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Tag: Copa Del Rey

  • Lewandowski injury confirmed in blow to Barcelona quadruple bid

    Lewandowski injury confirmed in blow to Barcelona quadruple bid

    Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski was diagnosed with a hamstring injury on Sunday and is set to miss the Copa del Rey final and Champions League semi-final according to Spanish media reports.

    The 36-year-old Polish forward, Barcelona’s top goalscorer with 40 goals across all competitions, came off during his team’s 4-3 La Liga win over Celta Vigo on Saturday.

    “Tests carried out on Sunday have confirmed that first-team player Robert Lewandowski has a semitendinosus injury in his left thigh,” said Barcelona in a statement, without specifying how long he would be sidelined for.

    Spanish media reported Lewandowski could be out for three weeks, meaning he would not be available next Saturday as Barcelona face Real Madrid in the Copa final in Seville.

    The La Liga leaders also host Inter Milan on April 30 in the Champions League semi-final first leg, and visit the Italians on May 6.

    Lewandowski is set to miss league games against Mallorca on Tuesday and Valladolid on May 3, with a potential return against Real Madrid on May 11, a match which could decide the title race.

    Barcelona, who won the Spanish Super Cup in January, are chasing a potential quadruple and are in the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2019.

    Coach Hansi Flick has used Ferran Torres through the middle as a replacement for Lewandowski before, and has also experimented with Dani Olmo operating as a false nine.

  • Real Madrid great Marcelo announces retirement

    Real Madrid great Marcelo announces retirement

    Former Real Madrid left-back Marcelo Vieira announced his retirement from professional football on Thursday after a trophy-laden career.

    The 36-year-old spent 16 years at Spanish giants Madrid, winning six La Liga titles and five Champions League trophies.

    “At 18, Real Madrid came knocking on my door and I arrived here,” Marcelo said in a video posted on social media. “Now, I can proudly say that I am a true ‘Madrileno’.

    “What a journey. Real Madrid is a unique club.”

    He also won the Copa del Rey twice and the Club World Cup four times during his time with Los Blancos, for whom he made 546 appearances, scoring 38 goals.

    “One of the greatest left-backs in Real Madrid and world football history, and we had the privilege of watching him for a long time,” said Real Madrid president Florentino Perez in a statement.

    “He is one of our greatest legends and Real Madrid is and always will be his home.”

    Marcelo made 58 appearances for the Brazil national team, playing at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups and winning the 2013 Confederations Cup.

    He was part of the teams that won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics and bronze in Beijing in 2008.

    “Playing for my country since the youth categories has also been a great honour,” he added.

    “In my memory I will always cherish two Olympic medals and a Confederations Cup.”

    Marcelo started his career with Brazilian club Fluminense before leaving for Real.

    When he finally left the Santiago Bernabeu he joined Greek club Olympiakos but terminated his contract after just five months to rejoin Fluminense.

    Marcelo helped his home team win the Copa Libertadores for the first time with victory over Boca Juniors in the 2023 final.

    He left the club by mutual consent last November and has not played since.

  • Mbappe out for Real Madrid cup game as Ancelotti backs ref complaints

    Mbappe out for Real Madrid cup game as Ancelotti backs ref complaints

    Carlo Ancelotti said Kylian Mbappe would miss Real Madrid’s upcoming Copa del Rey quarter-final against Leganes with a bruised calf and backed his club’s complaints about Spanish refereeing on Tuesday.

    French striker Mbappe was hacked down by Espanyol’s Carlos Romero during their 1-0 La Liga defeat on Saturday with the defender avoiding a red card and going on to score the winning goal against the league leaders.

    On Monday Madrid sent a letter to the Spanish football federation blasting refereeing in Spain as “rigged” and “completely discredited”.

    “Mbappe started to train today, yesterday we gave him an extra day of recovery,” Ancelotti told reporters.

    “He has a bruised calf, he trained normally but tomorrow he will not be available for the game.”

    Ancelotti said the decision not to send off Romero was “inexplicable” after the game and reiterated his point ahead of the Leganes clash.

    “We’re talking about something that’s inexplicable, we’re talking above all about the welfare of the players, and what Madrid’s message asks for is an explanation, and that seems right to me,” said Ancelotti.

    “We want an explanation about what happened and why nothing was done to look after the welfare of the player.”

    Ancelotti also said Jude Bellingham was set to miss the Leganes game with a knock, along with David Alaba, who was ruled out with a thigh injury earlier Tuesday.

    The Austrian defender will miss between two and three weeks, according to Ancelotti.

    Alaba, only recently back from a year-long knee injury absence, will be unavailable for the derby clash in La Liga against Atletico Madrid on Saturday and is unlikely to feature in the Champions League play-off tie against Manchester City.

    Los Blancos travel to face the Premier League side in Manchester on February 11 and then host the second leg on February 19.

    Antonio Rudiger is a major doubt for the game with another thigh injury, leaving youngster Raul Asencio and midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni as Madrid’s likely centre-back pairing.

    Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal are long-term injury absentees for Madrid in defence.

    “Unfortunately in the last two days we’ve lost two important players, that’s something we did not contemplate… Alaba was ready to play tomorrow, as he had good feelings,” said Ancelotti.

    “It’s a moment of emergency which we have to bear out, because these are small problems, Alaba will be out for 15-20 days, Rudiger the same, so we have to deal with it with (the players) we have.”

  • Atletico beat Real Madrid 4-2 in Copa Del Rey

    Atletico beat Real Madrid 4-2 in Copa Del Rey

    Atletico Madrid secured passage to the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey as extra-time strikes from Antoinne Griezmann and Rodrigo Riquelme were enough to earn them a 4-2 over local rivals Real Madrid in Metropolitano Stadium, played on Thursday night.

    The Los Rojiblancos went ahead in the 39th minute as a cross from Rodrigo de Paul was headed by Rudiger onto the path of Samuel Lino who pounced from close range to score past the unfortunate Andriy Lunin.

    The Los Blancos would get on level terms six minutes later, as a free-kick from Luka Modric was diverted by Jan Oblak into his own net.

    The game would maintain the same intensity in the second half, as a howler from Real’s keeper; Andriy Lunin saw him parry the ball to an on- rushing Alvaro Morata who slotted into an empty net to give Atleti the lead.

    With nine minutes on the clock brilliant play from Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham saw the ball work its way to an unmarked Joselu, whose goal sent the game to extra time.

    Real Madrid would be the architect of their own downfall, as Vini lost control of a back-tracking ball, which fell kindly at the feet of French International Griezmann who ran and blasted a shot from a difficult angle to set the score at 3-2.

    Memphis Depay set-up academy player Rodrigo Riquelme who settled the tie in the 116th minute.