La Liga
Xavi leads candidates to replace sacked Koeman at Barcelona
Barcelona are looking for a new coach after they sacked Ronald Koeman with the Spanish giants ninth in La Liga and third in their Champions League group.
A dire financial situation has hung over the club in recent months, causing Lionel Messi to join Paris Saint-Germain in August. Barcelona are €1.35 billion (S$2.11 billion) in debt.
Any successor would have to work within those economic constraints, bring back a more attractive style of football and significantly improve results.
Most importantly, Barcelona president Joan Laporta will want to see greater assurances that the team will finish in La Liga’s top four. Failing to qualify for next season’s Champions League would only deepen the club’s financial crisis.
AFP Sport looks at three leading candidates to become Koeman’s successor.
Xavi Hernandez
Xavi is currently in charge of Qatari side Al Sadd and would be a hugely popular choice with the Barca fans, given his glittering career at the Camp Nou as an elite midfielder.
There is also the belief that the 41-year-old would instil an attractive style similar to the one played by Barcelona when he was there under Pep Guardiola.
But Laporta has reportedly had reservations about appointing Xavi in the past, not least because of his lack of experience.
Xavi might also be reluctant to join, with the club in such a financial mess and now without his former teammate Messi.
He is though the clear favourite to take the reins.
Marcelo Gallardo
Gallardo has been manager of River Plate for seven seasons and long been touted for a move to one of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Barcelona.
The 45-year-old Argentinian has won 12 trophies in his time in charge of River and believes in a modern, eye-catching playing style based on possession football and counter-pressing.
Hiring someone without coaching experience in Europe would be a risk, however, and it could also be difficult to persuade Gallardo to leave the Buenos Aires giants
Erik ten Hag
Ten Hag has become one of the most highly rated coaches in the world for his work at Ajax, taking them to two Dutch titles and a Champions League semi-final in 2019.
The 51-year-old Dutchman would continue a long tradition of moves between Ajax and Barca, with the clubs united by their adoration of Johan Cruyff.
Ten Hag is a disciple of attractive, possession football but he is also fiercely loyal to Ajax and is not believed to be keen on leaving after signing a contract until 2023 last summer.
Also has admirers in the Premier League, reportedly including Manchester United.
– AFP
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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