الأربعاء، 27 أبريل 2016

Report: PSG defender Thiago Silva wants Barcelona summer transfer

By  8:17 م  No comments

One of the world's best players wants to join the world's best team. But it might be too late.

According to a report from Mundo Deportivo, Paris Saint-Germain center-back Thiago Silva is willing to join Barcelona next season. After four seasons of no European success with the French club, the Brazilian wants to play for the Blaugrana and have a real shot at winning the Champions League.

Barcelona has been linked with Silva for a number of years, dating back to his days as an rising superstar in AC Milan. Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova tried to sign him when they were Barça managers, but the Brazilian ultimately decided to move to PSG, who offered a much higher salary to lure Silva into moving to Paris.

The 31-year-old is perhaps the most important player in the PSG squad, and it would take a monumental effort to take him away from France, even if he indeed wants to move to Catalonia. There is a twist here, though: Barça sporting director, Robert Fernández, is not even interested in Silva, instead focusing his attention into signing another Brazilian PSG defender, Marquinhos.

Robert does not want Silva because of his age, and more importantly, his price. Marquinhos is affordable, younger, and with a potential to be as good as the PSG captain, if not better in a few years.

Sorry, Silva. You're great and everything, but this ship has sailed.



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Atlético Madrid vs Bayern Munich, Champions League: Confirmed Lineups, Live Game Thread

By  11:03 ص  No comments

We are here! The best semifinal of this season's Champions League is upon us!

Diego Simeone is set for war...

The Vicente Calderón is beautiful...

And the teams have arrived!

Atlético Madrid Starting Lineup (4-4-2):

Oblak | Juanfran, Giménez, Savic, Luís | Saúl, Gabi, Augusto, Koke | Griezmann, Torres

Substitutes: Moyà, Lucas, Gámez, Thomas, Óliver, Correa, Vietto

Coach: Diego Simeone

Bayern Munich Starting Lineup (4-1-4-1):

Neuer | Lahm, Martínez, Alaba, Bernat | Alonso | Coman, Vidal, Thiago, Costa | Lewandowski

Substitutes: Ulreich, Tasci, Benatia, Kimmich, Götze, Ribéry, Müller

Coach: Pep Guardiola

For more coverage on both teams, visit Into the Calderón and Bavarian Football Works.

Have fun, be respectful and make the thread a nice place to watch comment football. Good game, y'all!



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The Spanish Football Show Episode #10 - Let's talk Espanyol, Jonathan Soriano ft. Tom Canton

By  9:48 ص  No comments

Sarthak Kumar and Tom Canton discuss Espanyol's history and current form, and why Jonathan Soriano won't leave Austria.

Follow the podcast on Twitter here, and on SoundCloud here.

A brand new YouTube channel is out! Check it out here.



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Atlético Madrid vs Bayern Munich, 2016 Champions League: Start time, TV schedule, live stream

By  9:34 ص  No comments

Pep Guardiola is the greatest football coach in recent history. The former Barcelona player was a star on the pitch, but it was on the sidelines where he's made his best contribution to the sport. As a Blaugrana coach, the Catalan revolutionized the game with a spectacular style of play that focus on domination of possession and slow breakdown of the opposing defense in search of goals.

Under Guardiola, Barcelona enjoyed the most glorious period in its history, and the four years spent with the Catalan giants turned Pep into a legend. He wanted to further his legacy with a successful career at a totally different league, and he took on the challenge of coaching another European powerhouse, Bayern Munich. He has been utterly successful in Germany, winning two Bundesliga titles and one German Cup in his first two seasons. In his final campaign, he has a chance of leaving the Bavarian with an European Treble.

The Bundesliga is pretty much guaranteed with only one victory needed to secure the trophy. The DFB-Pokal Final will be against Borussia Dortmund, Pep's biggest opponent in Germany, but his side is still favorite to win. And then there's the Champions League, the one title Guardiola is yet to win with Bayern. The pressure is on -- coming from himself -- to leave the club with the European Cup before joining Manchester City in the summer.

He has taken Bayern once again to the semifinal, and he tries to book a ticket to Milan when facing Atlético Madrid. That won't be easy, since the Colchoneros have just knocked out reigning champions Barcelona in a historic quarterfinal matchup. Diego Simeone is the best defensive coach in football, and he'll force Guardiola into bringing his best game plan to advance to the deciding game.

Pep is a genius, and we all know it. He just wants to prove it once again. The road to glory starts this Wednesday in Madrid, and this is a game you cannot miss. Must-watch TV at its purest form. Fascinating football. You have to see it.

Match Info

Date/Time: Wednesday, April 27, 2016, 8:45pm local time (CET), 7:45pm BST (UK), 2:45pm ET, 11:45am PT (US), 12:15am IST (India, next day)

Venue: Estádio Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)

How to Watch

TV: Fox Sports 1 (US), Fox Deportes (US - Spanish), beIN SPORTS (Canada), BT Sport Europe (UK), Ten HD, Ten Sports Live, Ten Action (India), more

Online: Fox Sports GO, FoxSoccer2Go (US), beIN SPORTS CONNECT (Canada), BT Sport Live Streaming (UK), more

(Listings via LiveSoccerTV)



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Evidence surfaces suggesting Lionel Messi may be human

By  5:48 ص  No comments

Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer to ever walk the face of the earth. He's so good on the pitch that many have believed for years that Messi isn't from the planet Earth and is, in fact, a special type of species unknown to scientists. The way he dribbles effortlessly up and down, left and right, past defenders like they aren't even there makes you wonder if he has superhuman abilities.

However, recent evidence has come to light that suggests that everyone's favorite supernatural phenomenon may be human after all.

Why is Lionel Messi making his own sandwich? Surely he could use his powers to levitate the knife into the Nutella like he does a chip over a goalkeeper's head. Maybe his sorcery is limited to the pitch like Harry Potter's magic is to Hogwarts. That's the only possible explanation that doesn't lead to the life-altering conclusion of Messi being a normal person like you and I.

That has to be it...

Nice try, Lionel. Stop posting mundane videos on your Facebook trying to convince everyone you're just like us. We see through your cheap tricks and know you're not from this planet.



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FC Barcelona News: 27 April 2016; Players Return to Training, Kickoff Time for Espanyol Match Announced

By  4:33 ص  No comments

The night Messi surpassed Müller against Betis | FC Barcelona
Leo Messi returns on Saturday to a ground where he set yet another record to add to his ever-increasing collection. On 9 December 2012, it was at the Benito Villamarín where the Argentinian completed the highest tally of goals ever scored in a calendar year - 86!

Where does Luis Suarez rank in Barcelona's all-time great strikers? - ESPN FC
By scoring four against Deportivo on April 20 he bettered Brazilian legend Ronaldo's still-impressive tally of 47 goals for Barcelona in 1996-97 -- and the Uruguayan wasn't finished. With a further four in his next league match against Sporting Gijon, the No. 9 not only set a new personal best of 53 strikes in one club campaign, but also became the only player other than Lionel Messi to break the 50-goal mark in a competitive year for the Catalans.

Why Barcelona full-back Aleix Vidal has fallen out of favour with Luis Enrique - ESPN FC
Vidal's career has taken the scenic route. After failing to make the grade at Barca, Real Madrid and Espanyol as a teenager, he fought his way back through the lower leagues, eventually establishing himself at Almeria. From there, he made the move to Sevilla, where Unai Emery converted him from a forward into a full-back.

Date and time set for FC Barcelona v Espanyol | FC Barcelona
The Spanish LFP (Liga Profesional de Futbol) announced on Monday morning the dates and times for all matches corresponding to Week 37 in La Liga. As expected, all games will played simultaneously to minimise outside impact on the standings.

Gerard Piqué exacts revenge on Luis Suárez in quest to determine who bends it best | FC Barcelona
Episode two in the Gerard Piqué and Luis Suárez challenge. A few weeks ago Suárez beat his teammate Piqué in a contest to see who could curl the ball and score from a certain distance. Since then, Piqué has been stealthily waiting to exact revenge.

Eric Bailly emerging as Barca target? - Liga 2015-2016 - Football - Eurosport
Gimenez is being discounted because Atletico Madrid’s possible transfer embargo means they’d be unlikely to want to sell an important player, while Athletic Bilbao would demand €50m for Laporte and he’s also recovering from a broken ankle, and Marquinhos has grown in importance at Paris Saint-Germain, making his signing more difficult.

Marquinhos contact confirmed | Football Espana
The brother of Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos has confirmed ‘contact’ with other clubs, including Barcelona. Marquinhos has long been a target of the Catalans and Luan Aoas Correa is reported by Sport to have told Canal+ that more than one interested party has reached out.

FCBEscola expands in Canada with the opening of two schools in Edmonton and Toronto | FC Barcelona
The FCBEscola project continues to expand around the world. Barça have now increased their presence in Canada with the opening of two new schools, in Edmonton and Toronto, adding to the one in Vancouver which was created in 2015.



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La Liga News: 27 April 2016; Real Madrid Draw with Manchester City, Inigo Martinez Extends La Real Stay

By  4:33 ص  No comments

Manchester City resist late Real Madrid surge - UEFA.com
It is all to play for in Spain next Wednesday after semi-final debutants Manchester City held ten-time European Cup winners Real Madrid to a cagey goalless draw – but only after a fantastic late stop from Joe Hart. The late withdrawal of Cristiano Ronaldo could have thrown doubt on City's plan to keep it tight but for 80 minutes English team stuck resolutely to their script.

Cristiano Ronaldo driven despite injuries and is perfect for Real Madrid - ESPN FC
As Real Madrid and Atletico lined up in the tunnel of Lisbon's Estadio De Luz for the 2014 Champions League final, Los Blancos' assistant manager, Paul Clement, leaned gently to his left so that he could look beyond the ranks of world-class footballers and see the famous trophy.

Zinedine Zidane hopes Real Madrid duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema recover to face Man City | Football News | Sky Sports
Ronaldo missed the weekend's La Liga win over Rayo Vallecano with a thigh injury and did not feature in the goalless semi-final first leg at the Etihad on Tuesday night, despite training the day before. Benzema, meanwhile, was withdrawn at half-time against City, leaving his participation for the return leg at the Bernabeu on May 4 in doubt.

Atletico Madrid draw inspiration from Leicester fairytale, says Filipe Luis | Sky Sports
Just as Leicester have defied the odds and left big spenders like Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United trailing in their wake, Atletico have overcome a lack of spending power compared to their Champions League rivals to reach the semis.

Inigo Martinez extends Real Sociedad contract - ESPN FC
Real Sociedad defender Inigo Martinez has extended his contract with the club until 2021. Martinez has made 31 appearances in all competitions this season for the Basque outfit, who are 11th in the Primera Division.



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