Guillem Balagué

Guillem Balagué
Born (1968-11-02) 2 November 1968 (age 56)
Barcelona, Spain
Alma materAutonomous University of Barcelona (BJ)
OccupationFootball journalist • writer • author
Years active1989–present
EmployerBBC
AwardsCross Sports Book Awards
Football Book of the Year
Websiteguillembalague.com

Guillem Balagué (born 2 November 1968)[1] is a Spanish football journalist, author, and pundit. He was a regular pundit on Sky Sports' show Revista de la Liga and has also written for some of Britain's newspapers as well as several Spanish newspapers.

Journalism

In June 2008, Balagué launched his own personal website,[2] featuring a blog, news and the opportunity to interact with him directly.

Balagué is a journalist and has written for several English and Spanish newspapers. He is currently preparing a football documentary and also the first Pep Guardiola biography in English. He has written articles in British newspapers The Times and The Observer, as well as a weekly column in the free daily commuter newspaper The Metro commenting mainly on stories involving continental football. He also occasionally writes for sport website Bleacher Report.

He is also well known for his work with Spanish football newspaper Diario AS and Spain's national radio station Cadena SER,[3] where he features on phone-ins regularly.

Balagué and Gabriele Marcotti presented The Game podcast, hosted by The Times, for the 2007–08 Premier League season.

Balagué appeared as a contestant on an episode of Pointless Celebrities teamed with former Argentina international footballer Ossie Ardiles, first broadcast on 29 April 2017.[4]

His book, Cristiano Ronaldo. The Biography was named Football Book of the Year 2016 in Polish Sports Book Awards (Sportowa Książka Roku).[5]

Since Sky Sports lost their rights to La Liga he has appeared many Thursdays on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily, Euro Leagues podcast. He has also worked for CBS Sports in the US on their UEFA Champions League coverage and hosted the travelogue series Destination: European Nights for Paramount+.

Involvement in football

In 2013, Balagué became a B licensed coach.[6] In 2014, he became Director of Football at English non-league football team Biggleswade United, and is now the chairman of the club.

Books

  • A Season on the Brink: Rafael Benitez, Liverpool and the Path to European Glory: A Portrait of Rafa Benitez's Liverpool. Orion. 19 October 2006. ISBN 978-0-7528-7936-9.
  • Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography. Orion. 15 August 2013. ISBN 978-1-4091-2946-2.
  • Messi. Orion (published 5 December 2013). 2013. ISBN 978-1-4091-4659-9.
  • Barça. Carlton. 6 November 2014. ISBN 978-1-78097-369-2.
  • Cristiano Ronaldo: The Biography. Orion (published 5 November 2015). 15 November 2016. ISBN 978-1-4091-5504-1.
  • Brave New World: Inside Pochettino's Spurs. W&N (published 26 October 2017). 8 May 2018. ISBN 978-1-4091-5771-7.

References

  1. ^ "Si exiute el periodismo deportivo basura es porque hay audiencia para ello". impassemag (in Spanish). 4 February 2016. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Guillem Balague Football Website Home" (in Spanish). Guillembalague.com. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  3. ^ "ONDACERO – Radio en Directo, Noticias, Deportes, Podcast, Olimpiadas 2012". Ondacero.es. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  4. ^ "International". BBC. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  5. ^ "Polish Sports Book Awards 2016 – results". sportowaksiazkaroku.
  6. ^ "Guillem Balague – Biography". guillembalague.com.
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