Latest news with #Barcelona
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Cesc Fabregas on Celtic Park memories ahead of Como Cup
The Como boss was a sub as Barcelona lost 2-1 on that famous night when goals from Victor Wanyama and Tony Watt earned a memorable result for Neil Lennon's men. A previous experience with Arsenal had been more successful - running out 2-0 winners - and he would go on to score a winner for Barca in a later tie. The Spaniard loved the experience of running out at Parkhead on a Champions League night and says he continued to follow the fortunes of the Scottish giants. Ahead of potentially facing Brendan Rodgers' side in the Como Cup, he recalled: 'It was incredible to play at [[Celtic]] Park. 'It will be nice because they have quality players. They won the league by far this year and they play in Europe. Read more: "If we do play against them, it will be a big test.' Fabregas has been paying enough attention to [[Celtic]] to sign two of their players, £17m winger Nicolas Kuhn and former loanee Alex Valle. He explained how scouting them was a bit of a challenge but Celtic were usually winning comfortably in the games they played. 'I watched more individual clips of them, not so much collectively. But it's a very interesting team,' said Fabregas. 'The problem is that analysing these teams is a bit difficult because they are normally so superior every week in their league. "But doing it in Europe, that's where you see the real value and level. They are a very well organised and competent team. I spoke with Nick (Kuhn) about them and he was really happy there, he always speaks very well of them.'
Business Recorder
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Business Recorder
Brazil ease past Paraguay 4-1 to reach Women's Copa America semis
Yasmim scored twice in the first half as defending champions Brazil reached the Women's Copa America semi-finals with a 4-1 victory over Group B rivals Paraguay in Quito on Tuesday. Yasmim opened the scoring in the 27th minute with a curling free kick that nestled inside the far post and she doubled Brazil's lead 12 minutes later with an almost identical effort, catching the Paraguayan keeper off guard once again. Brazil goalkeeper Lorena produced a superb save to deny a long-range strike from Claudia Martinez before Paraguay's Camila Arrieta was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a foul on captain Marta. Brazil made their numerical advantage count with Amanda Gutierres making it 3–0 on the hour mark but a lapse in defence allowed Paraguay to pull one back in the 65th minute through the tournament's leading scorer Martinez, who notched her fifth goal of the competition. However, any hopes of a comeback were short-lived as Duda Sampaio restored Brazil's three-goal lead with a composed finish in the 75th minute. 'I'm very happy for the goals but above all for the result and for the victory,' Yasmim said at the Estadio Gonzalo Pozo Ripalda. Barcelona set for historic All-Star clash with Liga MX Femenil's finest 'We are very happy for the qualification to the semis. We have many aspects that we know we can improve. We have to keep working and giving our all for this shirt.' Brazil remain unbeaten in Group B and will face Colombia in their final group-stage fixture on Friday - a rematch of the previous edition's final. 'Colombia are a very strong team, we know it will be difficult,' Yasmim added. 'This match is like a derby, we have to prepare ourselves in the best way to face them.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Marcus Rashford set to face familiar face in Barcelona's pre-season
Manchester United's on loan striker Marcus Rashford will come up against a familiar face on pre-season tour. Rashford gets his move The Red Devils finally agreed to a loan deal with FC Barcelona over the weekend. The deal will see Barcelona have the option to sign the player permanently next summer for £26 million. United will mainly benefit from the deal as they will not pay any of Rashford's weekly wage and this will save millions across the season. The Carrington academy graduate will be presented later today as a Barca player in front of the fanbase and will then jet off on the club's pre-season tour. A familiar face on tour Website has claimed that 'incoming Barcelona signing Marcus Rashford is set for an unlikely reunion with a compatriot and former teammate on the club's pre-season tour of Asia.' This is because Barcelona have a friendly match against Jesse Lingard's FC Seoul scheduled for Thursday 31st July. Lingard and Rashford connection Jesse Lingard and Rashford both came through the United academy as kids. Lingard earned his first start in the 2014-2015 season but really won his spot in the first team squad the following season. The 2015-2016 season also saw the rise of Rashford who broke onto the scene with two debut goals in the Europa League. Lingard finally left the club in 2022 for Nottingham Forest before he moved to South Korea to play for FC Seoul last year. The two players spent seven seasons as teammates in the United first team as Lingard played 232 times for the club. The two would often be caught on camera celebrating and dancing together and will surely both love the chance to catch up at the end of the month. Featured image Stu Forster via Getty Images Follow us on Bluesky: @
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Will Patri Guijarro be the next Spain midfielder to win the Ballon d'Or?
When holding midfielder Patri Guijarro was asked to play in defence for the 2021 Champions League final against Chelsea because Barcelona's regular centre-back Andrea Pereira was suspended, it was out of her comfort zone. But she was flawless and Barcelona won 4-0. And when Barca discovered that attacking midfielder Alexia Putellas was set to miss almost the entire 2022-23 season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, their replacement in the transfer market was not an equivalent playmaker, but instead defensive midfielder Keira Walsh. Guijarro was asked to step forward into the role played by Putellas, the world's best player. She was up for the challenge. 'I watched a lot of videos of her to analyse how she moved and what she looked for in build-up play,' Guijarro said in No Nos Digas Que Es Imposible (Don't Tell Us It's Impossible), a new book about Barcelona by Maria Tikas. 'She's not a fast player, but she's very intelligent when it comes to finding space and looking forward.' When that season's Champions League final arrived, Guijarro was now established as a key attacking midfielder. Putellas had returned from injury, but she was not 100 per cent fit and had to be content with a place on the bench. Barcelona went 2-0 down to Wolfsburg, but Guijarro scored twice at the start of the second half to draw them level, before Fridolina Rolfo smashed in the winner. Guijarro, a starring centre-back in the equivalent fixture two years before, was named player of the match as an attacking midfielder. That sums up Guijarro; constantly sacrificing herself for the team and capable of playing almost any position. That is why she is such a good all-round holding midfielder, a position crucial to the possession play of both Barcelona and Spain. Traditionally, players in that role do not get the plaudits, especially when they are playing in the same midfield as Putellas and Aitana Bonmati, who have split the past four Ballon d'Or awards between them. But maybe that is starting to change. 'Patri is the foundation of the team,' said team-mate Vicky Lopez in a press conference before the semi-final against Germany. 'She's the one who drives the team forward, who makes us all play well and perform at our best. If you watch a match and focus only on Patri, you can't help but smile when you see her play. 'Playing with her is very easy and very difficult at the same time. There are passes that only she sees and you don't expect. You have to get used to her. She doesn't give easy passes. Her passes are almost always forward, with purpose. For me, playing with her is very nice. She's one of the best in the world and very underrated.' Last year, Spain won the men's European Championship with Rodri voted the player of the tournament and then, later in the year, winning the Ballon d'Or. Rodri symbolised the new Spain. On the one hand, he had all the typical qualities of a Spanish holding midfielder: comfortable in possession and intelligent in a positional sense. But he was also a more aggressive, offensive-minded player than his predecessors. He pushed up and pressed high. He pushed forward to offer a goalscoring threat. His team, in turn, were more direct than previous Spain sides. And all this can be said of Guijarro. Look at a touch map from her performances so far at this tournament and it is not what you expect of a holding midfielder. Most of her touches are well inside the opposition half, partly a reflection of Spain's dominance, but partly because she often takes advantage of being unmarked to push on. Guijarro's aggression means Spain are excellent at getting into good attacking situations immediately after being without possession. Take this move early on in the 5-2 win over Belgium. Not many holding midfielders would be closing down this high up the pitch. But after Guijarro helps to force a turnover, she simply keeps on running and gets on the end of this through ball from Mariona Caldentey. Five seconds after hopefully closing down an opponent, Spain's holding midfielder is playing a cutback from close to the byline. Away from the pitch, Guijarro is a sensitive, reliable figure. She was one of the first signings of Barcelona's professional women's era in 2015, although she was initially hesitant, as she wanted to finish high school in her native Mallorca. Eventually, an agreement was made that she could finish her studies at La Masia, becoming something of a revolutionary as the first female player to study at the club's academy. She was instantly respected in the dressing room and was named one of the side's captains at the age of just 21. Those who know her best describe her as loyal and caring, to the point of neglecting herself and her own interests in order to look after others. She conveys this same attitude to the team when she plays. 'Patri is one of the best people you could ever meet,' says one person close to the player, who preferred to remain anonymous to protect relationships. Guijarro is also Spain's dressing-room DJ. When Lopez was selected to start against Portugal in the team's opening Euro 2025 game, she knew what to play. 'Before the match, Patri played some dembow songs to motivate me,' Lopez told RTVE after the match (dembow is a music genre with roots in the Caribbean). On and off the pitch, she looks after her team-mates and sets the rhythm. If Spain feel like a more aggressive, attack-minded side than at the 2023 World Cup — getting the ball forward quicker and also pressing with more intensity — it is partly because of the return of Guijarro, who refused to play for Spain during that era. She has long been famous for fighting for women's footballers' rights. She feels deeply that she has to leave this sport in a better state than she found it, not only in terms of sporting success, but also off the pitch. And she has demonstrated this in everything she has done throughout her career. She and Barcelona team-mate Pereira were co-founders of FutPro, a union for female professional footballers in Spain, and she became a member of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) assembly. 'There had never been any FutPro players who voted for the president of the RFEF, and finally we were able to,' she said in an interview with newspaper El Mundo earlier this month. 'For us, voting was like women's suffrage in Spain in 1933.' Lawyer Amanda Gutierrez, FutPro's president, told The Athletic: 'Thanks to a change that FutPro is working on following the 'Se Acabo' ('It's Over') movement, we insist there should be female assembly members. There is now one female futsal player and six in Liga F. It is very important to be an assembly member because they are the ones who vote for the president and decide the president's salary. They have a say in what is decided. It is a way of being involved and knowing what is going on. It is a huge responsibility and Patri took it on.' In September 2022, 15 Spain players sent an email to the RFEF declaring themselves unavailable for selection and demanding what they considered basic conditions for professional footballers. Guijarro was among the hard-liners; as the months went by, more than half of the initial 15 agreed to return. But she refused, alongside — most notably — Barcelona team-mates Mapi Leon and Claudia Pina, as well as Lola Gallardo, Ainhoa Moraza, Nerea Eizagirre and Amaiur Sarriegi. Spain lifted the World Cup without her, with holding midfielder Teresa Abelleira performing well in that position. Guijarro is not a proud person. What happened has not prevented her from returning to the national team when she felt the changes they were asking for within the institution had been made. She eventually agreed to return ahead of the Olympics last summer, after the RFEF's clean-up, which involved dismissing president Luis Rubiales and coach Jorge Vilda. Centre-back Leon remains a significant absence from this side, but the return of Guijarro and Pina, as well as Lopez's evolution into a first-teamer, have made Spain more complete. Among wonderful contributions in the final third from the likes of Pina and Putellas, Guijarro has probably been Spain's most consistent player at the Euros. The moment that sums it up best is her goal against Italy: not just because she got herself on the scoresheet, but because of the nature of the goal. Latching onto a loose ball from an Italy clearance, she simply slammed it into the net. Spain have scored prettier goals at this tournament, but this was what Guijarro is all about. What other defensive midfielders would regard as a potential interception, she sees as a potential goal. From defence to attack, without pausing for breath. Guijarro finished a respectable 11th in the Ballon d'Or voting last year, although she was behind five Barcelona team-mates, and ultimately her role is generally considered to be about letting more attacking players shine. But her performances at Euro 2025 have been even more dominant than we've become accustomed to. In this form, she is a serious contender to be named the best player at this tournament, and maybe the best in the world. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Barcelona, Spain, Women's Soccer, Women's Euros 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
4 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Will Patri Guijarro be the next Spain midfielder to win the Ballon d'Or?
When holding midfielder Patri Guijarro was asked to play in defence for the 2021 Champions League final against Chelsea because Barcelona's regular centre-back Andrea Pereira was suspended, it was out of her comfort zone. But she was flawless and Barcelona won 4-0. And when Barca discovered that attacking midfielder Alexia Putellas was set to miss almost the entire 2022-23 season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, their replacement in the transfer market was not an equivalent playmaker, but instead defensive midfielder Keira Walsh. Guijarro was asked to step forward into the role played by Putellas, the world's best player. She was up for the challenge. Advertisement 'I watched a lot of videos of her to analyse how she moved and what she looked for in build-up play,' Guijarro said in No Nos Digas Que Es Imposible (Don't Tell Us It's Impossible), a new book about Barcelona by Maria Tikas. 'She's not a fast player, but she's very intelligent when it comes to finding space and looking forward.' When that season's Champions League final arrived, Guijarro was now established as a key attacking midfielder. Putellas had returned from injury, but she was not 100 per cent fit and had to be content with a place on the bench. Barcelona went 2-0 down to Wolfsburg, but Guijarro scored twice at the start of the second half to draw them level, before Fridolina Rolfo smashed in the winner. Guijarro, a starring centre-back in the equivalent fixture two years before, was named player of the match as an attacking midfielder. That sums up Guijarro; constantly sacrificing herself for the team and capable of playing almost any position. That is why she is such a good all-round holding midfielder, a position crucial to the possession play of both Barcelona and Spain. Traditionally, players in that role do not get the plaudits, especially when they are playing in the same midfield as Putellas and Aitana Bonmati, who have split the past four Ballon d'Or awards between them. But maybe that is starting to change. 'Patri is the foundation of the team,' said team-mate Vicky Lopez in a press conference before the semi-final against Germany. 'She's the one who drives the team forward, who makes us all play well and perform at our best. If you watch a match and focus only on Patri, you can't help but smile when you see her play. 'Playing with her is very easy and very difficult at the same time. There are passes that only she sees and you don't expect. You have to get used to her. She doesn't give easy passes. Her passes are almost always forward, with purpose. For me, playing with her is very nice. She's one of the best in the world and very underrated.' Advertisement Last year, Spain won the men's European Championship with Rodri voted the player of the tournament and then, later in the year, winning the Ballon d'Or. Rodri symbolised the new Spain. On the one hand, he had all the typical qualities of a Spanish holding midfielder: comfortable in possession and intelligent in a positional sense. But he was also a more aggressive, offensive-minded player than his predecessors. He pushed up and pressed high. He pushed forward to offer a goalscoring threat. His team, in turn, were more direct than previous Spain sides. And all this can be said of Guijarro. Look at a touch map from her performances so far at this tournament and it is not what you expect of a holding midfielder. Most of her touches are well inside the opposition half, partly a reflection of Spain's dominance, but partly because she often takes advantage of being unmarked to push on. Guijarro's aggression means Spain are excellent at getting into good attacking situations immediately after being without possession. Take this move early on in the 5-2 win over Belgium. Not many holding midfielders would be closing down this high up the pitch. But after Guijarro helps to force a turnover, she simply keeps on running and gets on the end of this through ball from Mariona Caldentey. Five seconds after hopefully closing down an opponent, Spain's holding midfielder is playing a cutback from close to the byline. Away from the pitch, Guijarro is a sensitive, reliable figure. She was one of the first signings of Barcelona's professional women's era in 2015, although she was initially hesitant, as she wanted to finish high school in her native Mallorca. Eventually, an agreement was made that she could finish her studies at La Masia, becoming something of a revolutionary as the first female player to study at the club's academy. She was instantly respected in the dressing room and was named one of the side's captains at the age of just 21. Advertisement Those who know her best describe her as loyal and caring, to the point of neglecting herself and her own interests in order to look after others. She conveys this same attitude to the team when she plays. 'Patri is one of the best people you could ever meet,' says one person close to the player, who preferred to remain anonymous to protect relationships. Guijarro is also Spain's dressing-room DJ. When Lopez was selected to start against Portugal in the team's opening Euro 2025 game, she knew what to play. 'Before the match, Patri played some dembow songs to motivate me,' Lopez told RTVE after the match (dembow is a music genre with roots in the Caribbean). On and off the pitch, she looks after her team-mates and sets the rhythm. If Spain feel like a more aggressive, attack-minded side than at the 2023 World Cup — getting the ball forward quicker and also pressing with more intensity — it is partly because of the return of Guijarro, who refused to play for Spain during that era. She has long been famous for fighting for women's footballers' rights. She feels deeply that she has to leave this sport in a better state than she found it, not only in terms of sporting success, but also off the pitch. And she has demonstrated this in everything she has done throughout her career. She and Barcelona team-mate Pereira were co-founders of FutPro, a union for female professional footballers in Spain, and she became a member of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) assembly. 'There had never been any FutPro players who voted for the president of the RFEF, and finally we were able to,' she said in an interview with newspaper El Mundo earlier this month. 'For us, voting was like women's suffrage in Spain in 1933.' Lawyer Amanda Gutierrez, FutPro's president, told The Athletic: 'Thanks to a change that FutPro is working on following the 'Se Acabo' ('It's Over') movement, we insist there should be female assembly members. There is now one female futsal player and six in Liga F. It is very important to be an assembly member because they are the ones who vote for the president and decide the president's salary. They have a say in what is decided. It is a way of being involved and knowing what is going on. It is a huge responsibility and Patri took it on.' Advertisement In September 2022, 15 Spain players sent an email to the RFEF declaring themselves unavailable for selection and demanding what they considered basic conditions for professional footballers. Guijarro was among the hard-liners; as the months went by, more than half of the initial 15 agreed to return. But she refused, alongside — most notably — Barcelona team-mates Mapi Leon and Claudia Pina, as well as Lola Gallardo, Ainhoa Moraza, Nerea Eizagirre and Amaiur Sarriegi. Spain lifted the World Cup without her, with holding midfielder Teresa Abelleira performing well in that position. Guijarro is not a proud person. What happened has not prevented her from returning to the national team when she felt the changes they were asking for within the institution had been made. She eventually agreed to return ahead of the Olympics last summer, after the RFEF's clean-up, which involved dismissing president Luis Rubiales and coach Jorge Vilda. Centre-back Leon remains a significant absence from this side, but the return of Guijarro and Pina, as well as Lopez's evolution into a first-teamer, have made Spain more complete. Among wonderful contributions in the final third from the likes of Pina and Putellas, Guijarro has probably been Spain's most consistent player at the Euros. The moment that sums it up best is her goal against Italy: not just because she got herself on the scoresheet, but because of the nature of the goal. Latching onto a loose ball from an Italy clearance, she simply slammed it into the net. Spain have scored prettier goals at this tournament, but this was what Guijarro is all about. What other defensive midfielders would regard as a potential interception, she sees as a potential goal. From defence to attack, without pausing for breath. Guijarro finished a respectable 11th in the Ballon d'Or voting last year, although she was behind five Barcelona team-mates, and ultimately her role is generally considered to be about letting more attacking players shine. But her performances at Euro 2025 have been even more dominant than we've become accustomed to. In this form, she is a serious contender to be named the best player at this tournament, and maybe the best in the world.
