The Footy Section

Pepe Reina: "You cannot say NO to Barcelona." Luis Suarez: "It will be difficult to say No to a club like Real Madrid." Coutinho: "It will be a dream come true to join Barcelona" Daniel Agger: "I can say NO to just about any club in the world as long as Liverpool Football Club wants me to stay." Daniel Agger 👊🔴

Memphis Depay: "South America has everything to become the centre of football, just look at the last Club World Cup for example, where teams went quite far. Mainly the Brazilian and Argentine leagues should focus on strengthening themselves, not sending players to Europe. In Europe they limit beautiful football too much, the dribble, imagination, creativity, they're very robotic, by the book. "Maybe Europe has a bigger budget, but the spectacle over there is becoming very boring."

Saint-Etienne will beat Nice tomorrow in their fight to get to Ligue 1 🇫🇷🤞

JULIAN DRAXLER ON LIFE IN QATAR: “I can live a totally normal life here… Since I started at Schalke at 17, I was immediately in the public eye with no pause. Suddenly I couldn’t walk down the street without being noticed. People constantly approached me or filmed me without asking. After the 2014 World Cup, and especially in Paris, I got used to pulling a cap low over my face and avoiding eye contact so I wouldn’t stand out.” “Here in Qatar, I’m recognised far less. And even when people do recognise me, they rarely interrupt me when I’m eating with my family or walking through the mall.”

Marco Reus in 2014: “I wish Lewandowski and Götze good luck, but Bayern Munich will never have me. Money is not everything.” He is the only player with more than 150 goals and 100 assists while wearing the Dortmund badge. He is also the second-highest scorer in the club’s entire history. Massive respect.

Tottenham will stay up today COYS

🗣️ COLE PALMER: "Since I was little, I used to imitate Messi and told my friend to record me so I could watch myself. But if I were to imitate one thing about him, it would be his humility. That’s what I admire most about him. His feet do the talking and make everyone say, 'Messi, yeah, he’s the best of them all.'"

Real Madrid to end the season strong with a win against Bilbao tonight 🤞

Barca should be in the UCL final really. Easy win for them tomorrow 🇪🇸

Ángel Di María: “I did everything to stay at Real Madrid but James Rodríguez had arrived. I didn’t want to leave. It was said that I wanted to earn the same as Cristiano, but that was a lie. How am I going to expect to be paid the same as someone who won several Ballon d’Ors? I was very happy, I had won the Champions League and Ancelotti didn’t want me to leave either.”

A former Manchester City assistant on the big mistake they made involving Barcelona: "We were looking for a big-name player, targeting guys like Dimitar Berbatov, Robinho, and Franck Ribéry. We had 30 million euros, sending offers across Europe. "We were casting a bait, so to speak, to see who would bite. Then, in a board meeting, we suddenly saw an internet news post where Joan Laporta said: 'Who the hell does Manchester City think they are? Are they mocking us?' "What happened was that we accidentally sent a £35 million offer for Messi to Barcelona. At that moment, things got complicated, and even the president came in and said, 'Do you really think you can buy Lionel Messi from us?' And Laporta was furious."

Unai Emery on a funny exchange with Lionel Messi after a match: "Messi, I know I can't buy you, but do you have a brother who plays like you? Bring him for me, please." Messi smiled and replied: "My brothers don't play football; if I bring one, you'll feel like you're missing a player." Emery shot back: "It doesn't matter — when players see 'Messi' on the shirt, they'll be scared." Emery later admitted it was always his dream to coach Messi, but the opportunity never came. He added that every manager lucky enough to have worked with the best player in the world carries that privilege with them forever.

DIEGO COSTA: "I was terrified to death. I kept thinking while holding onto these chains: What if the wolf decides to jump on me? The trainer kept calling them and asking them to move, but they didn’t respond. At that moment, I thought: If they don’t follow the trainer’s commands, what will they do with me? When the wolves came and started sniffing my feet, I thought I was done for. I was scared because they were wolves, not dogs. It was an interesting experience, but not comfortable. I have five dogs, but not wolves."

Florentino Pérez: "People think that selling players is the right thing to do, but no, that's not it; it's quite the opposite. I joined Madrid in 2000, and there was a significant lack of funds. So, what we needed to do was invest more, more. "Because when a club is in ruins, no bank or anyone else will help you. I provided the help; in my first term, I supported the club with my guarantees so that we could invest, bringing in players like Figo, Ronaldo, Zidane, and Beckham. "We grew from 100% to 300%. Instead of losing thirty, we gained thirty. That's what it's about: a sports club needs to be managed like a business. "Here, the assets are NOT machines; in this club, they are the players. It's the business model I've always used, and it works; it's studied in 150 universities."

What a Schalke team this was... Featuring Raúl, Farfán, Neuer, Rakitic, Huntelaar

THIAGO SILVA: “One day during training, Gattuso spent the entire morning bothering Zlatan. He didn’t seem to react to the provocations and didn’t say anything to Gennaro. Later, they met again in the locker room and Ibra picked him up, flipped him over, and stuck him headfirst into a trash bin. It was crazy — the whole team started laughing at the look on Gattuso’s face when he came out of the bin. I swear, I couldn’t stop laughing for a week.”

KHEDIRA: “One time, Federico Chiesa was walking toward the gym with his phone in his hand, so Cristiano looked at him and said: ‘What are you doing? Where are you going, Fede?’ He replied: ‘I’m going to the gym.’ Then Cristiano told him: ‘With your phone? Listen to me, you don’t need your phone. Go to the gym and work, don’t scroll on Instagram or TikTok, focus on your work.’ Fede’s reaction was: ‘Oh... okay, okay, I’ll go without my phone.’”

This is the Unai Emery Cup: SeVILLA 🏆🏆🏆 VILLAreal 🏆 Aston VILLA 🏆 👏👏

Aston Villa about to do something Arsenal can’t… win a European trophy 🏆

A father and son were flying home to Spain after watching Liverpool at Anfield. While boarding the plane, the son tugged at his dad's sleeve. "Dad, I think that's Fernando Torres!" The dad laughed it off. A star like Torres on EasyJet? Not a chance. Then the boy pointed directly at the seat. The dad looked. It was El Niño. He approached Torres for an autograph. Torres did not just sign something, he got up, spoke kindly to the boy, and promised they would take a photo together once they landed, as photos were not allowed on board. Torres was travelling to link up with the Spain national team. A car was waiting for him at the airport. Time was not on his side. When the plane landed, the father and son got caught up searching for a lost bag, the one with their camera inside. After more than 20 minutes, the dad turned to his son and said quietly: "We can't expect someone like Torres to wait this long." They went to the meeting spot anyway, just in case. He was still there. Standing. Waiting. Just as he had promised. Class act.