La Liga
New Sheriff in Barcelona! Xavi wields the big stick, hits Dembele
Former Barcelona player and now the new coach on the saddle, Xavi Hernandez has shown he will be a ‘no nonsense man’.
In his first interaction, he has laid down the law at Barcelona as he makes an example out of Ousmane Dembele
He is intent on implementing more discipline into the club following his appointment and has moved to use Ousmane Dembele as an example.
According Mirror, Dembele arrived at the club’s training facilities three minutes late on Friday morning and will now be fined for his tardiness – with turning up late not tolerated under the new regime.
He has outlined a 10-rule for the club.
The first of those rules was that all players arrive 90 minutes early for the club’s training sessions and this is what Dembele has fallen foul of.
The Blaugrana’s training session was due to commence at 10am on Friday morning with all players instructed to arrive an hour-and-a-half prior to this starting.
Dembele failed to turn up on time – announcing himself at the club’s facilities at 8.33am – three minutes late.
Whilst this appears to be somewhat of a minor display of tardiness and poor time-keeping, Xavi is intent on making an example that this will not be tolerated and the player will be fined.
The early start is so that his stars can adequately prepare for the upcoming session as well as enjoy a quiet breakfast and host one on one chats with members of coaching staff if needed.
The first rule also ties into the second – that Xavi’s backroom staff must set an example to the players and arrive two hours prior to the training session starting, 30 minutes before the players.
This is for similar reasons as previously mentioned for the players, such as the staff being able to conduct any private chats with the stars beforehand.
No Barca boss since Luis Enrique back in 2017 has implemented any kind of fine structure but having played under Pep Guardiola – a boss in keen favour of fines, Xavi has duly followed suit.
Anyone who falls foul of the rules – including eating breakfast and meals together as a squad at the club’s facilities – will be disciplined.
Barcelona said their request for a permit to return to the Camp Nou for Sunday’s LaLiga match against Real Sociedad has been denied, with the city council highlighting safety and security issues with the revamped venue.
Barca had been hoping to return to a reduced-capacity Camp Nou with 27,000 spectators but have failed to obtain the necessary permits from Barcelona City Council.
Barca will instead host the match at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Montjuic, where they played during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons with renovations at Camp Nou now nine months behind schedule.
“We have spotted different elements that need to be fixed and have an impact in the safety and security of the stadium,” chief of civil protection Sebastia Massague said at a city council meeting.
Barca had to begin their LaLiga home campaign at the Estadi Johan Cruyff in their own training complex, where only 6,000 fans attended their match against Valencia on September 14, after a Post Malone concert left the Lluis Companys pitch in poor condition.
“The club is currently working on the new amendments that the council has shared today,” Barca said in a statement.
On Friday, the Catalan club also announced that their Champions League group stage match against Paris St Germain on October 1 would also take place at the Lluis Companys.
Barca are second in LaLiga, trailing leaders Real Madrid by five points but having played a game fewer.
-Reuters
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Villarreal midfielder Thomas Partey on Wednesday appeared in a London court and pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault involving three women.
Partey, a Ghana international, is accused of five counts of rape relating to two women, plus a charge of sexual assault against a third woman, between April 2021 and June 2022.
The alleged offences took place when Partey played for Premier League soccer club Arsenal. He left the club this summer and signed for Spain’s Villarreal.
The 32-year-old appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and enter his not guilty pleas.
Partey was released on bail ahead of his trial, which was listed for Nov. 2, 2026 and is due to take between six and eight weeks.
He was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59.2 million) in 2020 and became a key member of the English side’s first team, before his contract expired at the end of June.
Partey played for Villarreal in their Champions League game against Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.
He came on as a second-half substitute and was booed loudly by the Spurs fans every time he touched the ball.
-Reuters
Villarreal and Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey, who has been charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, walks outside Southwark Crown Court, in London, Britain, September 17, 2025. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska
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Real Madrid on Tuesday denounced plans to stage a LaLiga match between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami, warning the proposal could undermine football’s competitive balance and vowing to petition global governing bodies to block the move.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Monday approved the December 20 fixture at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which could become the first LaLiga match held abroad and the first European league fixture staged in the United States.
“Real Madrid wish to express to its members, supporters and football fans in general its firm rejection of the proposal,” the club said in a statement, revealing they have already urged FIFA, UEFA and Spain’s Higher Sports Council (CSD) to intervene.
The club accused the RFEF of making its decision “without informing or consulting the clubs participating in the competition” and argued that staging the match in Miami “violates the essential principle of territorial reciprocity” in home-and-away league formats.
Real further stated that the move would “alter the competitive balance” and grant “an unfair sporting advantage” to the clubs involved.
The club also warned that approving the proposal could compromise sporting integrity and “set an unacceptable precedent,” insisting any change of this nature should require “the express and unanimous agreement of all the clubs participating in the competition”.
The plan still requires approval from UEFA, US Soccer, CONCACAF and ultimately FIFA before LaLiga President Javier Tebas can realise his long-held ambition of taking Spanish football to the U.S.
-Reuters
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