La Liga

La Liga, Sports

La Liga teams to start full training sessions from Monday.

LaLiga clubs have been given go ahead to begin full training from Monday ahead of proposed return to action on June 11, 3 months after games were halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. Early May, LaLiga clubs returned to individual training and then training in groups of ten players before progressing to groups of 14 players.

A statement on LaLiga’s official website read: ‘La Liga clubs will start collective training on Monday, June 1. The fourth phase, which starts next Monday, is the last step in this protocol that will lead to clubs starting competition on June 11.’

Once the season resumes it is not unlikely that games could be played every day until the campaign concludes on July 19.

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 La Liga, Sports

La Liga returns on 8th of June.

The Spanish government has given the green light for the return of professional sport – including La Liga Santander and La Liga SmartBank – as of June 8th, following guidelines from the Ministry of Health.

“Spain has done what it should and now new horizons are opening for everyone. The time has come to bring back many day-to-day activities,” said Sanchez.

“From 8 June, La Liga will be back. Spanish football has a huge following but it will not be the only recreational activity that will return.”

“We are very pleased with the decision, It is the result of the great work of clubs, players, coaches, CSD (National Sports Council) and agents.

“But we cannot lower our guard, it is important to follow health regulations and ensure the pandemic doesn’t come back.” The league’s president, Javier Tebas said he had

 

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 La Liga, Sports

LaLiga clubs to start training in groups of up to ten players.

La Liga has confirmed that clubs in the top two divisions of Spanish football are back training in groups of up to 10 people. La Liga also maintained that it is a significant step forward on the road towards restarting professional football in Spain, which has been on hold since March 12th due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The start of the next phase in LaLiga’s Return to Training protocol is another step towards the restarting of the competition. It will be good to be able to set all training routines on an equal footing. It’s very important that every club have the same chance to be in good shape. It’s not essential, but it’s very important and we’re grateful that it will be like that,” La Liga president Javier Tebas said.

The president of LaLiga was positive about the possibility of football being played every day. “That’s what I hope. We shouldn’t have any problems playing on Mondays across the eleven rounds of matches we have left to play. I hope for some sense from the Spanish Football Federation on this, because it’s very important for us to be able to give both our national and international broadcasters, and fans across the world, football on as many days as possible to ensure as little disruption as possible,” he said.

Also Read: Premier League clubs agree to resume training this week.

Speeaking on the return of the Bundesliga in Germany this weekend, Tebas added: “I’m very happy, and I’ve congratulated them because they’ve taken a very important step. We’ve worked hard on this together over the past months, we’ve exchanged protocols, ideas… we spoke once or twice every week. I’m very proud of the Bundesliga. It wasn’t easy; they were the first to get up and running and they’re an example to follow.”

All training will adopt the preventive measures laid out by the LaLiga Return to Training Protocol to guarantee the highest levels of safety for everyone involved at all times. Meanwhile, some players in Spain returned for individual training earlier this month and the league hopes to resume full training and matches soon and possibly when dates for fixtures are confirmed.

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 La Liga, Sports

Five La Liga players test positive to covid-19.

Days after the Spanish league returned to group training  with a view to resuming games in June, five players have reportedly tested positive to coronavirus. These players who are across the Spanish league’s top two divisions  are asymptomatic but will now go into quarantine and will be unable to join group training until at least two of their tests come out negative.

Also Read: NFF places mums of Sam Okwaraji and Rashidi Yekini on monthly stipends.

 “After completing the medical tests on the minimum essential personnel referred by the clubs to start training, some cases of Covid-19 have been detected. Specifically, between the clubs of La Liga Santander (Primera Division) and La Liga SmartBank (Segunda Division), five positive cases have been detected in players, all of them asymptomatic and in the final phase of the disease.” A La Liga statement read.

Also Read: 5 substitutions, games behind closed doors and other temporary changes to expect when football resumes.

The statement continued, “As planned, the next steps with people who have taken a stand for Covid-19 are: To remain in quarantine in their homes, carrying out the same individual physical activity that they have been doing until now, following the instructions of the club, for those who are footballers. In the next few days, they will be tested again for the Covid-19 and, after obtaining two negative results, they will be able to join the training sessions at their club’s facilities. In addition, La Liga will offer people who live with those affected the possibility of also doing screening tests.” 

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 Bundesliga, English Premier League, La Liga, Sports, Uncategorized

Chelsea, Barca, Dortmund, others, join the missing children initiative.

AS Roma is inspiring Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, and many other European clubs to find missing young people. The project, which will run on International Missing Children’s Day on 25 May, is tagged The ‘Football Cares‘ initiative and is being supported by Fifa.

Other clubs who have signed up include Barcelona, Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lazio, Athletico Madrid,  Valencia Cork City and many more. The Italian club showed had been talking about the project since last year and so far six missing children have been found.

Also Read: Barcelona to return to training this week, Bundesliga to resume on May 15th.

“With the huge following and global reach that these clubs boast, we hope that someone, somewhere might recognise one of the missing children in the videos so they can be reunited with their loved ones,” said the European Club Association, co-ordinating the project.

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 Bundesliga, La Liga, Sports

Barcelona to return to training this week, Bundesliga to resume on May 15th.

Several weeks after all football activities were put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bundesliga has been given the go ahead to resume playing behind closed doors on May 15th. Not only is football returning, larger shops and schools will also begin to reopen in the coming weeks.

Also, La Liga teams have been given permission to return to training this week following the easing of some restrictions by the Spain government. Barcelona players will be tested for coronavirus at their Ciutat Esportiva training base club’s training ground on Wednesday before resuming individual work “in the coming days.” Barcelona‘s training facilities have been disinfected ahead of the tests  tomorrow. La Liga organisers are confident of a June restart to the season. Players from the top two divisions will train individually after an agreement with Spain’s sports and health authorities that guaranteed the safety of both players and staff.

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 La Liga, Sports, Uncategorized

Barcelona to sell Camp Nou ‘title rights’ to raise money for the fight against Covid-19.

Spanish giants, FC Barcelona have today announced they are selling the naming rights of the Camp Nou for the 2020/21 season to the Barça Foundation. The goal is to raise revenue that the Foundation will invest in research projects aimed at fighting the effects of Covid-19. The decision has been taken by the FC Barcelona board in a video-meeting on Tuesday  presided over by Josep Maria Bartomeu.

The Blaugrana wrote on their website, “In the next few weeks, the Barça Foundation, through the Club’s Commercial Area, will begin the process of finding a sponsor who wishes to acquire the title rights to Camp Nou for a season with the proceeds going to finance research projects and other projects involved in the battle against the effects of COVID-19, both at a local and international level. Barça are ceding those rights for a name to be put to Camp Nou for the very first time as the title rights are a commercial option that has never been exploited before. Now, the Foundation will put out on to the market the title rights and it will use the money a sponsor brings in the service of a vital cause and one that benefits everyone. The income generated will create a fund that will be divided in the following way: a part will be destined for a project on COVID-19 driven by the sponsors themselves and the rest will be shared out amongst other projects that are being developed in parallel.”

Also Read: Footballing world is joining the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are very happy to be able to drive forward this initiative that offers something as emblematic as the name of our stadium, so that institutions, organisations, businesses who wise may associate themselves with it and as such, contribute to the fight against COVID-19, given that their investment will used to finance research projects on the illness and projects that are working to eradicate or lessen its effects. Right now, we can quantify the effects of this health crisis but what we do know is that it will require all our resources to defeat it and for that reason it is so important that we all together make a solid, firm commitment. 

“We are facing a global crisis without precedent in our modern history and we have to assume with courage and calm the responsibility that we have. For that reason, from both the Club and the Foundation, we consider it vital at this time of humanitarian crisis to use all the resources available at the organisation to fight against the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences. It forms part of our way of doing things and of being as an institution.” Jordi Cardoner, the first vice president of FC Barcelona and of the Barça Foundation said in a statement.

The statement continued, “The cause, fighting against the coronavirus, is a global one. Being the top sporting entity on a world scale implies that we take on this challenge as fully as we can and if we can serve as inspiration for other organisations involved in the battle, perhaps we can create a wave of hope for millions of people around the world who are suffering due to this pandemic.”

 

 

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 El Clasico, La Liga, Sports

Iker Casillas calls for an El Clasico charity match when football returns.

Real Madrid and Spain legend Iker Casillas has suggested that a ‘vintage’ El Clásico be arranged with former players of the two clubs, as soon as the coronavirus nightmare ends, and funds raised will be donated to charity. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?

“When this nightmare (coronavirus) is over, we should gather the past greats and play a vintage Clasico. Fundraiser for those in need.” He wrote on his Twitter page recently.

The World Cup winning captain who made his debut with Los Blancos in 1999 to become the youngest keeper to have played in the Champions League, and to have won the competition later that season suffered a heart attack during a training session with Porto in 2019 and retired in February this year.

Also Read: Footballing world is joining the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

He played 16 seasons for the Real Madrid first team, making 725 appearances, and won five La Liga titles and three Champions League titles.

I am certain the football world is up for this and we certainly can’t wait for it.

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La Liga, Sports

Gareth Bale out with a calf injury for three weeks.

Real Madrid No 11, Gareth Bale is expected to be out for three weeks after being diagnosed with a “grade 2 injury in his left calf.”  The Welsh footballer who was included in the starting lineup against arch-rivals Barcelona on Sunday struggled on the pitch before he was being substituted in the first half.  The Blancos said his recovery will continue to be assessed.
He will miss the Champions League semi-finals.

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La Liga, Sports

Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos renew rivalry

Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos and Barcelona’s Gerard Pique‘s rivalry is far from over, not in the nearest future.
The pair renewed their feud during last night’s el-clasico which ended 3-2 in favour of  Barcelona, thanks to a late strike by Lionel Messi.  Ramos was banded a red card at the 77th minute after an attempted two-footed tackle on Messi; his 5th red card in the fixture and 22nd in his entire career.
As Ramos was leaving the pitch, he sarcastically clapped at his arch enemy, uttering some unclear words which seemed to suggest that that the war was far from over.
During his post-match Gerard Pique wasted no time in attacking his opponent.  “When Sergio Ramos gets home, he’ll regret for what he did. The red card is very clear. He goes in two-footed and Messi was away. Here in Santiago Bernabéu, they’re used to very lenient refereeing and when a referee does a good job he’s then the bad guy.”

Ramos sprang up in his own defence saying, “Piqué likes to talk about the referees, and with so much pressure & with his tweets that he complains all the time. For me the red card has been excessive , I admit that I’m late with my tackle but I wasn’t looking to hurt him. I do not regret the gesture to Pique. I regret leaving my team down to 10 men. I have no problems with Pique but just don’t ask me all these questions expecting that I’ll hug him right after. I was clapping at Pique, not at the ref. He defends his & I defend mine. When we aren’t together we defend what is ours. They always talk about the refs but we won’t. Perhaps give the result they won’t this time.”

He added in another interview, “Messi did very well against my tackle, he jumped and you could see that I didn’t touch him. I know Pique said that I’d regret it once I saw the images, but after five minutes of cooling off, I feel the same way.”
 

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