La Liga
ETEBO ‘RELISHES’ FIRST GOAL IN LA LIGA FOR GETAFE
Super Eagles’ and Getafe midfielder, Oghenekaro Etebo, is at the moment on cloud nine after his maiden goal for his club in La liga restart that earned the team a draw with Eibar at the Coliseum on Saturday.
The loaned player from English Championship side, Stoke City have been having impressive outing with the club but yet to register any goal despite appreciable assist to his credit took to Instagram on Sunday to celebrate the feat.
“Happy to get my first Getafe goal. Heads up lads,” Etebo posted on Instagram.
The feat, made him the 21st Nigerian to score in the Spanish top-flight, joining an illustrious list that includes the likes of Ikechukwu Uche, Finidi George, Emmanuel Amuneke, Mutiu Adepoju, Odion Ighalo, Obafemi Martins and Rashidi Yekini.
The 24-year-old, who was part of the Nigeria’s bronze winning football team to the last Olympics in Brazil, according to reports, was in the firld for 69 minutes, produced 41 touches on the ball, and 16 accurate passes (64%) with one shot on and off-target.
Etebo gave his side the lead after driving in the ball home from Angel Rodriguez’s assist in the 30th minute.
Unfortunately, the lead was short lived as Charles Dias equalised just before the half-time whistle with a header after Sergi Enrich knocked the ball into his path.
The encounter was Etebo’s ninth league appearance for Getafe since his arrival in January. He has played in every game bar against Athletic Bilbao and Valencia, in which he was injured and was unfit to make the match day squad in the game before the last match.
Of the nine outings, six have been starts.
Before last Saturday’s first ever goal for his club in Spain, he had previously played for Las Palmas on loan from Portuguese side Feirense. He was also a January loan signing and made a total of 14 appearances.
His presence was, however, not enough for the Canary Islands outfit to stay up in La Liga as they finished in 19th place.
Getafe’s draw with Eibar means they were unable to close the gap to fourth-place Sevilla, who drew with Barcelona at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Friday night. The gap now stands at four points.
Jose Bordalas’ side is now unbeaten in their last four La Liga matches, drawing three and losing one. Their last victory came in a 1-0 win Mallorca on March 1, a week before the league was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Their next assignment is an away trip to Real Valladolid on Tuesday.
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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