Rosell delights in La Liga title glory
MADRID – Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has hailed the club’s players after they sealed the La Liga title on Saturday.
The Catalans didn’t even need to step foot on the pitch to mathematically secure their 22nd league championship as Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw with Espanyol left seven points adrift of Barca.
“It has been special,” Rosell said. “It was a league that has taken a long time but what defines it is the merit it has for all the things that have happened, all the barriers and com- plications they have overcome. I like to win the league in any way.”
“I know there are people that could be left somewhat disappointed after the elimination from the Champions League. We will try to do better next year, but it already has merit to be the best in Spain and in the semifinals in Europe.”
Rosell was quick to highlight to emotional strain that the club has gone through this season due to serious illnesses suffered by defender Eric Abidal and manager Tito Vilanova and dedicated the title to them in particular.
“The reappearance of Abidal was spectacular, this is the moment of the league for me. Tito and Abidal are the two names that, if there was space to put the name of someone on the trophy, it would be theirs.”
Sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta also heaped praise upon the Barca squad and bit back at those who have claimed that, following their thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich in the Champions League, this side has come to the end of an era. LONDON – Wigan owner Dave Whelan celebrated his moment of FA Cup final redemption by challenging his team to follow their stunning victory over Manchester City by upsetting the odds again with another great escape in the Premier League.
Ben Watson’s stoppage- time header sealed Saturday’s dramatic 1-0 win against 10-man City and clinched the first major silverware in unheralded Wigan’s history.
But Roberto Martinez’s team are still engaged in their annual battle to preserve their top-flight status and face a crunch clash at Arsenal tomorrow before hosting Aston Villa on the final day of the season.
“If we go down it will be a disaster. There is no other word for it. We want to stay up,” Whelan said.
“We have two big games to go. The lads are deadly calm. They know they have some unfinished business and we are up for it.
“We are good enough to stay up. You have seen the fantastic performance we have given here and if we can do that against Arsenal and Villa we should have no problems staying up. ”
Watching his Wigan underdogs cause the greatest Cup final upset since Wimbledon beat Liverpool in 1988 was the culmination of a remarkable journey for Whelan, who bought the club in 1995 when they were playing in the fourth tier at dilapidated Springfield Park in front of sparse crowds.
Whelan’s own relationship with the FA Cup had been bittersweet until Saturday as his career was effectively ended by a broken leg suffered while playing for Blackburn against Wolves in the 1960 final.
“When I first bought the club we had 1 800 people watching at Springfield Park, but now we get over 20 000 at the DW Stadium,” he said.
“This goes a long, long way to making up for my previous experience of the Cup final when I was carried off.
“I don’t normally have much emotion or nerves, but when I went out there and you can hear crowd, it’s just the same as 53 years ago. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Wigan’s triumph will also boost the reputation of Martinez, the urbane Spaniard seen as one of the favourites to replace David Moyes at Ever ton once he moves to Manchester United at the end of the season.
However, Whelan isn’t sure that Martinez, who has already rejected offers from Liverpool and Aston Villa in the last two years, will see Everton as a club big enough to match his ambitions. –