Neymar has signed a new five-year deal with Barcelona that will make him the second-highest-paid player on the team behind Lionel Messi, ESPN Brasil has reported. According to the outlet, the new contract was signed in December when Barcelona were in Japan for the Club World Cup, but any announcement was held up because of issues surrounding the Brazilian’s recent tax cases with Spanish and Brazilian authorities. Neymar’s new accord with the Catalan club, which will begin this summer, will last until June 2021, according to the report. His previous deal was set to expire in 2018. The player’s father,…
Author: David F.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique was impressed with the way his team performed in their Champions League win at Arsenal on Tuesday, which extended their club record unbeaten run to 33 games. The holders won the last 16 first leg tie 2-0 with second-half goals from Lionel Messi, including a penalty, as they moved closer to becoming the first team to lift the European Cup in successive seasons since AC Milan in 1989 and 1990. “I liked everything from the very beginning,” Luis Enrique told reporters. “We had plenty of possession, we defended very well and we managed Arsenal’s transitions (counter-attacks)…
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech said Wednesday his team still had a chance to reach the Champions League quarterfinals despite a 2-0 loss to reigning titleholders Barcelona. “We are still alive,” the 33-year-old Czech Republic keeper said on his website following Tuesday’s loss at the Emirates. “It’s not as if we conceded five goals,” he added. Cech, who joined Arsenal from Chelsea before this season, offered a few good saves on Tuesday but failed to stop Lionel Messi who scored 71 minutes into the game before adding a second from the penalty spot on 83 minutes. “The second goal trimmed our…
European champions Barcelona renewed a collaboration agreement with children’s charity Unicef on Thursday till 2020, which will see the Catalan giants donate two million euros a year to promote child education. “Until now Barcelona donated €1.5 million a year in their collaboration with Unicef. This increase of half a million euros reinforces Barca’s commitment with children,” the club said in a statement. The agreement between the club and Unicef began in 2006 when Barca broke with their tradition of not wearing a logo on their shirt to display Unicef’s logo and name. Since then the Unicef name has been shifted…
Cristiano Ronaldo insists Real Madrid can still catch La Liga leaders Barcelona if they can overcome their hoodoo against local rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday. Real trail Atletico by a point and are nine adrift of Barca with just 13 games remaining, but can move up to second place should they beat Diego Simeone’s men for the first time in six league games. “It is a game we need to win,” Ronaldo told Madrid’s website. “It is an important game at home, in front of our fans and against a very strong team that defends well. “We know that (winning)…
Guus Hiddink will attempt to maintain Chelsea’s improved form at Southampton on Saturday after a week in which Antonio Conte appeared to move close to becoming the Dutchman’s successor at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea remain unbeaten in domestic competition since Hiddink was installed as interim manager in December, a 12-game run that has taken the Blues into the FA Cup quarterfinals and helped the club move closer to mid-table in the Premier League. Hiddink has brought much needed stability, with the only blemish on his record the last 16 first leg Champions League defeat at Paris Saint Germain which he hopes…
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri wants an “angry” response from his players against Norwich City at the weekend after the leaders lost to Arsenal following a last-gasp goal in their previous Premier League outing. City were beaten 2-1 by title rivals Arsenal at The Emirates on February 14, thanks to a stoppage-time effort from England striker Danny Welbeck, and Ranieri is demanding more focus from his team when they host fourth from bottom Norwich. “I told my players it will be a big battle on Saturday. It will be harder than against Arsenal,” the Italian told a news conference on…
Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin is expecting an underperforming Manchester United to rise to the occasion when the sides meet at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday. United, 20-times English champions, are fifth in the league, 12 points back of leaders Leicester City and have been booed by their own fans this season after some indifferent displays. “I think it’s been a difficult (season) for Man United but in big games like this, we know that they’re going to turn up, because everyone loves these kind of matches,” Coquelin told the club’s website (www.arsenal.com). “It would be a massive…
Arsenal will look to put their Champions League woes to one side when they continue their quest for a first Premier League title in more than a decade away to a revived Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday. The Gunners’ 2-0 last-16 first-leg defeat by reigning champions Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday all but ended their dreams of winning a maiden Champions League title for yet another season. But Arsene Wenger’s men, currently two points behind shock leaders Leicester and level with north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, could yet end the week at the summit of English…
Senator Shehu Sani has said that the missing Chibok girls are alive and can be rescued. Sani, who represents the Kaduna Central Senatorial District, made the comment on Wednesday, February 24, 2016, while speaking at a symposium in Akure, Ondo State, Premium Times reports. “Something that has bothered some of us here in line with the insurgency is, when will the Chibok girls be freed?” he asked. “Someone said the Chibok girls will never be free, but I can tell you that they will be free and they are alive. “There are two ways to get them: the first is…