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Real Madrid won 1-2 in the 6th week of the regular season against Alavés at Mendizorroza in a very tough game where Dani Ceballos scored a doubled in his first big a appearance with Real Madrid shirt in La Liga.

Zinedine Zidane decided to do many changes in the starting 11 respect last match thinking in the Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund. The French manager introduced Ceballos for first time in a line up and he also decided to give rest to Modric and Gareth Bale. Nacho was the player who had to play in Theo and Marcelo position, while Lucas Vázquez completed the attack with Asensio and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The game started with Real Madrid having the ball possession but without creating danger and Alavés defending in their own pitch looking for a counter attack. In the 10th minutes Los Blancos couldn’t receive better news. Dani Ceballos opened the score board with a a good play from a pass of Marco Asensio. The Andalusian player saw the net in his first game playing from the beginning, proving that he can be a very important player during the season.

After this goal, Alavés seemed a bit in shock because the team managed by Zidane was growing with the pass of the minutes, with Isco, Asensio and Ceballos being the players who guided the team. It looked like Los Blancos were going to score the second one, but suddenly in the 39th minute, Alavés tied the game with great header of Manu García, unstoppable for Keylor Navas. Only two minutes later, Los blancos couldn’t have a better reaction. Dani Ceballos saw the net for second time in the game completing an amazing first half.

The second half started with a clear chance of Cristiano Ronaldo after a brilliant cross of Carvajal, but the Portuguese shot finished wide of the post. With Alavés attacking more, Los Blancos were controlling the game and having clear chances to open the gap.  In fact, in the 54th minute Varane chipped a gorgeous ball to Isco, and with Cristiano Ronaldo absolutely free for a tap in next to him, the Spaniard player maker decided to shoot and Pacheco saved it. The Portuguese striker also had a great opportunity to score the third one but after a great play, but the ball finished in the post with the desperation of Cristiano that wanted to see his name in the scoresheet.

In the 71st minute Zinedine Zidane decided to do his first change replacing the MVP of the game, Dani Ceballos, by Marcos Llorente who received a huge round of applause after playing with the Basque side last season. In the 75th minute Alavés almost tied the game after a Real Madrid defensive mistake that Pedraza took advantage of it, but the ball finished for second time in the post.

In the last ten minutes Alavés looked a bit disorganized because they had to risk and look for a goal because there was not many time left. In the injury time, Mayoral replaced Isco in a game where the Andalusian player shined once again.

Finally, the match finished 1-2 and Real Madrid achieved three very important points. Now the team managed by Zidane must focus in the Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund in a very tough stadium as Signal Idun Park where Los Blancos tied last year (2-2).

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FIFA have announced the three final candidates to win The Best Award in the second edition of the trophy. This time, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar Junior will fight to become the best player of 2017.

The Portuguese striker of Real Madrid is the favourite again to win the award. Last year, he won the trophy, beating Leo Messi and Antoine Griezmann after winning the Champions League and the Euro with his national team. This year, Cristiano Ronaldo is still the favourite after being the topscorer in the Champions League and winning again the trophy. Besides, the Portuguese won La Liga with Real Madrid scoring in the most important games.

His rival will be again Leo Messi. The Argentinian striker was the topscorer in Europe last season and he is finishing the year brilliantly -he has scored 9 goals in only 5 games of La Liga-. Messi won only the Copa del Rey trophy, so perhaps this is not his year.

Neymar Junior is the alternative for the two best players in the world. The Brazilian made a shocking move this summer from Barcelona to PSG and he’s now one of the stars in football. However, Neymar is still very far from Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and he’ll have to wait his opportunity to win individual awards.

Other important Real Madrid players like Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric or Toni Kroos could have been shortlisted as well after their great season, especially because no club had won back to back titles of the Champions League.

Last year was the first time that FIFA gave this award. Before, they decide to join with France Football and give the ‘Ballon D’Or’ together. Now, this important trophy will be given away separately in the first weeks of 2018. Will Cristiano Ronaldo win both awards again? It’s very likely that this happen.

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Zinedine Zidane spoke in press conference before travelling to Vitoria to face Alavés. Los Blancos are now forced to win after the defeat at home against Betis. The manager tried to explain in press conference the situation of the team and how the results are affecting the group.

The coach was asked about the referees and if they have something to do with the current situation: “Referees? We don’t have any excuses. I’m not going to speak about the referees, I’ve never spoken about this”.

The French manager was very criticized for his substitutions on Wednesday: “Before I was lucky and now I’m jinx… I’m still lucky. I’m in this club and I enjoy a lot. I don’t think about the ginx I may have. It’s part of football”.

Despite being behind Barcelona, Zidane doesn’t think the title is over: “If I were 7 points ahead, I wouldn’t say that La Liga is over. You can have up to 10 or 15 points of difference… We are going to be there, don’t worry”, the manager explained.

Although the team is not playing well, Zidane is not really concerned: “I’m not worried because of the run of the team. I’d be worried if we didn’t have chances. We’re going to convert the chances. At Anoeta we scored three goals”.

Toni Kroos won’t be at Mendizorroza because he has some physical problems, so Zidane needs to rotate again. The manager was asked if he’s bothered because of the critics: “Nothing is going to change if I’m bothered or not, because I won’t change anything. I believe a lot in what I do. Here we work a lot of people and the rotations won’t change. Sometimes I’ve been asked if I rotate because of the age of the players. I change everyone. 20-years-old players cannot play 70 games per season. We have to give them rest, physically and mentally. And our players are internationals, so they never rest. I’m not going to change”, Zidane said.

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Alavés v Real Madrid

Alavés v Real Madrid meet at Mendizorroza on Saturday (15:15, UK Time) after the shocking defeat of Los Blancos at Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday against Betis.

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Alavés v Real Madrid Preview

 

Alavés is the first team in La Liga history to start La Liga without scoring any goal or getting any point in the first five weeks. The club fired Zubeldía, the coach, and they are still looking for a replacement. Laguardia and Héctor Hernández are injured, whereas Bojan Krkic, former Stoke City player, is doubtful. Enzo Zidane will be in the line-up, challenging his father.

Real Madrid are now 7 points behind FC Barcelona in La Liga after the defeat against Betis. Zidane’s side hasn’t won any game at home yet, but they got the victory in all the away games. The manager doesn’t have available Karim Benzema, Marcelo, Theo Hernández, Mateo Kovacic and Jesús Vallejo. Therefore, Nacho will play as a left back and Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale will the attacking couple.

Alavés v Real Madrid Predicted Line Ups

 

Alavés (5-3-2): Pacheco; Vigaray, Ely, Maripán, Duarte, Manu García, Torres, Medrán Burgui, Ibai y Munir
Real Madrid (4-4-2): Keylor; Nacho, Varane, Ramos, Carvajal, Casemiro, Modric, Kroos, Asensio Bale and Ronaldo.

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Alavés v Real Madrid Betting Tips

 

Alavés have won 0, drawn 3 and lost 7 games out of the last 10.
Real Madrid have won 7, drawn 2 and lost 1 of the last 10 games.
In the last 10 games, Alavés have scored an average of 0,5 goals and have received an average of 1,5 goals.
In the last 10 games, Real Madrid have scored an average of 2,1 goals per game and have conceded 0,7 goals per game.
There have been over 2,5 goals in 2 of the last 10 Alavés games.
There have been 2,5 goals in 7 of the last 10 Real Madrid games.

Alavés v Real Madrid Prediction

 

Alavés is the worst team in La Liga so far and they haven’t been able to score any goal in the competition. Los Blancos are very dangerous away and they’ve played their best games outside Santiago Bernabéu. They need to react after the defeat against Betis, so we should expect them to win easily at Mendizorroza.

Last season, Real Madrid thrashed Alavés away (1-4) with a hat-trick scored by Cristiano Ronaldo and the other net was scored by Morata.

Free Betting Tips

 

Match Prediction

Real Madrid win 1/6 at bet365.

Over/Under Prediction

Over 2,5 goals 1/3 at Bet365.

Result

Real Madrid to win 0-4 17/2 at Bet365.

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You can find out more information Soccerway or Whoscored.

Disclaimer: Odds correct at time of publishing

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Karim Benzema is happy living in the Spanish capital and he can smile because he can enjoy the sunshine until 2021. Real Madrid announced the extension of his contract this week and today the forward spoke in press conference with the media after the shocking defeat against Betis.

The player doesn’t know why this is happening but he’s confident yet: “The start is not very good, but this happens in all big clubs. It’s only the beginning, I trust my team and the most important thing is to be united. Last year we won a lot of title and we are Real Madrid. We are going to fix it”.

Benzema is one of the players with more experience in the team and he’s already thinking in retiring in the club: “I like Real Madrid football and I want to retire here because there is no other club like Real Madrid. This will be my last club, I know feel very well”.

However, the French striker struggled at the beginning because it was the worst moment for him: “It was the first year because I was 21 years old when I arrived and I didn’t know anything, so the adaptation was bad. Football was not enough. I cannot tell you the best moment, but for me it’s good when you win titles like the last year”.

Benzema is always criticized because he misses a lot of chances: “It’s part of the life and it allows me to give everything. I know how it is, I know that there is a lot of criticism in this club. I’m here to work and when the people criticize me it’s because they expect more things from me. I’m going to work more for this”.

The French striker was asked if he has a problem scoring goals: “Depends on how you see football. For me, a striker is not only goal, you have to participate in the game, open spaces… We talk about football, not only goals. I understand that people criticize me because I don’t score more goals, but I watch more the football. I always think in the team, it’s more important than the player. I work a lot in front of the goal to score more, but a striker needs to have more things…”, Benzema analyzed.

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What is going on at Real Madrid? This is the question the supporters are asking themselves. The team has only got two points out of 9 at home and they are 7 points behind FC Barcelona. On Wednesday, they got beaten by Betis at home (0-1) thanks to a late goal scored by Tony Sanabria.

Zinedine Zidane is not happy with the results, but he blames the luck: “This is football, when the ball doesn’t want to go in, this can happen. We didn’t do a great game, but neither a bad one. We had chances, but the ball doesn’t want to go in, especially in our stadium. Calm, this is very long”.

The problems are arriving at home, where Los Blancos have drawn 2 games and lost one: “We have to live with this. There are three games and the start of the championship at home is not the right one. We didn’t think this was going to be like this, but we can’t change it. What we can change is the next game. Doing the maximum to win. And in the next game at home we have to do everything to win”.

The president, Florentino Pérez, went to the dressing room to speak with the players: “The president’s word is to cheer the players up, this is what they need”, Zidane said. Especially Cristiano Ronaldo, who played his first minutes in La Liga but he was a bit anxious: “Not at all, on the contrary. We are happy to have Cristiano with us and he’s happy to be with the team”, the manager said.

Obviously, Real Madrid are having problems converting the chances: “The ball didn’t want to go in. We had 26 or 26 chances and it didn’t want to go in. It wasn’t a great game, but it wasn’t a bad one as well. If you score one, the game is different. We have to be calm, but we got two points out of 9 at home”.

The journalists asked Zidane if he regrets any substitution, because he took out Modric and introduced Mayoral, messing a bit the players: “I don’t regret anything. I always want to win the game. You can make different substitutions, but the idea is always the same: winning the game”.

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casemiro-sanabria-GI

La Liga title gets very complicated. It’s only the month of September, but Real Madrid have not won any game at home in La Liga and they are now 7 points behind FC Barcelona. Betis resisted the 90 minutes and got the three points (0-1) in the injury time thanks to a header scored by Tony Sanabria.

Real Betis break the run of 73 games scoring in a row for Real Madrid. Besides, the Andalusian team hadn’t won in 19 years at Bernabéu, but tonight was their evening. Betis had chances, Real Madrid tried very hard but got anxious in the end and Sanabria punished it. Bernabéu stadium doesn’t suit Los Blancos this season.

The game started with a very clear chance for Betis after mistakes of Varane and Casemiro. Luckily, Carvajal saved the shot on the line. However, Real Madrid reacted quickly and Cristiano Ronaldo could have scored first and Luka Modric after, but the game was very open. The Portuguese was eager to score and he tried again in the 28th minute with a long shot, but Adán saved it. But Betis were in the game and Fabián had the chance to score in the 33rd minute, but Keylor Navas made a brilliant save.

Real Madrid continued trying and they already deserved some goals. Isco was the next one to find Adán, who was becoming the best Betis player. Luka Modric was the only Real Madrid player who was showing a great level against a dangerous rival. It was a goalless draw at half time.

The second half started with Real Madrid pressuring high and arriving easily to Adán’s box. The first goal could arrive in the 50th minute, but Cristiano missed after a great assist of Bale. Although Real Madrid tried harder, Betis could take the lead but Francis missed the chance. Also Carvajal had the chance to score and the bar prevented it. The goal didn’t arrive and it was time for Marco Asensio, who came in to the pitch.

The bad news continued to arrive because Marcelo got injured again and he asked for the substitution. Lucas Vázquez and Borja Mayoral got in, seeking the opening goal. Soon we saw the best chances, with Gareth Bale finishing in a very strange way but finding again Adán.

With the changes, Real Madrid got lost and played very disorganized. Without defenders, Betis had many chances at the counter-attack until they found the prize. Tony Sanabria scored in the 93rd minute, giving the three points to the Andalusian team. Real Madrid have not won any game at home in La Liga and the title gets very complicated now. Barcelona are 7 points clear in the top of the table.

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Karim Benzema is the ‘9’ of Real Madrid and he will continue being the forward until 2021. It’s very difficult to find in Real Madrid history an attacker with so many years wearing the white t-shirt but the French striker is beating all the records. Now he has signed a new deal with the club, extending his contract but the club doesn’t say anything about increasing his release clause.

The club has made public the agreement and the ceremony with the media will take place on Thursday at Santiago Bernabéu, after the game against Betis. Benzema is currently injured, so he will miss the clash against the Andalusian team.

Benzema arrived to Real Madrid in 2009 after paying a transfer fee of €35M. The French striker had to fight against Gonzalo Higuaín for a spot in the line-up, winning the battle. Since then, he’s been the main striker of the club, although he’s always criticized because his numbers of goals aren’t brilliant. The controversy will continue these months, but he’s now the third top-scorer of the Champions League in active, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

His numbers at Real Madrid are brilliant. His best season was two years ago, when he was able to score 24 goals in La Liga. In 2011/12 he also scored 21. However, last season he struggles with only 11 goals in La Liga and this year he has to find the net yet.

Apart from the goals, Karim Benzema always gives anything extra to the team. His best play last season brought Real Madrid to the final of the Champions League, after a great dribbling in the semi-finals against Atlético Madrid to assist Kroos in the decisive goal scored by Isco. He knows very well how to play with Cristiano Ronaldo and, currently, he’s the best assistant for the Portuguese star. Luckily, he’ll be tie to the club until 2021. Carvajal, Marcelo and Isco also signed their contracts recently.

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Kepa-Arrizabalaga-GI

The transfer market is closed, but Real Madrid scouters are already working to spot some opportunities for the future. One of the positions that could be improved is the goalkeeper one, with Keylor Navas or Kiko Casilla in the spot. For this reason, the name of Kepa Arrizabalaga is very appealing for Los Blancos.

Kepa is currently playing with Athletic Club. This is his first season as the main goalkeeper of the team, but he played some games last season. The 23-years-old goalie is going with the Spanish national team and he’s become one of the most interesting players for the future.

Real Madrid know their skills because they tried to sign him two years ago for Castilla. However, Kepa decided to stay at Athletic and he went on loan to Ponferradina and Valladolid, before going back again to Bilbao. His contract expires at the end of this season and he has rejected several renewal offers, so he has become a main target for Real Madrid.

Athletic Club are trying to extend the deal and increase his release clause up to €60M, but the player has rejected all the offers because he expected some more money. In the meantime, Real Madrid have spoken to his agent, so the player is aware of the interest, according to MARCA.

So far, Kepa has played all the games in La Liga except the one against Girona. Last season, he sent Gorka Iraizoz to the bench because of his great performances, so he’s shining in the first division despite his age. Athletic Club are pressuring a lot the player to renew his contract, so if Kepa continues to decline the offer, he might spend some time on the bench.

Real Madrid had some options to sign a goalkeeper this summer. David De Gea was on the list again, but Zinedine Zidane was convinced that Keylor Navas was his goalkeeper, so Florentino Pérez didn’t go for him this time. Los Blancos had also contacts with Gianluigi Donnarumma, who didn’t want to renew his contract with AC Milan. Mino Raiola put some pressure there, until the Italian club extended his contract with a millionaire deal. Kepa could be the third option to improve this position and the cheapest one. Is this a good option?

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Marcelo, Daniel Carvajal and Isco renewed their contracts in the last days. Soon, it will be Zidane’s time as the own manager admitted in front of the media in the press conference before facing Real Betis in the 5th week of La Liga.

The coach was asked about the future and he wanted to be positive: “I feel good. The renewal is already done, but this doesn’t mean anything. The day a day matters and I don’t see beyond. This is complicated”.

What it’s also complicated is Bale’s situation, despite the great goal scored at Anoeta: “I always said we have to be patient with him and we know he’s a very good player, but he’s going to need some time. There is still some time left to see the best Bale, but he’s already well”.

The one who is really well is Cristiano Ronaldo, who is back to the pitch after missing the last four games of La Liga: “We are not going to be back to the suspension. We’re happy because he’s back and I hope this will be the last time he’s not with us. I see Cristiano happy, because he likes to play and be with his team mates. He comes back to play in La Liga at home and we know he likes to play in this stadium”.

The team has to be focused the 90 minutes to beat Betis on Wednesday: We always want to watch this as a coach. And the players also want this. Against Betis we’re trying to play well the 90 minutes. We are concerned about being intense, because we can harm any rival”.

The coach was also asked about Dani Ceballos, a former Real Betis player: “I’m happy with him but I don’t know when he’s going to play, but the most important thing is that he trains good. He’s doing great”.

Zizou also spoke about Carvajal and the possibility to have some rest because he’s the only right back in the squad: “I’m not concerned, but he’s not going to play all the games because it’s not possible. At the moment, he’s fine and he can keep playing, he’s able to play many games”, Zidane finished.

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