BEAT THE BAN! Barcelona scramble to sign Reus, Cuadrado

Barcelona are moving to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus and Fiorentina wing-back Juan Cuadrado.
Barca are scrambling after their transfer ban - to begin in January 16 - was upheld by FIFA upon appeal yesterday.
The Catalans intend to sign both Reus and Cuadrado in the coming days before loaning them immediately back to their respective clubs for the season.
They want both players tied up now, rather than risk losing them during the next two transfer windows.

Angel Di Maria is Real Madrid's 'best player', claims Diego Simeone (yes, even above Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale!)

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has raised eyebrows by claiming that Angel Di Maria is city rival Real's best player, above the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

Simeone watched from the sidelines as his Atletico side held their Madrid rivals to a 1-1 draw in the Spanish Super Cup first leg on Tuesday night.

Di Maria's late introduction from the bench changed the game, with the Argentina winger - a target for Manchester United - setting up an the opening goal for James Rodriguez. Atletico levelled the tie through Raul Garcia with just two minutes remaining.

 

Simeone hailed Di Maria's impact after the game and insisted it did not surprise him that his compatriot was so effective.

'The game changed with Di Maria,' Simeone said. 'It's logical - he's the best player they have.'

When pressed whether Di Maria deserved to be singled out above Real's so-called galacticos - Ronaldo, Bale and Rodriguez chief among them - Simeone insisted: 'He's the player most likely to create openings in the opposition half.'

It seems the Atletico manager has a point, as his fellow Argentine - while well behind Ronaldo and Bale in terms of goals scored - created the most last season, 22, compared with 11 made by the Portuguese and 16 by the Welshman.

Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti would seem to disagree with his Simeone, however, having started the game with Di Maria on the bench.

 

But Louis van Gaal is desperate to add Di Maria to his paper-thin squad at Old Trafford following United's opening-day Premier League defeat at home against Swansea.

United are prepared to commit as much as £100million to their pursuit of Di Maria. Van Gaal needs world-class additions and has told executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to do all he can to bring the 26-year-old winger to the club.

It is understood United have told Di Maria that, with performance-based incentives, they will pay him around £200,000 a week. Over a five-year deal that would take the club's investment to £100m when a transfer fee of around £50m is included. 

 

 

Marcos Rojo and Sergio Aguero fell out during the World Cup... and now they will face off in the Manchester derby

Manchester derbies may have an added degree of spice with Argentina World Cup team-mates Sergio Aguero and Marcos Rojo squaring up to each other on November 2.

Rojo sealed a £16million move to Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday and the two World Cup finalists were said to have exchanged angry words earlier in this summer’s tournament after Rojo invited a friend of his, Argentina pop star El Polaco, into the dressing room after one of their wins during the group stage.

Trouble is that El Polaco is the former partner of another Argentine pop star, Karina La Princesita, whom Aguero has been dating.

 

 

The two pop singers, who are big Cumbia stars, a popular Latin-music style, split acrimoniously last year but have a four-year-old daughter from their relationship.

According to Argentine paper La Gaceta, Aguero was unimpressed with Rojo inviting the singer into the team dressing room and had angry words with his team-mate.

Aguero himself was previously married to Giannina Maradona, the daughter of Diego, and they have a six-year-old son from their relationship.

Aguero and Rojo seemed to have managed their differences through the rest of the World Cup, with both appearing in the semi-final and final team together, once Aguero had recovered from injury. 

Nevertheless, there may well be a degree of extra interest in the handshake between the compatriots when the two Manchester teams meet at the Etihad Stadium.

 

 

 

Manchester United must sign more than just Marcos Rojo to bolster Louis van Gaal's squad... or Ed Woodward's job is on the line

Marcos Rojo is on his way to Manchester United, we are told. He needs to be. Not just for Louis van Gaal, as the deficiencies in his squad bite.

Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward must also start landing the big ones if he is to remain in his elevated role at Old Trafford. The buck won’t stop with the manager this time, if United fall short.

After Woodward’s dramatic intervention last season, United cannot continue sacking highly paid coaches to cure dysfunction. Sooner or later, they have to address a wider issue: the capability of the man charged with making the signings.

Woodward got away with it under David Moyes. He failed to deliver in his new role every bit as much as the manager, but had huge credit with the Glazers from his previous work at the club. It was easier to remove Moyes and keep the executive who had almost doubled United’s commercial revenue.

Van Gaal’s track record, however, makes him an unlikely fall guy. There was no prior evidence that Moyes was a title-winning manager, but that is not true of Van Gaal.

History suggests that given the tools, he succeeds. This time the blame rebounds on his floundering facilitator.

The Glazers will not wish to lose the services of the admired Woodward - but they may prefer him to return to his area of expertise. Last summer was a bust, the winter bought Juan Mata at vast expense and now United are running out of time again as the window closes.

There has been no transfer activity since June and, even allowing for injuries, United’s weakened state is troubling. It was never going to be easy to replace Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, but at least the club had lead time. It has been known for eight months that Vidic was leaving and Ferdinand’s performances increasingly represented the end of an era.

There should have been planning. Rojo and Daley Blind of Ajax, should have already been in the team come Saturday’s match with Swansea City.

The pursuit of Angel di Maria would appear to be a recent, opportunistic request by Van Gaal. After an outstanding season with Real Madrid, few would have thought he would be available this summer. It makes sense to take advantage of Madrid’s overcrowded roster.

Yet replacing Vidic and Ferdinand? That should have been done long ago. Shorn of European competition this season, Manchester United have been reduced to paying outlandish sums and can ill-afford another season out of the Champions League.

Yet they are already playing catch-up on their rivals.

The worry, if the defence cannot be overhauled successfully at this late stage, is that they end up with what is available, rather than what they need. Woodward has to get his business done, and quickly.

If not, the consequences for the club, and their executive vice-chairman, are potentially status-changing

TITANIC TUSSLE

The Blues are set to face loan star Thibaut Courtois and summer transfer target Diego Costa, while Pep Guardiola's holders will take on Cristiano Ronaldo and Co.

Chelsea face Atletico Madrid, while Real Madrid will meet Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-finals.

Jose Mourinho's men have been drawn against Diego Simeone's surprise packages, who boast Blues loanee Thibaut Courtois and summer transfer target Diego Costa.

Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, will resume hostilities with the club he battled against for four seasons as Barcelona manager when his Bayern Munich side take on Real Madrid.

Bayern are hoping to become the first club to retain the Champions League in the tournament's modern format, but will face a tough examination from a team boasting Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

Chelsea, meanwhile, are looking to regain the trophy they won in miraculous circumstances against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in May 2012.

Both semi-final first legs will take place in the Spanish capital on April 22 and April 23, with the return matches to take place a week later.

Courtois cleared to play against Chelsea as UEFA warn Blues £5m Atletico demand would violate rules

Thibaut Courtois has been given the green light to face Chelsea after UEFA warned the Blues their demand of £5million from Atletico Madrid to play the on-loan goalkeeper was against the rules.
UEFA have acted quickly to block off the Stamford Bridge club's move, which could have seen the Spanish club's star keeper ruled out of the match if they were drawn against each other in the Champions League semi-finals. 
Cash-strapped Atletico would have struggled to find the money for the fee, but this has now been ruled out by the governing body.

A statement from UEFA said: 'The integrity of sporting competition is a fundamental principle for UEFA. Both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations contain clear provisions which strictly forbid any club to exert, or attempt to exert, any influence whatsoever over the players that another club may (or may not) field in a match.
'It follows that any provision in a private contract between clubs which might function in such a way as to influence who a club fields in a match is null, void and unenforceable so far as UEFA is concerned.
'Furthermore, any attempt to enforce such a provision would be a clear violation of both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations and would therefore be sanctioned accordingly.

The Chelsea keeper has been on loan at Atletico for three seasons but the Madrid club’s president, Enrique Cerezo, told Spanish radio after the quarter-final triumph over Barcelona they would be 'unable to pay' the added fees which were part of the loan agreement.

Courtois, 21, who will represent Belgium at the summer World Cup, has yet to play for Chelsea, although he has been earmarked as Petr Cech’s successor. 

He has impressed in Atletico’s bid for a  Champions League and La Liga double after joining Chelsea from Belgian club Genk in 2011 when just 18.

The other two teams in Friday’s Champions League semi-final draw are Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. 

Jose Mourinho will wait for the FA’s written reasons before deciding whether or not to appeal against an £8,000 fine imposed yesterday for improper conduct.

The Chelsea manager was sent off by referee Chris Foy after encroaching on to the field of play during his side’s 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa last month.
Mourinho demanded to speak with Foy during the chaotic scenes after Ramires was sent off late in the game.
A group of Chelsea fans said there would be a bucket collection before Sunday afternoon’s clash at Swansea to help Mourinho pay for the ‘injustice’

Atletico Madrid 1-0 Barcelona (agg: 2-1): Messi and Neymar fail to fire as Barca stunned by Koke strike

Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of Atletico Madrid, who reached the semi-finals for the first time in 40 years.
It was the first time in seven years that Barça had not reached the last four of the Champions League.
The Spanish giants had complained 24 hours before kick-off at the length of the grass on the pitch but on the night they could have no complaints.
Atletico are set to leave their famous Vicente Calderon stadium at the end of next season but even supporters who remember their league and cup double in which coach Diego Simeone played and the 1974 side that reached the European Cup final, will struggle to remember a more incredible night.









For Barca the league is now the focus; that and wondering how they will shore up their shaky defence without the use of the next two transfer windows. 
'The story is not over yet,' said coach Diego Simeone. 'There was a lot of happiness in the dressing room after the game but it doesn’t finish here.'
He was also bullish when asked about the ability to keep players such as Diego Costa at the end of the season.
'We can’t compete financially with many of the other teams but from a competitive point of view we are a match for anyone.'
Tata Martino looked like a beaten man as he fielded questions about Messi’s no show.
'The team is very down right now but we have to pick ourselves because we have a league to win,' said Barcelona coach.
His side play Atletico Madrid for a sixth time, on the last day of the season. In the five games played so far they are yet to win and it never looked like doing so on Wednesday night.

Diego Simeone’s side were dealt a blow before kick-off with Chelsea target Diego Costa failing a late fitness test. That meant Adrian started in his place. He had scored only two goals all season but coach Simeone promised he would let no-one down.
True to his manager’s word Adrian hit the post in the fifth minute and then, from the rebound, crossed for Koke to score. It was no more than Atletico deserved.
Lionel Messi had the first shot of the game but it was the last anyone saw of Barcleona’s attack for the next ten minutes as the home side laid siege.
All fears that they would be toothless with the injured Costa proved to be unfounded.
Led by David Villa, who played with all this World Cup pedigree and the legs of a man five years younger, they carried the game to Barcelona whose goalkeeper Juan Pinto watched two Villa shots crash off his woodwork and fumbled an unwanted backpass as Barca struggled to stay in the game in the first half. 

 
The Vicente Calderon had been going up through the decibels long before kick-off and with Barcelona rattled, midfielder Sergi Busquets was booked just before half-time as the noise seemed to get ever louder.
This was Barcelona gunning for a seventh consecutive semi-final place against an Atletico Madrid side who had not made it to the last four for 40 years but it was the home side who looked to have the recent Champions League pedigree.
Their pre-match mosaic had spelled out ‘win, win, and win again’. It was one of former Atletico Madrid and Spain coach Luis Aragones’ favourite phrases. The last time they were in a European Cup semi-final he was in the team.

A shell-shocked Barca finally came into the match with Messi heading wide and then shooting even wider from a Neymar pass.
Iniesta got his first shot on target but Courtois saved comfortably. Referee Howard Webb then waved away penalty appeals at both ends with Adrian and Fabregas going down in respective areas.
The second half began with Courtois diving brilliantly at the feet of Neymar to take the ball off the Brazilian’s toe. The ball ran to Xavi but he couldn’t finish.
The fear for Atletico was that Pedro and Alexis would inject late pace and do for their tired legs but Alexis’ introduction did nothing to change the game and it was Villa’s legs that seemed fresher than anyone’s.

Villa had given young central defender Marc Bartra a torrid time throughout and when he sent Gabi down the left the midfielder should have given him the ball back to him to finish but instead he shot straight at Pinto.
Villa then went down in the box and had his appeals for a penalty were turned down but despite decisions going against them and posts denying them there was no way they were not going through.
The stadium was still full ten minutes after Webb had blown his final whistle.
Atletico Madrid’s players came back out on to the pitch to soak up an atmosphere that showed no signs of subsiding and Barcelona’s 2,000 travelling support got to its feet as one to salute the team that had taken their team’s place at the top table of European football.