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Daniel Carvajal

Carvajal has spoke in El Larguero (an important Spanish radio program) before the Spanish national team face Macedonia for the World Cup of Russia 2018. Spain will also play next weekend a friendly match against England at Wembley. Dani Carvajal is a Real Madrid key player and he is one of the best right backs of all Europe. He highlighted which Atlético de Madrid player he will sign, Cristiano Ronaldo, Morata and other important topics.

The first question the journalists made to Carvajal was about what he thinks of his manager Zinedine Zidane after the good start Los Blancos had in the regular season: ” He is being fair to whoever plays and with who don’t plays. It’s very difficult to manage Real Madrid because every decision you make will generate a debate. He has been brave sitting on the bench players of high quality as James Rodríguez and Isco”, the Spaniard defender said.

Morata and Carvajal have a very good relationship and Carvajal defended the Spaniard striker because of the few minutes Morata is playing this year:” It is proven that he deserves more minutes with the last performances. If Morata continues this way, he will have more minutes this season”, Carvajal said.

Los Blancos had played very poor games against teams that are priori weaker than Real Madrid:” Many times we are not having intensity in the matches, we need more self esteem. The difficult part, with all due respect, is to concentrate against teams as Eibar or Leganés”, Carvajal explained.

Cristiano Ronaldo is not having his best year despite his renew with Los Blancos until 2021 and Carvajal defended the Portuguese star: ” Cristiano is very ambitious with himself and for that reason it seems he is angry. He very happy here and his desire is to retire at Real Madrid”, Carvajal said.

The journalists talked with Carvajal about the serious team Atlético de Madrid is and which player of Atlético he will sign:” I enjoy playing at Vicente Calderón because the supporters cheer all the match. I would like to sign Koke, I think he is a tremendous player and he has many versatility”, Carvajal said about Koke.

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There is a Premier League player that is having really good performances in this beginning of the season. This player is the Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho, that is enjoying his best year as a professional in his career playing for Liverpool and many European clubs as Real Madrid are interested on him.

During last weeks, European media have been warning go the growing interest of Philippe Coutinho among the best teams of all the continent. Liverpool midfielder has established as one of the most determined players in the Premier League and many managers have the desire of signing him in the future.

One of his main admires os the Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane. According to OK Diario, the Brazilian midfielder is the favorite election to incorporate to Los Blancos squad. Zidane wants the signing of Coutinho for the next season because he has the quality needed to play as the player who connects the midfielders with the forwards.

Zidane thinks that Philippe Coutinho can be a mix os Isco and James playing in that position. With the Spaniard he shares the great ball skills and the talent of dribble and with the Colombian his medium distance shots and the verticality James has. If the French manager achieves this signing it will be the end of the headaches when he must choose between Isco and James.

We don’t know what would happen to James, Isco and Asensio if Coutinho arrives to the capital of Spain. It seems clear that if the former Inter Milan and Espanyol arrives, at lest one of them will have to leave Real Madrid and find another team if he wants to have minutes. It will be quite difficult choose between these players because they have many quality and they are still young to triumph at Real Madrid.

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marcelo

Zinedine Zidane will go back to work on Wednesday to prepare the derby against Atlético Madrid the next Saturday 19th of November. The French manager will have only 9 players to start training with ahead of the big clash against the two Spanish giants. Some other players like Casemiro, Sergio Ramos or Pepe are still injured. The others have to travel with their national teams.

Zinedine Zidane’s main concern are the injuries for these games. The coach should be especially worried for the South American players, who will have to play big games in the qualifying stage for the Russian World Cup. For instance, James Rodríguez has joined Colombia to play against Chile and Argentina. Marcelo will play against Argentina and Perú. On top of that, their last fixture will be held on Wednesday (00.30 Spanish time). So they will have less than three days to prepare the derby against Atlético Madrid.

Keylor Navas has to travel to America as well. Costa Rica will face Trinidad & Tobago and United States in the Hex tournament in the Concacaf group stages to qualify for the Russian World Cup.

In Europe, Joachim Low called Toni Kroos However, the Real Madrid midfielder is injured in his foot and he will miss all the games until 2017, so he had to come back and recover from his injury.

Cristiano Ronaldo has joined the Portuguese side after his renewal to face Latvia on Sunday, whereas Gareth Bale will face Serbia at home on Saturday. Despite Luka Modric has only played 30 minutes after his recovery from his injury, he’s been called by Croatia to face Iceland in a crucial game on Saturday. Croatia will also play a friendly game on Tuesday against Northern Ireland. Both Modric and Mateo Kovacic will be in the Croatian squad.

The Spanish players of Real Madrid will also have to work with their national team. Spain will face Macedonia on Saturday in a qualifying game and then travel to London to face England in a friendly game at Wembley. Lucas Vázquez, Nacho, Carvajal, Isco or Morata will be in the squad, whereas Marco Asensio has been called to play with the U-21 team.

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Zinedine Zidane has reasons to be concerned. Real Madrid announced yesterday that Toni Kroos got injured in the game against Leganés in the fifth metatarsal and he should be out of the pitch between 4 and 6 weeks, so it’s very likely that the German midfielder cannot play in 2016 again.

With Casemiro out of the fields for 2 or 3 weeks more, Zidane has to look for solutions. The first game will be a huge test against Atlético Madrid in the capital derby. Luckily, Luka Modric came back against Leganés, so he should be ready to start at Vicente Calderón stadium but there are two other positions left.

The most likely solution for Zidane is to insert in the line-up Isco and Mateo Kovacic. Both played really well together when Modric and Casemiro were out of the team. However, in these games, Kroos was playing as a stopper, and now Zidane has run out of options for these positions.

No matter the solution Zidane finds, it’s going to be a very offensive team. Kovacic or Modric are not defensive midfielders, but both should change their role for the following games and help in defence. The same applies to Isco, who could play in the midfield.

With Benzema injured, another solution could be playing with only two strikers -Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale- and put four midfielders. In this case, James Rodríguez will have his chance, together with Isco, Modric and Kovacic. Real Madrid should have the ball then, with four really skilled footballers.

There is another option for Zinedine Zidane: try as a stopper another player. Sergio Ramos played El Clásico once as a defensive midfielder. In El Clasico in 2010, Carlo Ancelotti tried to play with the Spaniard as a stopper and it was a big mistake. He changed then in the second half with Illarramendi but Real Madrid lost that game. For this reason, it’s very unlikely that Zidane choose to put Sergio Ramos in the midfield.

Taking all this in consideration, Kovacic and Isco are the key players for Zidane in the month of November. Both need to change their role and adapt themselves to a defensive position. Would they be able to do that?

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Saturday 19th of November 20:45. This is the date that everybody is thinking about at Real Madrid. Los Blancos will play the first big game of the season in the Madrid derby against Atlético. After three months of competitions, Zidane’s side is unbeaten but they haven’t played against big teams. They’ve only faced Borussia Dortmund in Champions League. So the clash is very important to know where the team is.

Real Madrid have not lost in the last 28 games. The last defeat was in Champions League against Wolfsburg in the first leg of the Quarter Finals. In La Liga, Zidane has only lost one game, against Atlético Madrid at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Simeone’s side was much better, so this is something Zidane wants to improve.

It will be very important for the French manager to have the full squad available. Most of the players are with their national teams, but some others are still working in Valdebebas, Real Madrid training ground. Among them, the players injured: Casemiro, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Karim Benzema. All of them have the goal to arrive fit to the derby but it won’t be easy. We know for sure that Toni Kroos will miss the game, after he got broken the fifth metatarsal of his foot.

Sergio Ramos is the one with more chances. The Spanish full back was training in the ground already and could be fit for the derby. He had a sprained knee one month ago but he was working hard and it’s very likely that he could participate in the game.

His pair in the defence Pepe has less option. He got injured in the game against Alavés. He has muscular problems in the thigh of his left leg. Muscular problems are always tricky, so with Nacho, Varane and perhaps Sergio Ramos fit, Zidane won’t risk with Pepe.

Karim Benzema got injured in Poland. The club has not made any statement but the striker missed the game against Leganés. Álvaro Morata is the perfect replacement but if the French is ready to play, he will start the game. It’s a big question mark whether he will be ready or not.

Casemiro is the one with less opportunities to play the derby. Unfortunately for the Brazilian stopper, he had the fibula broken so he needs two or three weeks more of recovery. Real Madrid supporters are missing him, but there are few chances for him to play the derby.

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Martin Odegaard is still playing with Real Madrid Castilla in Segunda B, the Third Division of the Spanish football. The Norwegian was signed in the January transfer market in 2015 from Stromsgodset. Two years after, he has barely play with the first team and the player need to have minutes in a higher level team.

In this season, he has played 7 games with Castilla, starting in the initial 11, scoring only one goal. The winger was expected to bright in his second season with the team, but he’s not performing great appearances. The club directors think that Odegaard should leave the club and improve somewhere else.

This summer, Odegaard was expected to leave on loan. Actually, the French Club Rennes have everything tied up to bring Odegaard on board. However, FIFA rules about the loan of players under 18 years old made the deal more difficult. The Norwegian will turn 18 this December, so this problem will disappear for the winter transfer window.

Mikael Silvestre, former Manchester United player, spoke about this interest of Rennes: “We haven’t forgotten about him. In January we’ll see if the is an option”, Silvestre said representing the French team. Zinedine Zidane knew very well Rennes and he agreed on giving the player on loan to the Ligue One club.

In these two years in the Spanish capital, Odegaard had few options to play with Real Madrid first team. He made his debut in La Liga against Getafe in May 2015 with Carlo Ancelotti on the bench. Zidane brought him to the pre-season tour in the United States but he couldn’t enjoy any minute with the team. Perhaps, he could have more chances in a top flight club in another league because he has shown his quality with his national team and Odegaard was one of the youngsters wanted for every single top club in Europe.

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Really bad news for Real Madrid. The club has made an statement announcing the important injury of Toni Kroos, one of the key players for Zinedine Zidane. The German midfielder has broken the fifth metatarsal of his right foot, so he will be out of the pitch between 4 and 6 weeks. Therefore, it’s very complicated for him to play again in 2016 and arrive to the FIFA World Cup in Japan.

Toni Kroos travelled to Germany after the game against Leganés. He felt some pain in his foot so he spoke with the doctors of his national team and Real Madrid. After a few tests in Munich and Köln. the doctors said that he had the metatarsal broken. At least, he won’t need to have surgery.

According to the predictions, Toni Kroos will be out of the pitch between one month and six weeks, so he will miss for sure all the games in 2016. In these two months, Real Madrid will face Atlético Madrid or Barcelona in La Liga, Sporting Portugal or Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and the FIFA World Cup.

Toni Kroos was a key piece for Zinedine Zidane. Actually, he has played 11 games in a row after the injuries of Casemiro and Luka Modric in the midfield, including the Copa del Rey game against Cultural Leonesa. Playing as a stopper, Kroos has shown a great level so far this season.

Real Madrid are quite unlucky with injuries at the start of the season. When the team has just recovered Luka Modric, who played some minutes against Leganés, another midfielder will be out a few weeks. Besides, Casemiro, the other stopper, is also injured and won’t be back until December, presumably. It will be important to see which player can play in this role for the next games. The first test is a huge one against Atlético in the derby at Vicente Calderón.

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Italian giants Juventus are top of the table in the Serie A, having lost only two games in the domestic league against both Milan teams. However, in Europe the team is struggling and they are second in their group behind Sevilla after failing to beat at home both Sevilla and Olympique Lyonnais.

Although the team is in a good position, the Vecchia Signora is trying to improve the quality of Massimiliano Allegri’s squad. For this reason, the Italian giants are targetting James Rodríguez for the winter transfer window. According to the Italian newspaper Il Corriere dello Sport, the current Serie A champion would like to sign the Colombian playmaker as soon as possible.

Juventus know that James Rodríguez is not completely happy in Real Madrid. The Colombian was having minutes in the last games, especially after Modric or Casemiro got injured. However, James had some muscular problems and Zidane is trusting Isco more. The Spanish midfielder played in the starting eleven against Betis, Alavés or Leganés, the last three games in La Liga.

James Rodríguez has now left Spain to join Colombian national team to help them qualify to the Russian World Cup. Every time he plays for Pekérman’s side, the midfielder shows his quality and speak about the few opportunities he’s enjoying with Zidane on the bench. He has only participated in 5 league games, only starting two games -Espanyol and Villarreal- and scoring one goal -Espanyol-.

James Rodríguez was about to leave Real Madrid in summer but he finally decided to stay and fight for a place in the team. He has done some good performances every time he’s got the chance, but Zidane doesn’t trust the Colombian. James even said to the press that Inter Milan wanted to sign him in summer. Perhaps this time is the other Italian giants, Juventus, who come to Madrid to sign him.

Juventus bosses Beppe Marotta and Fabio Paratici have good relationships with Real Madrid, especially after the deal with Álvaro Morata, so they have an open line with Florentino Pérez. According to the Italian press, if James Rodríguez deal fails, Juventus can try to bring back to Italy Marco Verratti, the PSG midfielder who has also been linked to Los Blancos in the past.

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Isco

Tottenham Hotspurs performance in the Champions League is not like it was expected. The Spurs have lost both games at home against Mónaco and Bayer Leverkusen and are now in trouble to get through the knock-out stages. Mauricio Pochettino was very hard with their last game against the German side, where the North London team played a poor game.

Luckily for the Spurs supporters, the team improved in the North London derby against Arsenal and they could earn a point at the Emirates Stadium. However, they are far from the level shown last year, especially at White Hart Lane, and are far from the top of the tables. The injuries of Harry Kane or Erik Lamela have been also very important.

For this reason, Tottenham Hotspurs are still thinking on how to improve the squad in January. And last week they name that came up was Francisco Alarcón, the Real Madrid playmaker. Isco has not played yet any minute in the Champions League, so he could be available for the Last 16, in case Tottenham Hotspurs qualify. According to The Mirror, Pochettino is putting some pressure to get the Spaniard on board.

However, Isco is enjoying a lot of minutes recently, especially when Modric and Casemiro were out of the team. The Croatian is now back, so Isco might go again to the bench, but he has taking advantage of the situation and Isco played some good games. For instance, against Leganés he gave a great assist to Bale in the opener goal.

Apart from Tottenham, Chelsea and Bayern Múnich are also interested in the Spanish player, according to The Mirror and The Express. Antonio Conte side is back on track after thrashing Everton at home. Isco could be the perfect match for Hazard in the midfield and a good replacement for Cesc Fàbregas, who is not enjoying the confidence of the Italian coach.

On the other hand, Carlo Ancelotti always liked Isco. Actually, the best moments of the Malaga born player at Real Madrid were with the Italian coach. Bayern Múnich have not started the season in the best way and the drew at home against Hoffenheim in the last game, so Isco could be an emergency solution for the German team.

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Cristiano Ronaldo was the protagonist today at Santiago Bernabéu. The footballer signed his new contract with Real Madrid until 2021 and he spoke in front of the press to announce the deal. Florentino Pérez was next to him and also his mother Dolores. The club played a video with the most important goals of Cristiano Ronaldo’s career with Los Blancos. After, the Portuguese spoke with a big smile and glasses.

The first question was quite obvious. He will be 36 when the current contract expires, in 2021, so he might retire with Los Blancos but Cristiano Ronaldo denied it in his initial speech: “I want to thank the president, Real Madrid, the city of Madrid, my team mates and everybody who has helped me to arrive to his moment. It’s a very special day for me, very important, for my link with Real Madrid. As I said, this is the club of my heart, it’s my face, a unique moment in my life. Renewing five year more, it’s not my last contract, I want this to be clear. I want to play until I turn 41. In the next five years I’ll keep doing the same“.

Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t know what to do next, when he retires: “We’ll see, you never know. This is my latest contract but I want to play many years here. Real Madrid leave me happy, my son is happy too living with his father, his family, my friends…”. This is the main reason, he “feels happy, renewing my contract with Real Madrid is a very special day”, the star said.

In these five years, Cristiano hopes he can achieve many more things: “I dream a lot of things, I’m not going to lie to you. I didn’t expect these numbers, but this is my job and the job of the team. Five years is a lot of time and I want to give everything”, the Portuguese said.

The extension of his contract arrives in a bad moment. Cristiano Ronaldo is not scoring many goals and he’s been heavy criticized: “Not scoring is not so important as you think. I admit I can show anxiety, but it’s not anxiety, it’s been down. This is the best moment of my life, I’m happy about the last season, the Champions, Euro, renewal… It’s a dreamt year. It’s a moment so special that not scoring goals don’t matter. I know that in two, three weeks, one month, Cristiano will be there, as always”, the Portuguese said in the press conference.

In this great year for Cristiano Ronaldo, the perfect end would be winning the Ballon D’Or: “After winning the Champions, the Euro, this renewal… I don’t vote, it doesn’t depend on me, I’m quite after the season I did. I don’t live with an obsession about this. Obviously, it’s important, but for me the key of the individual awards are the collective ones”.

Finally, he spoke about the relationship with the Real Madrid supporters, who have booed him recently: “I feel well. There are good moment and other not that good, it’s part of the like. You have to accept hinds and have the mind always good. The season is very long and the moment is beautiful. We are top in La Liga, we are in the Champions League, Copa del Rey, we want to win the FIFA World Cup… Like is very good”, Cristiano Ronaldo finished.

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