Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 7y

Malaga's Sandro Ramirez not sorry to Barcelona fans after scoring vs. ex-side

Malaga striker Sandro Ramirez says he is sorry to the people he worked with at La Masia, but not to Barcelona's fans after denting his former side's La Liga title hopes on Saturday.

Sandro, 21, opened the scoring as Malaga beat Barca 2-0 at La Rosaleda, denying Luis Enrique's team the chance to move level with Real Madrid at the top of the table.

Las Palmas-born Sandro joined the Catalan club as a teenager in 2009, progressing through the academy and going on to make 32 first-team appearances before being allowed to leave on a free transfer last summer.

Given his history with the club, there was some criticism for the way he celebrated his first-half strike.

"To be honest, I don't think I over-celebrated, it was just a normal celebration given how important winning the game was for us," Sandro told Movistar after helping Malaga take a huge step towards securing another season in Spain's top flight.

"I can only say that if I am anyone in football, it's thanks to Barcelona. They treated me amazingly there and I will remember that for my whole life.

"But now I'm indebted to Malaga and it was a really important goal. But if [the celebration] offended anyone, I apologise. I was really happy."

Speaking later to Cadena SER, he added: "They said that I should have shown more respect for the hand that fed me [by not celebrating].

"And I repeat that I ask for forgiveness, although not from Barcelona's fans but from the people at La Masia who have given me everything."

Following the midweek win at Sporting Gijon, Malaga have now secured consecutive wins, allowing them to build an 11-point cushion on the bottom three.

"We knew that to achieve something positive against the best side in the world, it would be by doing damage on the break," Sandro said. "And it has come off for us. Barca pushed a lot, but we never gave up.

"We're really happy, above all with back-to-back wins which have practically guaranteed survival in La Liga. That's the most important thing for us."

Barca will look to bounce back from their defeat, which leaves them three points off league leaders Madrid having played one game more, when they travel to Juventus on Tuesday in the Champions League.

Luis Enrique has named all his available players in the squad for the game, as well as B team duo Carles Alena and Alex Carbonell.

Sergio Busquets (suspended) and Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan (both injured) will also to travel to Turin, with Rafinha, who underwent surgery for a knee injury on Friday, the only player to remain in Spain.

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