La Liga: Mesut Ozil retirement, Barcelona injury issues – things we learned from Spanish League

Mendilibar
takes
charge
at
Sevilla
FC

For
the
16th
season
in
a
row,
José
Luis
Mendilibar
will
coach
in
LaLiga
Santander.
The
62-year-old
has
been
appointed
as
the
new
boss
at
Sevilla
FC,
replacing
Jorge
Sampaoli
as
the
Andalusian
club
move
on
to
their
third
manager
of
the
campaign.

Mendilibar
brings
a
wealth
of
experience
to
the
Estadio
Ramón
Sánchez-Pizjuán,
having
taken
charge
of
448
LaLiga
Santander
games
in
his
career,
and
he’ll
look
to
use
that
know-how
to
lead
Sevilla
FC
away
from
relegation
danger.

Elche
CF
appoint
Beccacece

Elche
CF
have
also
made
a
coaching
change
during
the
international
break,
with
Pablo
Machín
let
go
and
with
Sebastián
Beccacece
taking
over
at
the
bottom-placed
side.
The
42-year-old
has
developed
an
impressive
reputation
from
working
his
way
up
the
ranks
in
his
native
Argentina
and
will
look
to
reenergise
the
Elche
CF
squad
over
the
final
months
of
the
season.

Joselu
carries
his
great
form
into
international
duty

RCD
Espanyol
striker
Joselu
has
been
in
brilliant
form
this
season
and
his
LaLiga
Santander
tally
of
12
goals
is
the
third-highest
in
the
division.
He
carried
his
scoring
streak
into
international
duty,
coming
off
the
bench
to
net
twice
on
his
debut
for
the
Spanish
national
team,
helping
La
Roja
to
a
3-0
win
over
Norway
on
Saturday.
That
made
him
the
first
player
in
the
history
of
the
Spanish
national
team
to
make
his
debut
as
a
substitute
and
to
score
two
goals.

More
joy
for
Bono,
En-Nesyri
and
Abde

When
Morocco
reached
the
semi-finals
of
the
2022
World
Cup,
they
did
so
with
several
LaLiga
Santander
players
forming
the
spine
of
the
team.
Now,
in
the
first
international
break
since
the
Qatar
tournament,
the
North
African
side
have
achieved
another
impressive
result,
beating
Brazil
2-1
in
a
friendly.
Sevilla
FC’s
Bono
and
Youssef
En-Nesyri
and
CA
Osasuna’s
Abde
Ezzalzouli
all
featured
in
that
win.

Fede
Valverde
is
a
leader
for
Uruguay

In
the
absence
of
several
of
the
Uruguayan
national
team’s
more
veteran
players,
Fede
Valverde
was
the
man
chosen
to
captain
the
Celeste
in
their
friendly
against
Japan
on
Friday.
The
Real
Madrid
midfielder
showed
that
he
has
what
it
takes
to
be
a
captain,
as
he
even
scored
his
side’s
goal
in
the
1-1
draw.

El
Bilal
Touré
will
miss
the
rest
of
the
season

There
was
bad
news
at
UD
Almería
this
past
week,
as
El
Bilal
Touré
required
surgery
on
a
quadriceps
injury
and
will
miss
the
remainder
of
the
2022/23
campaign.
With
six
strikes
in
LaLiga
Santander,
he
is
the
team’s
top
scorer
this
season.

FC
Barcelona’s
medical
report
grows

There
were
also
several
new
injuries
at
FC
Barcelona
this
past
week.
The
Catalan
side
boast
a
12-point
lead
at
the
top
of
La
Liga
but
will
have
to
rotate
the
squad
in
the
upcoming
games
as
Andreas
Christensen,
Ronald
Araújo
and
Frenkie
de
Jong
all
picked
up
physical
issues
during
the
international
break.

Villarreal
CF
pay
tribute
to
the
club’s
legends

Villarreal
CF
have
been
celebrating
their
centenary
over
the
past
few
weeks
and
the
club
held
a
legends
match
at
the
Estadio
de
la
Cerámica
on
Saturday,
with
several
former
players
reuniting
to
take
on
a
line-up
of
Spain
legends.
The
club
paid
tribute
to
around
150
former
players
who
had
worn
the
yellow
shirt,
while
the
likes
of
Juan
Román
Riquelme,
Diego
Forlán
and
Robert
Pires
took
to
the
pitch
to
give
the
crowd
a
dose
of
nostalgia.

Mesut
Özil
hangs
up
his
boots

Mesut
Özil
announced
his
retirement
this
past
week,
with
several
important
figures
and
institutions
from
the
world
of
football
wishing
him
all
the
best
in
this
next
stage
of
his
life.
That
included
Real
Madrid
and
several
of
his
former
teammates
from
his
time
with
Los
Blancos.
Özil
played
for
the
club
between
2010
and
2013,
scoring
19
goals
and
providing
54
assists
in
105
LaLiga
Santander
matches

It’s
ever
so
tight
at
the
top
in
LaLiga
SmartBank

While
there
was
no
LaLiga
Santander
action
this
past
week,
there
was
a
lot
of
football
to
enjoy
in
Spain’s
second
division,
LaLiga
SmartBank.
It’s
ever
so
tight
in
the
race
for
promotion,
with
the
top
four
separated
by
just
four
points.
SD
Eibar
lead
the
way,
but
they’re
closely
followed
by
Granada
CF,
UD
Las
Palmas
and
Levante
UD.

(excerpt
from
agency)