TRANSFER NEWS: LUCAS HERNANDEZ THE LATEST ATLETICO MADRID PLAYER ON BARCELONA RADAR

Barcelona are reportedly interested in signing Atletico Madrid centre-back Lucas Hernandez in the summer transfer window.

According to a report by Spanish publication Don Balon, Antoine Griezmann isn’t the only Atletico Madrid superstar that Barcelona are after. The Blaugrana have also set their sights on Lucas Hernandez, and are plotting a summer move for the versatile defender.

Lucas Hernandez progressed through the ranks at Atletico Madrid before breaking into the first-team setup in 2014. But, he enjoyed his true breakthrough in the 2015-16 season, and has since consistently grown in stature at the club.

This season, Lucas Hernandez has made 30 appearances across all competitions till date, and has contributed to his team’s cause with three goals as well. It has been his versatility that has truly been an asset for Atletico Madrid, and the player has now caught the attention of Los Rojiblancos’ rivals Barcelona.

Barcelona did bolster their defence in January by signing Yerry Mina from Palmeiras. But, the Colombian was a direct replacement for Javier Mascherano, who moved to Hebei China Fortune in the winter.

But, the fact that Gerard Pique and Thomas Vermaelen are on the wrong side of 30 is not lost on Ernesto Valverde. With Samuel Umtiti the only other centre-back at the disposal of the Barcelona manager, Lucas Hernandez is a viable target for Barcelona to pursue.

What further makes the Atletico Madrid defender an attractive prospect for Barcelona is that he can be a cover on the left side of defence as well. With Lucas Digne being linked with a move away from Camp Nou, Lucas Hernandez could also be a backup for Jordi Alba, if he joins the Catalan club.

The bone of contention for the player though, will be that he will have to bide his time for a while like Yerry Mina, with Pique and Umtiti likely to be the first-choice central defensive partnership next season as well.

Barcelona though, will look to use Antoine Griezmann, who they believe is set to move to Camp Nou in the summer, to turn Lucas’ head. It now remains to be seen if they can indeed make a double raid on Atletico Madrid in the summer transfer window, or if Lucas Hernandez ends up staying at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Read more: http://www.thehardtackle.com/news/2018/03/13/transfer-news-lucas-hernandez-the-latest-atletico-madrid-player-on-barcelona-radar/

Fabregas: Playing Barca motivates me!

Former Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas has described facing his old club as an ‘extra motivation’ for him in the Champions League.

The Spanish international joined Chelsea from the Blaugrana in the summer of 2014 and has won two league titles in England, and visits the Camp Nou on Wednesday with the English champions.

“It will be good for me to play against friends as it is an extra motivation for winning,” Fabregas told an interview with Marca.

“It is not the first time I have done this as I played against Barca with Arsenal and also against Arsenal with Chelsea, so I know the feeling.

“It’s always good to go up against your old club because it just motivates you more to show the level you are now at and what you are capable of.

“This will be a complicated match for us for sure, to go 90 minutes in the Camp Nou is a massive ask for any away team, but we are prepared and looking forward to the challenge.

“We must work together and take advantage of our opportunities, to play our game – I’ve trained tactically more at Chelsea more than anywhere else and you can see that on the pitch.

“We must start the match with a positive outlook because if we do not, then we will struggle.”

Read more: https://www.football-espana.net/70421/fabregas-playing-barca-motivates-me

Manchester City: Dominance and possession mean nothing without winning

Pep Guardiola teams dominate opponents on the pitch. Starving the opponent is a cardinal rule in Pep's tiki-taka bible. From Barcelona to Bayern Munich and now Manchester City, it’s a well-established pattern.

Fortunately for the Catalan, his City side has been scoring goals aplenty. But the team has also suffered dire consequences when failing to score in matches. Even when dominating the opponent. Case in point, the painful defeat to Wigan that crashed the Sky Blues out of the FA Cup. 

Just as when they win, City has bossed possession in every defeat. From the surprise Champions League loss to Shakhtar Donetsk and the 2-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium to Basel, it’s been that way. Heavy on the ball, dictate the match, but light on the goals. City did score three against Liverpool. That match was the exception, where they simply didn't keep the ball out of their own net.

After the match against Basel, a headline in The Sun read:

Manchester City shatter the Champions League passing record… Pep Guardiola’s men attempted an outrageous 1,058 passes in the 2-1 loss at home to Basel, completing 978.

Why is this celebrated? A child's guinea pig can rotate the wheel in its cage 978 times and still go nowhere. Personally, I’ll take a 2-1 win over a passing record all day long. So would Jose Mourinho.

The most important statistic at the end of the day remains the scoreline. Maybe that is the last part of their game City must improve. Ball possession helps but it does not decide games. Only goals do.

The Citizens can learn a thing or two from post-Pep Barcelona. No side in world football dominates games more than the Catalans. It was said Guardiola's Barcelona would pass a team to sleep on the pitch. That hasn't changed. It’s in the club's DNA to boss the ball.

Barca does not stop there, however. It delivers the killer blow. That is what made the Messi, Suarez, and Neymar partnership world famous. MSN was known for their goals. The trio scored 180 goals in a single calendar year. That killer instinct delivered five trophies. City has already let a trophy slip out of its reach by failing to score a single goal against Wigan. It’s not the Barcelona way. For the Blaugrana, scoring is very much a part of the game; winning, the reason for it.

Pep Guardiola in his usual manner has tried to talk down his team by claiming that Man City is not yet at the level of Barcelona and Real Madrid. This may just be a ploy to deflect attention and pressure away from his side. But the fact remains that the City hierarchy is not paying money for top-class talent only to play second fiddle to European rivals. The club wants to compete with the best on an equal basis.

That’s not to say the club has the same experience Barca and Real have. Don't be silly. But that’s the reason Guardiola was recruited. He’s been there and done it; has the t-shirt.

Manchester City did not sack Robert Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini for failing to win trophies. Each of them won the Premier League title and other domestic trophies in their time. But the Champions League eluded them. That’s Guardiola’s biggest task in Manchester, arguably his only one. A failure to win the Champions League will mean City has made little progress since sacking Pellegrini. 

Jose Mourinho may not play the most beautiful football but he trumps Guardiola on trophies won. He did it last season, winning three while his nemesis went empty-handed. Pep has pegged one back this season, but just as with Mancini and Pellegrini, the League Cup falls into the 'other trophies' category. He must pip Mourinho to another Champions League title.

The Basel loss should be lesson enough for Guardiola and City as a club. If it isn't, City will fall short of winning the Champions League again. All the possession in the world won't matter then.

Read more: http://www.itsroundanditswhite.co.uk/articles/manchester-city-dominance-possession-mean-nothing-without-winning

MANCHESTER UNITED V SEVILLA | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREVIEW

In one of the final games of the round of 16 in this year’s Champions League – Manchester United will lock horns with Sevilla for a place in the Quarter-finals.

For Mourinho, this could be the biggest game of his time at United since the Europa League final in May 2017. Champions League progression has been one of the priorities for the Portuguese and Manchester United – as the club are looking to make it to the last eight of the competition only for the second time since 2014.

The Red Devils will go into this game with confidence sky-high after 3 significant results in the Premier League – first an impressive second-half display against Chelsea, followed by a fightback against Palace from 2 goals down to win it in the final minute. But in a week that culminated in the visit of arch-rivals, it was the Portuguese again who came out on top as United overcame the Reds to open up a five-point gap at the top end of the table.

Without an away goal advantage, Manchester United have to outscore the Spanish side in order to seal progression and their recent form puts them as firm favourites in what is expected to be a close contest, in any case.

Montella’s Sevilla would be kicking themselves for not capitalising on their chances in the home leg with David De Gea once again the saviour for the English giants – but they will fancy themselves against a Manchester United side who have been making errors at the back lately.

The visitors will go into this game with two defeats in the last four – including a 5-2 loss at the hands of Atletico Madrid. An early goal could be very crucial for Montella’s side and should be looking to approach this game with maximum aggression in a bid to press their case for Champions League progression on Tuesday night.

TEAM NEWS 

Mourinho will be without injured trio Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Daley Blind and Phil Jones, whilst Marcos Rojo, Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial are all doubts.

The big news from Sevilla on the injury front is the absence of club legend and former Man City star Jesus Navas after the winger suffered an injury against Atletico Madrid.

INTERESTING NUMBERS 

1. United have won 11 of the 15 UEFA competition ties in which they recorded a first-leg away draw, including the last two, most recently against RSC Anderlecht in last season’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final (1-1 away, 2-1 home AET).
2. Sevilla have never won in six trips to England (D3 L3), although on their most recent visit they emerged with a 2-2 draw from their trip to Liverpool FC on Matchday one this season.

KEY MEN 

NEMANJA MATIC – MANCHESTER UNITED 

This is the game where Mourinho typically places more emphasis to dominate the opposition in the middle of the park to gain enough control and see the tie through. The Serb has been exceptional in the last few weeks, playing a central role to United’s positive results.

Having scored the injury-time winner against Palace, Matic produced an even better performance in the two victories against top six sides, Chelsea and Liverpool, as United consolidated their position in second place. He knows the importance of this game, however, as United have a genuine opportunity in front of them to go further in the competition. He said,

“Very important for our confidence to win this sort of game. We won against Chelsea and of course (on Saturday), so confidence will be on a high level, for sure.

We have to see what we did well to continue like this. We have to know where we made mistakes to improve. The next game is very important for us, maybe the most important game of the season. We have to beat Sevilla to go through, so we give our best.”

LUIS MURIEL – SEVILLA 

With 6 goals and an assist to his name, Muriel is the top scorer at Sevilla. Having been denied multiple times at home, Muriel should be focused to beat arguably the best goalkeeper in the world right now in David De Gea to give his side a fighter’s chance in this tie.

The 26-year old forward has averaged a goal in every 2 shots so far this season but it will be interesting to see if the Colombian can bring that kind of accuracy in the grandest of stages.

PREDICTION 

Momentum lies with Manchester United at the moment. It is hard to see them not going through.

Read more: http://eplindex.com/82005/uefa-champions-league-round-16-preview-manchester-united-v-sevilla.html

Cristiano Ronaldo invented a whole new way of beating a defender v Eibar

Remember when everybody thought Cristiano Ronaldo was having a poor season?

Well, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner has lifted two fingers to the doubters with his performances in recent weeks and his rotten opening months of the campaign now seem a distant memory. With 17 goals in his last 10 appearances, it would be fair to say he's performing well at the moment.

Consequently, Eibar couldn't have welcomed Real Madrid to the Ipurua Municipal Stadium at a more unfortunate spell of the season - and Ronaldo didn't take his foot off the gas in the Basque Country.

In fact, it was one of his most imperious showings in La Liga in 2017-18 with the Portuguese scoring both of Los Blancos' goals in an economical 2-1 win.

Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with a ruthless one-on-one finish past Marko Dmitrović, before Ivan Ramis equalised for the home side just after half-time.

Read more: http://www.givemesport.com/1272873-cristiano-ronaldo-invented-a-whole-new-way-of-beating-a-defender-v-eibar?autoplay=on

Jose Mourinho has been ‘regularly calling’ £53.3m Barcelona star with a £154,000-a-week offer

It looks like Jose Mourinho is desperately trying to convince Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti to join our club in the summer.

According to Sport, Mourinho is calling Umtiti on a regular basis to persuade him to snub Barcelona’s contract extension offer and instead move to Old Trafford.

The Frenchman is already in negotiations with the La Liga giants to commit his long-term future to the club by putting pen to paper on a new bumper deal. But the reportadds that his brother and agent Yannick Umtiti is in regular touch with the United officials to seal a potential move to Old Trafford in the summer.

Umtiti has developed into one of the best defenders across Europe and is the leader of Barcelona’s defence. Since leaving Lyon for the Catalan giants, the Frenchman has grown tremendously and continues to impress for the La Liga giants this season with his rock-solid defending and leadership abilities.

The Spanish publication claim that the Red Devils are ready to meet Umtiti’s €60m release clause and will offer him a staggering deal worth €9m-a-year.

Mourinho remains keen to shore up his defence in the summer transfer window and has identified the Barcelona centre-back as his top target.

Despite signing the likes of Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly, the United manager wants to add another defender to his ranks.

Umtiti fits the bill perfectly to play at United as the French international is strong, powerful and an intimidating figure, tailor-made to play in the Premier League. He can cope well with the demands of English football due to his sheer strength and physicality.

It is believed that Mourinho tried signing Umtiti in the winter transfer window. But after having failed to do so, the United manager is expected to double his efforts using the presence of his international teammates Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial to convince the defender to join our club.

On the other hand, Barcelona are confident that the 24-year-old will sign a contract extension with them and will snub United in the summer, just like he did in January.

It remains to be seen what happens once the summer transfer window opens but I find it highly unlikely that Umtiti would leave Barcelona for United.

Read more: http://weallfollowunited.com/2018/03/11/jose-mourinho-has-been-regularly-calling-53-3m-barcelona-star-with-a-154000-a-week-offer/

Man Utd news: Real Madrid star Ronaldo FUMES at Pogba transfer rumours - Spanish claims

CRISTIANO RONALDO is apparently furious that Real Madrid have been linked with a move for Paul Pogba.

The Manchester United midfielder has had a hard time since moving from Juventus as he has failed to hit his top form.

Pogba has often come under criticism for under-performing as United fail to keep tabs on Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Reports circulated last week that Jose Mourinho could cash in on his £89million star in the summer with Real Madrid rumoured to be interested.

But when Ronaldo heard the news he has demanded that the transfer does not happen, according to Spanish outlet Don Balon.

Read more: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/930050/Man-Utd-news-Real-Madrid-Cristiano-Ronaldo-FUMES-Paul-Pogba-transfer-rumours-gossip-De-Gea