LA LIGA NEWS

Barca: Eto'o, Ronaldinho, Deco are surplus to requirements

MADRID, June 17 (Reuters/Yahoo) - Ronaldinho, Deco and Samuel Eto’o do not feature in Pep Guardiola’s plans at Barcelona, the Primera Liga club’s new coach said on Tuesday.

"We are putting a team together and they aren’t in our thoughts but we’ll see what happens," Guardiola said at his official presentation.

"This comes from analysing questions of performance, seasons they have had in the team, and other intangibles."

The 37-year-old former Spain and Barca midfielder has signed a two-year contract with the club, replacing Frank Rijkaard who was sacked at the end of last season.

After two years without silverware, and a disappointing third-place finish last season, an overhaul was always on the cards.

Brazil forward Ronaldinho, 28, who shone for the club when they won back-to-back league titles and a European Cup in 2006, suffered a string of injury and fitness problems last year and started only 13 of 38 league matches.

He has been courted by Manchester City and AC Milan.

"If it was felt Ronaldinho wanted to return to be the player he was, he would be here," Guardiola said. "But there has been a deterioration in the situation and I want to forge a strong dressing room."

Like Ronaldinho, Portugal midfielder Deco, 30, who joined from Porto in 2004, has struggled to recapture his early form at Barca and has been linked with Chelsea and Inter Milan.

Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o’, 27, has been their first-choice striker since 2004 but has missed a large part of the last two seasons through injury. His outspoken approach saw him have run-ins with team mates and Rijkaard.

"We are looking for a number nine who will complement Thierry Henry and Bojan Krkic, so that the three will all feel like first choices." Guardiola said.

Complete Story


Eto'o and Ronaldinho won't be celebrating together again



SCOREBOARD 



Osasuna 0-0 Barcelona 
Athletic 1-1 Zaragoza 
Racing 1-0 Levante 
Murcia 1-1 Atlético 
Mallorca 0-1 Villarreal 
R Madrid 3-1 Almería 
Valencia 2-1 Valladolid 
Deportivo 1-0 Betis 
Espanyol 1-0 Getafe 
Sevilla 4-1 Recreativo

Standings TD WIDTH="500" COLSPAN="2" ALIGN="CENTER">
Club Pld Pts W D L F A
Real Madrid 3 9 3 0 0 10 2
Sevilla 2 6 2 0 0 8 2
Valencia 3 6 2 0 1 4 5
Villarreal 3 6 2 0 1 4 5
Barcelona 3 5 1 2 0 3 1
Real Murcia 3 5 1 2 0 3 2
Racing Santander 3 5 1 2 0 2 1
Mallorca 3 4 1 1 1 4 2
Valladolid 3 4 1 1 1 4 4
Espanyol 3 4 1 1 1 3 3
Deportivo 3 4 1 1 1 3 5
Almería 3 3 1 0 2 5 5
Osasuna 2 2 0 2 0 0 0
Atlético Madrid 3 2 0 2 1 3 4
Betis 3 2 0 2 1 3 4
Zaragoza 3 2 0 2 1 3 4
Athletic Bilbao 3 2 0 2 1 2 4
Recreativo 3 2 0 2 1 3 6
Getafe 3 1 0 1 2 2 6
Levante 3 1 0 1 2 0 4
Courtesy: Soccer Spain Key: Green-Champions League, Blue-UEFA, Red-Relegation

Back to Preceeding Page


Free Website Templates