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For the second time in the last three La Liga matches Cristiano Ronaldo rescued Real Madrid with a goal in stoppage time. The Portuguese scored in the final minute as Los Blancos twice came from behind to bring the three points home from Levante’s.

Ciudad de Valencia stadium has been a difficult place to visit for Los Merengues. With the home crowd and the players very motivated, Real struggled to take control of the game.

Levante started better, with Baba Diawara having two early chances that were not really a serious test for Diego Lopez. The home side displayed a superb defensive strategy and Real’s only good chance in the first half was a deflected Ronaldo free kick that Keylor Navas saved brilliantly.

Diego Lopez saved his team late in the first half denying Diawara’s and Papakouly Diop efforts with two world-class saves.

In the second half, Levante found a reward for their better performance and took the lead in a counter-attack lead by Ruben Garcia, who clipped to ball for Diawara to send a half-volley to the back of the net.

The goal brought some urgency from Carlo Ancelotti’s men, and just four minutes later Sergio Ramos scored the equaliser beating two defenders in a corner.

Los Blancos had the chance to fulfil their come-back, but both Karim Benzema and Marcelo missed their attempts to beat Navas.

However, Levante took the lead again thanks to the hesitancy from Lopez and Ramos. The Moroccan’s goal in the 86th looked like a winner, but the hosts would end up disappointed.

A cool finish from Alvaro Morata in the 90th minute gave Los Merengues some hope. And, as it happened in Elche, Ronaldo scored in the 94th rifling a shot from the corner of the box which deflected off a defender before ending the net.

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Levante Real Madrid match preview

Real Madrid needed a late goal to seal the three points at the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia against Levante last season, and prior to that win, hadn’t beaten them in their previous three matches, so tonight’s game will be no walkover for Carlo Ancelotti’s men.

Los Blancos are in good form on the road however, and are unbeaten in their last seven away day outings. The hosts have not won at home this season, dishing up three draws so far infront of their fans – a winless run that Real Madrid will be keen to extend tonight.

Joaquin Caparros’ men were beaten 7-0 on the opening day of the campaign by Barcelona but are unbeaten in their last six matches, and currently sit ninth in La Liga with 10 points from a possible 21. They are six points behind Real Madrid going into the match.

The main talking point for Madrid is the forward role – with Karim Benzema set to be dropped to the bench having failed to score in his past five La Liga games. Alvaro Morata should get the nod up front after impressing in his cameo against Atletico de Madrid last time out.

Ancelotti is boosted by the return of Raphael Varane, but is likely to stick with this trusted back four. The young French defender still needs some minutes under his belt to get back to match fitness but is a welcome boost for the squad. Xabi Alonso and Gareth Bale miss out due to injury.

Baba Diawara and David Navarro have overcome slight injury concerns for the home side and will be ready to take their place in the starting eleven.

Probable line ups:

Levante: Navas; Lopez, Vyntra, Navarro, Juanfran; Pinto, Diop; Xumetra, Garcia, Zhar; Diawara

Real Madrid: Lopez; Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Coentrao; Isco, Khedira, Modric; Di Maria, Morata, Ronaldo

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Wales manager Chris Coleman has said Real Madrid rushed Gareth Bale into first team action too soon and they his injury problems are a result of that.

The former Tottenham Hotspur player joined Los Blancos in a 91 million euro deal but has made a stuttering start to life in Madrid. He scored on his debut against Villarreal, but pulled out injury in the warm up against Getafe, and then missed the midweek Champions League win over FC Copenhagen.

Real boss Carlo Ancelotti has said Bale will miss the next two weeks with his thigh problem, and instead of linking up with his national side, will remain in Madrid to recover and build up his fitness in time for El Clasico against Barcelona at the end of October.

Speaking ahead of Wales’ World Cup qualifiers next week, Coleman, who used to manager Real Sociedad, said he did not want to be critical of fellow managers, but felt Bale’s situation at Real Madrid had been handled badly.

“I would never criticise another manager — Carlo Ancelotti is a brilliant manager — but La Liga football is a different tempo to the Premier League. The Premier League is the fastest, so maybe Carlo is thinking Gareth can handle it, he’s a super athlete. But in our last camp, he was nowhere near fit,” he said.

He added:”What has happened to him with the move, he must feel under pressure. He is probably trying too hard to do things that come naturally to him. Physically he is not there, he is not ready and he might not be for some time.

“If you don’t do a pre-season, no matter how good you are, you always play catch-up for the season. This season might be a tough one for him, as good as he is.”

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La Liga is only seven games in and the Madrid press is already saying Real Madrid have no room for error should they have ambitions to lift the title.

Los Blancos find themselves five points behind leaders Barcelona and Atletico de Madrid, with both having won all seven of their matches to date. Real lost to Atletico last weekend at the Santiago Bernabeu and also dropped points in the 1-1 draw at Villareal.

Tonight they take on Levante at the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia, where they secured a 1-0 win last year thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo goal. While there is no debate about the Portuguese’ involvement, both Marca and AS suggest there may be a change up front with Alvaro Morata being preferred to Karim Benzema. According to the papers, the French forward may drop to the bench due to his poor form.

Away from the match, there is still talk of Luis Suarez – with international team mate Edison Cavani saying in an interview that the Liverpool forward only has his heart set on a move to the Santiago Bernabeu and nowhere else.

Marca also has an interview with Raphael Varane that covers how he dealt with his injury problems and his recovery in the last five months. The young defender admitted that he has had to change his running style as a result of the injury, but that he is relieved to be back playing football again.

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Karim Benzema has played down talk of him leaving Real Madrid and insisted he wants to win over the Los Blancos faithful after a slow start to the campaign.

The 25-year-old was booed by some sections of the Santiago Bernabeu against Atletico de Madrid after missing a number of chances. He has not scored for five La Liga matches, having netted two in the first two games.

Some reports in the press have linked Benzema with a move away from the club he joined from Lyon in 2009. Arsenal were believed to be keen on taking him to the Emirates Stadium in the last transfer window, and may make a move in January when the transfer period opens again. Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea was the latest club to be linked with Benzema as the Portuguese boss looks to find a solution to his striker problems.

But speaking about his future, Benzema said his focus was on giving 100% to Los Merengues and making the fans happy again.

“There is no problem for me, so I just have to keep working. I am calm – the most important thing is to play. I need to defend more – I get the public message. I will continue to give my all,” he stated.

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Real Madrid are preparing to offer new bumper deals to defensive pair Pepe and Sergio Ramos, according to reports.

The Daily Mirror said the Santiago Bernabeu club wants to tie the pair down to long-term deals to fend off any potential admirers. The centre back pairing have both been linked with moves to the Premier League, with big spenders Manchester City watching developments in both cases.

Ramos has a deal that lasts until 2017, and is keen to secure a significant pay rise at the club having established himself as one of the captains and senior players. Pepe’s deal runs out a year earlier, in 2016, but club president Florentino Perez is a big fan of the 30-year-old and wants to keep him in the Spanish capital for the rest of his career.

There would be no shortage of takers for the two defenders – Manuel Pellegrini knows the pair well from his time in charge of Los Blancos and from his time managing other La Liga clubs, while French champions PSG have also been mentioned as a possible destination should moves away from Madrid materialise.

Madrid recently tied down another of their stars to a long term deal – Cristiano Ronaldo – who put pen-to-paper on a contract worth 17 million euros a year.

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Real Madrid’s French defender Raphael Varane has said he was delighted to make his return from injury in his side’s comfortable win over FC Copenhagen.

The young centre-half, who became a crucial member of the team towards the end of last season under Jose Mourinho, has missed the last five months recovering from injury. He missed the tail end of the last campaign as Madrid crashed out of the Champions League and lost the final of the Copa del Rey.

And the Frenchman, who has been called up to play in his nation’s World Cup qualifiers next week, said he is looking forward to a successful campaign at the Santiago Bernabeu, but added the key to success is by taking one game at a time.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Varane said: “I have worked very hard and I’m in quite good physical shape. It has been a pleasure playing after so long, and even more so because it was in the Champions League.”

He added: “We’re only thinking about the Levante game. We shouldn’t look any further. What’s important is that the team has improved its game and we’re going away happy because of scoring four goals and not giving up any.

“We’ve played well, won, and were strong behind. That’s always good and we’ve got to continue in the same way.”

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Reports in the UK have surfaced again suggesting Real Madrid will make an offer for Liverpool striker in the January transfer window.

The Uruguay forward was strongly linked with Los Blancos over the summer, but not bid was ever received from the Spanish giants. Only Arsenal made real attempts to sign the striker, but they were rejected on two occasions and Suarez stayed on Merseyside – recently making his comeback to the side following a 10-game domestic match ban.

But ESPN have said Carlo Ancelotti and the Real directors are keen to take player, who scored 30 league goals last season, to the Santiago Bernabeu, and will offer 50 million euros in January. Karim Benzema has lead the line for Real this season, but there has been talk about signing another forward ever since Gonzalo Higuain was sold to Napoli.

Publicly, Suarez has stated he is happy at Anfield and willing to stay at the club he joined from Ajax in 2011. But privately he is believed to still be keen on a move to a club that plays regular Champions League football.

The Sun newspaper also reported on the potential transfer, and a source close to the player was quoted in the paper saying: “It is possible Luis could end up at Real. We expect Real to present a formal offer in December.”

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The Madrid press still has plenty of coverage and analysis of Real Madrid’s comfortable win over FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Two goals apiece from Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel di Maria saw off the Danes, and ensured Los Blanco take a firm grip on the group, leading by four points after just two games and looking good for qualification to the last 16. More importantly, the win silenced a few critics who said Carlo Anelotti was facing his first crisis as Madrid manager.

Real is still a work in progress, and Ancelotti’s team has yet to hit top gear. AS today has a poll over where Gareth Bale should play – something the Italian may consider when the Welshman is fit again. According to the poll, 52% of Los Merengues fans would like to see the 24-year-old play on the left wing, rather than on the right where Ancelotti has used him so far.

The fans would move Cristiano Ronaldo forward into the striker’s position, and take Karim Benzema out of the starting eleven altogether. The Frenchman has underperformed this year, failing to score in his last five La Liga matches – and has been linked with a move away from the club.

Meanwhile, it was confirmed yesterday that Bale will miss two weeks with his thigh injury. In fairly farcical scenes, Wales boss Chris Coleman called the 91 million euro man up for his nation’s World Cup qualifiers next week, only for Bale to pull out 35 minutes later. The former Tottenham Hotspur player will remain in Madrid working on his fitness having missed much of pre-season through injury.

 

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Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale will miss the next two weeks recovering from his thigh injury that has seen him struggle in his first few weeks as a Los Blancos player.

The 91 million euro signing scored on his debut against Villareal but has been troubled ever since with a thigh injury. He pulled out in the warm up before Real’s match with Getafe, was only a substitute against Atletico de Madrid, and then missed out again in the side’s win over FC Copenhagen in the Champions League.

Speaking after the match, Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti confirmed Bale would not appear for the side until after the next international break. It means the Welshman is now in a race against time to be ready for the La Liga fixture against bitter rivals Barcelona at the end of October.

Ancelotti said: “It wasn’t possible for him to play. He had a knock and we did an X-ray, but it didn’t show up anything special. We are waiting for him to recover. He has not been 100 per cent, but after two weeks he will be in top shape.”

He added that Bale has been left feeling frustrated by his start in the Spanish capital but that he would return a stronger player and ready to fight for his place in the team.

“It’s normal he is not happy – he wants to play. He is very excited and it’s not a problem – now there is time for him to reach optimum fitness and to avoid [further] injuries,” Ancelotti said.

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