Barça News
Quique Setién speaks ahead of Villarreal clash
After dropping points for the second game in a row, it is looking very likely that Barcelona are out of the race for the league title. Barça coach Quique Setién spoke to the press ahead of tomorrow’s away game against Villarreal. Here is what he had to say:
“Tomorrow we play against one of the best teams since the return of La Liga. It is true that in terms of results, we have dropped points. If there was a time machine, I would use it to change some of the decisions I made. But La Liga isn’t over yet. We are in a tight spot, but we will fight till the end.”
On Messi’s future
“I haven’t heard Messi talk about this. He hasn’t told me anything about it and I have nothing to say, it’s not my task.”
On Griezmann
“I have spoken to Griezmann. He’s a professional player and he understands the situation. He will return to the pitch normally. We can count on him 100%.”
On his future at Barça
“I’m not spending a second to think about my future. All I’m thinking about is tomorrow’s game.
On Suárez
“It’s better if he is on the pitch because he is a player who can score many goals. We could give him some rest, but it depends on the game.”
“My dear reporters, remember that there are only 11 players on the pitch. If I start Fati, you say: ‘why didn’t you play Antoine’. If I start Antoine, you say: ‘why didn’t you start Fati’. I try my best to be fair among the players while taking everyone into consideration.”
On his meeting with Bartomeu
“I can’t say what happened between me and the president, but I feel that he wants me to continue next season.”
On Riqui Puig
“He has put on amazing performances and we are all proud of him. He deserves to play. He has to improve on some things, but he has a great future ahead of him.”
On the referees
“Now that I’m at Barcelona, there are some things that catch my attention. I will keep my opinion to myself because I might look at it from a less objective perspective.”
“Aspas’s freekick goal could’ve cost us the league. These small details can change everything.”
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Barça News
Barcelona presidential candidate takes a jab at Madrid president, calls him VARentino Perez
The presidential elections are edging ever closer and the people are already picking their favourites. However, this battle has very much become a two-horse race and even calling it that is putting it quite mildly as well. Joan Laporta is, to many, the frontrunner for the position while Victor Font and Antoni Freixa are lagging far behind.
This is especially true for the latter who seems to stand no chance against two big names in the business. But Freixa is still trying and campaigning as well. One of his latest moves was actually taking a dig at both Real Madrid and his direct rivals.
Following in Laporta’s footsteps of mocking the Madridistas, according to AS‘ report, Freixa addressed Florentino Perez, Real’s president, as ‘VARentino’ in one of his slogans.
‘I will not allow VARentino to control LaLiga,’, read the slogan to be more precise. Of course, some socis will undoubtedly find this funny and appealing. After all, Laporta’s dig was well received in the community because Barcelona fans, and any other fans for that matter, like jabs like these that are aimed at their arch-rivals.
However, Freixa also took a dig at Laporta as well, calling him out for not attending the debate with himself and Font. Either way, we can safely say the tension is slowly but surely on the rise.
March is also rapidly approaching and the candidates are using all the aces they have up their sleeves. We still don’t know who will have the final say but at the same time, there are some indications suggesting there is a clear favourite after all.
We’ll just have to wait and see.