Tag: Barcelona

BARCELONA: Barcelona’s Gerard Pique announced his retirement on Thursday after a decorated career, saying “the moment has come to end this journey”.

“Saturday’s match (against Almeria) will be my last at the Camp Nou,” the 35-year-old posted on Twitter.

The veteran defender bows out with four Champions League titles and the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 with Spain.

“I wanted to tell you that I’ve decided the moment has come to end this journey,” he said in a video clip of the star watching images of himself as a small boy wearing the Barcelona shirt, or chasing after autographs.

“There’s no other team after Barca,” he added.

“I’m going to become a super fan, I’ll be supporting the team and pass on my love for Barca to my son.”

“And sooner or later, I’ll be back,” he concluded.

Arriving at the Camp Nou aged 10 Pique left his home city for Manchester United’s academy in 2004, winning a first Champions League trophy under then manager Alex Ferguson in 2008.

He then returned to Catalonia, helping Barca to eight La Liga crowns, seven Copas del Rey and three Champions League titles in 2009, 2011 and 2015.

Pique takes his leave with Barca knocked out of the Champions League for the second season running.

A sporting icon in Spain he had celebrity status too as partner to Colombian singer Shakira.

They met during the filming of the video of Shakira’s 2010 World Cup anthem Waka Waka.

Shakira sang the official song before the 2010 World Cup closing ceremony in South Africa, with Pique’s Spain defeating the Netherlands 1-0 in the final at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium.

The couple, who announced their separation in June, have two children.

Pique has mixed playing with a burgeoning business career, founding the sports events company Kosmos which was behind the revamp of tennis’ Davis Cup.

Kosmos and Pique courted controversy at payment they received for helping arrange the Spanish Super Cup’s move to Saudi Arabia.

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BARCELONA: Robert Lewandowski scored two late goals to save Barcelona from elimination in the Champions League in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Inter Milan on Wednesday at Camp Nou.

The Polish forward dragged Xavi Hernandez’s side level at 2-2 in the 82nd minute and then again at 3-3 in stoppage time with a towering header, after Robin Gosens put the Italians ahead with one minute remaining.

Barcelona’s Champions League fate is no longer in their own hands though and they still face a second consecutive group stage elimination if Inter Milan win at home against eliminated Viktoria Plzen on October 26.

Being on the verge of another early knock-out is a bitter blow for the Catalans, who hoped a summer signing spree including Lewandowski from Bayern Munich could restore their position among Europe’s elite.

“They were our errors tonight, we had the game in our hands, we had it in Munich, we had it in Milan and we had it here today,” bemoaned Xavi.

“We’re depending on another team to go through. They are our mistakes, we have to improve them. That’s the reality. The (improvement) process is longer than we thought in Europe.

“There are other competitions, La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Super Copa. We have to insist, persist, believe.”

The hosts made the early running but Lautaro Martinez flashed a warning shot into the side-netting on the counter attack, with Inter sitting deep but ready to spring forward.

Lewandowski, in search of his first goal in three games, had a header cleared off the line and at the other end Edin Dzeko hit the crossbar.

Raphinha was frustrated after skewing a volley wide but his work-rate proved crucial when Barcelona broke the deadlock. The Brazilian winger chased a ball down in the corner and fed Sergi Roberto, who cut the ball across for Dembele to blast home from close range.

Inter stewed on the goal at half-time and quickly produced one of their own, netting in the 50th minute after Gerard Pique played Nicolo Barella onside and the Italian rifled home.

The Inter midfielder snuck behind Pique, who waved a cross past him, towards Ter Stegen, not reading Barella’s movement.

The defender, 35, was starting his first Champions League game of the season, with Barcelona paying the price for Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen’s injuries.

“They didn’t come out switched-on enough in the second half, that is a coaching error,” said Xavi.

“When you draw at home with these fans, with this atmosphere, it is my fault. I am angry. My feeling is that this competition has been, and is still being, cruel with us.”

It was another of the team’s veterans who gave the ball away for Inter’s second goal, with Sergio Busquets conceding possession with a stray pass. Hakan Calhanoglu found Martinez, and the Argentine striker left Eric Garcia for dead and slammed home via the post.

“We made errors that at this level, you cannot make,” admitted Garcia.

Eventually Lewandowski got his goal with a deflected strike at the second attempt after substitute Alejandro Balde found him in the area.

Gosens thought he had handed Inter qualification and eliminated Barca when he struck late on from Martinez’s cross, on yet another counter-attack, but Lewandowski had other ideas.

The striker’s towering header saved Barcelona from certain elimination, but their future in the competition still hangs by a fraying thread.

“I think that Barca are a very great team with a great coach. The problem is that Barca met an Inter in these games, an Inter at the right level, organised, determined,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi.

“In the second half we played well and we deserved to win the game. We created many chances, we hit the bar, there were some very big saves.”

There is little time for Barcelona to pick themselves up and dust themselves down. On Sunday, Real Madrid beckon at the Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga.

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BARCELONA: Robert Lewandowski netted the ball twice, scoring 11 goals in nine games, to put Barcelona on the top of the standings in LaLiga 2022-23.

After a Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich, Polish star and Memphis Depay relieved the Catalan giants as they beat ten-men Elche 3-0 on Saturday in a home game.

The early sent-off of Gonzala Verdu in the 14th minute when he attempted to haul down  Lewandowski put Elche at a disadvantage and opened the floodgates.

Lewandowski hit the opening goal from close range in the 34th minute after an impressive cross from Alejandro Balde, who then assisted Depay four minutes before halftime for the second.

Lewandowski had his second early in the second half to steer Barca into a dominant position in a one-sided game.

Valencia, on the other hand, crushed Celta Vigo 3-0 in a home game thanks to the strikes by Samu Castillejo, Marcos Andre and Andre Almeida.

Meanwhile, Athletic Club edged past Rayo Vallecano after a dominant first-half play and jump to the third on the table.

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CADIZ: Barcelona outclassed home team Cadiz 4-0 after a dominating second-half display to claim its fourth consecutive win and continued the unbeaten streak in the season. 

With the win, Xavi equals the record of 17 games unbeaten away from home set by Zinedine Zidane back in 2016.

Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, crushed Celta Vigo 4-1 in a home game of La Liga’s matchday 5 fixtures on Saturday – thanks to the goals by Angel Correa, Rodrigo De Paul, Yannick Carrasco and Unai Nunez.

Barcelona got off to a slow start in the first 45 minutes as they failed to score despite possessing the ball for most of the part.

Frenkie de Jong opened the scoring for Barca in the 55th minute before Lewandowski struck ten minutes later to double the lead. The game was stopped for 20 minutes due to a medical emergency in the stands.

After players moved out of the dressing rooms following the break, Barca upped the ante and dented the composure of the home side with Ansu Fati hitting the box in the 85th minute to make it 3-0.

Ousmane Dembele’s powerful strike in the extra time further strengthened Barca’s lead.

Earlier, Sevilla edged past Espanyol 3-2 as Erik Lamela’s late strike gave his team a thrilling win in an away fixture.

The action-filled tournament is being telecasted live on Pakistan’s first HD Sports channel – A Sports and is simultaneously streamed on the digital platform of ARY Digital Network – ARY ZAP in crystal clear HD quality.

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PARIS: Last season’s beaten finalists Liverpool got their Champions League campaign off to a disastrous start in a 4-1 defeat away to Napoli on Wednesday, while Robert Lewandowski hit a hat-trick in a big win for Barcelona.

Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich also got their campaigns underway with victories, but Rangers were crushed 4-0 by Ajax in the Netherlands on their return to the group phase of Europe’s elite club competition.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have won just two of their first six Premier League games this season and there was to be no improvement on their trip to Italy as Napoli raced into an early lead and never looked back.

Piotr Zielinski converted a fifth-minute penalty, and Victor Osimhen then had a second Napoli spot-kick saved by Alisson Becker.

Yet Napoli — who had defeated Liverpool in their own stadium in the group stage in 2018 and in 2019 — were 3-0 up at the break as Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s fine finish was followed by a tap-in from substitute Giovanni Simeone.

Liverpool fell further behind two minutes into the second half as Zielinski followed up to score after his initial effort was saved, but Luis Diaz did pull a goal back.

“We were miles too open. You can’t come to a place like this and not be compact. They were by miles the better team,” Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson told BT Sport.

“We have to wake up and quickly because we can’t perform like that.”

The six-time European Cup winners’ next Group A outing is at home to Ajax, who could have won by more than four at home to Rangers, last season’s Europa League finalists playing in the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2010.

Edson Alvarez headed Ajax in front before a Steven Berghuis shot deflected in and a superb individual strike from Mohammed Kudus made it 3-0 to Ajax by half-time.

Steven Bergwijn pounced on a poor backpass to seal the victory late on in Amsterdam, leaving Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst to give a bleak assessment of his side’s prospects.

“To compete in the Champions League you spend hundreds of millions, for us to compete it is too much to ask,” insisted the Dutchman.

Lewandowski became the first player to score a Champions League hat-trick for three different clubs as the ex-Borussia Dortmund and Bayern star marked his first appearance in the competition with Barcelona in style.

The Catalans crushed Czech champions Viktoria Plzen 5-1 in Group C, with Franck Kessie heading in the opener before Lewandowski made it 2-0.

Jan Sykora pulled one back only for Lewandowski to score again before half-time and then fire in his third goal midway through the second half.

The Pole now has 89 Champions League goals, three more than Karim Benzema, with only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi ahead of him.

Ferran Torres scored the fifth for Barca, whose next game will be away to Lewandowski’s old side Bayern.

The Germans claimed an impressive 2-0 win away to Inter Milan on Wednesday, with Leroy Sane rounding Andre Onana for the first-half opener and then forcing Danilo D’Ambrosio into a 66th-minute own goal

Antonio Conte’s Tottenham struggled to break down Marseille in north London until the French side had Chancel Mbemba sent off just after half-time.

Richarlison scored the opener in the 76th minute, heading in Ivan Perisic’s cross, and the Brazilian headed in again soon after to make it 2-0.

“I think we felt a bit of pressure in this competition, but at the end we have to be pleased,” Conte said of the victory.

Also in Group D, Sporting Lisbon scored three second-half goals to win 3-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt, with former Spurs youngster Marcus Edwards, Francisco Trincao and Nuno Santos all on target.

In Group B, Antoine Griezmann headed the winner in the 11th minute of injury time as Atletico Madrid beat Porto 2-1.

In an incredible finish, Porto had Mehdi Taremi sent off late on before Mario Hermoso put Atletico ahead with a deflected 92nd-minute strike.

Hermoso then conceded a penalty for handball, allowing Matheus Uribe to equalise in the 96th minute, only for Griezmann to have the last laugh.

The only other game in Champions League history to feature three goals scored in stoppage time was Porto’s meeting with Atletico in December last year.

In the same group Abakar Sylla’s header was spilled over the line by the goalkeeper to give Club Brugge a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen

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MADRID: Real Madrid edged past Real Betis 2-1 here on Saturday to keep their LaLiga winning streak intact meanwhile Barcelona crushed the home side Sevilla 3-0 after a dominant show to remain undefeated and secure the third consecutive victory of the season. 

Real continued to stay at top of the standings while Barcelona jumped to the second after the win on matchday four of La Liga 2022-23.

Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, finished in a 1-1 draw against the home team Real Sociedad.

Vinicius Junior put Real Madrid in lead in the ninth minute as he lobbed the ball over Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva’s head after he received a wonderful long pass from David Alaba.

Betis, however, responded eight minutes later as Sergio Canales popped up inside the box to score the equalizer.

Madrid unleashed a more vigorous attack to regain the lead but squandered multiple opportunities with Rodrygo finally breaking the deadlock in the 65th minute to steer his side 2-1 up in the game.

Meanwhile, Barcelona completely thrashed out Sevilla with goals from Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Eric Garcia.

Raphinha Dias scored the opening goal after a counter-attack and the defenders cleared the ball off the line in the 21st minute. He headed the ball into the open goal with a brilliant assist from Lewandowski to make it 1-0 for Barca.

Lewandowski doubled the lead in the 36th minute as he received a phenomenal cross from Jules Kounde on his chest and volleyed the ball into the nets.

Barca furthered the lead in the 50th minute when Eric Garcia pushed the ball after a brilliant header from Kounde.

Sevilla successfully thwarted a few other attempts by Barca to extend the lead before the full-time.

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MADRID: Dani Alves announced on Wednesday that he is leaving Barcelona for a second time after returning to the club last year.

The 39-year-old, who rejoined Barca last November on a short-term deal until the end of the season, confirmed he would not be extending his contract.

“I would like to thank all the staff for the opportunity they gave me to return to this club and to be able to wear that wonderful shirt again, you don’t know how happy I am,” the Brazilian international said in an Instagram post.

Alves made 408 appearances in total for Barcelona, with 391 of those coming in his first spell from 2008-2016.

During that initial stint, he won six La Liga titles, three Champions League crowns and four Copa del Rey trophies.

Alves is still in line to be named in Brazil’s squad for the Qatar World Cup later this year and started both of their friendly wins over Japan and South Korea earlier this month.

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BARCELONA: The home side Barcelona took a big step towards securing a place in next season’s Champions League as a 2-1 victory over Real Mallorca on Sunday saw them reclaim the second spot in La Liga from Sevilla.

Goals in either half from Memphis Depay and Sergio Busquets put Xavi Hernandez’s men in control and they took the three points despite Antonio Raillo’s effort for their relegation-threatened opponents at the Camp Nou.

The Catalan giants move two points ahead of Sevilla and nine clear of fifth-placed Real Betis, who have a game in hand, with four matches to play this season.

Barca took the lead in the 25th minute as Memphis Depay made a clever run to collect Jordi Alba’s pass before thumping a fine half-volley into the bottom corner.

The Dutchman has scored 11 league goals since joining Barcelona from Lyon last summer, despite having struggled for a regular starting spot since the arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Arsenal in January.

The hosts doubled their advantage nine minutes after the break as Sergio Busquets drove a low shot from the edge of the box into the net to score for the third time this season in all competitions, equalling his previous best goalscoring campaign.

Barca thought they had added a third in the 73rd minute, but Ferran Torres’ effort after a desperate goalmouth scramble was ruled out for an offside earlier in the move.

There was more to cheer for the home fans shortly afterwards as Ansu Fati came off the bench to make his first appearance after suffering a hamstring injury in January.

Mallorca ensured that their opponents would at least endure a nervy finale to the match, as Antonio Raillo pulled one back with 11 minutes remaining.

But Barcelona held on, leaving Mallorca only one point ahead of 18th-placed Granada, who drew 1-1 with Celta Vigo, in the fight to beat the drop.

Earlier, Real Sociedad suffered a blow in their bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League, as Radamel Falcao grabbed Rayo Vallecano a 1-1 draw.

La Real looked set to move within three points of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid with four matches remaining when Alexander Sorloth gave them a first-half lead.

But Colombian veteran Falcao came off the bench in the 77th minute and scored less than a minute later to leave Sociedad five points off the top-four pace.

It was Falcao’s sixth league goal of an injury-hit season as the 36-year-old made his first appearance for Rayo since February.

Visitors Sociedad remain in sixth place after a third straight game without a win.

Real Betis can cut the gap to Atletico down to a single point on Monday when they travel to Getafe.

Real Madrid wrapped up the title on Saturday, ahead of their Champions League semi-final second leg against Manchester City in midweek.

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