🚨 Diego Simeone on Lamine Yamal after Atlético Madrid eliminated Barcelona on aggregate despite Yamal’s early goal:
“He is a good kid with a lot of talent. He asked for a one-on-one yesterday, he scored in the third minute, and the media wants to crown him the king of Europe. But in football, the only thing that matters is who is in the draw tomorrow morning. The press wants me to be terrified of a teenager because he does stepovers and gives confident interviews. Please. For a decade, I had to stand on the touchline and watch Cristiano Ronaldo score hat-tricks to actually knock my team out of this competition. That is real terror. Lamine played a beautiful game tonight, but the reality is we are going to the semi-finals, and he is going home to watch us on television. There is a big difference between playing a pretty game and being a nightmare.”
🇪🇸🗣️ Spanish journalist Guillem Balague: "Remember the following next time someone tells you La Liga is behind.... La Liga just showed us its 24/25 numbers. A record €5.464 billion in total revenue. A record 17.4 million fans in grounds. €70 million profit before tax. Squad costs held at 70% of income. A league that lives within its means, but also one that is growing as well."
"Here’s what really doesn’t get said enough, although it might not be fully surprising. La Liga leads Europe in academy player market value. €1.46 billion. Ahead of the Premier League. Those players represent 26.6% of LaLiga’s total market value. In England? 9.7%."
"La Liga academy players play nearly 20% of all minutes in the league. In England, 13.5%. This is a league that develops talent, trusts it, and builds on it. 91% of those academy players are Spanish."
"The Premier League is a financial phenomenon. Of course it is, no one is pretending otherwise. But it spends more than double what it earns. Has been doing so for seven years. That should be worrying."
"A league that turns a profit, fills its stadiums, and leads Europe in growing its own? It sounds to me like it is a good way to run football."
"Things to improve: refereeing, VAR, the behaviour of fans (LaLiga has been fighting racism and discrimination, but even more has to be done), the departure of talent, more women involved in decision making at all levels."
✍️ @GuillemBalague
🎙️🇪🇸 Thiago Alcântara: "I have that ‘hate modern football’ mentality... I’m more classic in attitude!
"The No.10 role has almost disappeared. We see less magic, less fantasy. Footballers do more, but faster.
Players are more developed in every sense… the playmaker who was slower, even if he had sublime technique, doesn’t get the opportunity to turn anymore.
There's also VAR. I've always been against it and wish it didn’t exist. It takes the essence of the game away from you!
We make mistakes when we play. Referees must do so too, as they are human. Without trickery, many famous moments in the history of football would not have happened."