team full of serial winners like Modric, Kroos, Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane can be so low on confidence that they do not react well to falling behind in games. Newer and younger players including Marcos Asensio, Ferland Mendy and Martin Odegaard do not have the experience or personality to step up at present.

It was striking to see both Varane and Mendy blaming each other after Shakhtar’s opening goal on Tuesday — and it was not difficult to find the individuals who were at fault.

Both French defenders could have cleared the ball, while lots of teammates had also come rushing back into the picture after Shakhtar’s initial counter appeared to have broken down. However nobody then actually dealt with the situation and instead, Dentinho gleefully ran through to score. The second goal was quite similar, in that no Madrid player dealt with the breaking Manor Solomon and he slammed home from the edge of the box.

That led to a look at the players who were not there due to injury, especially Fede Valverde, Dani Carvajal and most notably club captain Sergio Ramos. Eden Hazard being out means he has not been able to help their attacking input, but the losses of Valverde’s energy and athleticism in midfield, and the aggression and leadership of Ramos at the back seem huge.

Spanish statisticians have been quick to note the effect that Ramos’ absence tends to make a massive difference. With him in the team in 2020-21, they have played 10 games, won 6, drawn two and lost two, scoring 19 times and conceding 10. Without their skipper they have played five, won one, drawn one and lost three, scoring five times and conceding eight. Others pointed out that Madrid have lost seven of their last nine Champions League games without Ramos at the back.

While some observers, particularly outside Spain, might point to Ramos occasional haphazard defending as one of the team’s biggest problems, those closer to the team say the Andalusian’s mere presence makes a massive difference.

“Although we talk sometimes about Ramos’ tactical mistakes or lapses in concentration, or that he runs up into attack like crazy, the presence he has is immense,” says a source close to the dressing room. “He makes those around him much better. Just by being there, the team’s intensity levels rise. The difference is obvious, when he’s not there, he remains one of the best in the world, if not the best.”

That the loss of one player — even an inspirational leader like Ramos — has such a seismic effect on the team’s mentality is not a good sign.

And this perhaps does not speak highly of Zidane’s leadership of the team — although he might argue that allowing the dressing room to take charge of situations has been key to his successes in the past.

---

Zidane never blames any underperforming individuals for the team’s poor results, nor does he tend to offer excuses like players missing injured or refereeing calls (unlike some predecessors in the job). Instead he accepts he holds ultimate responsibility for the team’s performances. He also points out regularly that he has often been questioned over his two spells in charge, and he knows from his time as a player the pressures that come with the job of Real Madrid coach.

When the Frenchmen does get a little tetchy in media appearances is when it is suggested that his tactics are to blame, or the team lacks a coherent plan.

After quashing any ideas about resigning when replying to aggressive reporters following Tuesday’s game in Kiev, he suggested that more hard work and belief would help them come through this current blip.

“Many things have come together, but today we did not play badly,” he claimed. “We have pressed very high up, recovered many balls. (The problem) is not our style of play, the players did good things on the pitch today. If we had scored first, it would have been much easier. We must be able to handle these moments, but we will keep working hard and believe in what we are doing.”

A source close to the dressing room admits that tactical excellence has never been Zidane’s strong point, but previously the team had players up front who could live off fewer chances and rescue the team from tough moments in games.

“Zidane’s strength is in managing emotions and egos and hierarchies in the dressing room, everybody can see that,” the source says. “But previously with Cristiano Ronaldo, and Gareth Bale to a lesser extent, you could boot the ball up the pitch, and they would get on the end of it and score. That way they fixed a lot of games which were going against them, in Champions and in La Liga. This hid a lot of other things.”

The same source says Madrid’s players are not expecting Zidane to come up with a big new tactical plan to fix things, and that the senior figures in the dressing room expect to be able to sort out problems themselves.

“In difficult moments the players have lots of meetings to see where the problem is and sort it out,” the source says. “The players are always going to have confidence in Zidane, for the trophies he has won, as a player, and then as a coach. But aside from that, the players know that it is on them, the weight falls on the dressing room.”

Getting the team physically, mentally and emotionally right post lockdown to grind their way to the title was one of Zidane’s biggest achievements as Madrid coach. The team could not call on Ronaldo (and did not use Bale), but they found a way to win a series of very tight games and it was enough to clinch the title in these most unusual of circumstances.

The source close to the dressing room agrees that Zidane has made some tactical tweaks during his second term in charge, namely the team are still focusing on pressing high as they did with such success post lockdown and there is also a new emphasis on playing the ball out from the back (to a much bigger extent than in previous years).

This has caused them some problems in games, but more than anything the source claims Madrid’s ageing squad are just exhausted, having put in a huge effort to win last year’s title. Now they are being faced with very little recovery time between games, and a mounting injury list.

“Confidence is an issue within the group,” the source says. “It slips when things do not go well from the start, and especially when teams go for them and take them on. But the biggest issue is physical. Madrid is one of the teams all over the world who has suffered most from the accumulation of games, and the new calendars. If you see the goal they conceded (against Shakhtar), teams are coming at them in waves, and it is happening a lot. It’s true they won La Liga but they are paying for that now, paying dearly.”

---

“I am responsible for this, I’m the coach,” a hurting but determined-looking Zinedine Zidane told the media. “So I must find solutions. I will keep fighting always, keep working, try and look for things to make the team better.”

That was Zidane speaking after a very disorganised, almost rabble-like Real Madrid team were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Leganes in January 2018.

Five months later, of course, Zidane was back on top after his Madrid beat Liverpool in Kiev to win a third straight Champions League title. He then resigned from the job, claiming fresh ideas and impetus were required, before returning just nine months later to fix things after Lopetegui and Solari’s short unsuccessful attempts at the job.

On his return Zidane talked a lot about making big changes to the squad, but that has not really proved possible. The one new galactico in Hazard has barely played since his €100 million arrival from Chelsea, and there has been little return for over €200 million spent on other players like Eder Militao, Mendy and Luka Jovic. As the numbers provided earlier show, the team’s leaders and most important players remain those who have been longest at the club — Ramos, Benzema and co. Zidane has kept faith with these, and even some who should really have been jettisoned long ago.

“Remember that two years ago, Solari decided that there were two players who could not play — Marcelo and Isco,” says another source close to the club. “He was heavily criticised, and he paid for it. But two years later people are realising that Solari was right. Zidane has trusted in players who should have been changed before, and the financial circumstances of the club have also had their impact in that lack of generational change.”

The problems in Madrid’s squad and tactics have therefore been clear for some years, but have never been fixed. It is also true that coaches who have tried to change things up tactically, such as Benitez and Lopetegui, have not lasted very long. Hiring a new coach now with different ideas – such as the willing and available Mauricio Pochettino – would likely only cause even more problems given the limitations of the current squad.

A team of winners that have grown old together can lift themselves for one-off games like the 3-1 Clasico win at Barcelona a few weeks ago, or even the 11 game title run-in, as they did in the summer. The experienced heads will likely do enough to beat Monchengladbach next week and regain enough form in La Liga to keep Florentino from wielding the axe.

Anyone hoping that Zidane will outline a new tactical plan to overcome the shortcomings in the squad, and the unique difficulties of this season, will surely be disappointed however.

His one tweak to get them to press more has left them more exhausted, lower on confidence, and defensively weak. So bouncing back from autumn and winter issues yet again to finish the season with a bang appears very unlikely.

[Vesper 27,417]

Police arrest Josep Maria Bartomeu after raid on Barcelona's Camp Nou

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/mar/01/police-raid-barcelonas-camp-nou-in-search-and-seize-operation

Police entered Barcelona’s stadium on Monday in a search and seize operation, with reports that former president Josep Maria Bartomeu is among those who have been arrested.

The club confirmed local authorities from Mossos d’Esquadra’s Economic Offences Unit were at the team’s headquarters on Monday morning and said they were collaborating with the police into the investigation into the club contracting monitoring services on social networks.

“FC Barcelona expresses its utmost respect for the judicial process in place and for the principle of presumed innocence for the people affected within the remit of this investigation” added the statement.

Spanish media said the operation was related to last year’s “Barça-gate,” in which club officials were accused of launching a smear campaign against current and former players who were critical of the club and then-president Bartomeu by allegedly hiring a social media company to publicly discredit them. He, current chief executive Òscar Grau, and Barcelona’s head of legal services, Román Gómez Pontí were arrested on suspicion of “unfair administration, corruption between individuals and money laundering,” according to Cadena SER radio station.

Catalan police later confirmed they had made several arrests, without confirming the number made or the identities of those detained.

Bartomeu and his board of directors resigned last year amid fallout from the controversy surrounding Lionel Messi. The club has been mired in political turmoil and debt prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

 

[ZAPHOD2319 3,929]

Nice match this Sunday Atetico Madrid vs Real Madrid. It will could be a snooze fest draw, but no doubt both want it bad.

[OneMoSalah 8,619]

5 hours ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

Nice match this Sunday Atetico Madrid vs Real Madrid. It will could be a snooze fest draw, but no doubt both want it bad.

Hope Atletico win.

Be cool to see them win La Liga again, Simeone is an unbelievable manager and another La Liga on top of the other trophies hes won there would be another fantastic achievement.

A win v Real puts them 8 points ahead of Real and Barca still with a game in hand I think. 

[NikkiCFC 7,623]

So Bilbao will play two cup finals in two weeks lol

[Jase 43,479]

Atletico are bottling La Liga...

[NikkiCFC 7,623]

Embarrassing considering where they were at one point. 

[Jase 43,479]

If Barcelona win their game in hand tomorrow, they will be only 1 point behind Atletico and 2 ahead of Real.

And El Classico is taking place next weekend...

[Vesper 27,417]

3 minutes ago, Jason said:

If Barcelona win their game in hand tomorrow, they will be only 1 point behind Atletico and 2 ahead of Real.

And El Classico is taking place next weekend...

Atleti choking hard down the stretch

[Jase 43,479]

Atletico had a game in hand and were 10 points clear of Barcelona and Real Madrid on Feb 1.

10 games later, they could be only 1 and 3 points ahead of both respectively...

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, Vesper said:

Atleti choking hard down the stretch

14 points dropped in the last 10 league games.

Just now, Jason said:

Atletico had a game in hand and were 10 points clear of Barcelona and Real Madrid on Feb 1.

10 games later, they could be only 1 and 3 points ahead of both respectively...

 

[Vesper 27,417]

2 minutes ago, Jason said:

14 points dropped in the last 10 league games.

 

damn, I would be going BONKERS if we blew a lead like that and in so few games

especially in shitbox La Liga

where the bottom 2/3rds of the table are pure dregs

Edited April 4, 2021 by Vesper

[Jase 43,479]

El Clasico is next weekend and Atletico still gotta go to Barcelona next month.

[Jase 43,479]

2 minutes ago, Vesper said:

damn, I would be going BONKERS if we blew a lead like that and in so few games

especially in shitbox La Liga

where the bottom 2/3rds of the table are pure dregs

If that happens with us, TC would crash for days!

[Vesper 27,417]

El Clásico

http://www.sportnews.to/mysports/2021/la-liga-real-madrid-vs-barcelona-s3/

https://www.totalsportek.com/barcelona-five/

[Strike 6,989]

Thanks @Vesper!