Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois came out with a controversial take on the 2019-20 La Liga season in the case that play isn’t able to be resumed and the season isn’t completed.

Courtois, whose Real Madrid side stands two points behind FC Barcelona in the table after 27 matches, doesn’t see the Blaugrana as the league’s best team despite their advantage in the standings over Los Blancos.

“If they decide to stop the competition and Barcelona are named champions, I wouldn’t find it completely right.” There has been speculation that, due to the ongoing pandemic, Spanish soccer won’t be able to restart this season.

While France’s Ligue 1 decided to name Paris Saint-Germain champions after canceling the rest of the season, the situation is a bit different considering PSG’s substantial lead in the standings.

La Liga might have a difficult time naming Barcelona champions despite their lead in the standings. Courtois certainly doesn’t see them as being the stronger side after Real Madrid won and drew their two games against them this season.

The Spanish league will attempt to return to training next week and restart the league competition in June in an attempt to avoid the potential controversy that would come with ending the season early.

The post Real Madrid GK Thibaut Courtois: Barcelona Shouldn’t Be Named La Liga Champs appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After only two years at FC Barcelona, the rumor mill has already begun to start up for midfielder Arthur Melo. The Brazilian 23-year-old joined the Catalan giants in summer 2018 for a fee above $30 million, but it sounds like the team is already open to potential offers for him.

With that being said, Arthur has made it clear that his desire is to stay with the Blaugrana and continue his career with Barcelona.

Arthur joined a radio show earlier this week and put to rest any speculation about a desire to leave the club stating, “I want to stay at Barcelona for many years to come.”

In late April, Melo was linked to a potential swap move to Juventus in exchange for fellow midfielder Miralem Pjanic, a player with more experience than the young Brazilian.

Arthur has played in 20 games for Barcelona this season, scoring a total of 3 goals and providing 4 assists. While he isn’t quite a regular in the starting lineup, he sees plenty of action and has a current market value of $60 million according to Transfermarkt.

While FC Barcelona might want to make a move to send him elsewhere, it seems clear that Arthur only has his mind set on continuing to play and improving with his current club.

The post Barcelona Midfielder Arthur Says He Wants to Stay Amid Transfer Rumors appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After the suspension of games in early March due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Spain’s La Liga has been rendered idled due to quarantine and social distancing guidelines, with teams unable to train as a group.

However, a bit of positive news came to light on Tuesday as Spanish president Pedro Sanchez announced new guidelines that could have teams back to training as early as early May.

According to the new guidelines established by the government, elite professional athletes will be able to train in small groups as soon as May 4th, provided that they test negative for the coronavirus.

While teams would not be allowed to train in full groups immediately, if the evolution of the pandemic continues to trend in a positive direction, teams could return to full squad training later in the month.

A return to game action, however, remains farther away. Teams will reportedly need at least a few weeks of full squad training in order to get back up to speed for game action.

This could lead to a return for La Liga in June behind closed doors.

FC Barcelona currently holds a slim two-point lead over Real Madrid for the top spot in the league, which still has a lot left to play for if it is ultimately able to return.

The post La Liga Teams Set to Return to Training in May appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Soccer fans in Spain are about to receive some devastating news. According to ESPN, La Liga clubs have been recently informed that the fans won’t be able to attend the games once the league activities resume. This decision is expected to stay in force until 2021.

La Liga suspended its season indefinitely last month due to coronavirus pandemic, and it is still unknown when the competition might make a comeback. But even when this does happen, the league officials intend to adhere to recommendations from the Spanish government and operate under strict measures.

ESPN’s sources report that the audience might be allowed to attend games starting January 2021, but even then, the stadiums won’t operate in full capacity.

La Liga officials underlined that the decision is open for a review, depending on the course of the health crisis. If the coronavirus in Spain gets under control more efficiently, then the fans might get access to stadiums earlier than projected.

Almost all major leagues in Europe are currently suspended, but there are indications that things might change in the near future as competitions like Bundesliga are contemplating resuming its activities as early as May. However, all of these leagues intend to play games without an audience.

The post La Liga Games Expected to Take Place Without Fans Until 2021 appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has forced the postponement of sports leagues around the world, the players of FC Barcelona have agreed to a 70% wage cut in order to allow the team to pay its other full-time employees.

Messi, who has recently been at odds with the team’s board, took to Instagram to share his view that he and his teammates were happy to be temporarily be paid less so that other, much lower-paid staff would receive their full salaries during the work stoppage.

The subtext of Messi’s post is that Barcelona’s board had been accused of leaking that the players were somehow unhappy with the wage cut to the press and that they would have to be forced into doing so.

Messi cleared the air, stating, “The moment has come to announce that, as well as reducing our salaries by 70 per cent during the state of emergency, we’re going to make some contributions so that all the employees at the club can earn 100 per cent of their wages during this situation.”

He also added, ” It doesn’t surprise us that the club wanted to put us back under the microscope and try to pressure us into doing something we were always going to do.”

The war of words might go on between Barcelona’s players and its board, but at least in the meantime, they will help out the club’s other employees with a selfless pay cut.

The post FC Barcelona Players Agree to 70% Pay Cut appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Real Madrid is reportedly looking for an upgrade at the striker position, and has its sights set on a young star in their pursuit for a new player, but not until 2021.

Erling Haaland, the 19-year-old Norwegian phenom who signed with Borussia Dortmund over the winter, appears to be president Florentino Perez’s target next year.

While the position for Los Blancos is currently held down by Karim Benzema, backups Luka Jovic and Mariano Diaz have underwhelmed since joining the team. This has the club looking for alternatives, and Haaland looks to be priority number one.

Haaland has been one of the hottest names in the game this season after lighting it up with RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund. In the first part of the season, before joining Dortmund, he scored 28 goals in 22 games with Red Bull Salzburg.

After making the move to Germany, Haaland continued to impress, scoring 12 times in 11 matches. His Champions League scoring record is especially impressive, as he managed to score an incredible total of 10 goals in only 8 games.

This type of goal-scoring production is definitely what Real Madrid is looking for, and Haaland’s 75 million Euro release clause is the only thing standing in its way for launching an effort to add him to their squad.

The post Real Madrid Reportedly Looking to Add Erling Haaland in 2021 appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Due to the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain, which has taken on a new severity during the past week, La Liga will meet with the Spanish Footballer’s Association and the Spanish Football Federation on Thursday to make a crucial decision.

After declaring on Tuesday that the league’s next two matchdays would be played behind closed doors, the bodies will now meet to decide whether or not to suspend the competition temporarily.

Spain went from having only around 80 cases of the novel virus at the beginning of the month to having over 2,000 cases as of this Wednesday, March 11th.

If the decision is made to suspend the league, La Liga would reportedly adopt a “wait and see” approach to see how the virus evolves over the next two weeks. The league will then decide whether to end the season, or alternatively, reschedule the canceled games for a new date.

Spain has already implemented changes in its soccer schedule due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. The Copa del Rey final between Athletic Club and Real Sociedad has already been postponed from its original April 18th date.

For now, La Liga fans must wait and see to see how the league ultimately reacts to the ever-changing health situation in Spain.

The post La Liga in Talks to Suspend 2019-20 Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Real Madrid claimed a massive 2-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sunday night in their rivalry game against FC Barcelona, taking a one-point lead in the La Liga standings and making an important statement after a couple of deflating losses.

Los Blancos withstood a first-half barrage that saw keeper Thibault Courtois make several saves to keep Barcelona off of the scoreboard to find some second half magic thanks to goals from Vinicius Jr. and Mariano Diaz.

The win for Real Madrid was their first in league action over their bitter rivals since April of 2016.

78,357 stadiums packed into the Bernabeu to see a team that was coming off of a disappointing league loss to Levante that saw them lose the top spot in La Liga, as well as a disappointing 1-2 Champions League loss to Manchester City.

Things looked dicey in the first half as Quique Setien’s Blaugrana reached Courtois’s net, threatening to take the lead, but Real Madrid stood tall and then took over in the second half.

After seeing several chances fade out, Vinicius Jr. broke the 0-0 deadlock with a 71st-minute goal to put his team up by one score, sending the stadium into a frenzy.

Little-used substitute Mariano Diaz provided an insurance goal as time expired, giving Madrid a 2-0 win that propels them back into first place in the La Liga table.

The post Real Madrid Takes El Clásico By a 2-0 Final appeared first on SportzBonanza.

FC Barcelona took a two-point lead in the race for the Spanish domestic title over the weekend, defeating Eibar 5-0 at the Camp Nou while watching their eternal rival Real Madrid lose 1-0 against Levante.

The Blaugranas played on Saturday afternoon and made easy work of relegation candidate Eibar despite unrest in the crowd due to unhappiness with club president Josep Bartolomeu.

Leo Messi put in a world-class performance, scoring four goals against an Eibar defense that was helpless against his masterful play. It was never a contest on Saturday in Barcelona, leaving the Cules with some hope that they could take the La Liga lead with a little bit of help.

And they got help in the form of a massive win for Levante over Real Madrid in the Saturday night cap.

Real Madrid traveled to Valencia to face off with the mid-table Granotas having not lost a La Liga match since October 19th at Mallorca. A brilliant performance from Levante goalie Aitor Fernandez and a stunning goal by Jose Luis Morales, however, doomed them on Saturday to second place.

The La Liga drama comes on the heels of a hugely important week for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. The new La Liga leaders will travel to Italy to take on Napoli in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 matchup, while Real Madrid will host Manchester City.

The post Barcelona Beats Eibar 5-0, Takes Lead in La Liga Title Race appeared first on SportzBonanza.

FC Barcelona is dealing with an injury crisis in its front line, and La Liga appears to be willing to grant the team special permission to sign an extra forward outside of the winter transfer window.

Barcelona announced last week that winger Ousmane Dembele will miss six months after undergoing surgery for a hamstring tear that will keep him out for the rest of the season, and possibly the beginning of the 2020-21 campaign.

Dembele’s injury, combined with the months-long absence of striker Luis Suarez after undergoing knee surgery, led the Catalonian club to ask the league for special permission to sign an offensive player.

It appears that La Liga has agreed to fulfill their reigning champions’ wishes, granting them the ability to add a player to their roster outside of the transfer window.

There are a couple of conditions for Barcelona, however: the player must already be playing in Spain or must be a free agent not currently on another team’s roster. In addition, they will only have a fifteen-day window to make an addition.

Leganés forward Martin Braithwaite, Alavés forward Lucas Pérez, and Getafe forward Ángel Rodríguez have all been named as potential Blaugrana targets.

Barcelona finds itself in second place in La Liga, one point behind Real Madrid, and on the eve of its Round of 16 Champions League matchup against Napoli.

The post FC Barcelona Given Permission to Sign Forward Outside of Transfer Window appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois came out with a controversial take on the 2019-20 La Liga season in the case that play isn’t able to be resumed and the season isn’t completed.

Courtois, whose Real Madrid side stands two points behind FC Barcelona in the table after 27 matches, doesn’t see the Blaugrana as the league’s best team despite their advantage in the standings over Los Blancos.

“If they decide to stop the competition and Barcelona are named champions, I wouldn’t find it completely right.” There has been speculation that, due to the ongoing pandemic, Spanish soccer won’t be able to restart this season.

While France’s Ligue 1 decided to name Paris Saint-Germain champions after canceling the rest of the season, the situation is a bit different considering PSG’s substantial lead in the standings.

La Liga might have a difficult time naming Barcelona champions despite their lead in the standings. Courtois certainly doesn’t see them as being the stronger side after Real Madrid won and drew their two games against them this season.

The Spanish league will attempt to return to training next week and restart the league competition in June in an attempt to avoid the potential controversy that would come with ending the season early.

The post Real Madrid GK Thibaut Courtois: Barcelona Shouldn’t Be Named La Liga Champs appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After only two years at FC Barcelona, the rumor mill has already begun to start up for midfielder Arthur Melo. The Brazilian 23-year-old joined the Catalan giants in summer 2018 for a fee above $30 million, but it sounds like the team is already open to potential offers for him.

With that being said, Arthur has made it clear that his desire is to stay with the Blaugrana and continue his career with Barcelona.

Arthur joined a radio show earlier this week and put to rest any speculation about a desire to leave the club stating, “I want to stay at Barcelona for many years to come.”

In late April, Melo was linked to a potential swap move to Juventus in exchange for fellow midfielder Miralem Pjanic, a player with more experience than the young Brazilian.

Arthur has played in 20 games for Barcelona this season, scoring a total of 3 goals and providing 4 assists. While he isn’t quite a regular in the starting lineup, he sees plenty of action and has a current market value of $60 million according to Transfermarkt.

While FC Barcelona might want to make a move to send him elsewhere, it seems clear that Arthur only has his mind set on continuing to play and improving with his current club.

The post Barcelona Midfielder Arthur Says He Wants to Stay Amid Transfer Rumors appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After the suspension of games in early March due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Spain’s La Liga has been rendered idled due to quarantine and social distancing guidelines, with teams unable to train as a group.

However, a bit of positive news came to light on Tuesday as Spanish president Pedro Sanchez announced new guidelines that could have teams back to training as early as early May.

According to the new guidelines established by the government, elite professional athletes will be able to train in small groups as soon as May 4th, provided that they test negative for the coronavirus.

While teams would not be allowed to train in full groups immediately, if the evolution of the pandemic continues to trend in a positive direction, teams could return to full squad training later in the month.

A return to game action, however, remains farther away. Teams will reportedly need at least a few weeks of full squad training in order to get back up to speed for game action.

This could lead to a return for La Liga in June behind closed doors.

FC Barcelona currently holds a slim two-point lead over Real Madrid for the top spot in the league, which still has a lot left to play for if it is ultimately able to return.

The post La Liga Teams Set to Return to Training in May appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Soccer fans in Spain are about to receive some devastating news. According to ESPN, La Liga clubs have been recently informed that the fans won’t be able to attend the games once the league activities resume. This decision is expected to stay in force until 2021.

La Liga suspended its season indefinitely last month due to coronavirus pandemic, and it is still unknown when the competition might make a comeback. But even when this does happen, the league officials intend to adhere to recommendations from the Spanish government and operate under strict measures.

ESPN’s sources report that the audience might be allowed to attend games starting January 2021, but even then, the stadiums won’t operate in full capacity.

La Liga officials underlined that the decision is open for a review, depending on the course of the health crisis. If the coronavirus in Spain gets under control more efficiently, then the fans might get access to stadiums earlier than projected.

Almost all major leagues in Europe are currently suspended, but there are indications that things might change in the near future as competitions like Bundesliga are contemplating resuming its activities as early as May. However, all of these leagues intend to play games without an audience.

The post La Liga Games Expected to Take Place Without Fans Until 2021 appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has forced the postponement of sports leagues around the world, the players of FC Barcelona have agreed to a 70% wage cut in order to allow the team to pay its other full-time employees.

Messi, who has recently been at odds with the team’s board, took to Instagram to share his view that he and his teammates were happy to be temporarily be paid less so that other, much lower-paid staff would receive their full salaries during the work stoppage.

The subtext of Messi’s post is that Barcelona’s board had been accused of leaking that the players were somehow unhappy with the wage cut to the press and that they would have to be forced into doing so.

Messi cleared the air, stating, “The moment has come to announce that, as well as reducing our salaries by 70 per cent during the state of emergency, we’re going to make some contributions so that all the employees at the club can earn 100 per cent of their wages during this situation.”

He also added, ” It doesn’t surprise us that the club wanted to put us back under the microscope and try to pressure us into doing something we were always going to do.”

The war of words might go on between Barcelona’s players and its board, but at least in the meantime, they will help out the club’s other employees with a selfless pay cut.

The post FC Barcelona Players Agree to 70% Pay Cut appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Real Madrid is reportedly looking for an upgrade at the striker position, and has its sights set on a young star in their pursuit for a new player, but not until 2021.

Erling Haaland, the 19-year-old Norwegian phenom who signed with Borussia Dortmund over the winter, appears to be president Florentino Perez’s target next year.

While the position for Los Blancos is currently held down by Karim Benzema, backups Luka Jovic and Mariano Diaz have underwhelmed since joining the team. This has the club looking for alternatives, and Haaland looks to be priority number one.

Haaland has been one of the hottest names in the game this season after lighting it up with RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund. In the first part of the season, before joining Dortmund, he scored 28 goals in 22 games with Red Bull Salzburg.

After making the move to Germany, Haaland continued to impress, scoring 12 times in 11 matches. His Champions League scoring record is especially impressive, as he managed to score an incredible total of 10 goals in only 8 games.

This type of goal-scoring production is definitely what Real Madrid is looking for, and Haaland’s 75 million Euro release clause is the only thing standing in its way for launching an effort to add him to their squad.

The post Real Madrid Reportedly Looking to Add Erling Haaland in 2021 appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Due to the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain, which has taken on a new severity during the past week, La Liga will meet with the Spanish Footballer’s Association and the Spanish Football Federation on Thursday to make a crucial decision.

After declaring on Tuesday that the league’s next two matchdays would be played behind closed doors, the bodies will now meet to decide whether or not to suspend the competition temporarily.

Spain went from having only around 80 cases of the novel virus at the beginning of the month to having over 2,000 cases as of this Wednesday, March 11th.

If the decision is made to suspend the league, La Liga would reportedly adopt a “wait and see” approach to see how the virus evolves over the next two weeks. The league will then decide whether to end the season, or alternatively, reschedule the canceled games for a new date.

Spain has already implemented changes in its soccer schedule due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country. The Copa del Rey final between Athletic Club and Real Sociedad has already been postponed from its original April 18th date.

For now, La Liga fans must wait and see to see how the league ultimately reacts to the ever-changing health situation in Spain.

The post La Liga in Talks to Suspend 2019-20 Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Real Madrid claimed a massive 2-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sunday night in their rivalry game against FC Barcelona, taking a one-point lead in the La Liga standings and making an important statement after a couple of deflating losses.

Los Blancos withstood a first-half barrage that saw keeper Thibault Courtois make several saves to keep Barcelona off of the scoreboard to find some second half magic thanks to goals from Vinicius Jr. and Mariano Diaz.

The win for Real Madrid was their first in league action over their bitter rivals since April of 2016.

78,357 stadiums packed into the Bernabeu to see a team that was coming off of a disappointing league loss to Levante that saw them lose the top spot in La Liga, as well as a disappointing 1-2 Champions League loss to Manchester City.

Things looked dicey in the first half as Quique Setien’s Blaugrana reached Courtois’s net, threatening to take the lead, but Real Madrid stood tall and then took over in the second half.

After seeing several chances fade out, Vinicius Jr. broke the 0-0 deadlock with a 71st-minute goal to put his team up by one score, sending the stadium into a frenzy.

Little-used substitute Mariano Diaz provided an insurance goal as time expired, giving Madrid a 2-0 win that propels them back into first place in the La Liga table.

The post Real Madrid Takes El Clásico By a 2-0 Final appeared first on SportzBonanza.

FC Barcelona took a two-point lead in the race for the Spanish domestic title over the weekend, defeating Eibar 5-0 at the Camp Nou while watching their eternal rival Real Madrid lose 1-0 against Levante.

The Blaugranas played on Saturday afternoon and made easy work of relegation candidate Eibar despite unrest in the crowd due to unhappiness with club president Josep Bartolomeu.

Leo Messi put in a world-class performance, scoring four goals against an Eibar defense that was helpless against his masterful play. It was never a contest on Saturday in Barcelona, leaving the Cules with some hope that they could take the La Liga lead with a little bit of help.

And they got help in the form of a massive win for Levante over Real Madrid in the Saturday night cap.

Real Madrid traveled to Valencia to face off with the mid-table Granotas having not lost a La Liga match since October 19th at Mallorca. A brilliant performance from Levante goalie Aitor Fernandez and a stunning goal by Jose Luis Morales, however, doomed them on Saturday to second place.

The La Liga drama comes on the heels of a hugely important week for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. The new La Liga leaders will travel to Italy to take on Napoli in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 matchup, while Real Madrid will host Manchester City.

The post Barcelona Beats Eibar 5-0, Takes Lead in La Liga Title Race appeared first on SportzBonanza.

FC Barcelona is dealing with an injury crisis in its front line, and La Liga appears to be willing to grant the team special permission to sign an extra forward outside of the winter transfer window.

Barcelona announced last week that winger Ousmane Dembele will miss six months after undergoing surgery for a hamstring tear that will keep him out for the rest of the season, and possibly the beginning of the 2020-21 campaign.

Dembele’s injury, combined with the months-long absence of striker Luis Suarez after undergoing knee surgery, led the Catalonian club to ask the league for special permission to sign an offensive player.

It appears that La Liga has agreed to fulfill their reigning champions’ wishes, granting them the ability to add a player to their roster outside of the transfer window.

There are a couple of conditions for Barcelona, however: the player must already be playing in Spain or must be a free agent not currently on another team’s roster. In addition, they will only have a fifteen-day window to make an addition.

Leganés forward Martin Braithwaite, Alavés forward Lucas Pérez, and Getafe forward Ángel Rodríguez have all been named as potential Blaugrana targets.

Barcelona finds itself in second place in La Liga, one point behind Real Madrid, and on the eve of its Round of 16 Champions League matchup against Napoli.

The post FC Barcelona Given Permission to Sign Forward Outside of Transfer Window appeared first on SportzBonanza.