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      Real Madrid star Federico Valverde facing 12-MATCH BAN for punching rival after alleged sick joke about unborn child

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      REAL MADRID star Federico Valverde could be banned for 12 matches for allegedly punching Villarreal midfielder Alex Baena.The incident is said to have occurred shortly after Villarreal’s 3-2 victory at the Bernabeu on April 8.
      Fede Valverde could face a lengthy ban if found guilty of punching Alex BaenaCredit: Rex
      Valverde is alleged to have confronted Baena by the team buses before throwing a punch at him.
      The Spanish FA are set to launch an investigation into the allegation.
      If found guilty, The Athletic claim that Valverde could be banned for up to 12 matches – with four the minimum sentence.
      It could also be determined that they cannot hand out a ban as the alleged incident did not take place during a match.
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      Valverde, 24, is said to have been upset by an alleged comment made by Baena during a match between the two sides in January.
      At the time, the Real Madrid midfielder’s wife Mina Bonino was experiencing complications in her pregnancy.
      Baena was accused of making a sick comment referencing Valverde’s unborn child – something he has since denied.
      After the alleged incident on April 8, which is claimed to have left Baena with a swollen cheek and bruising, the 21-year-old wrote on Instagram: “Very happy with the impressive victory of the team in a stage like the Santiago Bernabeu but at the same time very sad for the aggression I suffered after the match and surprised by what is being said about me. It is totally untrue that I said that.”
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      Alex Baena has denied claims made against himCredit: Rex
      Baena subsequently sought to press charges, with his club confirming in a statement: “Villarreal CF player Alex Baena was assaulted last night on his way to the team bus after the match against Real Madrid CF at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
      “Faced with this situation, the player has decided to file the corresponding complaint against the aggressor before the National Police.
      “Once again, Villarreal CF rejects any act of violence and firmly believes in the version of its player and will support him throughout this process.”
      The Spanish FA’s investigation is likely to take more than a month, meaning Valverde should be available for the Copa del Rey final.
      Meanwhile, Mina released an emotional statement addressing the incident.
      The 29-year-old wrote: “Do I have to explain why they told me that my pregnancy could not continue?
      “We were silent for almost two months waiting for the result to know whether or not we could continue, having already five months of pregnancy.
      “I have already gone through enough for them to come and question me about my son’s health.
      “Despite everything, from the bottom of my heart, I don’t wish anyone to go through a similar situation.”
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      Thankfully Valverde and Mina’s child is believed to be healthy, with Mina updating fans on Instagram last month that she was “six months into it”.
      The couple already have one son together named Benicio, born in February 2020.
      Valverde and wife Mina Bonino are expecting their second child later this year More

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      Luis Marquez dead at 51: Former Real Betis star dies after cancer battle as tributes pour in

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      A FORMER LaLiga footballer died this morning aged just 51.Luis Marquez spent 11 years with Real Betis first team
      between 1989 and 2000 before short stints with Real Valladolid, Pontevedra and Real Jaen.
      Former LaLiga footballer Luis Marquez has died aged just 51
      He passed away following a battle with cancer.
      Seville-born Marquez starred as a cup-winning “outstanding youth squad player” and was nicknamed Schuster due to his physical and technical resemblance with the German midfielder Bernd.
      He helped Betis get promoted back into the top flight of Spanish football and was a regular starter throughout the 1990s, featuring in the Uefa Cup.
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      Marquez is fondly remembered for his incredible goal against Atletico Madrid in 1994-95, thrashing home a stunning volley from a corner.
      The sensational strike is viewed by many as the greatest goal ever scored at the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
      In total, he played 202 times for Real Betis, scoring 15 goals.
      Tributes poured in for the iconic star, who is a key player in Los Verdiblancos’ rich history.
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      Real Betis said: “Very sad news for the whole Green and White family. Former player Luis Marquez has passed away this morning.
      “We send all our love and support to his family. Rest in peace.”
      Real Madrid wrote: “Real Madrid, its president and its Board of Directors deeply lament the passing of Luis Marquez, who played for@RealBetis between 1989 and 2000, and wishes to express its condolences and affection to his family, his loved ones and the clubs that he played for. RIP.”
      Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian, who started his career with Betis, tweeted: “All my love to the family and loved ones of Luis Marquez. A legend for the Betic family is leaving. Rest in peace.”
      Another added: “You have left my great friend fighting until the end, your family and your friends are very proud of the great person you have been.
      “Fly high friend, wherever you are, you will always be present in our hearts. RIP My great friend Luis Marquez.”
      One user commented: “I write with enormous pain what I never wanted and feared so much.
      “Luis Marquez, author of one of the best goals of all time by a @RealBetis player, has died in Seville. It was on a passionate Saturday in 1995 against Atletico de Madrid.”
      A friend typed: “Thank you for being an example of struggle in this life. For having such a big heart.
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      “For being that friend we all wanted to have. Rest in peace, my dear Luis Marquez. Help us from up there as only you knew how to do it. There is an officer in heaven.
      And an emotional tribute from another pal read: “Luis Marquez, a great person, my friend and especially his son and mine, great friends, he left us tonight, rest in peace my friend, the children and we will always keep remembering you… too many years of struggle, you have been a champion.”

      Escribo con enorme dolor lo que nunca quise y tanto temí. Ha fallecido en Sevilla Luis Márquez, autor de uno de los mejores goles de todos los tiempos de un jugador del @RealBetis. Fue en un sábado de pasión del año 1995 ante el Atlético de Madrid. #LuisMarquez #Betis pic.twitter.com/0uOxCyCN5Q— Antonio Bustos Golf (@BusGolfTV) April 17, 2023 More

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      Barcelona president Joan Laporta overheard revealing Lionel Messi transfer plan at LaLiga clash vs Getafe

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      BARCELONA president Joan Laporta appeared to reveal his Lionel Messi transfer plan.Laporta was in the stands at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez yesterday to watch Barca’s 0-0 draw with Getafe.
      Joan Laporta appeared to confirm he will try and sign Lionel Messi back for Barcelona
      Messi is the club’s record appearance maker and goalscorerCredit: AFP

      The result saw the Catalan giants’ lead at the top of LaLiga cut to 11 points with Real Madrid beating Cadiz.
      But more importantly, it could have revealed the grand designs Laporta has to bring Messi back to the Nou Camp this summer, with initial contact already made.
      The 60-year-old posed for photographs with Barca supporters.
      And as he was doing so, one said to him: “Messi to Barca.”
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      Laporta replied with a smile and a wink and simply said: “Yes.”
      Now Barcelona fans are convinced the video circulating online is proof their club will try and re-sign Messi.
      One said: “It’s happening.”
      Another wrote: “He is coming home.”
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      A third added a video of Thomas Tuchel celebrating wildly down the touchline.
      But others are less convinced – after Laporta suggested Messi would not leave in 2021.
      One replied: “This guy is really good at PR and cheated Messi before. I don’t think he is reliable.”
      And a final user commented: “Until I see Messi in Barca shirt, I don’t believe anything.”
      Messi, 35, left Barcelona in tears when his contract expired in 2021 but could not sign an extension due to the LaLiga club’s financial woes and Spanish employment law preventing a major wage cut.
      Instead he signed a two-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain.
      But with that deal running out at the end of this season, his future is still unclear.

      There has reportedly been offers from Inter Miami as well as Saudi Arabia to try and lure Messi to a new market.
      However, Barcelona fans would be delighted to see their former captain, record appearance maker and record goalscorer return to the club he first joined aged 13.
      Messi was in tears as he left Barcelona in 2021Credit: AFP
      The Argentine’s contract at PSG expires this summerCredit: AFP More

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      Barcelona and Inter Milan in talks over transfer swap deal involving two of their top midfield stars

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      BARCELONA and Inter Milan have discussed a swap deal involving midfielders Franck Kessie and Marcelo Brozovic, according to reports. Kessie joined Barcelona from Inter’s rivals AC Milan on a free transfer last summer but has consistently been linked with a move away from the Nou Camp.
      Kessie only joined Barcelona last summer but has been linked with a move away from Nou CampCredit: Rex
      Brozovic is reportedly seen as an ideal replacement for Sergio BusquetsCredit: Rex
      Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport have reported that a swap deal with Kessie and Inter midfielder Brozovic still has legs with specific factors making it an attractive option for both clubs.
      Brozovic has been at Inter since joining from Dinamo Zagreb in 2015 and has made 253 appearances for the club.
      The report adds that Inter’s sporting director Piero Ausilio met with his Barcelona counterpart Mateu Alemany on Thursday with the midfield pair part of their discussions.
      The idea of a swap deal was first mooted in January with nothing happening but Gazzetta have reported that the deal is still alive.
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      According to the report both midfielders are valued at about £26million which would make any potential swap relatively straight forward.
      It is also noted that both clubs would stand to benefit financially from the potential swap.
      Despite having a contract to 2026 there is ongoing tension between the Croatian and Inter with the report adding that Xavi likes his playmaking abilities.
      They report that the Catalan’s view the Croatian star as an ideal successor to Sergio Busquets.
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      The Ivory Coast international has reportedly been on Inter’s radar from long before he joined Barcelona. More

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      Real Madrid star Toni Kroos set to stay and sign new one-year deal and Aurelien Tchouameni will NOT be allowed to leave

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      TONI KROOS is set to sign a new one year contract at Real Madrid whilst Aurelien Tchouameni will not be allowed to leave the club, according to reports. Kroos, 33, joined the Spanish giants from Bayern Munich back in 2014 for a fee of £20million.
      Kroos and Tchouameni are both set to remain at the Bernabeu next seasonCredit: Getty
      The German international has made 265 appearances to date for Los Blancos scoring 21 goals.
      Speculation had been rife around Kroos’s future with his current deal expiring at the end of the season but he is set to extend his stay in the Spanish capital.
      Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has reported that the German will put pen to paper on a new one year deal until June 2024.
      Romano added that Kroos didn’t negotiate with any other clubs and it was either retirement or staying at Madrid.
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      The German international has won three La Liga titles and the Champions League four times during his time with Madrid.
      Meanwhile Kroos’s team-mate and fellow midfielder Tchouameni won’t be allowed to leave the club this summer according to Spanish publication AS.
      The Frenchman was a big money signing in the summer from AS Monaco and having made a promising start his Madrid career has stagnated since the World Cup.
      AS report that within the club they are putting it down to adapting to a new way of playing, a new country and a club which is notoriously difficult to adapt to as was the case with Luka Modric and Eder Militao.
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      The report adds that Madrid won’t listen to any offers for the 23-year-old and they believe he will become the player that did so well at Bordeaux and Monaco.
      Tchouameni has made 24 appearances for Los Blancos in LaLiga this season and has yet to find the back of the net for his new team.
      He was part of the Madrid side that won the Club World Cup in February. More

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      Gavi holds talks over Chelsea transfer but desperate Barcelona boss Xavi warns ‘I don’t think he would be happy’

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      BARCELONA boss Xavi has warned Gavi the grass is not always greener amid reports linking him with a transfer to Chelsea. Gavi was rewarded with his first contract at the Nou Camp which would keep him at Barcelona until 2026.
      Gavi could leave Barcelona as a free agent this summerCredit: AP
      But Xavi has warned the grass is not always greenerCredit: Getty
      But the Catalan giants have been forced to remove him from their registration of first team players due to their ongoing financial issues.
      Consequently, the teenager may now leave as a free agent in the summer.
      Chelsea have reportedly been in talks with Gavi’s representatives over a potential deal, with one report suggesting Todd Boehly is willing to make him one of the Premier League’s highest earners.
      However, Xavi is desperate to keep the 2022 Kopa Trophy winner and he has questioned whether a move away from Barcelona would be right for him.
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      When asked about Gavi leaving, he said: “I don’t think Gavi would be happy at another club.
      “He has everything here. He is 18 years old. He’s a key player of our team.
      “For me, he’s a footballer that is outstanding.
      “I don’t know what he’ll decide but I think his future is here at the club.”
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      Gavi has featured 40 times in all competitions for Barcelona this season, including 27 times in La Liga.
      He also starred at the World Cup and became the youngest goalscorer at the tournament for Spain with his effort against Costa Rica. More

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      I won the Champions League, featured in Messi’s debut and refused to play for Spain – now I’m known more for politics

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      OLEGUER PRESAS may have had a glimmering football career but he is now more known for his politics.The former Barcelona defender won the Champions League and also played in a certain Lionel Messi’s debut.
      Oleguer Presas was a regular for Barcelona when he playedCredit: Getty
      He ended his career at Ajax in 2011Credit: Getty
      Oleguer played 175 times for the Catalan giants during a five-year spell between 2003 and 2008.
      He was part of the squad that beat Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League Final, alongside club legends such as Carles Puyol and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
      Despite playing for one of the best clubs in Spain, he never played for the national side, instead opting to represent Catalonia.
      He left the LaLiga side in 2008 for Dutch giants Ajax.
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      The defender spent the rest of his career in Holland before hanging up his boots in 2011.
      And he is indeed very proud of his career.
      Speaking to Diari de Barcelona, Oleguer said: “I am proud to have arrived at Barca, for me this is success.
      “Then you win a Champions League or you don’t, or a league… It depends on many factors.
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      “What is the result of effort and dedication is this entire trajectory. I’m proud of that, yes.”
      However, he is not living off his footballing career and instead has gone on to support political causes and Catalonian nationalism.
      Despite also winning two LaLiga titles, politics was always on his mind.
      As many of his team-mates went on to play for Spain, he rejected the chance ahead of the national side’s success at the Euros and World Cup.
      He said: “I did not feel this commitment to a national team that does not represent me in any way.
      “On the contrary, it generates rejection and aversion in me for what it represents.
      “The conversation with [Spain manager at the time] Luis Aragones was very frank, honest and calm. It’s not that I can’t feel comfortable, it’s also that I’m not interested.
      “I haven’t seen or followed the European Championships or the World Cups, it doesn’t have much sense.”
      Although he opted to play for Catalonia over SpainCredit: Getty
      And he was aware of the impact his views had on people’s opinion of him.
      He added: “When you’re in the thick of it, some picked me up as an icon because of what I said and some hated me.
      “I was always quite aware of that.”
      In his youth, he was considered to be quite rebellious as he attended protests in Barcelona and Amsterdam.
      When promoting his 2006 book Camí d’Itaca, he said of his political escapades: “I know that everything I say can have a lot of repercussion, but in what sense? Controversy, newspaper articles, radio comments, conversations… and will something change?
      “Even knowing that it will not change immediately, you have to get wet, because indifference is equivalent to giving up.
      “And we have to dream, whatever the cost, because it is the only way to get closer, even if it is with the slow passage of time, to the utopia. We have to be optimistic. Ithaca is not that far away.”
      But now Oleguer is more focused on battling against the commercialisation of the sport he was once at the top of.
      Oleguer is now more known for his politics than his footballing careerCredit: Reuters
      He told VilaWeb: “For years, football has been a business, a spectacle, focused on making economic profits.
      “Fans are no longer fans, they are spectators. Members are no longer members, they are consumers of the club.
      “Everything revolves around money.”
      The former Barcelona star also runs a football project that aims to take away the competitive nature out of football.
      He said at a Tedx event in Tarragona: “I thought training football was the way to go.
      “But I didn’t like the things I saw in traditional training football.
      “In this sense, the project was an opportunity to, from a passionate point of view, hold training sessions where learning was not solely football-related in order to seek the sporting excellence that is usually sought, but with vital learning and where the football aspect was not central.
      “I realised that grassroots football is very focused on performance and from my point of view there are human situations that I don’t like and that make me feel uncomfortable.”
      He now helps a football project that aims to take away the competitive edge of the gameCredit: Getty
      At the project, people get to enjoy the beautiful game without being sucked into the competitive side of football.
      Speaking to Marca, he said: “It has been good for us not having competition for this moment of joint learning that aims to change the most competitive and individualistic dynamics.
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      “If we had started in a competition without doing any previous work, it would have been more difficult to explain to them that the result is not important and that we all have to play together.
      “We live in an unjust society, and I try to do what I do to put an end to inequalities.” More

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      Chelsea ‘ready to make Gavi one of Premier League’s highest earners’ after positive transfer talks with Barcelona star

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      CHELSEA are reportedly prepared to make Gavi one of the top earners in the Premier League.The Spaniard is set to make a decision over his future and whether it lies in Barcelona or away from the club.
      Chelsea reportedly want to sign Barcelona star GaviCredit: Reuters
      Gavi, 18, is one of the most sought-after talents in Europe after breaking into the Catalonian giants’ first team.
      Chelsea are willing to do whatever it takes to get him to Stamford Bridge, with AS claiming that the club will “break the bank” to sign him.
      The outlet also suggested that the player’s representatives have been in talks with the London club and co-owner Todd Boehly and that it has yielded positive results.
      The report does say that Gavi has always preferred the idea of staying at Barcelona, which means the Blues will have to change his mind.
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      He only recently signed a new contract at the Nou Camp, keeping him at the club until 2026.
      However, the Catalan giants are unable to register him as a first-team player due to financial problems.
      If the issue is not resolved then the midfielder could leave on a free transfer at the end of the season as his contract will be void.
      For Gavi to stay at the club, he would have to either reduce his wage demands or players will have to be sold to make room in the wage budget.
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      This season the Spanish international has featured 27 times in LaLiga, scoring one goal and assisting three more.
      He also starred at the World Cup and became the youngest goalscorer at the tournament for Spain with his effort against Costa Rica. More