Author: Javier Martinez

Javier Martinez is a seasoned veteran of football coverage and an expert on Spanish football. He has been covering world football for more than seven years with bylines at outlets such as The 18 and The Real Champs.
Barcelona’s biggest non-referee controversies in LaLiga
23Mar By Javier MartinezNo Comments
Features, LaLiga

Barcelona’s biggest non-referee controversies in LaLiga

The saga of Barcelona's payments to a company owned by former referees committee vice president, José María Enríquez Negreira, continues as more information reveals the extent of the club's association with Negreira. Although the prosecutor’s office is only investigating the payments between 2016 and 2018, Barcelona’s involvement with Negreira goes back as far as 2001 with total payments from the club reaching €7 million. It's also been revealed that the Blaugranas quadrupled the payments to Negreira in 2009 under the presidency of Joan Laporta. It will now need to be seen whether Barcelona face any serious punishment. However, the suspicion that has constantly surrounded Barcelona about receiving beneficial treatment has magnified and brought up many controversial moments that have inv...
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Why Mauricio Pochettino should not return to Tottenham
12Mar By Javier MartinezNo Comments
Features, Premier League

Why Mauricio Pochettino should not return to Tottenham

Tottenham's season under Antonio Conte hasn't been going as many had originally expected. The Italian came in the middle of the 2021/2022 season and changed the team's fortunes by qualifying for the Champions League ahead of arch-rivals Arsenal; a competition that the club had not qualified for since 2019. After sticking with Conte, there was a sense that Spurs could not only win that long-awaited trophy, but also be outside challengers for the Premier League title. However, those Premier League chances quickly evaporated and so have their hopes of winning a trophy. Domestically, they were eliminated by Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup and then by Sheffield United in the FA Cup. Meanwhile, they were eliminated in the Round of 16 stages of the Champions League by AC Milan who (despite th...
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Explaining the Barcelona referee scandal and what could be next
21Feb By Javier MartinezNo Comments
LaLiga

Explaining the Barcelona referee scandal and what could be next

Barcelona have been involved in numerous scandals and controversies in past years. Going to court on two separate occasions over lawsuits that arose from the signing of Neymar. Neymar himself suing Barcelona for unpaid bonuses, with the club then counter-suing for breach of contract. The previous board under Josep Maria Bartomeu's presidency were said to have hired several companies and paid some journalists to discredit Barcelona players while favoring the board. Something which led to Bartomeu's resignation. However, the latest scandal could not only have serious consequences for Joan Laporta's presidency, but the whole club as well. As reported by Cadena SER Catalunya, Barcelona paid a total of €1.4 million (£1.2m; $1.3m) to a company that belonged to then-referees committ...
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Explaining Sevilla’s Decline
6Feb By Javier MartinezNo Comments
Features, LaLiga

Explaining Sevilla’s Decline

It’s remarkable how drastically Sevilla has changed in only a year. Last season, Sevilla were seen as outside title contenders to win LaLiga. Now, the six-time UEFA/Europa League winners are currently fighting to stave off relegation. Julen Lopetegui, who won them their last Europa League title and qualified 3 consecutive seasons for the Champions League, was sacked midseason and replaced by Jorge Sampaoli. Sampaoli has not made much of a difference since taking over and the team is still in the realms of the relegation battle, which is making Sevilla fans even more on edge. If that wasn't bad enough, their cross-city rivals (Real Betis) are battling to get into the Champions League and won the Copa del Rey last season. It's hard times for Sevilla, but how did a side competing for the lea...
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Explaining why LaLiga is in decline
19Dec By Javier MartinezNo Comments
Features, LaLiga

Explaining why LaLiga is in decline

LaLiga is in serious decline and all you have to do is tune in to a game to see why. The quality of play is subpar, the stadiums are partially empty, and many teams are in financial turmoil. Worst of all, the league is struggling on the continental level as we saw in this season's Champions League where three of the four LaLiga sides failed to even get out of the group stage. Sevilla: Didn't even compete in their group. Atletico Madrid: Finished last in a group that included Porto, Bayer Leverkusen, and Club Brugge. Barcelona: Knocked out for the second consecutive season in the group stage. If that wasn't bad enough, LaLiga continues to get weaker every season as its best players and managers leave to sign for the lucrative Premier League; many of which are not even signing ...
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Real Madrid’s 2022/2023 squad is capable of defending LaLiga and Champions League titles
10Oct By Javier MartinezNo Comments
Features, LaLiga

Real Madrid’s 2022/2023 squad is capable of defending LaLiga and Champions League titles

After a stellar 2021/2022 campaign that saw Real Madrid win LaLiga and the Champions League, the ‘Merengues’ are looking to defend both titles as the 2022/2023 campaign begins to take shape. Despite their success, there were still areas where the team had issues with last season and needed to strengthen in the transfer window. Real Madrid's defense has a new look The most obvious was the defense where they struggled a lot on set plays and whenever any of the regular starters were missing. That need has now been filled with the signing of Antonio Rüdiger, who joined on a free transfer and will provide the necessary height and depth the team was missing. Additionally, it would allow Real Madrid to play in different formations, such as switching to playing with three defenders. What stil...
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