BARCELONA: Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez insisted Saturday his club were in a dip but not falling into crisis and said president Joan Laporta had full confidence in his project.
The Spanish champions have played poorly in recent weeks and fell to an embarrassing 1-0 defeat by Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday in Hamburg.
Despite the loss, Barcelona are still joint group leaders and expected to qualify for the knock-out phases, and are third in La Liga.
The Catalans lost at home to Real Madrid in the Clasico on October 28 and scraped a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad last weekend, despite a drab performance.
“I don’t think this is (my worst moment) at all, my worst moment as a coach came last year,” Xavi told a news conference, referring to his team’s Champions League group stage elimination.
“I have lived through terrible crises here, this doesn’t go that far, it’s a dip ... we haven’t played well, we have to recover our game.
“Getting that back is key — as a coach, I feel good, this is nothing to do with the situation we had last year.”
Spanish media singled out Xavi for criticism after the Shakhtar loss, but the coach said Laporta was ‘calm’.
“After each game we speak with the president,” explained Xavi.
“We are very united, he’s a very positive person, more than me even, and he is very calm. “He has maximum confidence in us, as staff and as a group.”
Barcelona host Alaves on Sunday seeking to rebuild confidence after a tricky few weeks.
Xavi said the team needs to adhere to their traditional strategy of positional play to find their way out of their slump.
“We’ve played badly for two games and we have to recover, to be more faithful to our identity,” he continued.
“(It’s happened) because we’re not well positioned on the pitch, we are sure what we can, or must, improve, and I hope from tomorrow everyone sees that.”
Barca are in a dip, not a crisis: coach Xavi
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Barca are in a dip, not a crisis: coach Xavi
- Barcelona are still joint group leaders and expected to qualify for the knock-out phases, and are third in La Liga
- “I don’t think this is (my worst moment) at all, my worst moment as a coach came last year,” Xavi told a news conference
UEFA investigates English ref Coote over footage of alleged drug use at Euro 2024
- “A UEFA ethics and disciplinary inspector has been appointed to evaluate a potential violation of the UEFA disciplinary regulations by the referee, Mr. David Coote,” UEFA said
- The report said the incident was filmed one day after Coote’s last match duty, the quarterfinal between France and Portugal
NYON: UEFA started another investigation into English match official David Coote on Thursday after a video allegedly showed him using cocaine during the European Championship.
“A UEFA ethics and disciplinary inspector has been appointed to evaluate a potential violation of the UEFA disciplinary regulations by the referee, Mr. David Coote,” UEFA said in a statement.
Coote worked as a video review specialist at Euro 2024, where match officials stayed at a hotel near Frankfurt. He was an assistant supporting the lead VAR official at eight games.
British daily The Sun published a video late Wednesday appearing to show Coote snorting the drug using an American banknote.
The report said the incident was filmed one day after Coote’s last match duty, the quarterfinal between France and Portugal. France won a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw.
Coote was suspended on Monday by the English match referees body after a different cellphone video circulated of him making offensive comments with friends about former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp. That body and the English FA started investigations.
UEFA already withdrew Coote from match duty for national team games this week after the first video was published.
The games he worked at Euro 2024 included host Germany’s 2-0 win over Denmark in the round of 16 that included a controversial penalty award for handball. The lead VAR official at that game, Stuart Attwell, was involved in some of the tournament’s most debated decisions.
Bento feeling the heat as UAE look to revisit former glories
ABU DHABI: A familiar crunch point awaits the UAE and their long-held — but stubbornly unfulfilled — dream of a World Cup return.
Hopes of repeating the heroics of 1990 in 2026, so high after the Whites opened the third round of qualifying with a resounding 3-1 victory over double Asian Cup holders Qatar in September, are receding following a dispiriting single point earned from three subsequent outings.
Their impending double-header in Abu Dhabi against Kyrgyzstan (Nov. 14) and Qatar (Nov. 19) will decide much for Group A’s third-placed outfit. With a team this mercurial, the UAE could just as easily pass the halfway stage, hot on the heels of automatic entry for the 2026 World Cup, as be cast aside.
Last month they were valiant in narrow defeat to second-placed Uzbekistan and insipid throughout a stultifying 1-1 home draw against bottom-placed North Korea.
Paulo Bento is the latest manager to feel the heat. His predecessors — Rodolfo Arruabarrena, Edgardo Bauza, Mahdi Ali and others — all came up short. What can the former Portugal and South Korea head coach do differently to ensure a different outcome?
“I am confident, because I saw the way that the guys approached the training sessions and their focus,” Bento told reporters at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium on Wednesday.
“This, for me, in this moment, is enough. We need to prove this on the pitch. I don’t hide my feelings and my thoughts, they (the players) know the way that we approached the game against North Korea and how we are doing now, it is different.”
The biggest challenge for the 55-year-old is to plot a course without star attacker Ali Saleh, the Al-Wasl talisman who cut Qatar to ribbons in September. Sadly, he is ruled out thanks to injury.
Instead, an engine room also lacking the dynamism of suspended Al-Wahda tyro Abdulla Hamad will be fueled by a recall for Al-Ain’s ceaseless AFC Champions League-holder, Mohammed Abbas, while Sharjah’s versatile Majid Rashid also returns to the fold.
This month’s Ligue 1 breakthrough for Montpellier forward Junior Ndiaye — Dubai-born son of prolific former Al-Nasr attacker Samba N’Diaye — has also been rewarded with a return.
Another naturalized addition is Fleetwood Town utility player Mackenzie Hunt, who provided an assist on his debut at Qatar. Asian football’s rapid improvement leaves question marks about the lasting impact of someone who was a regular on the bench for Premier League club Everton last season but who is yet to find the net in 14 League Two appearances during this one.
Fabio De Lima’s clean bill of health after an enforced absence in October is another welcome boost. With 12 international goals to his name he is three ahead of any other current squad member — namely Caio Canedo, on nine.
It is this lack of lethal players up top that will cause sleepless nights for Bento. Just two goals have been scored in three successive (winless) home qualifiers across the second and third rounds.
The UAE are also Group A’s joint-second lowest scorers, with four strikes in four matches. A cause for concern when just two points separate them, in third, from North Korea in sixth.
Baniyas loanee Fahad Bader, Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai winger Harib Abdalla and club-mate Yahya Al-Ghassani have all yet to find the net in the 2024/25 ADNOC Pro League. Last month’s naturalized debutant, Bruno, is experiencing his most productive start to a domestic campaign, with four goals in seven top-flight games, but he experienced a chastening opening to his international career.
Breakout Asian Cup hero Sultan Adil — with six goals from 11 caps — has not yet kicked a ball in the current campaign.
However, the current crisis has not prompted Bento to turn back the page.
A rapprochement with 85-goal record marksman Ali Mabkhout has stayed off the agenda, despite the 34-year-old’s revitalized vigor at new club Al-Nasr, where five strikes in seven league appearances leave him sitting comfortably as the season’s current lead Emirati goal scorer.
With the number of teams increasing to 48 for the 2026 World Cup, there are greater opportunities for the UAE. The team still feels the burn of 2022, when an agonizing near-miss by a single goal against Australia in the fourth round prevented them from progressing.
This time offers more chances in a new-look fourth round, with the third and fourth-placed finishers pitted against each other. There are also the dreaded inter-confederation play-offs, if required.
Bento’s mission is more than just assembling a winning XI on the pitch. It is to instill the belief that a less-heralded squad can tread where their predecessors could not.
Confidence, however, remains fragile. Wounds from January’s Asian Cup elimination by debutants Tajikistan in a penalty shootout remain fresh. The UAE was further unpicked by qualifying reversals to Iran and Uzbekistan, and an inability to defeat unfancied North Korea still stings.
Recent history, however, provides some encouragement that Bento will eventually prove his worth.
Scathing criticism following quarterfinal failure at the 2019 Asian Cup transformed into glowing tributes when he departed as South Korea’s longest-serving manager, coming on the back of an encouraging 2022 World Cup which included group-stage victory over his native Portugal.
Another redemption arc will secure Bento a cherished spot in UAE sporting lore.
Football ‘world order’ is changing, says Brazil coach
- Dorival Junior: The top teams haven’t had as much room to grow, while the teams at the bottom are starting to make interesting and big strides
- After losing half of their initial eight games in South America, Brazil swung back to beat Chile and Peru and are fourth in the table with 16 points after 10 matches
SAO PAOLO: The “world order” of football is shifting, Brazil’s coach Dorival Junior said ahead of a World Cup qualifier Thursday against Venezuela.
“I don’t think we’ll have an easy game. Forget Venezuela, Bolivia recently. Right now the world order is changing a lot,” Dorival said on Wednesday in the Brazilian city of Belem where the team were training.
While pressure has been alleviated by Brazil beating Chile (2-1) and Peru (4-0) in the October doubleheader, the 62-year-old coach warned they, like Argentina, had to recognize they earlier lost ground to previously easier opponents.
“South American football has grown a lot overall. If you look at the majority of the national lineups, you see players playing in teams all over the world, which wasn’t the case until recently,” he said.
“The top teams haven’t had as much room to grow, while the teams at the bottom are starting to make interesting and big strides. This is levelling things a lot and making the matches tighter contests.”
Brazil are still being forged under his watch, meaning their performance will “fluctuate” while that is being worked out, he said.
But Dorival said they were heading toward becoming a “safe,” “strong” and balanced team.
After a bad start in the qualifiers, losing half of their initial eight games in South America, Brazil swung back to beat Chile and Peru and are fourth in the table with 16 points after 10 matches. The top six South American teams directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Brazil sit six points behind current leaders Argentina.
Venezuela rank eighth in the table.
“We’re not in a totally favorable situation, we’re coming from behind... (but) we’re gaining a greater sense of greater structure in the team,” Dorival said.
After Friday’s game against Venezuela, Brazil are to play Uruguay next Tuesday.
Lyon and Chelsea stay perfect in Women’s Champions League
PARIS: Lyon beat Roma 3-0 to maintain their 100 percent record in Group A of the Women’s Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg thrashed Galatasaray to pick up their first points.
In Group B, Chelsea came from behind against Celtic to preserve their perfect record and Real Madrid put seven past Twente.
Record eight-time winners Lyon traveled to the Italian capital with both sides level at the top of the group on two wins apiece.
Melchie Dumornay’s first-half brace put the French side firmly in control, her second coming three minutes before the interval via an audacious chip from inside the center circle.
Vanessa Gilles poked in from close range in the 52nd minute to rubber-stamp an authoritative performance by Joe Montemurro’s side.
Wolfsburg, the 2013 and 2014 Champions League winners, started their latest campaign with back-to-back defeats against Lyon and Roma — leaving them third in Group A with no goals scored and in real danger of elimination.
Their 5-0 win in Istanbul keeps them third place, three points behind Roma in second.
“We want to get out of the group by working hard and doing our best for the (three) remaining matches,” said Wolfsburg forward Rebecka Blomqvist.
“We are in a very tough group. But we also have the power to achieve this.”
Defender Joelle Wedemeyer’s 24th-minute header from a corner gave the Germans the lead. Blomqvist tapped in on 63 minutes to double the advantage.
The Swedish striker stroked home a third for the team with 13 minutes remaining and then rounded off her hat-trick six minutes into added time.
Vivien Endemann smashed home a fifth for Wolfsburg in the 97th minute.
“We are very happy with the result,” added Blomqvist. “I am proud to show my best out on the pitch. It’s great to contribute to the team.”
A third successive defeat in three outings leaves the Turks bottom of the table with just one goal scored and 14 conceded.
At Parkhead, Chelsea moved to nine points with a 2-1 victory over winless Celtic.
The hosts took a surprise lead with just over 20 minutes gone when Murphy Agnew raced through and lifted a finish past goalkeeper Zecira Musovic.
It took the English champions only six minutes to respond, first through Maika Hamano in the 28th minute and then Ashley Lawrence tucked home a rebound four minutes later.
Chelsea were unable to kill off the match in the second half but succeeded nonetheless in holding Celtic at arm’s length to see out a narrow victory, despite Aggie Beever-Jones picking up a second yellow card deep in injury time.
Real Madrid strolled past Dutch side Twente with a 7-0 win in Spain.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring in the third minute, before center-half Maria Mendez nodded in her first goal in European football 13 minutes later.
Naomie Feller guided in a third on 50 minutes and Caroline Weir soon after curled an unstoppable free-kick over the wall and into the top corner.
Mendez then doubled her tally in the competition with a second header from a corner three minutes after the hour, before Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho completed the rout.
The Spaniards sit second in the group with six points.
Kane disappointed by England Nations League withdrawals
- The Bayern Munich forward said it was a “shame” that so many players had withdrawn
- “It’s a tough period of the season and maybe that’s been taken advantage of a little bit”
LONDON: Harry Kane says he is disappointed by the high number of withdrawals from the England squad this week, insisting the national team must come first.
The Euro 2024 runners-up head to Greece for Thursday’s must-win Nations League match before a Wembley meeting with Ireland on Sunday.
But interim boss Lee Carsley’s final camp, before the arrival of Thomas Tuchel as the new manager, has been hit by an eye-watering eight pull-outs.
The situation has frustrated Kane, who will lead the side out at the Olympic Stadium in Athens knowing key players are absent for a match they must win to stand a chance of automatic promotion.
Asked if there was one thing former manager Gareth Southgate put in place that senior players need to ensure is not lost, the striker told ITV: “I think the joy to play for England. I think he brought that back.
“I think every camp people were excited to come, every camp people wanted to play for England and, yeah, that’s the most important thing.
“I think England comes before anything. England comes before club.”
The Bayern Munich forward said it was a “shame” that so many players had withdrawn.
“It’s a tough period of the season and maybe that’s been taken advantage of a little bit,” he said.
“I don’t really like it if I’m totally honest. I think England comes before anything, any club situation.”
Eight players withdrew from Carsley’s initial 26-man squad for the Nations League double-header including Declan Rice, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer.
Jarrad Branthwaite was among five players brought into the squad but the Everton center-back is a major doubt, having been unable to train with the group so far.
