₦airaland Forum

Barcelona coach Quique Setien has said it will be unfair if his team have to play their Champions League second leg against Napoli at a neutral venue rather than Camp Nou.

UEFA announced on Wednesday that a ‘final eight’ knock-out tournament will be held in Lisbon in August for clubs through to the quarter-finals but it is still to be decided how to resolve the four incomplete ties in the last 16.

Barca drew 1-1 in their first leg away to Napoli in February before the coronavirus crisis meant they were unable to play the return leg at home. One possible solution would be to stage the outstanding second legs at neutral venues but Setien feels that would hand Napoli an advantage.

“The match should be played in our stadium because otherwise we are giving the advantage to Napoli, who played their game in their own stadium, with the support of their fans,” Setien said in a press conference on Thursday. “It will be a different thing if we have to play in a neutral venue and, on top of that, behind closed doors.”

While the resumption of the Champions League is still almost two months away, Barcelona’s domestic title challenge is approaching a crucial stage.

They sit five points ahead of Real Madrid, who play their game in hand against Valencia later on Thursday. Barca then visit third-placed Sevilla on Friday and face tough games against Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal in their next five.

“We face a team that is third and will make things difficult for us,” said Setien. “We will have to play at an extraordinary level.”

Lionel Messi has two goals and two assists in Barca’s two matches since the restart and he will hit 700 goals for club and country if he scores against Sevilla. “It would suit us if he achieves it because it is going to be a game where we need everything to win,” said Setien. “His numbers are the kind of numbers that only the chosen ones can reach. I hope he gets there and goes much further.”

Setien said Luis Suarez, who was able to recover from a knee injury during the three-month break, is not ready to play 90 minutes against Sevilla. “Even though is getting more and more minutes, the time from match to match is very little,” Setien said. “He is finding his rhythm but we’ll have to see. My understanding is he is not ready for 90 minutes and we will decide if he plays from the start or later in the match.”

Barcelona will also be without Frenkie de Jong, who has a calf strain, and Sergi Roberto, who has broken a rib. Jordi Alba is back from suspension.

Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, says for Nigeria to solve the problem of poverty, the rich must be taxed mercilessly.

Speaking at the 70th birthday of Abiola Ajimobi, former governor of Oyo state, he said tax from the rich could be used to create wealth to help the poor.

“We must mercilessly tax the rich, if we are to cure the problem of poverty. We have two contending forces, the poor and the privileged rich,” he said.

“The rich have no problem, they are comfortable. The problem is the poor and they are in the majority. And the point is if the rich failed to address this problem, the comfort of the rich will be taken away, so they must release much of their money to help the poor.”

This is not the first time that Aregbesola will make known his position on taxing wealthy people in the country.

When he appeared before the senate for screening in July, the former governor of Osun state, had empahsised the need for the rich to pay heavy tax.

“We have left the rich men in Nigeria without discharging their responsibility to the citizens, particularly on taxation,” he had said.

“So, I am going to pioneer privilege taxes for those who have huge resources or wealth from which Nigerians must tap. If I go into this, there might be some ill feelings in some quarters, so I won’t go deep into that. I will recommend serious taxation for wealthy people in Nigeria.”