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James Rodriguez’ dad says the appointment of Zinedine Zidane hasn’t been good for his son and his form is likely to be up and down because of a lack of playing time.

The attacking midfielder joined Los Blancos in 2014 when they were under Carlo Ancelotti’s management. The Colombian enjoyed a fine start to life in the Spanish capital and helped the side win the European Super Cup and the World Club Cup in his first season.

But his second campaign at the Santiago Bernabeu has been tougher. Former boss Rafa Benitez didn’t seem keen to play him and Zinedine Zidane has not picked Jame regularly. On a few occasions this season the fans have taken their frustrations out on the Colombian and jeered him.

However, Wilson Rodriguez said he son is in a tough position. In quotes published by FourFourTwo, he said: “I think it is normal, football’s like this. Injuries play a big part, and make it harder for a footballer to maintain his level. Ancelotti and Zidane are two very different managers and the fact that he isn’t playing at the moment doesn’t mean anything, but it’s obvious that change of manager was bad for him.”

A former footballer himself, he said James has the ability to score wonder goals from distance because it is in his genes.

“I was able to score many goals thanks to this skill. The best goal I ever scored was almost from the halfway line against Navarro Montaya, when I was playing for Deportes Tolima. It’s genetic. Even though you must practice a lot, you are born with this ability,” he commented.

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Wolfsburg boss Dieter Hecking has slammed Real Madrid left back Marcelo for his antics on Wednesday night saying the Brazilian needs to stop acting.

The defender went to ground in the 69th minute holding his face after clashing with Wolfsburg’s Max Arnold. Replays showed it was the left back who had pushed his head into the midfielder’s chest before reacting in that theatrical manner.

The incident has been widely condemned in the media with some comparing Marcelo’s reaction to Rivaldo in the 2002 World Cup against Turkey.

Asked about the incident after the game – which Wolfsburg won 2-0 – Hecking said: “I told Marcelo that he should stop acting. He could not have complained if he had been sent off in this scene.”

Arnold was also quizzed on the incident and was asked what he had said to the Brazilian that sparked him off.

He commented: “What happened with Marcelo? I told him that I wanted to have beautiful hair like him. Things like this are part of football. Everything is forgotten after the match.”

Former England manager Glenn Hoddle said the episode was ’embarrassing and disgraceful’ while ex-Manchester United captain Roy Keane, now a pundit on ITV, laid into Marcelo saying his reaction was ‘shocking.’

 

 

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Pepe GI

Real Madrid defender Pepe has bemoaned the poor 20 minutes in the first half in which Los Blancos conceded twice against Wolfsburg to slip to a shock defeat in the first leg of their Champions League quarter final tie.

The hosts, the huge underdogs and appearing for the first time at this stage of the competition, netted through a 18th minute Ricardo Rodriguez penalty and a 25th minute Max Arnold strike from close range.

Los Blancos had plenty of chances to haul themselves back into contention on the night and saw a Cristiano Ronaldo effort wrongly ruled out for offside. Gareth Bale also saw a penalty appeal waved away.

The loss means Zinedine Zidane’s men have plenty of work to do next week at home if they want to progress in the competition.

Speaking to reporters, Pepe stated: “We had a bad 20 minutes that they took advantage of. We had chances, we didn’t take them and we have to congratulate the opponent. We didn’t start well in the first few minutes and you pay for that in the Champions League.

“We knew they were a team who would go out to counter-attack a lot and after the penalty we had to regroup, because we didn’t want to concede more goals. At the same time, all we needed to do was score a goal.”

He added:  “We’ll have our fans in the return leg, giving everything. There were 20 minutes in which our performance dropped and that time coincided with their two goals and that is costly.”

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Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa could move to the United States next summer and join one of the big clubs in the Major League Soccer.

The 33-year-old has recently confirmed that he will leave the Santiago Bernabeu next summer, and sources from Spain have revealed that his most likely destination will be the MLS.

With Danilo and Daniel Carvajal rotating at right-back, Arbeloa hasn’t had many chances this season. However, in the few appearances he’s made, the Spaniard has proved that he can still perform at a high level.

Thus, many US clubs are eager to land him. Los Angeles Galaxy, Chicago Fire and New York City have reportedly shown an interest.

The defender is also expecting offers from China and Qatar, where he would get paid more than in the US. However, the idea of leaving in the North America seems to please him more.

In a recent interview, Arbeloa confessed that he knows nothing about his next destination yet, but once the season ends he will reveal his final choice.

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Former Real Madrid winger Steve McManaman has slammed the players describing their performance against Wolfsburg on Wednesday as ‘woeful’.

The 10-time Champions League winners slipped to a shock 2-0 defeat in Germany and have it all to do at the Santiago Bernabeu next week. With La Liga out of their grasp, the Champions League represented Real’s only chance to win major honours this season. Should they fail, it will be two years in a row without.

The general consensus after the game in the Madrid camp was that while they underperformed, Los Blancos were also unlucky to have a penalty claim denied and a goal ruled out for offside.

But McManaman, who scored in the Champions League final for Real when they defeated Valencia in Paris, took a dim view of events and said the players put in a horror show on the night.

“I thought they were woeful, I really did. Defensively the right-back and left-back were just all over the place, coupled with Pepe and Sergio Ramos who looked like they hadn’t played with each other before,” he told BT Sport after the game.

He added: “I was astounded as to how bad they were. I expected a real calm, measured performance as well. It was like schoolboy, Under-10s or Under-12s defending.”

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Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale has slammed the decision by the referee not to award him a penalty early on in the 2-0 loss to Wolfsburg.

Ricardo Rodriguez and Maximilian Arnold scored the goals that gave the Bundesliga side a shock first leg win over the 10-time Champions League winners but it could have been so different had big calls gone Real’s way in the first half.

Cristiano Ronaldo had the ball in the back of the next early on with the score still at 0-0 but the strike was ruled out for offside. Replays showed the 31-year-old was clearly onside. Meanwhile, Bale was bundled over in the penalty area but the appeals were waved away.

Speaking to BT Sports after the final whistle, Bale said the decisions were wrong but that Real would work hard to put things right next week.

“I’ve been told that it wasn’t offside, so there’s that, and right at the start of the game I had a clear penalty on me which wasn’t given,” he said.

He added: “I felt like I got the ball, got in front of him and got smashed over. For me, if it’s outside the box then it’s a free-kick so inside it’s a penalty. It’s obviously frustrating.

“Things haven’t gone for us tonight and maybe gone against but, no excuses, we weren’t good enough tonight and we have another game now to put it right and hopefully we can.”

 

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Real Madrid forward Jese Rodriguez says he is confident the team can overturn the 2-0 deficit against Wolfsburg next week and reach the Champions League semi-finals.

Zinedine Zidane’s men were favourites for the tie but a lack in concentration in the first half and missing a number of clear cut chances saw the 10-time winners slip to a shock defeat in Germany.

Jese, who replaced the injured Karim Bezema in the first half, said he is confident Real have what it takes to come back and progress to the next stage.

“In the end we all win and we all lose. I didn’t see the team as slack. We played a great game at Camp Nou. This was another game. They’re a great team. We should this about the mistakes and take the negatives and improve them. We can all give a lot more. It’s necessary to analyse the game, the errors,” he told reporters afterwards.

Asked about next week’s return leg, the striker added: “They’re strong. You can lose games. We tried. We haven’t been to the Bernabeu and with the help of our support we’re going to try to come back.

“We’re a great team and we are going to do it. We’ll give our lives for the game at the Bernabeu, for the fans and for ourselves.”

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Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane says his players lacked intensity in the 2-0 loss to Wolfsburg on Wednesday night.

Going into the tie as huge favourites, the 10-time Champions League winners slipped to a shock 2-0 defeat in the first leg in Germany and have a mountain to climb in six days time.

Real were unfortunate on the night – Ronaldo had a goal ruled out for offside when he was clearly onside while Gareth Bale had a legitimate claim for a penalty too. Los Blancos also created a number of good chances throughout to have clawed their way back into the tie.

At his press conference afterwards, Zidane said the players worked hard but lacked the intensity in the final third to finish it off. However, he stated he is confident they can turn the tie around at home on Tuesday night.

“If we don’t have intensity, what happened happens. But I’m very proud of the team. We have to opportunity to turn this around in the return leg. Wolfsburg really didn’t do a lot but this happens in football sometimes. We lacked forcefulness,” he commented.

And he continued: “Now we have to think about the next league match and we can turn it around in the return leg. It can happen that you have a bad night, but we can change it. It wasn’t a lack of confidence. It was a difficult game. When they scored it’s true it could be through a lack of concentration. We can’t always be successful.

“The fans are always behind us. We have 90 minutes or more and we want to go forward. We must be united and keep doing what we’re doing.”

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Wolfsburg midfielder Julian Draxler says former Real Madrid striker Raul is one of the best players he’s played with and he is honoured to call one of the most iconic footballers in history an ex-team mate.

The pair played together at Schalke after Raul left Los Blancos following a glittering 16-year career in the Spanish capital in which he won a host of trophies.

Draxler – who played a key role in his side’s 2-0 first leg Champions League quarter final win over Real on Wednesday – said playing alongside Raul was an honour and added he learned a lot from the ex-Spain forward.

He stated: “He’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with. His time at Madrid was amazing, like Schalke. He was very influential. I learned a lot, not just football. He was 38, right? He knows a lot off the pitch. He’s one of the best forwards I’ve ever met and I tried to learn from him every day.

“It was an honour to play with Raul. He played 16 seasons at Madrid. He adores the club and its people. The best thing he taught me was chipping the goalkeeper. He gave me the key that when the goalkeeper approaches, to chip the ball.”

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Real Madrid suffered a big blow in Germany as they were defeated 2-0 by Wolfsburg in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Goals from Ricardo Rodriguez and Arnold make it very difficult for Zinedine Zidane men to move into the next round.

The visitors had the ball in the back of the net after just two minutes as Ronaldo fired home from inside the box. However, the flag was raised and the goal was disallowed.

Los Blancos seemed pretty confident at the start. However, the hosts were threatening with their counter-attacks.

Wolfsburg made it 1-0 after 15 minutes. They were awarded a penalty as Casemiro brought Schurrle to the ground inside the box. Rodriguez sent his effort past Navas to give his team the lead.

Ten minutes later, the Germans scored a secong goal as Arnold turned a low Henrique cross past Navas from close range after some terrible defending from Real Madrid.

That was a big blow for Los Merengues, who could have conceeded a third goal as Schurrle forced Navas into a smart stop in a counter-attack.

Real improved after the break and Ronaldo had a major chance to score as he received a pass from Isco and shot from close range, but Benaglio made the save.

Wolfsburg focussed on defending and didn’t conceed more opportunities for the visitors.

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