MADRID — Spain's World Cup-winning captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas has called time on his five-year spell with Porto after his contract with the Portuguese club expired on Wednesday.
Casillas, 39, suffered a heart attack during a training session last year and has not played any competitive football since April 2019.
Álvaro Cervera arrived in Cádiz after a three-year spell with Tenerife. It was mid-April when he took the job as manager, the season nearly over. Cervera was able to guide Cádiz CF to a fourth-place finish and promotion to the Spanish second division after six arduous years in the third tier. Four years on, El Submarino Amarillo is on the brink of a return to the promised land of LaLiga.
An important game in the LaLiga relegation picture beckons as 18th-place Mallorca takes on 17th-place Celta Vigo on Tuesday.
Mallorca is still winless since the restart, having faced a tough stretch on the schedule which pitted the side against Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. The Balearic Islands-based team, co-owned by retired basketball player Steve Nash, has taken just one point since play resumed in a draw against fellow basement dwellers Leganes.
Barcelona coach Quique Setién has said he does not always see eye-to-eye with his squad as their LaLiga title bid threatens to unravel following Saturday's 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo.
Second-placed Barça trail Real Madrid by two points with six games to go and face a grueling match at home to third-placed Atlético Madrid on Tuesday which they need to win to stay in close contention in the title race.
"It's true that you often have arguments with players as you do in everyday life and that's nothing new," Setién told a virtual news conference on Monday.
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema produced an audacious back-heeled assist for Casemiro to score as they beat Espanyol 1-0 away on Sunday to capitalize on Barcelona's slip-up a day earlier and move two points clear at the top of LaLiga.
Brazilian midfielder Casemiro slid to the ground to guide the ball home on the stroke of halftime after being played in by a stroke of genius from Benzema, who dragged the ball through the legs of the defender marking him to find his team mate.
Juventus are set to sign Brazil international Arthur Melo from Barcelona after the midfielder agreed a five-year contract with the Italian champions and passed a medical, according to Spanish media reports on Sunday.
The move is part of a twin negotiation between the clubs which involves Bosnia midfielder Miralem Pjanić moving to Barça, said reports in sports dailies Mundo Deportivo and Marca.
Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo, midfielder Santi Cazorla and forward Gerard Moreno combined to score a goal of rare beauty on Sunday with the ball not touching the ground during the trio’s flowing move.
A Valencia clearance fluttered into Villarreal’s half, but Asenjo lumped it straight back at Los Che on the half-volley. That thump from the heavens was deftly met by a cushioned pass from Cazorla 20 yards out.
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina said he was proud to have played for the Premier League outfit and joined a number of his fellow Spaniards in congratulating them for their first league title in three decades.
Virgil Van Dijk has received plenty of credit over the last two years for his stellar defensive abilities. The Dutch defender gave the Messi-Ronaldo hegemon a run for its money in the 2019 Ballon d’Or race while leading Liverpool to a Champions League title. Many say he is the best center back in the world right now.
In the summer of 2016, Bruno Soriano was representing Spain at the Euros while appearing in two group stage matches. He followed that up with another inspirational season as Villarreal’s captain, appearing in 45 games across all competitions while scoring five goals and adding three assists from his defensive midfield position.
Then, for effectively three seasons, nothing — not a single appearance for his beloved Yellow Submarine.