World Soccer - UK (2021-03)

“The members know very well who Laporta is and how he

managed Barca: he left a club with a debt of €450m...

if he is elected, the club will be in real danger”

Toni Freixa takes a swipe at rival presidential candidateJoan Laporta

current group stage with a format in which
the 32 clubs would play ten opponents
and qualification would be decided in
one league table.

Barcelona in crisis

The scale of Barcelona’s crisis was thrown
into fresh light by the revelation inMarca
that the club’s debts totalled over€1 billion
with significant transfer fees still owed for
several players, including Philippe Coutinho
(€40m), Frenkie deJong (€48m), and
Miralem Pjanic (€52m).
The club’s perilous finances are likely to be
the top priority for the club’s next president,
with the postponed election due to take
place on March 7.World Soccerwill feature
coverage of the results in a future issue.

SPAIN

UEFA...protecting the

Champions League

GLOBAL FOOTBALL INTELLIGENCE

HEROES VILLAINS

Match-winner...Breno Lopes

Troubled times... Banned...Andre Onana

Barcelona coach

Ronald Koeman

BRENO LOPES

In November he was still playing for Brazil’s

Serie B clubJuventude, and as recently as 2019

he was in the third tier. He hardly pulled up any

trees there either, with four goals in17 matches,

yet fast forward toJanuary 2021 – via loan

spells at Figueirense and Athletico Paranaense

• and the 25-year-old is at the pinnacle of
  South American club football, coming off the
  bench to score Palmeiras’ stoppage-time
  winner in the Copa Libertadores final.

ASIER VILLALIBRE

The Athletic Bilbao striker came to his side’s

rescue in the 90th minute of their Spanish

Super Cup final against Barcelona, but that’s

only half the reason he’s a hero. After Inaki

Williams had given the Basques the trophy

with a goal in extra-time, Villalibre lead

the celebrations by playing his trumpet.

NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO

The Wolverhampton Wanderers manager

donated £250,000 to the Wolves Foundation

project, Feed Our Pack, which aims to reduce

the effects of food poverty and support local

people affected by the pandemic. “Wolves fans

and the people of Wolverhampton have been

fantastic to me since I arrived here almost four

years ago, and I wanted to give something back

and help the people who are struggling during

the pandemic,” the Portuguese coach said.

JACK GREALISH

And Nuno was not the only person to give

back to his community in the West Midlands

recently. Aston Villa skipper Grealish donated

£2,000 towards the funeral costs of an

18-year-old fan of the club, who was recently

killed in a car accident. “R.I.P. Mia. Sending

my deepest condolences to your family

and friends,” he said in an Instagram post.

RACIST FANS

Police made an arrest after racist abuse was

sent to West Brom’s Romaine Sawyers, while

Chelsea and Manchester United have spoken

out against abuse of their players. Meanwhile,

an Irish teenager avoided a criminal conviction

for racially abusing Ian Wright. “My forgiveness

of this young man was for my own need...I wasn’t

expecting my forgiveness to be an invitation to

lighten a sentence,” the Arsenal legend said

on Instagram. “I am disappointed. I’m tired.”

STUART BAXTER

The well-travelled coach was sacked by Indian

Super League side Odisha for comments after

a defeat toJamshedpur. “I don’t know when

we’re going to get a penalty. I think one of my

players would have to rape someone or get

raped himself if he was going to get a penalty,”

he said on TV. “Odisha FC has decided to

terminate head coach Stuart Baxter’s contract

with immediate effect,” the club tweeted.

BREEL EMBOLO

The Switzerland and Monchengladbach forward

was allegedly at an illegal lockdown party after

his side’s 2-2 Bundesliga draw with Stuttgart.

German police allege that Embolo fled across

a rooftop, but he claims that he simply went to

visit a friend at a neighbouring flat: “It is false

information. The apartment I was in was near

the room where this party took place,” he said.

ANDRE ONANA

The Ajax goalkeeper’s widely expected

transfer to one of Europe’s giants has been

put on hold after he was handed a12-month

suspension for failing a doping test in October.

The Amsterdam club claim it was accidental:

“Onana was feeling unwell and wanted to take

a pill to ease the discomfort. Unknowingly,

however, he took Lasimac, a drug that his

wife had previously been prescribed.”