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Associated Press
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
'Great club legend' Lucas Vázquez ending long stint with Real Madrid
MADRID (AP) — Lucas Vázquez, an important player for Real Madrid during one of its most successful eras, is ending his stint with the Spanish powerhouse. The club and the player said Wednesday that he is not returning for another season. 'I'm leaving Real Madrid, but Real Madrid will never leave me,' Vázquez said on social media. 'Wherever I go, I will proudly say that I had the honor of playing for the best team in the world. Thank you for joining me on the most beautiful journey of my life.' Madrid is preparing a farewell ceremony on Thursday for the 34-year-old Vázquez. 'Real Madrid would like to express our gratitude and affection to Lucas Vázquez, one of the great legends of our club,' it said in a statement. Vázquez is one of the winningest players with Madrid, having helped the club capture 23 titles, including five Champions Leagues and four Spanish leagues. He made 402 appearances, playing mostly as a right back but also as a forward, attacking midfielder and contributing off the bench. 'Lucas Vázquez represents in an exemplary way the values of Real Madrid, which has made him one of the most loved players by our fans,' club president Florentino Pérez said. 'The figure of Lucas Vázquez symbolizes the hard work, perseverance, humility and winning spirit that are essential for success in this shirt. He is a player who has the affection and recognition of all madridistas. Real Madrid is and always will be his home.' Vázquez joined the club's youth academy in 2007 as a 16-year-old. After a season on loan at Espanyol, he made his debut with Madrid's first team in 2015. He did not immediately announce his plans for the future. Madrid is coming off a disappointing season by its high standards, losing the Spanish league title to Barcelona and failing to reach the final in the Club World Cup or the Champions League. ___ AP soccer:
Boston Globe
12-07-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Brad Stevens said new Celtics owner Bill Chisholm still upbeat despite painful finish to season
When Chisholm agreed to purchase the team in March, the near-term outlook was bright. Boston was favored to win its second consecutive NBA title, with a core in place that included superstar forward Jayson Tatum. Tatum then ruptured his Achilles' tendon during the conference semifinals against the Knicks, and Boston went on to lose the series. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up In recent weeks, the urgency to get below the salary cap's second apron and avoid severe roster-building restrictions led to the departures of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Luke Kornet, and Al Horford's exit is imminent. Advertisement But Stevens said Chisholm has remained upbeat and has been a supportive voice during this challenging stretch. 'Wyc is obviously still the governor and has been obviously very, very active,' Stevens said. 'But I think Bill has been in pretty much every meeting or Zoom that we've had with the governors and ownership and everything else. So, he's been great. I'm a big fan and he's got a great way about him. I think he's very smart. He loves the Celtics. Advertisement 'He didn't take over at the easiest of times when you talk about the second apron issues that we talked about the other day, and Tatum's injury, and everything else. But he's so level-headed and he's got such a good way about him. I'm really excited to have him around.' ▪ Stevens acknowledged that there were mistakes in the Celtics' summer league win over the Grizzlies Friday, but he was pleased that none were related to the team's level of effort. First-round pick Hugo Gonzalez made 4 of 12 shots and had 12 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds, but afterward he lamented going 1 for 5 from the free-throw line. 'I think he really wants to be good,' Stevens said. 'You can tell he's got a good work ethic, a good compete level. There's a care factor there and, you know, he's just learning. His head was spinning in the first half. There were a couple times he was looking one way and the guy was three steps behind him cutting the other way. 'So, he had a good day, but he can do a lot of things better. He'll get that quick.' Stevens pointed out that Gonzalez could also use a break. He helped Real Madrid to the Spanish League title on the same night he was drafted last month. The Celtics initially told him to take about four days to recharge before coming to Boston, but he arrived after just two. Stevens said Gonzalez will sit out one of the Celtics' next two games in Las Vegas. Advertisement ▪ Last week, Stevens hinted that the Celtics would use summer league to experiment with new concepts and approaches that might be useful next season, in the wake of extensive personnel changes. He expanded on that possibility Saturday. 'I don't know if it's necessarily experimenting just for the sake of experimenting,' he said. 'I think it's more this is the team you have, you play to the strengths of your team and you figure that out. You're not afraid to try things, obviously, but we'll see who's available, and when you do you figure out how to play to give yourselves the best chance to win.' Still, Stevens acknowledged that tactical approaches in summer league don't always translate, because defensive coverages are fairly simple due to the lack of practice time and familiarity among players. ▪ Veteran big man Charles Bassey was a late addition to Boston's summer squad but had an impressive debut, registering 14 points and 11 rebounds in just 18 minutes. Bassey, who battled injuries while playing for the 76ers and Spurs over the last four seasons, said he is now healthy and eager for another shot. 'He's a guy that's probably playing for what's next,' Stevens said. 'I just think he's a guy we've paid attention to from afar for a long time. We're watching all these guys all the time, and I thought he did a really good job yesterday. He probably was the biggest reason we won the game, I thought.' Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at
Asharq Al-Awsat
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Asharq Al-Awsat
La Liga President Rejects Courtois' Plea to Delay Real Madrid's 25-26 Opener for More Rest Time
Spanish league president Javier Tebas rejected Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois' plea to postpone the team's 2025-26 opener to give players time to rest following the expanded Club World Cup. Real Madrid was eliminated with a 4-0 semifinal loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday and will have a 41-day offseason before their La Liga opener against Osasuna on Aug. 19. Tebas said the decision not to move the opener was made by the Spanish Football Federation and La Liga agreed with it. He said players were to have 21 days off and 21 days of preseason training. "I believe that they will have 20 days to rest instead of 21 and no other leagues like the Premier League for Chelsea or the French Ligue 1 for PSG are changing the games," he said through a translator during a Friday interview with The Associated Press. "So I don't believe that we should change the calendar for that reason, especially thinking that it's a matter of one day." Real Madrid played 68 competitive matches in a season that started Aug. 18: 38 in the league, 14 in the Champions League, six each in the Copa del Rey and the Club World Cup, two in the Spanish Super Cup and one apiece in the European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup. PSG will play its 65th game in Sunday's Club World Cup final and Chelsea its 64th. PSG opens its season from Aug. 15-17 at Nantes and Chelsea starts against Crystal Palace on Aug. 17. "It's always the same for La Liga," Courtois said Wednesday. "To listen those comments from a president it's something that I haven't seen it in Italy, or in England, nor the NBA and NFL. It's fine if Tebas doesn't like the Club World Cup, but it exists. It's part of the FIFA calendar. We're here competing, and it seems this gentleman just wants to be the focus. I've never seen a president of another competition speak like that. The players' health is on the line." On other topics: Real Madrid causing problems Tebas said Real Madrid seeking its own path rather than working collectively with La Liga is his biggest problem. "They don't actually understand that we're a huge league and that if we will collaborate it's going to be positive for all of us," he said. "The believe in the Super League and in order to get a strong Super League they need a weak national league. So they are working toward that objective." Camp Nou renovation Barcelona hopes to move back to Camp Nou after two seasons at the Olympic Stadium. Camp Nou's renovations are ongoing. "They are waiting for a license that is provided by the city hall," Tebas said. "We believe that probably by the fourth week of the competition he should be ready to play again." That would put the Blaugrana on track for a mid-September return to a venue that will remain under construction. Barcelona is on track to meeting financial guidelines that would allow them to make moves in the transfer market. "Barcelona's financial situation is good," Tebas said. "They are close to acquiring all the players they want in the coming months."
Boston Globe
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Hugo González leads Celtics draft trio eager to get into the mix with an iconic franchise
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up González's Spanish League season concluded with a championship less than a week ago. Hours later, around 5 a.m. in Spain, he was chosen by the Celtics. He joined Real Madrid's youth program when he was just 10 years old and progressed swiftly, this year taking the floor with a squad filled with former NBA players. Advertisement 'What they just told me [about the NBA] is, 'Be yourself. How you play, you're going to have success,' ' González said. 'And I'm having that feedback really on my mind, because they've got a ton of experience, way more than that, and if they tell me that, they know what they're saying. So, I appreciate that.' Advertisement González, a 6-foot-6 wing, called it a 'privilege' to be joining a franchise with a history as rich as Boston's, and he said his experience with Real Madrid, which has won a record 38 Spanish League titles, has helped prepare him for the great expectations that come with being a Celtic. 'So, I'm pretty used to team success,' González said. 'It's the first and the main thing for the whole season. It's nothing that I need to learn. It's something that I already have in my DNA. So I think that's going to help a franchise like the Celtics, too, and I hope that it does.' González is expected to join the Celtics during the NBA Las Vegas summer league and said he hoped to play in games there, but the team is cognizant that his season in Spain just concluded, and it will have the final say. 'I'm pretty excited about it,' González said. 'I just want to get out and work already and look out for the next steps.' Williams, a 6-10 center drafted 46th out of Kentucky, might suddenly be in line for more opportunities following the departures of Porzingis and Kornet, and the looming loss of Horford. The Celtics on Monday agreed to a two-year deal with veteran center Luka Garza, who will join returning big men Neemias Queta and Xavier Tillman. There should be chances to secure playing time with that group. 'I mean it's fun, just being able to learn from the older guys [like] Queta, who's been here for quite a while,' Williams said. 'Just kind of being a sponge and kind of learning as the season goes on, so it'll be a fun year.' Related : Advertisement Shulga emerged as an excellent 3-point shooter during his three years at Utah State and two at VCU before the Celtics selected him 57th last Thursday. He still finds it hard to believe that his NBA career is about to begin. 'It's going to take a couple weeks,' he said. 'When I walked in the [Auerbach Center] it still felt a little bit like I'm going around and doing workouts and stuff like that. But it's an unbelievable feeling and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.' On Tuesday morning, the rookies met with Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who wasted no time laying out his plans and expectations for the coming year. 'He said it was going to be hard,' Shulga said. 'Just the most important thing is that you have to play hard and play for your teammates. Those are the most important things. Have passion for the game and just play like it means something to you.' Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at
Boston Globe
27-06-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
‘We got lucky:' Celtics' lead international scout details pursuit of first-round pick Hugo González
'With a minute or two left, he's just out there diving for the ball and close to getting hurt,' Matkevicius said. 'He does not care. He competes and just wants to win.' Matkevicius heard about another game in which González injured his elbow going up for a dunk. He was expected to miss the next game, but just wrapped it up and took the court. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'He's really a true competitor and fans will love him because of that Marcus Smart-type of effort that he just goes out there,' Matkevicius said. 'He guards multiple positions and dives on the floor. He just wants the ball more than anybody else.' Advertisement González now plays for Real Madrid's senior team that won the Spanish League by defeating Valencia on Wednesday, the same night In the days that followed, the reaction Matkevicius received from people in European basketball circles was loud and unanimous. 'I've never received as many messages after a draft as I did the next day from around Europe, from coaches and managers and scouts,' he said. 'There were a lot of messages I received that were just like, 'Man, great pick.' That was an indicator that usually doesn't happen, and it happened not only from Spain but from other teams as well. For value, for the range we picked at, we got lucky.' Related : Advertisement NBA veterans fill Real Madrid's roster, and the franchise's rich history brings big pressure to win, so it cannot really take time to serve as a talent incubator. That led to scattered opportunities for González this year. In recent seasons Matkevicius leaned on evaluations from González's games with Real Madrid's junior teams, as well as in international competitions with Spain's under-18 program. He first saw González play for Real Madrid in a junior tournament when he was about 15, still a year or two younger than most others on the court. 'He was already standing out with his athleticism, physical prowess, energy, motor,' Matkevicius said. 'He was fitting right in and playing well, already playing up.' González was still too young to truly be projected as an NBA draft prospect, so Matkevicius slotted him in his rankings for players in his age group and continued to monitor his progress. At the start of this season, Matkevicius began including updates about González in the reports he sent to the Celtics' front office every two weeks. He tried to predict Real Madrid matchups that might give González the best chance to play, but also came away impressed by games in which he was used sparingly. 'He can play around superstars easily,' Matkevicius said. 'He can fit in. One thing that always impressed me about him is when he's playing with the pros and is on the bench or gets subbed out, he's the loudest guy on the bench and it's sincere. He's really cheering for his teammates, really happy. He's not pouting, expecting playing time. He knows who he is and he's very self-aware, and that makes him personality-wise a good fit also.' Related : Advertisement González averaged 5.2 points and 2.5 rebounds while playing 14.2 minutes per game in the Spanish League this season, connecting on just 27.1 percent of his 3-pointers. On draft night, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said González has the tools to become a more efficient offensive player, and Matkevicius agrees. He said it can be tough to evaluate shooting stats for a player whose opportunities are so sporadic. He believes González has good form and has shown at the junior level that he is quite comfortable with the ball in his hands. 'Obviously, the offensive game has to be refined because there's a lot of development left as a 19-year-old,' he said, 'but I wouldn't be afraid to throw him out there now, just because he's physically more advanced than the average 19-year-old and he's got the size and length and a lot of intangibles that already give him a good foundation to start his career.' … The Celtics will open Las Vegas summer league play against the Grizzlies on July 11 at 4 p.m. Boston will then play the Pistons (July 13, 4 p.m.), Heat (July 14, 8 p.m.), and Lakers (July 17, 9 p.m.) before having a final game added to the schedule. Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at
