Page 171

By -
0

After lifting the 11th Champions League, Real Madrid have the opportunity to play the FIFA Club World Cup at the end of the year with the champions of every continent. Los Blancos know now the path until the final although we don’t know yet all the participants of the tournament.

Real Madrid will face in the semifinals América from Mexico or the Asian champion. This game will take place on Wednesday 14th December in Yokohama at 10.30 am (UK time). The Asian champion will play against American on Sunday 11th of December and then we’ll see whose team will face Real Madrid in the semifinals. On the other side, Colombian team Atlético Nacional will play against the African champion and the winner of Auckland and the Japonese champion.

We’ll have to wait to see the teams that will participate in the tournament. Currently, we just know Real Madrid (European champions); Atlético Nacional (Libertadores Champions); Auckland City (Oceanic Champions) and América (CONCACAF Champions). We still have to know three other teams: Asian Champions, African Champions and Japanese Champions. On the 26th of November we’ll know the Asian Champions and the African will be on the 21st of October. We have to wait more for the Japanese champions, because the J League ends in December.

Only two years ago, Real Madrid played the FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco and Los Blancos won the tournament beating in the final Argentinian team San Lorenzo. Sergio Ramos was again the main protagonist opening the score with a header.

Now, the team will have to travel to Japan to try to win another tournament. Real Madrid have already won the European Supercup this year against Sevilla back in August. Now, Zidane is giving some rest to the players so they can face a very challenging season, including the FIFA Club World Cup.

By -
3

Real Madrid have won 16 games in a row in La Liga with Zinedine Zidane on the bench. Now, against Villarreal, the team could win their straight 17th game in a row, beating Guardiola’s record with Barcelona. This milestone for Real Madrid will be tough because Villarreal are playing really well and they haven’t lost a game in La Liga so far.

Zinedine Zidane has changed Real Madrid in only 9 months and now he can reach another record with the club. Los Blancos are big favourites to beat Villarreal but it will be a tough game according to the bookmakers although they’re playing at Bernabéu Stadium. Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale will be back after missing Espanyol fixture, so another chance of betting for Real Madrid to win.

BET HERE AND BACK REAL MADRID TO WIN WITH BETFAIR
In Betfair, you can back Real Madrid to win with 2/9 odds. Obviously, Los Blancos are favourites but many times the odds are lower when the team plays at home. If Villarreal win, the odds are 14/1 and the draw 6/1. It’s always interesting when Real Madrid play at home having a look at the market both team to score and Real Madrid win. In this case, the odds are 7/4.

If you think Real Madrid will win at the first half and full time, the odds get higher up to 13/20. If at the half time the result is a draw but Real Madrid win the game, odds get as high as 11/4. Another good option is to bet for Real Madrid to score the first goal with 1/ 4 odds. If Villarreal score first, the odds are better 17/5.

According to Betfair, there will be plenty of goals at Santiago Bernabéu. Last year, for instance, the result was 4-2. If there are more than 2.5 goals, the odds are 4/9, higher than less than 2.5 goals (17/10). If there are more than 5.5 goals, like last season, odds are 11/2.

By -
0

Real Madrid equalized Guardiola’s record in la Liga last Sunday when the team beat Espanyol at Cornellà. Now the idea is winning Villarreal at home so the club can set a new record of 17 straight wins in La Liga. Zinedine Zidane can make history after only 9 months on the bench but, first, the team needs to beat Villarreal.

It will be a difficult game because the ‘Yellow submarine’ is still unbeaten in La Liga with 8 points. Villarreal started the season with problems after Marcelino’s departure, the former coach, and they were knocked out in the Champions League preview by Mónaco. However, the team has improved and Pato or Sansone are putting some quality into the games.

Villarreal could draw two seasons ago at Bernabéu stadium (1-1) but they lost last season with Zidane on the bench (3-0). Villarreal have never won at Bernabéu stadium but they’ve put Los Blancos in several problems in the last games.

It’s a very important week for Los Blancos. After facing Villarreal, the team has to travel to Las Palmas to play against one of the best teams in this start of the season. Besides, tomorrow Barcelona face Atlético de Madrid, so there will be a chance to make bigger the gap between the two rivals for La Liga title.

Zidane cannot count with Casemiro and Pepe. The stopper was substituted against Espanyol and he has a hit in the calf. It’s not a serious injury but the Brazilian will rest. The same applied to Pepe, who will rest this week, so Varane and Sergio Ramos will play from the beginning. Luka Modric was not included in the list, so there will be plenty of changes in the midfield. The good news for the French coach is that Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo are back for the game. The ‘BBC’ can play again together, but Lucas Vázquez or James Rodríguez could also have the opportunity to start the game after the good performance against Espanyol.

Real Madrid possible XI: Casilla, Marcelo, Ramos, Varane, Danilo; Kovacic, Kroos, James; Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema.
Villarreal possible XI: Asenjo, Costa, Víctor Ruiz, Musacchio, Mario; Bruno, N’Diaye, Cheryshev, J. Dos Santos; Santos Borré and Sansone.

By -
2

Real Madrid have won four straight games in La Liga and are top of the table. Los Blancos can get a new record of 17 straight victories in the league but Zinedine Zidane is not concerned in records. The French manager only think about titles and improving. And the next game is against Villarreal a tough team.

Some people criticized the way Real Madrid played against Espanyol. Zidane knows there is still work to be done but he’s happy about the squad so far: “We can always improve but we’re doing quite well. There is criticism, it’s normal. […] We are trying to improve the way of playing, for instance, with a clean sheet”.

The next game is against Villarreal, who haven’t lost a game in La Liga so far: “We know we are going to have a tough game. Another home game with a good rival, who has not lost. We know they are a good team. We had few time to prepare the game, but now training it’s not important. It’s important to prepare well the games […]. We’re ready and we’ll see what happens”.

He was also asked about the squad and Zidane again spoke really well about his players: “Here they have always great squads. I’m very lucky to train this team, I want this team, my team”.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale will be back against Villarreal and Zidane also is happy with Benzema: “Physically, he is much better. He played really well on Sunday“. However, Pepe and Keylor Navas are not ready to play, so Zidane confirmed that both will be out of the list.

One of the protagonist of Real Madrid’s victory on Sunday was James Rodríguez. Zidane was a bit uncomfortable when he was asked again for the same issue: “It looks like I have always to say that James has convinced me to play. The other day he played and our idea is that everybody has to play. I’m happy for his goal but also for his global performance. You are asking me about James and that bothers me because it looks like I have something against him and it’s the same speech with everybody”.

By -
0
Isco

The Red Devils have not started well the season. Despite winning the first three games, Manchester United had a terrible past week and they lost all three games against Manchester City, Feyenoord and Watford. José Mourinho is not happy at all with his players and he has criticized publicly some of them, especially Luke Shaw.

The Portuguese manager is not happy will Wayne Rooney. The English captain is still playing but he’s far away form his best performance and Manchester United need another top-class footballer to be the playmaker. For this reason, José Mourinho wants Isco Alarcón in the team as soon as possible, according to The Daily Mirror.

The British newspaper published that Mourinho wants to put Rooney on the bench and sign Isco Alarcón in the winter transfer window. The Portuguese knows that the Spaniard is having few opportunities at Real Madrid in the start of the season so he might be willing to change club in January.

Isco arrived to Real Madrid in 2013, just when José Mourinho left the team. Carlo Ancelotti was his first coach at Madrid and Isco played really well in the first seasons. However, his performances are getting poorer and he has lost the space in the initial squad. Isco has been unlucky as well this season because he got injured in the ankle, losing the possibility of fighting from the beginning with the other midfielders. Apart from losing his place in the team, Isco has not been called for the Spanish national coach for the Euro and the last games for qualifying to the next World Cup -he was injured-, so he might be looking for a new club to have more opportunities to play.

According to the press, Real Madrid could listen offers for the Spaniard in the next transfer window. The Spanish team want at least £25M, so they cover the amount of money paid to Málaga back in 2013. However, Real Madrid have been banned to sign new players by FIFA, so it would be strange if the club decides to sell Isco now.

By -
0

The controversial agent Mino Raiola has spoken with the British newspaper Daily Mail in an interesting interview where he talks about Real Madrid, Pogba or Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Raiola has a special talent and now he’s the agent of Balotelli, Ibra or Pogba, among others. He has earned this summer more than Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi in the whole year.

He has become an attraction for the media. How he can move in the backstage of the football show is very interesting. Besides, there are many legends about his style of life or the money he can earn. Of course, being in touch with Ibrahimovic or Mario Balotelli make him very special and everytime he talks it’s a good idea to listen.

In this interview with the Daily Mail, Raiola explains why Pogba didn’t arrive to Real Madrid: “Zinedine Zidane’s will was very strong but we weren’t sure it was the club’s will”, Raiola says about the frustrated movement. In the same line, he speaks very well about Arsène Wenger and Arsenal.

He also explained how Pogba finished at Manchester United and the importance of José Mourinho: “Mourinho was also interested in him some years earlier, so we knew his return to Manchester United was the right thing to do. You need to have big balls to complete a world record transfer fee and Mourinho has these balls”, Raiola says. “For the player, going to Real Madrid would be easier, play la Liga, Champions… but he wanted this challenge”, the agent tells.

Finally, Raiola also speaks about Mario Balotelli, who is now playing at Nice: “italy is unbearable for Balotelli because of the press pressure. If he settles down in Nice and score goals, he could be very attractive for a Premier League coach next summer, when he will become a free agent. France needed him as they needed Zlatan. It’s good for the tournament”, Raiola says to the Daily Mail.

By -
0

Casemiro will not play against Villarreal so he can recover from the hit he had in the Espanyol game. Casemiro was checked this morning in Madrid after leaving the pitch on Sunday and he has no main injury. These are the good news, however he has a blow in the left calf and the muscle is swelled up, so it’s better for him to rest.

Zinedine Zidane doesn’t want to take any risk with Casemiro, so the Brazilian player will miss the game against Villarreal on Wednesday. It’s not a serious injury, so he should be fit to face Las Palmas on Saturday, a very difficult game where he scored the decisive goal last season in the injury time.

Casemiro will miss the second game of the season. The stopper didn’t play against Osasuna at home fifteen days ago because the French manager wanted to give him some rest after playing with Brazil international games. Casemiro was substituted on Sunday in the 20th minute of the game after a collision with a Espanyol player. Toni Kroos came into the pitch for him.

Casemiro doesn’t have a natural replacement in the squad. However, Mateo Kovacic could play instead of the Brazilian as a defensive midfielder. The other option for Zidane is to repeat the team at Cornellà, with Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and James Rodríguez in the midfield. All three played a good game and, actually, the team improved when Kroos came into the pitch.

However, Casemiro is a very important player for Zidane and no one contests the team without the Brazilian. The French manager realized last year the importance of having a stopper in the team, so the offensive players could think more in attacking rather than defending.

The good news for Zidane is that he can count with Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo. Both Real Madrid stars missed the game on Sunday. The Portuguese was sick whereas the Welshman had physical problems after the game against Sporting Lisbon.

By -
0

Zinedine Zidane introduced some changes in the game against Espanyol. The most important one was James Rodríguez, who was finally in the starting eleven. After the great assist in Champions League against Sporting Lisbon, the Colombian playmaker needed an opportunity and the manager gave him the chance to play in Barcelona against Espanyol.

Although it wasn’t a brilliant game for Los Blancos, James Rodríguez opened the score with a great shot from outside the box. Again the midfielder was very important in the game but there are still some rumours on whether he should stay in Madrid or leave seeking more opportunities. Some people also talked about a bad relationship with Zinedine Zidane but the player denied it.

James finally spoke after the game and he gave his opinion about his current situation: “I didn’t have a bad time. I had the support of everybody, including the coach. I have a very good relationship with Zidane. We are a very united team and we always want to win. I’m one player more. I always wanted to be here”, the Colombian playmaker said after the game.

The Colombian also spoke after the game against Espanyol, where Real Madrid won 0-2: “Until the 0-1 we were a bit back and they were playing good, but this is a fair result”, James Rodríguez analyzed.

James Rodríguez was not the only player who spoke after the game. Dani Carvajal also talked with the journalist and said his opinion but the records of victories with Zidane: “It’s a beautiful record to equalize the 16 victories, but it’s only statistics and we think game by game. Now we’re thinking in the game against Villarreal on Wednesday. But the record reflects the great job of Zidane and the team”.

Finally, Carvajal also had good words about Zizou: “He’s been right and everybody feels very important. The egos are aside, this is the key of success nowadays and we want to continue like this”, the right-back finished.

By -
2

Real Madrid won his fourth match in a the La Liga against Espanyol. The team managed by Zidane continue in the top of the table winning all the games of the competition. Zinedine Zidane spoke after the match in Cornella in the press conference. The French manager explained his point of view of the match, the rotations in the line-up and the record he reached winning 16 games in a row in La Liga.

The first question of the journalists was about the match of today: “We had problems in the first half and less in the second. The opponent was very good and when we play away, all the games will be difficult. The important thing is to continue working and keep adding points. We deserved the victory but the opponent played a great match”, Zidane explained.

Casemiro had to leave the field in the first half because of an injury and Zidane explained what happened: “These things happen sometimes. We replaced him by Kroos and we have other quality players in the squad. He has a strong knock and we must play in two day. We will see how he is tomorrow”, Zidane explained about Casemiro injury.

James and Benzema were the players that scored the goals in Cornellá and Zidane said what he thinks about both: “They are players with a lot of quality and both can help us a lot. I´m especially happy with James. He scored the first goal and I´m very happy with his performance, not only for the goal, also for the work he has done. Today he had to play behind Karim and I saw him very good”, Zidane said.

With the victory against Espanyol, Zinedine Zidane reached the record of Guardiola winning 16 matches in a row. The journalist asked Zidane how proud he feels: “Yes, I´m proud of it. It´s the work of all the guys and they are doing a great job. The important thing is to keep adding, La Liga is very long”, Zidane explained.

By -
0

Real Madrid won their fourth match of the regular season against Espanyol. Los Blancos came to this match with many injuries like Cristiano Ronaldo with a sickness and Gareth Bale with a pain in his thigh. That´s why Zinedine Zidane had to make many changes in the starting 11 and we saw Asensio, Karim Benzema and Lucas Vázquez in the attack. Zinedinde Zidane could reach the record of Guardiola of 16 games won in a row in La Liga.

Real Madrid didn´t start very well the match. Los Blancos defenders made many mistakes in the passes and Espanyol only had to wait the error of Real Madrid to have a chance to score a goal. Leo Baptistao had a great opportunity to score the first goal of the match, but Kiko Casilla made a great safe.

Casemiro had to leave the match because he had a hard collision with Diop. Zidane decided that Toni Kroos was the midfielder who should replace Casemiro. With the entry of Kroos in the field, Real Madrid began to improve his game and Los Blancos started to have really good opportunities. Just before finishing the first half James Rodríguez scored a great goal from out of the box.

In the beginning of the second match, the players of Zinedine Zidane gave the control of the ball to Espanyol, waiting for a mistake and the moment to make a counterattack. Karim Benzema almost scored a great volley but Diego López made a great safe.

The second substitution Zidane realized was Isco replacing James. The Colombian midfielder played 62 minutes and we saw him more active than in other games, scoring the first goal of the match.

In the minute 70, Karim Benzema scored the second goal for Los Blancos before he was replaced by Morata. Lucas Vázquez made a great play and the French striker only had to tap it. Espanyol felt like they would have no chance of winning the match and Real Madrid controlled the game until the end.

1...170171172...733Page 171 of 733

www.gambleaware.co.uk or www.gamcare.org.uk
Please gamble responsibly