BARCELONA // Performing well on the pitch will help Barcelona put their current institutional problems behind them, coach Gerardo Martino said on Saturday.
Sandro Rosell stepped down as Barcelona president on Thursday after being named in a lawsuit filed by a club member seeking more information about last year’s signing of Brazil forward Neymar.
Rosell, who denies wrongdoing, is being investigated by a Spanish court for alleged misappropriation of funds in a complex deal for the player worth almost €90 million (Dh452 million), including a series of payments to Neymar’s family.
Barcelona had refused to reveal details of the contracts, but Neymar’s father waived a confidentiality agreement on Friday and new president Josep Bartomeu published a breakdown of the deal.
Martino told a news conference previewing Sunday’s Primera Liga game at home to Malaga that he did not feel his position had been weakened by Rosell’s exit.
The controversy surrounding Neymar’s move from Santos would not affect the player on the pitch, he said. “It’s not the kind of situation we want to be in,” Martino said.
“The players are sad, but they know the best way forward is to do things well in footballing terms,” added the Argentine, who is in his first season in charge after taking over from the ailing Tito Vilanova.
“The dressing room seems in good shape. They are enjoying life at Barca and they need to win like every year and respect the club’s playing style in winning trophies.”
As well as Neymar, who turned an ankle in a Copa del Rey game on January 16 and is expected to be out until the middle of February, Martino will be without Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Martin Montoya and Alex Song for Malaga’s visit to Camp Nou.
Iniesta has not recovered from a bruised knee, while Puyol suffered a knock to his left leg in Wednesday’s 4-1 Cup win at Levante, Barcelona said on their website. Song and Montoya have calf and Achilles’ tendon problems, respectively, and have been rested as a precaution, they added.
There was better news for Martino on the club’s Dutch winger Ibrahim Afellay, who was declared fit this week after a struggle with several injuries in the past two years and was included in the squad for Sunday.
Barcelona are level in second on 51 points with Atletico Madrid, who play at struggling Rayo Vallecano today, with 18 matches left. Real Madrid took top spot in the league, if only temporarily, with a 2-0 victory over Grenada on Saturday. Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema found the net for Madrid.
Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola, the Bayern Munich manager, has recommended his old club should snap up German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen as a replacement for Victor Valdes.
Guardiola is a fan of Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 21-year-old keeper and has said Barca should sign him at the end of the season, when Valdes’s contract expires.
“Ter Stegen is one of the best goalkeepers in the world,” Guardiola said. “He is very good with his feet and if Barcelona sign him, I could only congratulate them.”
World Cup
Falcao could still play in Brazil
Radamel Falcao could recover in time for the World Cup in June after the Colombia striker underwent knee surgery on Saturday.
Jose Carlos Noronha, the Portuguese doctor who performed the operation, said “it’s not out of the question” and gave him a better than 50 per cent chance. “It went well,” he said. “The light at the end of the tunnel isn’t small.”
Falcao, 27, tore ligaments in his left knee while playing for Monaco in the French Cup on Wednesday.
England
West Ham sign Italian duo on loan
English Premier League strugglers West Ham United have signed AC Milan midfielder Antonio Nocerino and Roma striker Marco Borriello on loan until the end of the season.
Nocerino, 28, has 15 caps for Italy and played at Euro 2012. Seven-cap Borriello, 31, is a striker with close to a 100 career goals to his name, at the likes of Milan, Juventus and Roma.
Germany
Bender boys bring double trouble
Twins Lars and Sven Bender achieved a milestone in their parallel careers after scoring within a minute of each other as the Bundesliga restarted after its mid-season break.
Lars scored in the fourth minute of Leverkusen’s 3-2 loss at Freiburg, while Sven hit a fifth-minute opener then an own goal as Borussia Dortmund drew 2-2 at home to Augsburg.
France
Alex salvages point for PSG
Paris Saint-Germain were set for a rare loss before Alex scored three minutes from time to seal a 1-1 draw at Guingamp, who had gone ahead through Mustapha Yatabare.
Elsewhere, the Toulouse-Bastia match was called off due to the rising Garonne river. Toulouse’s stadium is on an island and the city has banned access to the island while the river rises.
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