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Cristiano Ronaldo can take pride in another honour, although this time, it is not quite an official award: Brazilian legend Pele finally believes the Real Madrid man has surpassed Lionel Messi as the best player in the world.

Pele had been a longtime vocal supporter of Messi, but he told ESPN FC last week that Ronaldo now holds the top spot in his view partially due to a string of injuries for the Argentine.

“I think, no doubt, two years ago the player that was in very, very good condition was Messi,” Pele said on the ESPN FC TV show. “In five years he became the best player in Europe, but in the last two years and this year, he had a problem: he got injured. He was out this year and he has played few games.”

Messi has had several muscular injuries in the past year and did not play for Barcelona for almost two months. As a result, he has failed to recreate his most scintillating form.

“Ronaldo has come through for the past two or three years and is the best in Europe,” Pele said. “I think at the moment no doubt Ronaldo is the best player, but until now, Messi was the best.”

The Portuguese winger has had arguably the best year of his career. He scored 69 goals in 59 games, single-handedly dragged his nation to the World Cup with a second-leg hat trick against Sweden, and put the cherry on top by claiming his second Ballon d’Or ahead of Messi and Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery.

Pele himself is a legitimate contender every time fans debate over the mythical Greatest of All Time title, and by the end of their careers, Ronaldo and Messi could join that conversation.

Pele said in his interview that while he would relish the opportunity to play with either Messi or Ronaldo, he would prefer the Real Madrid star as a former teammate at Santos.

“Messi used to do the same thing as I used to do at Santos: to come from behind,” he said. “Ronaldo used to play more up front, so I think for me Ronaldo is more important because he is the player who scores goals from the front. I would have to compete with Messi because we have the same game and do the same [on the field]. I think Ronaldo, for Santos [in Pele’s time], would be better.”

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Attention is slowly turning from the weekend’s La Liga fall out to the midweek Copa del Rey semi-final first leg fixtures.

And it’s a mouth-watering affair in the Spanish capital as Real Madrid take on Atletico de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday evening. Despite Los Colchoneros coming out on top in last season’s final, and in La Liga earlier on this campaign, Marca goes with a front page splash of Los Blanco’s last line of defence – Iker Casillas. And the fact the World Cup winner has not lost to Atletico for 15 years.

His record against them is impeccable, and he’s also set the new club record for the amount of time without conceding the goal – so no matter who plays up front for Diego Simeone’s side in the absence of the injured David Villa they know they will face a tough task to get past Casillas.

Elsewhere, Madrid will appeal the red card received  by Cristiano Ronaldo at the weekend. It hasn’t been confirmed by the Spanish FA how long he will be suspended for if it´s upheld, but it could be as long as three matches, meaning he would sit out the La Liga games against Villarreal, Getafe and Elche.

Finally, the Portuguese player’s former Manchester United teammate Gerard Pique, now at rivals Barcelona, has taken time out to praise Ronaldo for his form and congratulate him on picking up the Ballon d’Or award. Pique said Ronaldo was a deserving winner for his outstanding goalscoring feats in 2013 and he was pleased to see his former colleague lift the prize, despite beating Leonel Messi to it.

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Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso has admitted dropping two points at San Mames was a disappointment, but Los Blancos will not give up the fight for the La Liga title.

The nine-time European Cup champions failed to take full advantage of Barcelona’s slip up at home to Valencia on Saturday evening as they could only manage draw against Athletic Bilbao on their first visit to the Basque side’s new ground. Jese gave the visitors the lead but they were pegged back shortly afterwards by Los Leones. To make matters worse, star man Cristiano was sent off for a supposed slap on Gurpegui.

Speaking after the match, former Real Sociedad man Alonso said it was a frustrating night for Los Blancos, but they would keep on working to achieve their goal of winning the title. “We don’t have to look at other teams and have our fate in our own hands. There are a lot of points left to play for and it looks like that what happens between now and the end of the season will be very interesting,” he stated.

Despite criticizing Gurgpegui for play acting to get Ronaldo sent off, Alonso admitted it was a tough match against a very good Athletic side flying high in the table. “It was a fair result. It was a very good and intense match, the referee got some things wrong but that’s normal. It is a shame to draw after going ahead, which was the most difficult thing. Ibai scored a great goal. We struggled to control the ball and get out from the back easily in the first half. We were better in the second half and created more chances,” he told reporters.

The Spain international also took time out to pay tribute to his former manager at national level, Luis Aragones, who passed away on Saturday morning. He said: “It is very sad because he was a unique and endearing person, we liked him very much and had a lot of affection for him. We connected and did great things.”

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Real Madrid go out to win every match they play, and are disappointed when that does not happen, says defender Marcelo.

The Brazilian full-back, considered to be the best left-back in the world by former Los Blancos hero Roberto Carlos, spoke to reporters after Madrid drew 1-1 with Athletic Bilbao at San Mames on Sunday evening, and expressed his disappointment.

Although Madrid failed to take the three points despite having taken the lead through Jese, many pundits in the game would agree that a draw in Bilbao is not a bad result. Los Leones have not lost at home in La Liga since they moved to their new ground, and Madrid became just the third team to go away with a point. Even defending champions Barcelona were seen off 1-0 at the stadium back in November.

But Madrid players have different expectations, Marcelo said. “We won a point, which is very difficult here, but our mentality is to win every match. It is not always possible and we kept going until the end. Athletic Bilbao are a good team but we were unlucky and it’s a shame.”

The defender also didn’t agree with the decision to send off Cristiano Ronaldo with 20 minutes still to play, but avoided getting into hot water by not being drawn on the topic too much when quizzed by journalists after the match.

“It is tough to lose a player unfairly. Cristiano’s sending off was unfair, but I am not going to talk about whether the referee had a good match or not,” he stated.

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Carlo Ancelotti praised Real Madrid’s performance against Athletic Bilbao, despite Los Blancos’ dropped two points and failure to overhaul Barcelona into second in La Liga.

The Italian manager confessed “it was difficult to try to win the match with ten players” after Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off, a decision that he considered “a bit exaggerated.”

“It’s tough for me to say [whether it was fair a red card] because I was not close to it, but the pictures show that it was a bit exaggerated,” he said in the press conference.

“We played well. It was a high intensity match and we hardly let them have any chances, just one in the first half and none in the second half,” he added.

Ancelotti claimed Real Madrid “did especially well in the second half. It could have been different because we scored first and dominated the match afterwards. Athletic Bilbao scored a fantastic equaliser, but overall we are going away satisfied with how we played.”

“In the first half they pressed well, it was more difficult for us in possession and we had to play more on the counter. The second half was different. They didn’t press with as much intensity and we had more possession,” Ancelotti explained.

Ancelotti suggested his team had a great chance to bring the three points home before Athletic equalised. “After Jesé’s goal we had control of the match and did not suffer. The team was well-balanced, but Ibai’s goal was a fantastic strike,” he admitted.

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Cristiano Ronaldo has refused to rule out the possibility of one day playing his football in France.

In an interview with Telefoot, the Portugal star, who has scored 22 goals in 20 La Liga matches so far this season, said he is happy at Real Madrid, but could be tempted to play in Ligue 1 when his contract at the Santiago Bernabeu comes to an end.

The Ballon d’Or winner admitted he has always had a soft spot for France and likes the French people, as his mother went there to work and fell in love with the country. He played down any fears of him leaving the Spanish capital any time in the near future though.

Ronaldo stated: “Maybe one day I’ll be in France to live and to play. Or maybe not. France has always been welcoming to the Portuguese people. My mother worked there. It’s a country that I really love. All I can say about French fans is that they continue to support me. I have a contract with Real until I am 33. I hope to stay here, I’m very happy.”

Speaking about the strength of French football at the moment, he picked out PSG as one of the favourites to win the Champions League this season. Laurent Blanc’s side, who were linked with a move for Ronaldo in the summer, cruised through their qualification group to set up a last-16 tie with Bayer Leverkusen.

“PSG will be a contender to win the Champions League. It’s a strong team and will be hard to beat. They will be one of the favourites to win this competition,” Ronaldo was quoted as saying.

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Former Real Madrid left-back Roberto Carlos has praised Marcelo as the best number ‘3’ of the world at the moment.

The Los Blancos legend stated: “Marcelo has everything to spend ten years at Real. I like his quality, the way he joins the attack, his dribbles. He’s a much more technical player than I was, although maybe I was faster. He’s a magnificent left-back for Madrid.”

“There are very good left-backs at the moment, but the one I like the most is Marcelo,” Roberto Carlos claimed.

Both Brazilian players spent a few months together at the Santiago Bernabeu in the 2006-2007 season, when Marcelo arrived at Madrid in the winter transfer market. The youngster had the chance to learn from his idol for six months, before Roberto Carlos moved to Fenerbahce.

The current manager of Turkish club Sivasspor also spoke about Los Merengues assistant coach Zinedine Zidane. “He’s the best player I’ve ever played with,” Roberto Carlos confessed.

The Brazilian revealed his main objective right now is “to succeed with Sivasspor, but in the future I would love to coach a national football team.”

* Follow Alejandro Gonzalez on Twitter @alejandrognieto

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Real Madrid missed a golden opportunity to move ahead of Barcelona in La Liga last night and keep the pressure up on Atletico de Madrid.

The 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao in the new San Mames means Los Blancos drew level with the Catalan side on points, but fall further behind their city rivals, who sit alone at the top now after a routine 4-0 win at home to Real Sociedad.

The focus of the Madrid press this morning is on the apparent unjust red card received by Cristiano Ronaldo for a slap on Carlos Gurpegui. Madrid’s players and management alike claimed after the game the card was harsh as the Athletic player made a meal of the situation in order to get the 28-year-old forward sent off.

Marca says that the Portugal star will be available for his side’s Copa del Rey matches against Atletico de Madrid, but could face a costly three-match ban in La Liga, starting with the home game against Villarreal next weekend.

In more positive news, AS focuses on the performance of Jese, who opened the scoring last night. The paper highlights that the youngster, filling in for the injured Gareth Bale last night, steps up to the big occasion. He has now scored at four of Spain’s biggest stadiums this year – the Santiago Bernabeu, the Nou Camp, the Mestalla, and San Mames. Can he score at the Vicente Calderon in the Copa del Rey though?

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Diego Lopez salvaged a point for Real Madrid as Los Merengues were down to ten men against Athletic Bilbao for almost 20 minutes, following Carlos Gurpegui’s unsporting gesture that got Cristiano Ronaldo sent off.

It was an incredible battle at the so called Cathedral of Football, San Mames. Both teams had chances to win the game, but Jese’s and Ibai Gomez’s goals gave each one point, preventing Los Blancos from moving into second after Barcelona’s loss.

Los Blancos played brilliantly during the opening ten minutes, moving the ball fast and making Athletic run. However, the hosts soon started to apply a high pressure.

The Basques’ five-man midfield made it impossible for Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric bring the game back to their pace. In fact, Bilbao started surrounding Madrid’s penalty area and they could have gone in front.

Aritz Aduriz missed a massive chance after stabbing the ball through the middle of the defence with a neat touch and sending a left-footed shot wide of the post. In the following play, Iker Muniain lost control of the ball as he faced Diego Lopez inside the box.

Pepe and Sergio Ramos defending was solid and that prevented Athletic from threatening Lopez again. Nevertheless Real’s forwards seemed lost, and their only chance in the first half was a volley that Ronaldo sent above the bar.

Modric and Ronaldo brought some light out of darkness in the second half. The Croatian and Benzema had a couple of chances to make it 0-1, but they both were denied by Gorka Iraizoz.

Athletic players started to lose concentration and Real took the lead following Ander Iturraspe’s mistake. Benzema slid a pass for Ronaldo; the Portuguese assisted Jese perfectly and the youngster sent the ball to the back of the net.

However, things changed completely in just a couple of minutes. Ibai Gomez scored a wonderful goal as he came in from the bench, catching a loose ball and rifling a superb strike into the bottom corner.

In the next play, Ronaldo was sent off for putting his hand into the face of Carlos Gurpegui, who took a dive, showing very unsporting behaviour.

From that moment until the end, Real struggled to keep Athletic away from their penalty area, but Diego Lopez salvage a point for Los Blancos with a couple of quality saves.

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Athletic Bilbao Real Madrid match preview

Easily the stand-out fixture of the weekend is Athletic Bilbao versus Real Madrid at the new San Mames. On a footballing level, it should be a spectacle, with both teams in great form and flying high in La Liga.

This meeting too, like the ones between Barcelona and Real Madrid, is also a clash of cultures and politics. The atmosphere in Bilbao should be rocking tonight.

Los Blancos enjoyed a perfect January, winning all eight of their fixtures without conceding a goal. For that reason, they will go into tonight’s match as favourites, but it won’t be easy.

Bilbao are currently fourth in the table and are unbeaten at home in La Liga at their new ground – located right next to the iconic former San Mames stadium. They have won nine of their 11 fixtures in La Liga at home, including against Barcelona. Only Elche and Valencia left with a point. Although the hosts lost to Atletico de Madrid on Wednesday night in the Copa del Rey, they come into the game on the back of three straight wins in La Liga.

Although they have a big derby meeting in the Copa del Rey in three days time, Ancelotti is likely to name an unchanged side for the third match in a row. Gareth Bale is still absent through injury, so Jese is likely to keep his place in the team on the right hand side of the front three.

Probable line-ups:
Athletic Bilbao: Iago; Iraola, San Jose, Laporte, Balenziaga; Iturraspe, Rico; Susaeta, Gomez, Muniain; Aduriz

Real Madrid: Lopez; Carvajal, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Alonso, Modric, Di Maria; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo

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