Real Betis and Sevilla will kick La Liga back into action on 11 June. Spain is set to join Germany and Portugal in resuming matches without spectators after prime minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed that the league would be allowed to start up again from June along with other sectors of the economy. All organised football in Spain was suspended indefinitely on 12 March. Spain is among the countries hardest hit
A former La Liga referee has claimed 90% of match officials in the division favour Real Madrid, while the other 10 per cent support Barcelona. Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez was a top flight referee in Spain until retiring in 2012, and officiated more than 300 matches during his career. He suggests that due to many people in the country growing up as Madrid fans, that is mirrored in the number of
As winter was morphing into spring in 2017, Luke Bornn was not surprised by Liverpool’s escalation of interest in Mohamed Salah. He was, however, perplexed as to why no other elite team was attentively circling the Egypt international. Operating as AS Roma’s head of analytics at the time, he noted that Salah’s efficiency in creating and scoring goals was supreme, but it was only a snapshot of his potential. Download
Arsenal legend Charlie Nicholas has urged Arsenal to ask Kieran Tierney's advice before swooping for Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard. Edouard is on Arsenal's radar as the club face the possibility of losing star forward Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang in the summer transfer window. While Nicholas doesn't feel Edouard can be a like-for-like replacement for Aubameyang, he has predicted that the France under-21 international "will become a top player" and could one day
Adoring fans, captaincy, legend status: would you throw all of these away for a title? Some have, and for those that do, there’s no turning back. For some players, loyalty in football does not exist, and a number of them have turned down the chance of becoming cult heroes for their own personal gain. While they may be received with boos and abuse when they go back to their old
Some of Spain’s most notable football players joined forces this weekend to raise money for medical supplies to help in the battle against coronavirus. National team-mates Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique, who are club rivals at Real Madrid and Barcelona, joined in at the virtual music festival #LaLigaSantanderFest on Saturday evening, as did former Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla, who now represents Villarreal. Some of Spain’s most popular music artists participated in the festival, where Ramos, Pique and
Atletico Madrid have taken the decision to cut the wages of their staff, including the players, to ease the financial burden on the club as they struggle with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Atletico join La Liga rivals Barcelona, who imposed a compulsory wage reduction on their players during the period of lockdown after Spain became the second-most impacted country in Europe behind Italy. Spain has nearly 57,800 confirmed cases
Ezequiel Garay confirmed he has coronavirus, becoming the first player from La Liga to test positive for COVID-19 with Valencia revealing he is one of five first team players or staff with the virus. Due to an injury, Garay was not part of the Valencia side that travelled to Milan, the epicentre of the pandemic in Europe, for the game against Atalanta on 19 February, while he also missed the return leg at
Valencia defender Ezequiel Garay has revealed that he has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the first La Liga player to confirm he has the virus that has wreaked havoc on global sport. "It's clear that I have got off to the wrong start in 2020. I've tested positive for the coronavirus, I feel very good and now I just have to listen to the health authorities and for now remain
Vinicius Junior has become the youngster player to score in El Clasico in the 21st century – beating the record previously held by Lionel Messi. The 19-year-old netted the opening goal of the game as Real Madrid ran out 2-0 winners over bitter rivals Barcelona at the Bernabeu on Sunday. Messi became the youngest player in the modern era to score in the world-famous fixture when he hit the back
