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Cedric Bakambu

Real Madrid have shown an interest in signing Villarreal striker Cedric Bakambu, Spanish website Fichajes.net has claimed.

The Congolese footballer, who was born and raised in France, is completing a great season in La Liga and has caught the attention of several European giants.

According to these reports, Zinedine Zidane is a big admirer of the 25-year-old and is considering him as an option to reinforce the forward line in the summer transfer market.

Los Blancos are looking at different candidates to become Karim Benzema’s back-up. Given that Alvaro Morata is not keen on returning to the Santiago Bernabeu to sit on the bench, Florentino Perez might have to look elsewhere.

The Villarreal man would be a cheap option, as his current market value, according to Transfermarkt is 12 million euros. Zidane will have a perfect chance to assess him as his team pay a visit to Real Madrid this week in La Liga.

Bakambu has made 43 appearances this season, scoring 22 goals. He moved to Villarreal last summer from Turkish side Bursaspor and has become a guaranteed starter for Marcelino Garcia Toral.

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Former Real Madrid and Barcelona winger Luis Figo says the form the Nou Camp side are in right now is not normal but it means the league is wide open.

Luis Enrique’s team has only picked up one point in their last four La Liga matches, allowing Atletcio de Madrid to draw level on points with them and Real to sit just one point behind with five games to go.

The Portuguese, who played for Los Cules for five years before making a controversial switch to the Santiago Bernabeu said what fans are seeing now is not normal.

“What’s happened to Barca isn’t normal. To lose so many games in a row is not logical, but when you’re in that situation, everything goes wrong.These are issues in the dynamic, it doesn’t only depend on the quality of players. But the league is open and anything can happen,” he told Sport.

He also touched on the fact that he is still hated by many in Cataluña but insists he never wishes any team to do badly.

He commented: “I don’t celebrate when other teams lose, it doesn’t bring me any happiness,” said the former Portugal star. “I’m a sportsman, I have nothing against Barca – but you [the press] have something against me. I spent five amazing years there, I went for sporting and financial reasons and for a lack of recognition.  Honestly, on Saturday I played golf, on Sunday I played golf, and my life does not depend on Barca or Madrid. I’m happier doing other things”

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Atletico de Madrid forward Fernando Torres says he is happy that everyone at the club from board level down shows humility and never arrogance.

His comments come in response to ex-Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz claiming he’d love for Los Blancos to meet Los Colchoneros in the Champions League final again as they would win and secure La Undecima.

Real secured their 10th Champions League crown in 2014 against their city rivals coming from a goal down to win 4-1 on a famous night in Lisbon.

Asked about the comments while attending a promotional even on Monday, Torres said Sanz is perfectly qualified to talk about the club he is associated with. But he added that he prefers the approach Atletico take – one of always remaining humble.

“Sanz is someone authorised to speak about Madrid. Every time I hear Luiz Pereira, Garate or Adelardo talk, they make me proud to be an Atletico man because I identify with their sentiments,” he was quoted as saying.

The ex-Liverpool and Chelsea man went on to add: “I love the ethos of Atletico, our humility and the euphoria in which we live. We have this great dream, but we’re awake and focused on Wednesday in Bilbao, and we’ll have time to solve what comes next.”

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Former Real Madrid goalkeeper Ikar Casillas says it was not possible to imagine Barcelona going through their current crisis just three weeks ago.

Los Cules have picked up just one point from their last four games in the league leaving them level with Atletico de Madrid and just a point ahead of Real with five matches remaining. They were also dumped out of the Champions League at the quarter final stage by the Vicente Calderon side.

A few weeks ago, it looked like Barca were strolling to another league title and were among the favourites to win the Champions League again.

Speaking to Marca, Casillas said he never though Barca would suffer such a drastic loss of form but it has made La Liga interesting for all fans.

He said: “There is so much passion right now. I hope that Madrid win after all they have fought for in a league that seemed impossible for them a few weeks ago. The situation is good for everyone, for the fans and for all of those who enjoy football. They are three great clubs and I hope that in the end the luck is with Madrid.”

And he added that while he doesn’t take much joy whenever a team suffers, he is glad it means Madrid are back in contention.

“I don’t know because I can’t get into the Barca dressing room and never have been there, but this is football and when the ball doesn’t go in, everything is crisis and criticism. If three weeks ago you had said this was going to happen, no one would have believed it. That is what makes football beautiful,” he commented.

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Real Madrid are planning to send midfielder Lucas Silva back to Cruzeiro as they are not happy with the player’s performance this season.

The Brazilian is currently on loan at Olympique de Marseille and he was expected to return to the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer. However, he has not convinced Los Blancos directors who believe that the best choice is to send him on loan to Cruzeiro, the club where he was raised.

Silva arrived at Madrid in the winter transfer market of 2015 and has struggled to adapt to European football. In his first season with Los Merengues, he barely had chances to play.

At Marseille, he got plenty of minutes of action at the start, but coach Michel Gonzalez lost faith on him, claiming that he had tactical problems and needed time to adapt. He has been named among the worst XI of the Ligue 1.

It seems like Real Madrid directors don’t see Silva as a player for the future. At Cruzeiro, at least, he could be able to recover confidence and reach a good level, making it easier for Los Blancos to sell him to another club.

Yet, Lucas Silva’s agent has recently published on Twitter a message denying this rumours: “Lucas Silva will not return to Cruzeiro as certain media have published. He will stay in Europe.”

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A research conducted by the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) has concluded that Leo Messi’s real market value is 40 million euros higher than Cristiano Ronaldo’s.

According to this research, the Barcelona star is worth 141 million euros, while Ronaldo’s market value is 101 million.

UPV researchers have analysed multiple criteria, using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. The have taken into account the goals scored, assists per match, cards shown, leadership skills and marketing profits among others.

Messi generates more income for his club in sales and sponsorships according to this research, and both players beat their team-mates Neymar and Gareth Bale.

The researchers have reached this conclusions by analysing data from last season and the current season in the following competitions: La Liga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Supercopa, FIFA World Cup and Champions League.

This study has been part of a Mooc course on football players valuation taught by the Polytechnic University of Valencia. They have used the method design by professor Thomas Saaty, from the University of Pittsburg, which is widely used and reknown in the business world.

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Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola says his team lacks a true global superstar such as Cristiano Ronaldo or Leo Messi despite his side being on the verge of winning the Bundesliga.

The Bavarian outfit defeated Schalke 3-0 on Saturday to move closer to the title, while they are also in the semi-final of the Champions League once more where they will face Atletico de Madrid.

The Allianz Arena side boats plenty of firepower already – one-tie Real Madrid target Robert Lewandowski has netted 38 times in 44 games while Thomas Muller has found the net 29 goals in 42 matches.

Messi and Ronaldo, however, have taken goalscoring to another level n recent years. The Real Madrid man has 47 goals to his name already this campaign and has scored 30 or more league goals for six consecutive seasons. Messi missed a large chunk of this campaign through injury but Guardiola was his manager in 2012 when he scored 91 goals in the calendar year – a feat never seen before.

Speaking about Bayern, Guardiola stated: “I am not satisfied with our game. In the first half we were not on the pitch. I’m sorry for our fans! You come to see 90 minutes full throttle. We have no player who scores 50, 60 goals like Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. It is about the attitude to run and run.”

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Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz says he wants the club to face Atletico de Madrid in the Champions League final again as he is sure Los Blancos would win La Undecima.

The two Madrid clubs have been kept apart in the semi finals with Real taking on Premier League side Manchester City and Los Colchoneros set to face German outfit Bayern Munich.

At an official club event earlier this week, Sanz, who presided over the Santiago Bernabeu club between 1985 and 1995, said he is confident Real would win their 11th European crown should they face Diego Simeone’s men in Milan next month.

The two clubs famously met in the final two years ago in Lisbon when Los Blancos won La Decima after a 12-year wait to lift the trophy. Sergio Ramos equalised in the very last minute of game after Atletico had led for most of the game. Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo added three more goals in extra time to run out 4-1 winners and secure their 10th Champions League and spark wild celebrations back in the Spanish capital.

Sanz stated: “Hopefully Atletico Madrid reach the final of the Champions League because we will win for sure. We will win the 11th.”

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Real Madrid legend Raul says he is delighted to see former team mate Zinedine Zidane doing well since taking over as boss.

The Frenchman replaced Rafa Benitez in January with Madrid in poor form and with plenty of off-field problems too.

But the 1998 World Cup winner has turned the situation around with Los Blancos now lying just one point behind leaders Barcelona in the league with five games to go and into the final four of the Champions League where they face Manchester City.

Speaking about his former club, Raul told reporters he was happy with the progress made in a short space of time.

“With a chance to win the league, I’m really happy with Zidane and so are the players, as we’ve seen in recent games. You have to wait until La Liga finishes. Madrid have cut the gap, as have Atlético because a few games ago it looked very difficult. Everything will be closer if they slip up. The best thing is that there are three teams fighting for La Liga; all have a big chance,” he stated.

Asked about the Champions League and a potential all-Madrid final again, Raul said he’d like to see a repeat of that but warned both teams they face tough tests.

He commented: “The UCL final in Lisbon could be repeated & that would be better for Spanish football. That’s what I want, though it won’t be easy. The semi-finalists have great squads and great players. I wasn’t surprised by Barça getting knocked out.”

 

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Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini says his side does not fear anybody in the Champions League and was happy to see Barcelona eliminated.

The Citizens come up against Real in the last four with the other semi final taking place between Bayern Munich and Atletico de Madrid – who knocked out last year’s winners.

Barcelona had eliminated City in the past two seasons but with them now no longer a factor, Pellegrini says his players fear no one.

“I did not celebrate when Barca were eliminated. But if you ask me do I not prefer to play against them? I prefer not to play against them. When the same team beats you twice it can be a mental barrier,” he said, reacting to the draw.

He went on to add that his team must be at their best to beat Real, who the faced in the group stages in 2012-13 and took just a single point from the two games.

“We improved a lot in Europe because you must remember that the season before I came this club was eliminated at the group stage. They didn’t win one game with a lot of the same players as who are playing now – Yaya, David Silva, Kun Agüero, Joe Hart, Clichy, Zabaleta, Kolarov. They didn’t win a game,” he commented.

And he added: “We’ve improved but if we want to go further we must try to improve our performance without mistakes.”

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