SAUL SAYS NO ONE IS BIGGER THAN CLUB

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Atletico Madrid star Saul Niguez has declared that no player was bigger than the club in the wake of a likely transfer of teammate Antoine Griezmann to Manchester United.


The deal between Old Trafford and Vicente Calderon for the French star is widely tipped to happen this summer as the Red Devils seek a top striker.

With other established acts deeply buried in their clubs, Griezmann is United’s best chance. He scored 26 goals in all competitions this term, helping Atletico to a third place finish in the league and a last four finish in the Champions League.

Saul belives the 26-year old is not indispensable to their success if he wants to leave this summer. The player said Griezmann could “manage his future as he wishes.” He said the team was hoping he would join them in the pre-season but that if he leaves, there are other capable hands like Fernando Torres, Kevin Gameiro, Angel Correa and Yannick Carrasco.

He admitted that Griezmann was top quality but added that “most importantly no one player is above the club.” Continue reading “SAUL SAYS NO ONE IS BIGGER THAN CLUB” →

Diego Simeone Happy with Win over Real Sociedad

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Atletico Madrid maintained push for a top three finish in the La Liga after managing a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad during the weekend.


The win came as a result of defender Filipe Luis scoring the only goal of the game in the 28th minute. This was Atletico’s fifth consecutive win in the league and they have been able to take advantage Sevilla’s poor form in recent weeks. However, the game could have been far more comfortable had it not been for Fernando Torres missing some easy chances in front of goal. The former Chelsea and Liverpool striker has lost his goal scoring touch.

Yet, manager Diego Simeone prefers to play the striker due to his incredible work rate and the absence of Kevin Gameiro. The latter has not featured in the last few matches due to injury. Continue reading “Diego Simeone Happy with Win over Real Sociedad” →

GERRARD LAUDS KANE-ALLI PARTNERSHIP

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Liverpool legend Steven Garrard has lauded the partnership between Tottenham Hotspur and England pair Harry Kane and Dele Alli.


The Reds legend likened the combination of the duo to that of Fernando Torres and him when they both featured for Liverpool.

Gerrard said it took him 26 years to find a perfect partner in Torres at Anfield in 2007. Their partnership was highly rewarding with the pair helping the club to second place in the 2008/09 season. Gerrard seems to hold their combination in high regard and has added that Dele Alli may have found his Torres in his link-up play with Kane.

The duo seems very at ease with each other with both players seemingly comfortable with the rewards of their play. Kane earlier said they both have “a great understanding.”

“Dele’s a great player. As a striker, when you make the runs, if you’ve got a player who can get on the half turn and play it forward quickly, it’s perfect,” Kane said of his partner last year when their combination started stirring interests. Continue reading “GERRARD LAUDS KANE-ALLI PARTNERSHIP” →

GERRARD GETS MORE TRIBUTES FROM EX-REDS PLAYERS

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Steven Gerrard has received many tributes following his retirement from football.


Yet the tributes seem not to be ending soon for a legend that played for almost two decades. The 36-year old announced his retirement after his side Los Angeles Galaxy were knocked out of the MLS play-offs. On social media, fans and former teammates sent in their tributes to the former Three Lions and Reds skipper.

Xabi Alonso, a former Liverpool midfielder, shared a picture of the player with the famous 2005 Champions League trophy. The Bayern Munich star added the caption: “The Legend Forever” to the picture shared on his Twitter handle.
La Liga highest goal scorer last term Luis Suarez, who used to play for Liverpool prior to his move to Spain, took to his Twitter handle to share his tribute.

“To a captain. To a team mate. To a friend. I got to Liverpool, a historic club, coming from another historic club. And amongst my team mate, Steven Gerrard. A model at the club, in the Premier League and outside the Championship as well. He shrunk the field on defence, was a great shooter and a great goalscorer and was a very skilled passer. A unique player indeed,” Suarez wrote.

Suarez added that Gerrard was “a true leader”, “a natural winner and an ambitious player.” Suarez’s tribute was touching as the Uruguay international shared details of how Gerrard helped him during his trying times at Anfield.

Fernando Torres joined in, sharing a picture of Gerrard and him celebrating. The Atletico Madrid player shared on Instagram: “The best player I’ve seen on a football pitch and the best player I’ve play (sic) with. Thank you for everything @ stevengerrard , the memories I have playing together wil last forever as the best memories of my career. You will always be the #gr8est. All the best mate.”

Other stars like Jamie Carragher, Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill, John Terry, John Arse Riise and a host of others sent in their tributes even as the next step for the player remain private.

TORRES EXPECTS A MAGICAL YEAR FOR ATLETICO MADRID

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Fernando Torres believes Atletico Madrid can turn their final season at the Vicente Calderon “magical” after their Champions League victory over German Bundesliga defending Champions, Bayern Munich on Wednesday.


Yannick Ferreira Carrasco’s lone goal of the game in the first half, led his team to a victorious end as Diego Simeone’s side took charge of Group D with a repeat of the result they earned in the first leg of last season’s semi-final clash.

Atletico are prepared to move into a new stadium for the 2017-18 campaign, as Fernando Torres is eager to mark the last year at their famous home by challenging the team to reach a second Champions League final with success.

“We’re very happy with the result, it’s what we needed, we knew we had to win Munich because it’s a tough group and we didn’t want to go to Munich on the last day of the group stage to try to qualify,” he told Fox Sports. Continue reading “TORRES EXPECTS A MAGICAL YEAR FOR ATLETICO MADRID” →

Diego Simeone Wants Calm after Second Consecutive Draw

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Diego Simeone has requested his Atletico Madrid players to remain calm after the second consecutive draw at the start of the new La Liga season.


Following a 1-1 draw in the opening game of the season against Deportivo Alavés, the club only returned with a point from the trip to face Leganés. Club legend Fernando Torres missed a great opportunity to give the away team three points, which would also have marked their first win of the season. As it is, Atletico Madrid are still searching for a first victory of the campaign and they are already four points behind rivals Real Madrid.

The club’s lack of attacking power has been highlighted in recent years following the departure of Diego Costa for £32 million. Atletico have been very keen on bringing the Spaniard back to the Vicente Calderon, but Chelsea blocked any possible move after failing to get Romelu Lukaku from Everton. Even though there were signs of Torres returning to form towards the end of last season, his form seems to have nosedived once again. The game against Leganés was the second appearance from the bench for the striker, but he was only brought in for the last 30 minutes.
Continue reading “Diego Simeone Wants Calm after Second Consecutive Draw” →

NEW LIVERPOOL SIGNING WIJNALDUM STILL CHERISHES FERNANDO TORRES

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Liverpool latest signing Georginio Wijnaldum says he still cherishes Fernando Torres and has held on to the shirt of the player even after so many years.

The player made the revelation recently after signing to play for the club ahead of the coming season. He becomes the seventh signing of coach Jurgen Klopp as he refurbishes the team to face the fierce competition in the Premier League.

Far back in 2007, the new signing was a 16-year old trying to find his feet at Feyenoord. He was an unused substitute when they played against Liverpool with Fernando Torres in his prime. The game turned brutal when the referee blew the whistle for the game to be over after the stalemate of 1-1 was not broken in regular time. It was a pre season friendly and the former Newcastle player got the shirt of the former Kop hero in the midst of the chaos. Continue reading “NEW LIVERPOOL SIGNING WIJNALDUM STILL CHERISHES FERNANDO TORRES” →

SIMEONE WANTS CONSISTENCY

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Diego Simeone has revealed that he has denied big transfer fees for a number of his boys as he doesn’t want to break the core-group he has built.

Simeone also admitted his mistake of making an emotional statement last month that he was going to have a look at the future options.

According to Simeone, he was just being emotional and not being ambitious while he said so.

Simeone’s added everything to his CV at Atletico apart from the European Cup which he has missed out at twice including last May and the disappointment of that was perhaps too much to keep inside.

Talking to Argentinean media, Simeone said, “Well, it was probably the emotions of that particular moment. I would put it down to that. You must always have the defeats in your memory because that’s what helps you put in that extra inch in the future preparations.”

“I can’t see any side in the world, apart from two-three sides which are blessed with better resources, to be as good as us. For us, improvement is a regular going process which will never stop.”

“We are very, very keen on making sure that we are always stronger than the past. There have been big-cash offers for the sale of many of the boys, but, we don’t mind taking a bit of a financial load so that the team’s core-group doesn’t get broken and all the vital people stay.”

One of the vital people at the moment for Atletico is Antoine Griezmann and they have done well to get him to ink an extension a couple of days back.

The Frenchman has been a hot property for the past 12 months and the Euro has not diminished his image a single bit.

Fernando Torres has thanked his former boss Rafa Benitez

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Fernando Torres has thanked his former boss Rafa Benitez for helping him achieve a great level in his career.

There were several doubters about Torres’ ability as a striker when he was at Atletico Madrid. After all, the striker did not average even a goal every other game during his time at the Spanish club. However, Benitez put his faith on the youngster and signed him from Atletico for around £ 20 million in 2007. Torres went on to become one of the greatest strikers to have played for Liverpool in a short period of four years.

The striker went on to join clubs like Chelsea and AC Milan before now returning to Atletico – the place where he started his career. Torres still remains confident of reclaiming the glory days despite not having scored freely enough in the last six years. Ever since the 2010 World Cup, he has struggled with lack of form and fitness. Diego Simeone appeared to have briefly revived his form when he joined from Milan on an 18-month loan spell. However, that form has deserted him and Torres finds himself with just four goals in 28 appearances this season even though most of them have come as a substitute. Continue reading “Fernando Torres has thanked his former boss Rafa Benitez” →

There’s no decision being made by Atletico management as yet regarding Fernando Torres

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There’s no decision being made by Atletico management as yet regarding Fernando Torres.

Torres is presently at Vicente Calderon on loan and is quite keen to continue, but, because of his patchy form, it’s not certain whether the club would want to extend its association with the star player.

Torres has struggled on his comeback to Atletico as he has been able to net just 5 times in 35 games in La Liga.

The Atletico chairman, Mr. Cerezo, had very nice things to say when he talked about Torres in an interview last month, but, he refused to assure anything as far as the striker’s stay is concerned.

In the words of Cerezo, “Fernando’s one of the most loved players at our club and that love would always remain there.”

“We’ll sit and talk once the loan expires. The manager has to make the call. Fernando is very, very popular and that’s surely a bit of an advantage for him.”

Cerezo also completely rubbished the speculations that the position of Diego Simeone is under the pump after the unhappiness of the supporters over some of his recent substitutions including the one in the Sporting Gijon game which even resulted in the boos. Continue reading “There’s no decision being made by Atletico management as yet regarding Fernando Torres” →