Espanyol captain Leandro Cabrera has sent a ‘dart’ to Newcastle United star Kieran Trippier following his comments about time-wasting in La Liga.
Trippier returned to the Premier League in the January transfer window, securing a £13.5m move to Newcastle from Atletico Madrid.
He had spent three years with the Spanish side after joining from Tottenham in a £19.8m deal in July 2019, establishing himself as a regular under Diego Simeone and winning the La Liga title in 2020/21.
He’s spoken about his time in Spain since his return, telling the BBC how he found playing in La Liga frustrating because of all the time-wasting that goes on in games.
Spain’s top-flight tops the rankings in Europe in that regard, and Trippier isn’t the only one to have complained about it, joining a list that includes Carlo Ancelotti and Xavi.
The Newcastle man’s comments are nothing new, then, but it seems Cabrera was less than impressed by them nonetheless.
“In the 2019 Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham, it looked like there was a sniper in the stands,” he told Cadena SER.
“You don’t have to be a hypocrite; when you have to win, you do whatever it takes to win.
“The rest is poetry for the stands, the radio or excuses, because the day I want to win and it’s good for me; I’ll do it. The day they want to beat me, I’ll eat it; that’s how it is.”
