La Liga
Barça lives from scandal to scandal
In recent years, Barcelona has lived from scandal to scandal. When it seems that the fire of one goes out, another appears.
The last one has been to pay 1.4 million euros to Enríquez Negreira to carry out technical reports when the former referee was vice president of the College of Referees.
Barcelona has defended itself by arguing that all the big clubs have arbitration reports, but the fact that these reports were made by the company of a director of the College and the amounts paid have sown many doubts.
There were many scandalous cases.
From José Luis Núñez bribing Treasury inspectors to favor their companies and ending with the former president in prison, going through the signing of Neymar for which the club and its leaders have gone through two judicial processes (one of they are still open), the espionage of the Barçagate case , the Liability Action of Laporta, Piqué’s business with the Arabian Super Cup or more recently the club’s disputes with LaLiga.
Two trials derived from the signing of Neymar
The signing of Neymar was a host of problems for Barcelona from day one. The first case that began with the complaint of a partner to the accounts of the Brazilian operation, ended with a sentence against Barcelona after the club’s lawyers agreed with the Tax Agency.
Barcelona had to pay 5.5 million according to said ruling, although it had previously paid other amounts of money to regulate the situation.
The pact also included that Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu were released from the charges for which they were accused.
The signing of the Brazilian also opened another judicial procedure called Neymar 2 as a result of a complaint filed by the DIS company, which was the owner of the player’s rights.
This company understood that Barcelona, Santos, the player and his family hatched a plot in order not to pay what was due to DIS through various parallel contracts.
At the end of last year, the judge handed down a sentence that acquitted all the defendants . However, the sentence is not final since the Brazilian company announced that it will file an appeal.
Liability Action
When Sandro Rosell was proclaimed president, one of the first things he did was an internal investigation to analyze the management of Joan Laporta in his first term as president of the club.
The new president reformed the accounts that Laporta had presented and went from a profit of 11 million to a loss of almost 80.
The partners voted in favor (Sandro Rosell voted blank) for a Liability Action against the previous Board. That meant that all managers would have to answer with their money for those losses.
After years of process and enormous wear and tear on these managers, the whole process came to nothing as the Provincial Court dismissed the appeal that Barcelona had filed.
When Joan Laporta entered the club in his second term, he opened an internal investigation into Bartomeu’s management as club president.
The results of this investigation were transferred to the Prosecutor’s Office so that it could open an investigation if he considered that the facts were punishable, something that he has not done so far.
The president ruled out presenting a Responsibility Action to the Assembly of partners.
Barçagate
One of the most lurid episodes of Bartomeu’s tenure.
According to information from Cadena Ser, Barcelona hired various companies to monitor and discredit various Barcelona personalities such as presidential candidates, players, journalists in the networks… Players like Messi or Piqué were some of those affected and also it was learned that the club paid journalists to favor the Board.
This case is in the hands of the judge who is continuing with the investigation, various searches were made at the club headquarters, but so far no complaint has been made.
This case was decisive for a motion of no confidence against Bartomeu, which he decided to resign.
The Spanish Federation and the Kosmos company, whose owner is Gerard Piqué, would have worked together so that the Spanish Super Cup was played in Arabia.
For this, and according to various information, they would have charged a succulent commission . El Confidencial revealed the audios of the conversations between Piqué and Luis Rubiales: “Before you don’t have anything left, you have six kilos left.
And we squeezed Saudi Arabia and maybe we’ll take it out… (…) we’ll take one more stick or two more sticks…” can be heard in these audios. The footballer played this competition with Barcelona. The judge is investigating the facts.
Barça, LaLiga and ordinary justice
The differences between LaLiga and Barcelona are obvious. In recent weeks, moreover, they have moved to the courts.
The Barça club has sued LaLiga for preventing it from expanding its salary mass by 15%, as can the 38 clubs that voted in favor of the entry of the CVC Capital Partners fund for the creation of LaLiga Impulso.
In it, Barça denounces that it cannot compete on equal terms. The Barcelona club resorted to ordinary justice so that precautionary measures were taken and LaLiga had to register Gavi, as it happened.
In the coming weeks, the club will file a lawsuit for a judge to agree with him, otherwise the precautionary measures will not be lifted. It is not the first time that he has resorted to ordinary justice.
Previously, he also did so to request the precautionary measure in Lewandowski’s three-game ban and it was granted.
-Marca
Raphinha knew there was no reason to panic as Barcelona struggled to break down Espanyol on Thursday and said it was only a matter of time before the “golden feet” of Lamine Yamal steered them to a title-winning victory with a glorious goal.
Yamal, 17, took the ball on the right touchline and made a superb lateral run across the edge of the box before unleashing a curling strike between two defenders and into the top corner to break the deadlock early in the second half.
The stunning strike set Barca on course for a 2-0 win that secured the LaLiga title, with Real Madrid seven points back with only two games left to play.
“We didn’t have many clear chances but we have a kid in there who sometimes pulls something out of the golden feet he has and he gave us peace of mind to stay in the game more calmly,” Raphinha said.
“In January some people were saying we would fight to be third. We have confidence in ourselves. That’s the key. We trust in the work and in what we know we can do.”
Raphinha has scored 18 league goals this season, including a brace in Saturday’s crucial 4-3 win over Real Madrid, and was quick to credit the trust shown in him by coach Hansi Flick.
The Brazilian tripled his goal tally from last season and also has the third-highest number of assists in the competition with nine, three less than leader Yamal.
“The most important thing was the confidence of the coach. Knowing at the start of the season that he was counting on me, a person who controls the team … it changes you in the end,” he said.
-Reuters
Former Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso is set to become the next Real Madrid manager on a three-year deal when he leaves Bayer Leverkusen after this season, Spanish media reported on Monday.
Alonso, 43, is expected to replace current Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, who is being lined up for the vacant Brazil job ahead of the 2026 World Cup, soccer sources told Reuters.
Despite the Italian having a year remaining on his contract, Real’s underwhelming season and his desire to coach Brazil have led to a mutual agreement to part ways, the sources added.
Alonso, who said earlier this month that he was leaving Leverkusen after guiding them to the double last term, will join Real before the inaugural Club World Cup in the United States from June 14 to July 14, multiple media reports said.
Alonso, who also played for Liverpool and Bayern Munich, last season steered Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, ending the Bavarians’ 11-year domination, and they also won the German Cup and German Super Cup.
Reports of Ancelotti’s likely departure come as no surprise after Real’s 4-3 defeat at Barcelona in a thrilling ‘El Clasico’ on Sunday left his side on the brink of a trophyless season.
The 65-year-old Italian, who returned for a second stint at Real in June 2021, led the Spanish giants to two Champions League and LaLiga doubles, the latest of which came last season.
He is the most successful manager in the club’s history with a total of 15 trophies and the first coach to claim titles in Europe’s top five leagues.
However, this season Real were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Arsenal and allowed Barca to fight back and win 3-2 in the Copa del Rey final.
Second-placed Real are seven points adrift of Barcelona, who could secure the league title on Wednesday without kicking a ball if Real fail to win at home to Mallorca.
Regardless of Real’s result, a Barca victory in the city derby away to Espanyol on Thursday would clinch the title.
An official announcement regarding a managerial change is expected before Real’s last game of the season at home to Real Sociedad on May 25.
-Reuters
Schmuelgen/File Photo
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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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