BARCELONA — Barcelona will not apologize for its role in creating the failed European Super League and will appeal against any punishment from UEFA, president Joan Laporta said on Friday.
Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus are the last ones standing of the 12 clubs that signed up to the breakaway project in April, only for it to unravel when all six English sides plus Inter Milan, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid withdrew.
Zinedine Zidane brought some success and stability back to a Real Madrid side that was in freefall without him but the Frenchman ultimately proved unwilling to preside over the squad rebuild the club felt it needed.
Zidane called time on his second spell in charge of the club on Thursday, leaving on his own terms as he did in 2018 after an unprecedented hat-trick of Champions League crowns and when he abruptly retired as a player in 2006.
La ciudad de Vila-Real tiene 51.293 habitantes y es muy probable que ninguno de ellos olvide la noche de hoy. El equipo que los representa, conocido coloquialmente como el Submarino Amarillo, escaló a la cima del continente y batió a un gigante como el Manchester United, en una eterna tanda de penales, para quedarse con la Europa League. Un 11-10 imborrable y que sus ciudadanos y fanáticos revivirán una y otra vez.
These are the nights that live long in the memory. This was a night Villarreal will never forget. The Yellow Submarine defeated Manchester United after an epic Europa League final shootout, claiming Europe’s secondary club competition 11-10 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the first 120 minutes on Wednesday in Gdánsk, Poland.
Gerard Moreno and Edinson Cavani both scored in regulation to send the match to extra time, which finished scoreless to set the stage for an incredible penalty kick shootout.
Real Madrid finished the 2020-21 campaign without a trophy. Second in LaLiga and the Champions League semifinals are not good enough in the Spanish capital, especially when city rival Atlético Madrid won the league. As if Madridistas needed any further sign their club was struggling, the famed Estadio Santiago Bernabéu caught fire on Wednesday during ongoing renovations.
MADRID — Spain coach Luis Enrique left captain Sergio Ramos out of his squad for Euro 2020 on Monday, meaning that there will be no Real Madrid players representing Spain at a major tournament for the first time in the club's history.
The closest they have come previously to not being represented by Spain was at the 1950 World Cup, when just one Real squad member - Luis Molowny - was called up.
Spain's 24-man Euro 2020 squad by club
On Sunday, beIN SPORTS broadcast its final LaLiga matches. Next season, ESPN will take over the U.S. TV rights to Spain’s top flight, ending a nine-year stretch where beIN SPORTS was the only way to watch Lionel Messi every week in the States. More than that, it’s the end of an era for Ray Hudson, who remains the only person who has yet to run out of words to describe Messi’s indescribable brilliance.
MADRID — A 14-year-old Atletico Madrid fan died after he hit his head on a wall while leaning out of a moving van in central Madrid on Saturday, emergency services said.
The boy suffered a cardiac arrest and despite efforts to revive him, he was declared dead an hour after the accident occurred at 9:20 p.m. local time, a source from the Madrid emergency services said.
The teenager was travelling with family and friends when the accident happened.
The 2020-21 season was a banner year for Americans abroad. USMNT players have been winning trophies all over Europe, including regulars at Barcelona, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund; in a week, we’ll see an American win the Champions League for either Chelsea or Manchester City. But Saturday was not a great day for keeping U.S. internationals in Europe’s top flights, with a number of Americans relegated to lower tiers or unable to gain promotion.
Hoy hay fiesta en la Fuente de Neptuno. El Atlético de Madrid es campeón de España por primera vez desde la temporada 2013/14 y por segunda vez en la era de Diego Simeone. Los colchoneros lograron el título tras vencer por 1-2 al Real Valladolid que, en contradicción, lloró su descenso.
La obtención de la corona fue muy a lo Atlético, llena de sufrimiento. Los colchoneros dominaron gran parte de LaLiga, sacando una gran ventaja de puntos, pero paulatinamente fueron perdiendo gasolina y casi despilfarran el campeonato ante la presión del Real Madrid y el Barcelona.