La Liga News

By Monica Villar, News Editor, La Liga News 

“Deportivo are going through a rough time” this is possibly the biggest understatement I’ve heard in a long time. Deportivo la Coruña are in big trouble. They are paying for the excesses of the Súper Depor and Euro Depor eras.

The Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) has come out saying they support Deportivo’s delicate situation, but where is their support when they distribute TV rights? Where is their support when teams like Valencia – a team that in recent years has finished 3^rd in La Liga - is earning the same as Wigan in the Premier League?

Everyone is giving Deportivo’s President Augusto César Lendoiro a hard time, I’m not defending him nor am I going to slag him off. Thanks to Lendoiro, Deportivo became what it became.  As Lendoiro said in a press conference he gave last Tuesday “Before, we were known as el Coruña, in Spain we were called el Coruña, now we are Deportivo , not only in Spain but in the whole world”. This is a great achievement; don’t forget that the city of A Coruña is a city of around 300,000 people, to have had that city’s team play in Champions League is remarkable.

The reason behind Lendoiro arranging a press conference was because he claims there are vast differences between the reports done by the people in charge of administration and the reports of the club. Here are just a few:

-          A debt with Santa Monica Sports, they appear as creditors, when they actually owe Deportivo a few million euros.

-          Their report states that Deportivo are in debt to Betis, when in fact it’s Betis that owe Deportivo money for Rubén Castro, the report also states that there is a debt with De Guzmán, there isn’t.

-          The administrator’s report values Riazor at 0€ Lendoiro says “We have invested a lot of money in the stadium, for example VIP boxes, the gym and the Deportienda (A Deportivo shop).

-          The value of players that finish their contracts this year, the report values them at nothing when they have to value them in this moment in time, they haven’t taken into consideration that some of the players will renew with Deportivo.

These are just a few of the discrepancies that exist. Lendoiro also attacks the administrators, as he believes many of these differences could be resolved by sitting down together and discussing them. He says they only argue by letters, he jokingly said “We [Board of directors and administrators] are like two people in love that don’t get along”.

When talking to people about Lendoiro, the most common comment I hear is “He’s a thief, he pockets 1% of the total revenue Deportivo make” To this I usually respond “He bought the club, made it what it is”. But just two days ago I learnt that the reason he does this is because in November of 1999, Section 30 of the Club’s Constitution was changed – after being approved by 97% of all shareholders – to “the position of President of the board of directors will not be compatible with any other paid activity, dedicating themselves exclusively to the club. As compensation, the president will receive 1% of the annual budget approved by the board”.

Deportivo might be paying for the 67 year old president’s past wrongdoings. Before he became president of Deportivo, he had a career in politics, making a few enemies along the way; one of the enemies is newspaper “La Voz de Galicia” that keeps hinting at Deportivo’s dissapearence. Lendoiro hit back at them in the press conference saying “Deportivo has viability, whether La Voz de Galicia like it or not”.

As a Dépor supporter, it hurts to see my club in this situation. Every time I hear Lendoiro speak, it reassures me that everything isn’t as bad as it seems. The owner of Zara, Amancio Ortega, apparently once said he would buy the club, as long as Lendoiro gives up the presidency. Is it right for Lendoiro to be this selfish? Is it right for supporters to want to kick him out when things are bad? Because at the end of the day, without Lendoiro Deportivo wouldn’t have won that League, two  Copas del Rey (One of them the famous 'Centenariazo' against Real Madrid), three Super Cups, those great Champions League nights and many other things that make Deportivo a much loved club not only in Coruña or Spain, but in the rest of the world.

By Gareth Messenger 

Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala has revealed it is willing to break the bank in order to secure the services of Victor Valdes next season.

Valdes, who is set to leave Barcelona in the summer, has been courted by a host of top European sides with Arsenal and Bayern Munich the current favourites to sign the 31-year-old.

However, Anzhi have declared an interest in the Barca stopper and want to make him the world's highest-paid keeper with the club prepared to pay Valdés €10m per season, an amount that could increase to €12m based on bonuses.

A move by the Russian club, currently managed by Guus Hiddink, would reportedly fend off interest from the likes of Arsenal who will not want to enter a bidding war with one of the world's richest clubs.

If Valdes was to move to Anzhi, he would link up with former Barcelona teammate and current Anzhi captain, Samuel Eto'o.

 By Graham Owen

“He only looks good because of the players around him.” “He doesn’t do anything.” “He only passes it sideways and backwards.”

 Mar 29, 2013 @ 16:47

It promises to be a special occasion for FC Barcelona’s Jose Manuel Pinto on Saturday as the Andalusian goalkeeper returns to face his former club Celta de Vigo.

The 37-year-old made a total of 181 appearances between the posts for Os Celestes during a ten-year tenure which stretched from 1998-2008 before moving to Camp Nou.

Pinto was part of the Celta sides which progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League in the 2003-04 season and won the Intertoto Cup in 2000.

The Cadiz-born shot-stopper also claimed the Ricardo Zamora Trophy in a Celta shirt for having the lowest goals-to-games ratio in La Liga during the 2005-06 campaign.

Victor Valdes, surrounded in speculation regarding a move away from Catalonia, is suspended for Saturday’s clash, handing Pinto a starting place.

It is also Barca’s first visit to Vigo for a league encounter since 2006, Pinto was the Celta keeper as Barcelona won 3-2, a late Eidur Gudjohnsen strike handing Frank Rijkaard’s team all three points, and Celta were relegated at the end of that season.

Real Zaragoza 1-1 Real Madrid

Zaragoza: Rodri 6′

Madrid: Ronaldo 38′

Real Madrid couldn’t capitalise on Barcelona’s dropped points as they were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw away at struggling Real Zaragoza.

In what wasn’t a particularly entertaining match at La Romareda, the hosts will no doubt be the happier of the two sides as they earned a vital point in their bid to remain in La Liga.

Zaragoza started brightly and they were in front after just six minutes. After Luka Modric lost possession in midfield, the ball fortuitously found its way into the path of Rodri who still had a lot to do, but he finished superbly to give his side a shock early lead.

The visitors found it difficult to get a foothold in the game and they were fortunate not to go further behind 20 minutes in.

A poor clearance from Ronaldo found Rodri, who caused the Madrid defence an abundance of problems in the opening exchanges, but his well-struck drive from distance flew just over the bar.

This seemed to spark life into the away side who had endured an unusually flat start, and they could have equalised shortly after.

Modric floated a dangerous free-kick delivery into the box which caused havoc in the Zaragoza defence, and following a poor punch from ‘keeper Roberto, Pepe’s header was scrambled off the line by Glenn Loovens.

The home side continued to frustrate their star-studded opponents, however Madrid did find a leveller seven minutes before the break.

Pepe’s long ball forward wasn’t dealt with by the Zaragoza backline and after unselfish play from Gonzalo Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo stumbled past a limp challenge before firing a left-footed shot into the bottom corner.

It could have got even better for Jose Mourinho’s men not long after but Michael Essien’s point-blank header was well saved by Roberto, and at the other end Diego Lopez did well to deny a decent effort from Abraham.

In truth, both teams struggled to control the match for much of the second-half, however Madrid could have turned the game on its head three minutes in but Marcelo struck the upright after Ronaldo was denied by the Zaragoza ‘keeper.

What followed was a drab period where neither side fashioned any clear-cut opportunities, although only an excellent stop from Lopez denied Zaragoza a late goal.

Pablo Montanes played an inch-perfect ball to the back post but the Real ‘keeper was equal to a close-range Helder Postiga header.

Both Ronaldo and Marcelo went close in the dying stages, however a dogged defensive display from Manolo Jiminez’s team ensured the points were deservedly shared.