There was no surprise or tension because Aitana Bonmatí already arrived at the Ballon d'Or gala as the winner. Nobody had any doubts that the player from FC Barcelona and the Spanish National Team was going to be chosen for her merits, her achievements and, above all, her football.. Talented, competitive, different, the midfielder is the second Spaniard to achieve the highest individual recognition that a footballer can have..

“I'm very proud,” she said, so nervous that she forgot to pick up the trophy.. He had not slept for several days, as he admitted, thinking about not forgetting anything or anyone in his thanks.. “It has been an exceptional year on a personal level but football is a collective sport, so I extend this award to all my teammates, the technical staff and the club's workers,” she began.. Later, personally, he took refuge in Catalan. “I thank the clubs in which I grew up, Ribes, Cubellas and FC Barcelona, my club, represented here by president Joan Laporta. Thank you for betting on us when no one believed. Who was going to tell me when I was a little girl that I was going to play at Camp Nou?. We are a world-renowned club,” said the midfielder.

In the box were his parents, Vicent Conca and Rosa Bonmatí, for whom he also had a message: “You fought to change the order of surnames in Spain. I have struggle and resilience in my blood and I owe it to you,” he admitted before asking for unity in the fight for a “peaceful and equal”.

Calmer, escorted by Novak Djokovic, and without referring to the controversy that has shaken Spanish women's football since August, she spoke only about football. “Being here at the biggest football gala is a dream for me. I am lucky to be able to play for a great club, in the national team, where I have the best players and the best staff that make me better.. We have won three Champions League finals in a row and that says a lot about the mentality we have and that we want to maintain.”

The Ballon d'Or also highlighted the “unique talent” of Spanish football, which has led to the trophy going to Barcelona for the third consecutive year.. “It is true that in recent years we have highlighted the clubs, but we are a country that lives football a lot and we work every day to be the best,” said the player who won the votes of the 60 delegates over the Australian from Chelsea. Sam Ker and his partner Salma Paralluelo.

This young soccer player from San Pere de Ribas has not stopped growing since she received the first setback of her career in August 2018.. In the semi-final of the U-20 World Cup she was sent off for a double yellow card and was unable to play in the match that would make Spain champion.. She couldn't play “with the boots” but she did “with the mistress”, as she acknowledged through tears on the grass.. If his football grew, so did his mentality. She prepared herself physically, working on her right glove but also her left foot to become a perfect ambidextrous player while continuing to demonstrate visual control and an intelligence to anticipate that worked wonders for Pep Guardiola. “She is a player that I am completely in love with because of the way she plays. Aitana Bonmatí is like the Iniesta of women's football,” said the City coach.

“I have no words for these praises. I feel very proud to have been born on the same day as Pep Guardiola, who is an idol. I didn't see him play, but I did live the glorious era of Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Messi, and I hope compare it with your favorite player is extraordinary,” Aitana acknowledged.

When Alexia Putellas broke her cruciate on the eve of the European Championship in England, Aitana had to assume honors in the national team and in FC Barcelona. And not just on the grass. His leadership went beyond. She was one of the '15 rebels' who asked for changes in Spanish women's football after the fiasco in that competition and declared herself unselectable until the World Cup was on the horizon and the RFEF began to visualize changes..

At the World Cup, Aitana shone with her own light after an extraordinary year in which she won everything. With her club she has been champion of the Champions League, which elected her best player and part of the ideal eleven, of the F League and the Spanish Super Cup. Only the Copa del Reina escaped him. UEFA recognized her as the best European player. With the national team she was one of the decisive players for Spain to become World Champion and, for that reason, she won the trophy for the best player.

Aitana Bonmatí succeeds Alexia in the list of winners of this Ballon d'Or and is seen as the perfect future in a club like FC Barcelona, which was also awarded as the best women's club of the year, a trophy collected by Joan Laporta, Jonathan Giráldez and Patricia Guijarro .

Messi and his eighth ball

The photograph of the Ballon d'Or winners was completed together with Aitana Bonmatí Leo Messi. He has been awarded eight times but, this time, he recognized that the merit is for what he did with the Argentine National Team.. “It's a gift for the entire group after what we achieved,” he admitted..

Messi, with his eighth Ballon d'Or. AFP

Messi did not forget Mbappé and Haaland, to whom he almost apologized and warned him that the Ballon d'Or will be his in other editions. But not Diego Maradona either.. It's Monday was your birthday: “Happy birthday. This is for you too. So I share it with him and with all the Argentine people.”.

Haaland, best forward

There was no doubt who was going to be chosen as the best striker of the season.. It is impossible for Erling Haaland not to be the winner of the Müller award after having scored 56 goals, being the top scorer and winner of the Champions League, the Premier League, and the FA Cup, and only having the mole of not having been in Qatar. “Thanks to the entire club, the staff, Pep, for helping me,” said the Norwegian.

His secret is “to be hungry and always be ready in the area at the right time,” but he acknowledged that he is very well accompanied by “teammates who give me great passes.”. For this reason, Manchester City, with seven Ballon d'Or nominees, was chosen as the best men's team.

“We are very proud of this season, which is the work of an entire decade. It is an honor to receive it for the second consecutive year,” said the general director, Ferran Soriano.

Emiliano Martínez, goalkeeper of Aston Villa and the Argentine national team, received the Yachine award for best goalkeeper of the season from his father after having been chosen as best goalkeeper at the World Cup in Qatar. In fact, when remembering his stops in the final against France, he received some whistles from those attending the gala.. The Draw was the first recognition received by an Argentine international of the many who were nominated for the Ballon d'Or..

Best Young: Bellingham

The Kopa trophy was not a surprise either. The most voted was Jude Bellingham, who beat Bayern player Jamal Musiala and Pedri. The Real Madrid player has been boosted by his extraordinary start to the season for the white team. “I appreciate all the trust and it helps me a lot to express myself like this on the field,” said the Englishman, who acknowledged choosing number 5 “because there weren't many free left and to pay tribute to Zidane.”. But Bellingham's mind is more focused: “Winning this trophy means a lot, but the most important thing for me are the team trophies, that's why I try to help Real Madrid and the English team,” he warned.

Vinicius Jr., against racism

The Brazilian from Real Madrid was recognized with the Socrates award that praises the social work carried out by footballers. Vinicius Jr. He received it for his promotion of the Vini Jr Institute in Brazil. “I am happy to help so many children who leave the favela. I had little chance of getting to where I am, that's why it's a pleasure to help you,” said the footballer, who couldn't stop talking about racism.. It was put on the table by the gala's presenter, former French striker Didier Drogba.. “It is boring that we have to talk about racism, but I am prepared when necessary. I hope that all the players can help us in this. Because it is sad. I ask them for strength to continue,” Vinicius summarized. It was Drogba's turn to make the plea: “I ask football authorities and governments to act against racism.”

Two weeks after his defeat in the round of 16 in Shanghai, exacerbated by fatigue, Carlos Alcaraz appears in Paris-Bercy with the usual precautions at this point in the calendar. “I'm not going to say that I'm one hundred percent, that would be a lie at this time of year,” the Wimbledon winner announced on Monday.. With a delicate debut, against Roman Safiullin, and the bitter memories of his first two participations, Alcaraz admits that he will play his last Masters 1000 in 2023 with discomfort.

“After a long season everyone has physical problems. I feel some pain, but I have recovered well this week and I arrive with good feelings, well enough to have a good result,” he commented during his press conference in the French capital, in reference to his limping sole, which has already left him outside the Basel box.

In addition to Alcaraz's usual difficulties when starting tournaments, these physical difficulties are added.. “I notice them less than before,” explained the ATP number two, aware that after a “very demanding season, problems appear.”. In fact, the inflammation in his left foot prevented him from properly supporting himself when moving, which ended up affecting his gluteal muscles.

Bad memories

With this burden, Alcaraz will have to face Safiullin, a specialist on hard surfaces, where in recent weeks he has defeated Andy Murray or Alexander Zverev in Shanghai and Lorenzo Mussetti and Dan Evans in Chengdu. At 26 years old, the Russian seems to be in one of the best moments of his career and has entered the draw after beating Alexandre Muller in the qualifying round (7-6 [4], 6-3).

Likewise, the Murcian will have to leave behind his bad memories at the Palais Omnisports, where just a year ago he suffered a back injury when playing in the quarterfinals against Holger Rune. Even more frustrating was his experience in 2021, when the Parisian fans attacked him during his round of 16 match against Hugo Gaston. “I don't have good memories, but I try to forget everything that happened in the past. I focus on this year, on my feelings, which are very good. That's why I decided to come,” he confirmed.

After conquering the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and Madrid, Alcaraz is presented as a great attraction in Paris-Bercy, where he could even recover the number one ranking. The most favorable scenario would be to lift the cup and Novak Djokovic not reach the final. The other is to play the last game and the Serbian does not reach the quarterfinals. His training on Sunday with Nole sparked great expectations in the City of Light, where much is also expected from Jannik Sinner or Daniil Medvedev.

Between 2001 and 2018, FC Barcelona paid 7,593,012 euros to the companies Dasnil and Nilsad, of which José María Enriquez Negreira was then vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees.. This is stated in the “numerous documentation” provided by the Tax Agency to the Civil Guard and which is “in the process of analysis” by the investigators within the case of the Court of Instruction number 1 of Barcelona against Enríquez Negreira, his son Javier, the Barça itself and its top leader Joan Laporta and former presidents such as Sandor Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, among other former directors, for the continued crimes of corruption between individuals in the sporting field, unfair administration, document falsification and bribery.

After six months of investigations, investigators have confirmed that the 7.3 million euros paid by Barça were almost 7.6, after locating “certain differences” in the amounts in the initial Treasury report, from March 2022, to another of September of this year carried out by the Civil Guard with more documents found relating to the payment of these amounts. In the police report delivered to Judge Joaquín Aguirre it is indicated that in almost two decades the companies of Enríquez Negreira, in which his son Javier also appears, received these 7.6 million euros but only declared 7.4 to the Tax Agency.

The Civil Guard suspects that “one of the main reasons why FC Barcelona may have decided to hire José María Enríquez Negreira could have been because of his ability to influence and participate in decision-making due to the position he held within of the Technical Committee of Referees; influence that, from the procedures that have been carried out, is palpable in, at least, the evaluations for arbitration promotions or relegations and/or in the designation as international referees of the members of the arbitration group.

For the moment, the agents have examined documentation from the Treasury and that seized in the registry at the Royal Spanish Football Federation and have taken numerous statements from witnesses who have explained the influence of Enríquez Negreira in the Technical Committee of Referees, as well as employees who had its companies and that were in charge of withdrawing the money from the bank accounts. Precisely, the Civil Guard wants to “clarify the final destination of the funds obtained by José María Enríquez Negreira and Javier Enríquez Romero in the framework of an alleged crime of money laundering.”

That is why the court requested documentation from eight banking entities, BBVA, Banc Sabadell, Bankia, Banco Santader, Bankinter, ING, Ibercaja and Caixabank, on accounts of the Negreiras, José María's partner, and companies related to them and their relatives since it considers, “based on investigative experience” that “not infrequently this interposition of natural and legal persons is used to use them in the process of hiding funds and assets from unjustified origins”. In this sense, the Civil Guard does not rule out that Enríquez Negreira “had channeled, at least partially, part of the funds obtained through other people in his environment given the significant withdrawals of funds from his bank accounts and those of his friends. commercial companies”.

In this way, the agents point out that in some 72 bank accounts of which Enríquez Negreria and his son are owners or authorized “other individuals and legal entities related to or controlled by them” participate.. For this reason, the court demanded this information from the banking entities since it remembers that two companies owned by Javier Enríquez invoiced their work for Barça between 2013 and 2018 to other companies controlled by José Contreras, a former Barça manager who died.. “Apparently these entities rebilled the club for those services of Javier Enríquez,” says the Civil Guard.

The police report details that Javier Enríquez declared that he did it for “not linking his father's surname with FC Barcelona”, an argument that for the Civil Guard “makes no sense” since Enríquez Negreira himself had been billing the club directly for years through his societies in which his son had “some degree of participation or control”. Furthermore, in the investigation by the Treasury and the Prosecutor's Office there are statements from the few employees of Nilsad and Dasnil who explain that they withdrew in cash or collected by check the majority of what was deposited in the bank accounts of the companies, so the tracking This money is the main priority of the investigators since black payments could be made.

The court asks each bank for information on banking movements, origin and destination of funds, check deliveries, identifying the person who cashed them or who withdrew cash from 2001 to date from the 72 accounts investigated.. Data is also requested on the rest of the banking products, both nationally and abroad, as well as their owners, amount contributed and withdrawn, and their currently consolidated rights.. In addition, the judge wants to know if the Enríquez Negreiras and their loved ones have safe deposit boxes or safes in these banks.

In just one week, excitement has turned into disappointment at Aston Martin. Only seven days after the encouraging pace shown in Austin, where the AMR-23 managed to lap at the same pace as Max Verstappen, the Silverstone team sank hopelessly at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The second zero of the season, six weeks after the Singapore GP, leaves the British team very shaken, whose performance in Mexico was even behind those of Alfa Romeo, Haas, AlphaTauri and Williams.

A radio message from Fernando Alonso, shortly after Kevin Magnussen's brutal accident, explained by itself the critical moments experienced in the green garage. “I have no brakes or tires and we are out of the points. We will try to do whatever it takes, but I don't care too much,” admitted the two-time world champion, who also failed the DRS.. A cluster of misfortunes that brought to mind that black three-year period at McLaren-Honda (2015-17).

Alonso's notorious problems getting the car onto the lane became more acute almost from the start, when he ran over the debris left by the collision between Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc.. After a first refusal from its engineers, who ruled out damage to the AMR-23, Aston Martin was quick to confirm that this scrap metal scattered on the asphalt had reduced the performance of its car..

“It got worse after coming out”

“It has affected us aerodynamically, because we were already regular this weekend and this has forced us to ride even slower,” admitted the double winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “We tried to fix it during the red flag period, but it actually got worse after the start and we had to retire the car,” said the man from Oviedo in the DAZN microphones.

The lack of competitiveness of the Aston Martin was evident thanks to the data provided by Lance Stroll, very far from repeating his good race in Austin. When they asked him to take a little more risk when braking, the Canadian struggled angrily: “I'm already doing it and I can't even keep up with the cars in front of me.”.

In fact, both Stroll and Alonso found themselves powerless against Alfa Romeo, Haas, Williams and AlphaTauri, the weakest teams in the World Championship, which so far have only added 72 points in 19 races.. “We have not been competitive during the weekend and we have not given our drivers the car they needed to fight for the points,” analyzed Mike Krack, main team of the British team..

Stroll's Bitter Birthday

The improvements planned during the early hours of Sunday were of no use, when Aston Martin once again intervened in Stroll's car.. “We still don't have the pace we need to compete with the best,” acknowledged the owner's son, to whom his team gave a bitter 25th birthday.. Of course, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez has never been an ideal setting for Alonso either.. Since his debut, back in 2015, the man from Oviedo has accumulated four abandonments, with ninth place in 2021 with Alpine as the best result.

From now on, with three races ahead (Brazil, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi), the only plausible objective for Aston Martin is to continue advancing with its large-scale tests for the 2024 World Cup. In fact, if it had not been Due to his abandonment, Alonso would have made an extra pit-stop to assess the performance of the tires. He himself requested this in another radio message.

Despite having secured fifth place in the Constructors' World Championship, with a 135-point margin over Alpine, the factory refuses to close the championship in the middle of this terrible streak. “No one is happy with our current form, but we are strong and we will continue to work together to improve,” concluded Krack. Since the Italian GP, at the beginning of September, the Silverstone team has scored 21 points, seven less than its French opponent.

It costs a lot to move house. The old walls, the ones you leave, are full of memories, joys, sorrows and scars that you feel are yours.. If the walls are steps and the house is a stadium, that feeling is magnified.

It has been 2,233 days since Atlético de Madrid left the Vicente Calderón stadium. A stadium in which the colchoneros had suffered, cried, laughed and enjoyed for 50 years. The beginnings of today's Cívitas Metropolitano were hard on a sentimental level. “I miss the Calderón, but this is one more step. Rivals are going to feel intimidated when they come out. We still feel a bit on a neutral field,” said the red and white winger Filipe Luis at the time.

And Luis García Plaza agreed with the Brazilian defender. “The first half was the worst of the season. Maybe the scenario has scared us,” commented the babazorro coach in the press conference after his team's defeat against Atlético by two goals to one.. “Everything that happens to us at home has an important factor of our people,” said Diego Simeone.

Beyond the titles, the colchonero team had achieved a historic feat between 2012 and 2013: 14 consecutive wins at home. The best streak in their history came from the hand of Diego Simeone, the coach who has achieved the best results with the rojiblancos. “We have to take care of the situation we are going through and we want to take advantage of this moment,” said Simeone.

This streak has been matched with the match against Alavés. The team had been counting its games as victories at the Metropolitano since matchday 20 in the 2022/2023 season, which tied 1-1 against Getafe. Since then, nine victories in that season and five more in this one to equal the best streak in its history. Full at 15 if we count the victory against Feyenoord in the Champions League.

Curiously, the previous series of games won dates from May 2012 to April 2013 and was signed by the same coach who sat on the bench against Alavés. Simeone has 276 wins, 103 draws and 71 losses in the League with Atlético de Madrid.

Simeone's record

These numbers have been achieved thanks to another record in the domestic competition. With the match against the babazorro team, Simeone reaches 450 games in the League. He is the only coach who has reached that figure in the same club. “Happy and content because many footballers have supported an idea. Without their work it would be impossible for me to maintain the place I have,” the Argentine coach thanked.

Between the coach and his players they have already managed to do what Saúl asked for after the move between stadiums. “We have to create that magic that we had at the Vicente Calderón in the Metropolitano,” asked the red-and-white youth squad. Magic and records. All smiles.