La Liga
Beginning of the end for Koeman as Barca boss?
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman refused to answer questions about his future after his side slumped to a 1-1 draw against Granada at Camp Nou on Monday night.
Barça went behind in the game inside two minutes when Domingo Duarte was afforded all the time in the world to nod home at the back post. The Blaugrana had plenty of chances to score themselves throughout proceedings, but it took until the 90th minute for them to finally grab a desperately late equaliser through Ronald Araujo.
Going into the fixture, Koeman’s job security was already the subject of much speculation and the result has done little to quell these rumours.
Quizzed about his future at full-time he told La Liga TV (via Eurosport): “I don’t answer anymore questions about the future, I cannot win that [discussion].
“I’m tired to answer that kind of question. You can leave it. I don’t answer that question.”
Koeman did discuss the game though, bemoaning the various injuries he is currently dealing with. Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Jordi Alba are among those who missed out and Barça also lost young left-back Alex Balde to a back injury during the contest itself.
“We lose two points, we play at home and we need to win,” the Dutchman continued.
“We did not create a lot because there was not that space to play short, and finally we play with more people in front with crosses, we scored one, we missed in that situation a big opportunity to win the game.
“Okay, that was the attitude that we had to show the people and the crowd was good, the crowd was pushing us to win the game.”
Provided he is not relieved of his duties beforehand, Koeman will take his side to Cadiz on Thursday, before they host Levante on Sunday afternoon.
It was mission accomplished, said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after his side fought back from two-goals behind to snatch a rip-roaring 4-4 draw on Tuesday for a 5-4 aggregate win that put them through to the Copa del Rey final.
Ancelotti brushed off questions about a sub-par performance by his side and praised his players’ effort in what he considered a highly entertaining encounter.
“We have achieved our goal today which was to reach the final and there is not much time to think about it,” Ancelotti told a press conference.
“It was an entertaining game with some mistakes and a lot of good things. It was fun and we are in the final.
“I never saw ourselves out of it because anything can happen at the Bernabeu. When we have to come from behind, we never give up. We never give up, especially at home, with the fans by our side.”
Ancelotti said David Alaba was not to blame after he deflected two balls into his own goal, calling it “bad luck” by the Austrian defender, but urged his defence to play with better focus moving forward.
“It’s not good to concede four goals in a game,” Ancelotti said.
“Right now we are a team that has a lot of effectiveness up-front, but little balance.
“However, we can’t ignore what we did in attack, scoring four goals against Real is not that easy. I think we are doing quite well.”
Real Madrid, who have won the Spanish Cup only once in over a decade, will play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid in a mouth-watering final in Seville next month.
Atletico fought back to hold Barca to a thrilling 4-4 draw ahead of Wednesday’s second-leg in Madrid.
-Reuters
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Real Madrid’s legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti will go on trial next week for allegedly failing to declare income to Spain’s tax office, the Madrid court which will hear the case has said.
Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of four years and nine months for the 65-year-old Italian, accusing him of having cost Spain’s treasury more than one million euros ($1.1 million) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.
The trial will begin on Wednesday and it is expected to last two days, a spokesman for the court said.
Ancelotti, who as a coach has won a record five Champions League trophies including three with Real, must be present for the hearings, he added.
Prosecutors accuse him of only declaring in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid during those two years even though he himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated his home was in Madrid.
They accuse Ancelotti of allegedly setting up a “confusing” and “complex” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings from his image rights as well as from other sources such as real estate.
A Spanish court in 2023 ordered Ancelotti to stand trial over the affair, but did not set a date.
Ancelotti dismissed the affair last year as “an old story that I hope will be resolved soon” when he was asked about the case.
He took over at Real Madrid in 2013, leaving in May 2015, before being appointed at Bayern Munich the following year.
The former Italy international midfielder, who as a player won the European Cup twice with AC Milan, later managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021.
Aside from his success in the Champions League he has won domestic league titles with Madrid and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.
-AFP
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Spain’s former soccer chief Luis Rubiales told Reuters on Thursday he would appeal a court ruling which found him guilty of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent.-
-Reuters
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