Paulo DYBALA scored a hat trick for Juventus in the Champions League.
With no Cristiano in the line-up, Paulo DYBALA was in the starting eleven and scored three times for Juventus in their 3-0 win against Young Boys. It was three very different finishes from the Argentina man.
Scorers of Champions League hat-tricks this season:
Tottenham Hotspur coach Mauricio POCHETTINO has stated his desire to coach the Argentina National Team as well as his boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys.
It’s an important week ahead for Mauricio POCHETTINO as his Tottenham host Lionel MESSI’s FC Barcelona at Wembley in the Champions League. But ahead of the big match, the Tottenham coach spoke to Marca about his two dreams as a coach. Here’s what he had to say:
“I want to do a great job with Tottenham and to be able to win a title. We are happy to have been able to change the culture of the club and its way of working. On a professional level and no one will be able to get angry, is to one day coach the Argentina National Team and to coach Newell’s Old Boys, the team which saw me born.
“They are the two dreams I have along with going as far as possible with Tottenham. To always win. It’s the philosophy.”
As for who is the best player in the world, POCHETTINO has no doubts that it’s Lionel MESSI:
“For me, (Lionel) MESSI is still the number one (player in the world) and will be until he retires.”
Argentina coach Lionel SCALONI held a press conference on Monday to discuss a number of topics.
Many people have given their opinions on either Lionel SCALONI, Lionel MESSI or the Argentina National Team the last few days. Beginning with former Argentina coach and football legend Diego MARADONA, the former number 10 said that SCALONI is not fit to coach his country. In reply, SCALONI said:
“I have nothing to say about it.”
In regards to the topic of Lionel MESSI, the two were reportedly set to speak at the FIFA Best gala but MESSI has to opt out due to family reasons. However, SCALONI did mention that the two spoke.
“I talked to MESSI about 10 days ago and after that we took a final decision that he wouldn’t be called up. We spoke about how the team played because Leo sees everything.”
The new list also included Manchester City’s Nicolas OTAMENDI, who makes his first appearance since the match against France. On including the City defender on the list, here’s what SCALONI had to say:
“OTAMENDI’s been called-up since we think he’s a good player for the Argentina National Team.”
The likes of Angel DI MARIA and Ever BANEGA were also a topic of discussion for the Argentina coach. SCALONI said this on the pair:
“I explained to them the situation, that we want the players called up to be the same ones, because we want continuity and to see if they can or cannot continue playing with the Argentina National Team. There’s a chance that the two can be called.”
Sergio AGUERO, who scored on the weekend and continues to play well for Manchester City was also spokem about.
“His level isn’t surprising, it’s how it always is. But I didn’t talk to him, we are trying to get the players to come and give their all. And the forwards we have now can ahve the chance to show that they can play for the Argentina National Team.”
AFA vice president and Boca Juniors president Daniel ANGELICI has stated that he wants River Plate coach Marcelo GALLARDO to manage the Argentina National Team while admitting that it was a mistake to select Jorge SAMPAOLI.
With all the rumors circulating as to who will coach Argentina, one thing has been made clear. Claudio TAPIA wants current Atlanta United man Gerardo “Tata” MARTINO to spearhead the National Team while Daniel ANGELICI wants Marcelo GALLARDO. However, a decision will be made in December, that much both men can agree on.
Speaking with Tribuna PICANTE, here’s what the Boca president had to say:
“I have no candidate but GALLARDO is a very good coach who has won a lot of important things. I would go find him. We don’t have to rush with the coach of the Argentina National Team. It will surely be decided in December.”
And finally, in regards to former Argentina coach Jorge SAMPAOLI, ANGELICI said this:
“I was wrong with SAMPAOLI but I was very convinced.”
Juan Roman RIQUELME recently gave an interview where he spoke about Lionel MESSI, Pep GUARDIOLA’s teams and football players these days.
The Boca Juniors legend knows a thing or two about playing with great players. With his clubs, he has played alongside the likes of Andres INIESTA, Diego FORLAN and many, many others. However, probably no one like Lionel MESSI. With the Argentina National Team, the two phenoms formed a great partnership together. Thank you to the great Juan G. ARANGO for the translations.
Speaking with the media, here’s what RIQUELME had to say about Lionel MESSI.
“I have no doubt that MESSI will be back with Argentina. I talk to him all the time, but not about the national team. MESSI enjoys playing with the national team, hell he played a match here, flew to Barcelona and came back to play a friendly in one of the provinces.
“Those types of things make you realize how much MESSI likes playing for his country. Not many players would do that.”
On the topic of young players and hyping them up, RIQUELME says we should give them more time before calling them great.
“(In Argentina) we get too hysterical. A player plays one good match and they are a star. We have to give players time, have them play well for six months THEN we’ll talk.
“Today players play well three matches and they are Gods. Let’s calm things down a bit.
“What worries me most is that time passes by and I see players are less prepared. It worries me that players do not know how to position themselves to receive a ball.”
RIQUELME is also an old school type of player. He didn’t do a lot of running but instead let his feet and the ball do the talking. Which is why when discussing players these days, his comments go against the popular opinion:
“It is not easy to win the ball. Even if you are extremely trained, even if you eat cereal every day. Even if you do 1,000 sit ups every day. Even if that put that thing on your back [GPS] which I don’t know what the hell it’s for.
“Because if you give the ball away, if you play poorly what good is that? So if you ran little but played all your passes right you still played poorly because you didn’t run? So if I pass every single time to opponent yet ran 34 kilometers, I was the man of the match?
“So the player that runs the most now and has it marked by the thing on their back is the best. Back in my day, we didn’t wear that. Back in my day we didn’t talk about cereal, we didn’t talk about those things. We talked about playing ball. We talked about moving well, passing well, angling yourself properly. “I couldn’t play with bandage underneath my jersey, I could only imagine playing with that thing on my back.
“Players have a way of playing that we all hope can lead to something. Boca is playing a way in which we hope that they win Libertadores. We can agree that we want Messi and Barça to win because they play attractive football, they position themselves well.
“The same goes for GUARDIOLA’s team (Manchester City) and Bayern Munich, but they have been unable to win the Champions League, but we always will want them to win. Each coach has a style of playing. There are different ways of winning and that is why I think Boca has a chance of winning.”
Here is a video of Juan Roman RIQUELME’s partnership with Lionel MESSI in the Argentina National Team.
