Pep: not Chelsea, but Bayern Munich
MUNICH, Germany ● German giants Bayern Munich won the battle to secure the most sought after coach in football when former Barcelona handler Pep Guardiola agreed to take over as head coach for the 2013/14 season. The 41-year-old Spaniard – who last week said he was ready to return to coaching after a brief sabbatical [...]
Bayern’s coach Heynckes announces retirement
MUNICH, Germany ● Jupp Heynckes announced this will be his last season as coach of Bayern Munich. Heynckes (67) took over from fired Dutch manager Louis van Gaal in the summer of 2011. During last season he couldn’t lead Munich to big prizes after the Bundesliga superpower ended second behind Dortmund, lost the German Cup [...]
Mourinho: Mission accomplished
MADRID, Spain ● Jose Mourinho promised improved results in his second season at Real Madrid, and the Portuguese coach delivered with a record 32nd Spanish league trophy to put a close to Barcelona’s domestic dominance. But while Madrid set a record goal total and Mourinho became the first manager to win a seventh league title [...]
Real sight La Liga title, Barca hit seven
MADRID, Spain ● Real Madrid edged closer to their first league title in four years with a 3-0 win over Sevilla on Sunday, but Barcelona ensured their celebrations were put on hold with a 7-0 mauling of Rayo Vallecano. Karim Benzema struck a second half brace after Cristiano Ronaldo had given Real the lead to [...]
Guardiola makes it official: no more Barca
BARCELONA, Spain ● Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola announced Friday he is leaving at the end of the season, ending a four-year reign over one of the greatest eras in club football. “This is not a very easy situation for me,” the 41-year-old Guardiola told a news conference where the club also revealed that his assistant [...]
Adios and thank you, Pep
BARCELONA, Spain ● FC Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola will hold a news conference tomorrow. And to paraphrase Andrew Coyne, unless something astonishing happens, he’ll announce to fans and media that he’s stepping down from a position he has filled to much success since 2008. Observers may recall 2008, a year when Barcelona were down in [...]
Messi scores and scores
BARCELONA, Spain ● Lionel Messi scored his 59th and 60th goals of the season to fuel Barcelona’s fightback for a 4-1 win at 10-man Zaragoza as the defending champions stayed in the chase for a fourth straight Spanish league title on Saturday. Barcelona’s ninth consecutive league victory provisionally reduced league leader Real Madrid’s [...]
Barca invincible
BARCELONA, Spain — A double by three-time world footballer of the year Lionel Messi inspired holders Barcelona to a fifth successive appearance in the Champions League semi-finals after a 3-1 win over AC Milan here on Tuesday in their quarter-final second leg clash and win by the same scoreline on aggregate. Messi’s brace of first-half [...]
