FOOTY NA – Page 3 – All the News!

Radaelli speaks about the progress of Lautaro Martinez

According to Fabio Radaelli, the former coach of Racing, Lautaro Martinez has achieved most of the goals that a footballer would want to. In the fifteen years of his career as a footballer, he has transformed to be one of the best and if he moves to Barcelona and playing along with Messi and Suarez will improve his style more.

It was Radaelli who picked up Lautaro from the Bahia Blanca in January 2014. He was then an unrefined diamond who has now become a star among the football world. In his initial days, he was homesick but later developed his game and was even compared to many legends in the Argentinian side.
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Setien doubts resumption of the season

Quique Setien is unsure of Spanish Football Federation’s decision on resuming La Liga by the end of May. With the fear of Covid 19 still in the air, he assumes it is not a good decision. Football activity in Spain was suspended from March in order to contain the spread and Spain is one of the worst affected countries by the virus with 19000 deaths. The state has decided to loosen up the lockdown rules and La Liga president Javier Tebas announced that they can restart the league soon.

As per the reports, it is clear that precautionary measures will be taken. The players and staff will be quarantined in the hotel and frequent check-ups will be done before the matches.
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Emmanuel Petit believes Philippe Coutinho regrets leaving Liverpool

Former Premier League star Emmanuel Petit believes Philippe Coutinho has started to regret the decision to leave Liverpool for Barcelona in January 2018. The Brazil international become a household figure for the Merseyside outfit during a five-and-a-half year spell but he could not resist the prospect of joining the Blaugrana.

However, the move did not go as planned for the 27-year-old and he is currently at Bayern Munich on a season-long loan. Speaking to The Mirror, Petit said that Coutinho will have regrets over the transfer decision and compared it with himself when he made the ambitious move to the Camp Nou from Arsenal, which failed to work out.
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Griezmann says he is still learning to play alongside Lionel Messi

French forward Antoine Griezmann has said that he is still learning to play alongside Lionel Messi. The experienced marksman ended a five-match goalless run by finding the opener in the 2-1 win over Getafe at the Camp Nou. Messi was responsible for a quality assist for Griezmann’s goal and following the game, the forward acknowledged that he has yet to adapt to the style of play of the Blaugrana skipper.

He told: “We knew how hard Getafe would be to play against. They put a lot of pressure on and pressed high. They are third for a reason but we kept cool, tried to play the ball well from the back. It was tough but we suffered and won. I’ve been here six months, we still have to learn. I have to learn [Messi’s] movements and he has to learn mine. We’re enjoying the work we put in together and it’s getting better and better all the time. I’m very happy and really enjoying myself here.”
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Lionel Messi feels the La Liga has become more competitive

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has said that the Spanish La Liga has become more competitive and the Blaugrana no longer have an easy route to winning the league title. The Catalan giants have won the top-flight crown in four of the past five seasons but they are regarded as the favourites to lift the trophy again.

Speaking to Marca, Messi said that the Spanish top-flight has become more even over the past few years and it is increasingly difficult to register maximum points on the road, he told: “Everything is becoming more and more even. They have been for several years and we notice that there is more equality, that any team beats any other team, which is increasingly difficult to play as an away team. The teams have become stronger at home because they know that in order to achieve their goals they must do it well at home. This makes everything more equal and more complicated.”
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Lionel Messi to Stay at Barcelona, Claims President

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has once again dismissed suggestions that Lionel Messi is on the verge of an exit from the club. The superstar’s contract runs out in the summer of 2021 but he can leave the Camp Nou on a free transfer in the summer due to a special clause in his contract. There is no doubt that Barcelona are starting to prepare for a life without Messi, who is at the wrong side of 30. Even if he stays at Barcelona, Messi will be highly effective only for a couple of years. Still, that has not prevented questions about Messi’s future at the club from cropping up to the table ofBartomeu.

Bartomeu has insisted that Messi will remain at Barcelona even after the end of the season. After a difficult start of the campaign, Barcelona have once again started performing very well and it is not a surprise that Messi has been the key factor behind this revival. After struggling with the threat of missing out on the title race in the early part of the campaign,Bartomeu has seen Barcelona get back to the top of the table with a significant aid from Messi. Even though Messi is 32,Bartomeu expects the player to stay at the club at least for the next two or three seasons.
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Ter Stegen Welcomes the Return of Lionel Messi

Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen claimed that the club always find it easy when Lionel Messi is on the pitch. The Argentine has had a couple of injury problems this season and it has prevented a direct impact since this season. Unsurprisingly, Barcelona have struggled at the start of the campaign and they have had a poor set of results. It is even future of manager Ernesto Valverde under a lot of doubt. Messi has so far made only four appearances and one of those came in the recent game against Inter Milan at the Camp Nou.

There was a major setback for the Catalan outfit as early as in the second minute after Inter took a shock lead. This was the first time Inter were scoring at the Camp Nou since 1970. However, Barcelona were able to get all three points thanks to a double from Luis Suarez. Even though Messi did not get on the scoresheet, the presence of the five-time FIFA Ballon d’Or award winner was a major inspiration to the players, according to Ter Stegen. After having struggled with a number of injuries this season, Messi had a lot of positivity after completing 90 minutes of action.Ter Stegen says that it can be only good news for Barcelona in the forthcoming weeks.
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Ernesto Valverde admits Barcelona suffered against Borussia Dortmund

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde has acknowledged that the Blaugrana suffered against Borussia Dortmund during the opening game of the Champions League group stage. The Spanish champions dominated the possession against Dortmund at the Signal Iduna Park but they were second best when it came to creating chances on goal.

Moreover, they had to thank goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen for the goalless stalemate after he made a vital save to deny Marco Reus from the penalty spot. Speaking after the game, Valverde admitted that his team were second best throughout the game as they did not possess an attacking threat to make the difference.
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Frenkie de Jong reveals where he can improve further with Barcelona

Netherlands international Frenkie de Jong has acknowledged that he has plenty of progress to make before he can be regarded as the ideal midfielder. The Dutchman made the move to the Blaugrana from Ajax during the summer transfer windowand he is now expected to play an integral role under manager Ernesto Valverde at the Camp Nou.

As such, the 22-year-old has been presented with numerous questions over the past few weeks and in a recent interview, the midfielder was asked about the facet of the game to improve upon to which he replied: “I think I can improve my long-range passing a lot. I can score more goals. I don’t think it’s the most important thing as a midfielder, especially with my style of playing, but I can score more goals. I can improve my long-range shooting, going behind the defence, runs behind the defence.” Continue reading

Mbappe wants Neymar to stay with PSG amid Barcelona return talk

Paris Saint-Germain attacker Kylian Mbappe has said that Neymar remains an important figure with the club’s ranks and he wants him to stay put beyond the summer. The Brazil international has been heavily touted to make a comeback with Barcelona and reports have emerged that the Spanish champions will lodge an approach to re-sign him during the closing stages of the transfer window.

Speaking to reporters, Mbappe said that he has a good relationship with Neymar on and off the playing field and he would prefer to work with the Brazilian for the forthcoming campaign rather than watching him part ways with the club, he told: “We all know the importance of this player after he leaves. He knows what I think of him and he knows what I think of his situation. Of course, I don’t want him to leave, I want him to stay. We have a relationship based on honesty and respect. I respect him and I admire him a lot, I told him what I thought of his situation and everything is fine.”
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