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Argentina La Liga preview: Sevilla, no Lionel Messi, Rodrigo De Paul at Atletico

Roy Nemer
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Well over 20 Argentine players will be taking part in La Liga this season as it’s the first one in over a decade that won’t have Lionel Messi.

At the moment, Elche and Sevilla have the most Argentine representatives in their squads with four each but Sevilla could make it five before the start of the season. Beginning with current league champions, Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid have two Argentina Copa America champions in the squad.

Rodrigo De Paul signed from Udinese as he will play alongside Angel Correa. De Paul had a stellar Copa America, particularly in the final while Correa scored some important goals for Atletico in their league triumph last season.

Nehuen Perez is the third Argentine but it remains to be seen if he will be playing. The 21 year old spent last season on loan at Granada.

FC Barcelona have been in the news for the past several weeks if not months due to their financial and transfer trouble. On the pitch, they will not be able to rely on their greatest ever player Lionel Messi as he has joined PSG.

The club do still have an Argentine as they signed Sergio Aguero. The situation with Aguero is that he is injured and is expected back in October. In addition, he is still not registered and it looks as if Barcelona will wait before registering him.

Cadiz have Argentina Olympic goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma. The 28 year old had a solid showing at the Olympics, despite the team being eliminated after only just three games. The 30 year old veteran defender Marcos Mauro is the other Argentine on the team.

Franco Cervi will be playing in his first season in La Liga with Celta as the 27 year old joined from Benfica. They have two other Argentine’s on the team as Augusto Solari will be starting his first full season at the club while journeyman Matias Dituro joins on loan.

Elche had to hang on last season as they finished just above the relegation zone to remain in the league. Pablo Piatti, already 32 years old, will be playing in his first full season with the team.

Ivan Marcone remains with the team after having played for them on loan last season while Guido Carrillo finished with three goals for them last season. Lucas Boye, who finished with eight goals last season, will look to do even better this season.

Espanyol only have one Argentine at the club and it’s Matias Vargas.

Mallorca with two Argentine players as Rodrigo Battaglia and Franco Russo will want to help keep the club in La Liga this season as they are newly promoted.

Chimy Avila will hope his injury problems are behind him. One time linked with Barcelona, Avila suffered two major injuries which kept him out for several month. At one point, he was one of the hottest strikers in the league.

Rayo with Oscar Trejo in their team.

Real Betis have Copa America champion with Argentina, Guido Rodriguez. A scorer vs. Uruguay at the Copa America, Guido took part in the final of the Copa America when Argentina were crowned champions. Linked to a few Premier League clubs, it looks like he will be staying with the club.

Sevilla currently have four but could have five Argentine players by the time they play their first league match. Marcos Acuna and Alejandro Papu Gomez both won the Copa America with Argentina.

Lucas Ocampos, who took part in Argentina’s two World Cup qualifiying matches but was dropped for the Copa America, will look regain his form and make the squad for next month’s matches. Erik Lamela joins from Tottenham as it’s his first experience in La Liga.

Gonzalo Montiel is set to join the club as he flew to Spain on Thursday. Also a Copa America winner, Montiel could be Sevilla’s start back this season.

Villarreal, current Europa League winners, with two Argentine’s on the team. Juan Foyth, who took part in last June’s World Cup qualifying matches was dropped for the Copa America. He will look for redemption while Gero Rulli remains the club’s backup goalkeeper.

Atletico Madrid: Rodrigo De Paul, Angel Correa, Nehuen Perez
FC Barcelona: Sergio Aguero
Cadiz: Jeremias Ledesma, Marcos Mauro
Celta: Augusto Solari, Matias Dituro, Franco Cervi
Elche: Guido Carrillo, Lucas Boye, Pablo Piatti, Ivan Marcone
Espanyol: Matias Vargas
Mallorca: Franco Russo, Rodrigo Battaglia
Osasuna: Chimy Avila
Rayo: Oscar Trejo
Real Betis: Guido Rodriguez
Sevilla: Lucas Ocampos, Erik Lamela, Marcos Acuña, Alejandro Papu Gomez, Gonzalo Montiel (to join)
Villarreal: Juan Foyth, Geronimo Rulli

If you missed it, here is our Argentina in the Premier League preview.

If you’re an Argentine fan and a fan of the La Liga, you will have a lot to look forward to this season.

Argentina to play at the Monumental in September’s World Cup qualifiers

Roy Nemer
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Argentina will be playing at the Monumental on September as the dates and times have been confirmed for September’s World Cup qualifying fixtures.

As we reported a few days ago, it was confirmed that Argentina would play Brazil in Sao Paulo on September 5 but we did not know the dates for the other two matches. That has since changed as we now know the full dates for September’s games.

Argentina play Venezuela away on Thursday, September 2 with kick off at 20:00h local time. The second match, against Brazil, will be on Sunday, September 5 at 16:00h local time.

The third match will be at home at the Monumental vs. Bolivia. That match will be on September 9 at 20:30h, with the federation analyzing the situation of the possibility of having fans in attendance.

This marks the first time the team will play at the Monumental since September 2017, in what was a 1-1 draw vs. Venezuela.

Lionel Scaloni’s team will also playing qualifiers in October and November.

Angel Di Maria talks about winning Copa America, Lionel Messi at PSG, Diego Maradona

Roy Nemer
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Angel Di Maria spoke to ESPN where he commented on winning the Copa America with Argentina, playing alongside Lionel Messi at PSG and Diego Maradona.

Di Maria made history last month. Scoring the winner vs. Brazil as Argentina lifted the Copa America. A long time servant of the Argentina national team, Di Maria was written off at one point. But he proved the doubters wrong.

Now back with PSG and with Lionel Messi as a team mate, Di Maria was seen smiling during training on Thursday. Speaking with ESPN, here’s what he had to say:

“I’m more than happy. Everything I dreamed about happened in one month: Winning the Copa and being able to play with Leo (Messi) in the same team. It’s what I’ve always wanted. Today was the first day of training, for me, it’s something unique.”

He was also asked about the now famous picture of himself along with Lionel Messi, Leandro Paredes, Neymar and Marco Verratti in Ibiza:

“I had explained to Leo. We’re there, it was normal. We went to meet up with him, with Paredes but Ney invited us to his place and after that Verratti joined us. We joked with him (Messi), telling him to come but he had already agreed everything with Barcelona and he told us that he had already told the kids they were staying. And after that…”

In regards to his goal in the Copa America final:

“It’s something unique, up until today, I keep watching a video of the goal and everything that happened. We had taken a lot of hits, finals losts, I had a lot of injuries… These are things that damaged us.

“But then at this Copa America I knew I was going to be a substitute, that I had to fight. I knew that. And that’s how it was. When I went to train, I felt important and that gave me strength to get better. Then I got the chance to be a starter in the final and I told Scaloni the same thing I had told Sabella prior to the World Cup final in 2014, that I was ready. Thank God everything came out as we wanted.

“The most important thing is that we took the knife out, not just for the veterans but also for the kids that are starting off with the Argentina national team. It’s a big peace of mind, beyond just putting on the shirt of the national team and knowing you have to try your best to win everything you play for.

“The sky blue and white is the max, it’s not something that can be negotiated.

“It’s what my parents taught me. My dad went from one job to another until he was doing well at the factory. It’s what happened to me. I started off at Central, then made the jump to Benfica, after that went to Real Madrid, Manchester… But the national team, always, I’ll be there until they stop calling me.”

And finally, Di Maria was asked about Diego Maradona:

“For me, he’s God, he is everything. He backed me when everyone was killing me. At the World Cup, he saw me sitting in bed and started talking to me. He transmitted everything, he was unique, he gave me everything. I only remember nice things.”

Argentina climbs two positions in the FIFA Ranking and reaches 6th place

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After the Copa America win, Argentina climbed two positions in the FIFA World Ranking and reached 6th place.

For this reason, up to now, the Albiceleste would enter the Qatar 2022 World Cup as seeded since that prestigious group is made up of the best seven national teams in the FIFA ranking, plus the hosts.

The rank, which was updated this Thursday, showed several position changes due to the large number of international competitions that took place in the last couple of months such as the UEFA Euro, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the CONMEBOL Copa America, and the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, plus international friendly matches.

The last update of this ranking had been on May 27 of this year. From that date to the present, 348 matches between national teams were counted. The next edition will be published on September 16, with Argentina having played three more CONMEBOL qualifiers matches.

Argentina Premier League preview, 3 Copa winners, Dibu Martinez, Cristian Romero, Lo Celso

Roy Nemer
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29

The Premier League this season will have a total of seven Argentine players, three of which are Copa America winners with the Argentina national team.

Aston Villa along with Tottenham Hotspur both have the most Argentine players on their teams as both clubs have two in their squads. Aston Villa boast Copa America hero Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia.

Emiliano Martinez, who was Argentina’s starting goalkeeper as they won the Copa America, is no stranger to the Premier League. This is his second season with the club as his first one, on a personal level was a success.

Martinez equaled previous goalkeeper Brad Friedel’s club record of 15 clean sheets last season while also being voted as Aston Villa Supporters’ Player of the Season. Dibu was named as the goalkeeper of the Copa America to go along with Argentina winning the Copa America.

Buendia also is no stranger to the Premier League, having played the 2019-2020 season in the league with Norwich City. He joined Aston Villa for £38 million, a an Aston Villa record signing and a Norwich City record sale.

He was voted as the EFL Championship Player of the Season in 2020-2021 and the Norwich Player of the Season. That was enough to get on the radar of Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni as Buendia was called-up for two World Cup qualifying matches in June. He didn’t feature in those two matches and still has never played for Argentina as he will continue to fight for a spot in the Argentina national team.

Alexis Mac Allister will look to have a much better season, both on a personal and at a collective level. Brighton & Hove Albion managed to survive relegation by the skin of their teeth as they finished in 16th place.

Mac Allister was selected and played for Argentina at the Tokyo Olympics but a poor showing and several things not going their way meant that they crashed out after three matches.

Federico Fernandez is now in his fourth season with Newcastle United. A regular in the squad, Fernandez played 24 league matches last season for the Magpies. While his Argentina national team days are behind him, at 32 years of age, Fernandez has shown that he can still be a very valuable asset for Newcastle.

All eyes will be on Tottenham Hotspur as they now have not only two Argentine players in the squad but two Argentine players who won the Copa America. Cristian Romero is one of the, if not the marquee signing for Spurs as he joined for €55 million.

If being named as the best defender in Serie A last season wasn’t enough, Romero’s performances at the Copa America surely helped capture the interest of Tottenham. Despite not featuring in all of the matches due to injury, Romero started the final and while playing on painkillers, completely helped shut down Brazil. Still only 23 years old, he can be one not only for the present but the future.

Gio Lo Celso is the other Argentine player in the squad. A pillar in the Lionel Scaloni’s midfield three, Lo Celso will look for more playing time this season after injuries kept him out of the squad last season.

An intelligent player with a sharp eye when it comes to passing, there’s no reason why Lo Celso can’t be the guy in midfield for Tottenham.

Manuel Lanzini will hope for an injury free season at West Ham United. His career has been one of great performances followed by a set back due to injuries. Featuring only 11 times in the league last season, Lanzini, already 28 years old, can still bring something to the table when healthy. While he hasn’t been included in the Argentina national team for a few years, that doesn’t mean the door is completely shut.

Aston Villa: Emiliano Martinez, Emiliano Buendia
Brighton & Hove Albion: Alexis Mac Allister
Newcastle United: Federico Fernandez
Tottenham Hotspur: Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso
West Ham United: Manuel Lanzini

If you’re an Argentine fan and a fan of the Premier League, you will have a lot to look forward to this season.

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