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French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says there is no place for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema in the France team in the wake of the blackmail scandal surrounding him.

The 27-year-old was charged with conspiracy to blackmail last month as part of an investigation into an attempt to extort money from international team mate Matieu Valbuena using a sex tape featuring the Lyon man.

Benzema has also made the headlines in the past for a number of wrong reasons, normally involving traffic and speeding offences.

France host the European Championships next summer and Benzema has, up until now, been the main figurehead in Didier Deschamp’s side.

But speaking to French radio Europe1, Valls said playing for Les Bleus means behaving in a certain way on and off the field as thousands of youngsters look up to their heroes.

“A great athlete should be exemplary. If he is not, he has no place within the France team. If a minister was handed preliminary charges, he would no longer be part of the government,” he said.

And he added: “There are so many kids, so many youngsters in our suburbs that relate to great athletes. They wear the blue jersey, the colours of France, which are so important in these moments.”

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Barcelona striker Leo Messi says team mate Luis Suarez deserves to be honoured alongside him and Neymar, adding he doesn’t want to detract from Cristiano Ronaldo’s achievements.

The Argentina star picked up the Best Player and Best Striker award at the La Liga Awards in Barcelona earlier this week – pipping long time rival Ronaldo.

It comes in the same week that Messi and Ronaldo were joined by Neymar on the final shortlist for the Ballon d’Or, with the winner announced on January 11 at a ceremony in Zurich.

Barcelona won the treble last season, with the so called MSN firing the Catalan side to glory on all fronts. Ronaldo, meanwhile, was part of the Real side that missed out on major honours although he did score a career best 61 goals in the campaign.

Speaking after picking up his La Liga award, Messi said: “I’m happy to be once again among the top three. Happy to be with Neymar. I’d have liked to be on [the] podium with Neymar and Luis. Luis Suarez deserved also to be among the top three, but do not detract from Cristiano Ronaldo, who also deserved it.”

He added: “I’m happy for these awards. I think after we won the titles we deserved this recognition. We’re grateful and happy.”

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Real Madrid travel to Segunda B side Cadiz for the first leg of the last 32 tie in the Copa del Rey looking for their third win in the space of a week.

Much has been written about the 4-0 loss to Barcelona 10 days ago, but Real are slowly getting their confidence back and will want to put in a convincing performance in Andalucia following hard fought wins over Shakhtar Donesk and Eibar.

Rafa Benitez is a man under pressure but he will have no worries rotating his side for tonight’s affair as he looks to keep some of his stars fresh for the challenge of catching Barcelona in La Liga.

The home side, who last featured in Spain’s top flight a decade ago, are on a run of six games unbeaten, while their passionate fans will get right behind them at the Ramon de Carranza and make it as intimidating as possible for Real.

In terms of team news, expect to see plenty of changes. Kiko Casilla should get a run out in goal, while the likes of Jese Rodriquez, Laso, Mateo Kovacic and Alvaro Arbeloa should all start. Left back Marcelo is back in training but will probably be kept back for the Getafe game at the weekend.

Probable line-ups:
Cadiz: Cifuentes, Juanjo, Servando, Aridane, Andres, Quintana, Abel, Hugo, Machado, Pla, Guiza
Real Madrid: Casilla, Pepe, Nacho, Danilo, Kroos, Rodriguez, Arbeloa, Kovacic, Modric, Jese, Lazo

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Former Barcelona and Holland midfielder Edgar Davids says Cristiano Ronaldo is ‘just an athlete’ whose game can be more easily replicated than Leo Messi’s.

Debate has long gone on in pubs, bars and football terraces across the world as to who is the better of the two players. And that discussion is set to rumble on further after the pair were shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or once more along with Neymar.

Messi has won the award four times in his career with Ronaldo just behind on three wins. But the Argentine is the favourite to win again in January after firing the Catalan side to treble success.

Speaking to the FIFA website, Davids said replicating Ronaldo is just down to how hard a youngster is willing to work, wheras Messi would be impossible to because he is an ‘anomaly’.

Since joining Real Madrid in 2009, Ronaldo has scored 329 goals in 318 games in all competitions and recently became the club’s all-time leading goalscorer.

David said: “Messi is just an anomaly: he can dribble, he can score, he can pass, he has the vision, he understands the game. Ronaldo is just an athlete. He works so hard and back to back, he is always there.

But if you work hard, can you be like Messi? No, that’s impossible. Can you be like Ronaldo? Yes, to a certain extent.”

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Rafa Benitez’ defensive crisis has eased slightly after Real Madrid left back Marcelo returned to training.

The Brazilian, a stalwart of the Los Blancos defence missed the games against Shakhtar Donesk and Eibar after picking up a thigh problem in the 4-0 home loss to Barcelona 10 days ago.

The 27-year-old was back on the training ground on Monday though as Benitez put his team through the paces ahead of the Copa del Rey game against Cadiz this week. Marcelo though is unlikely to be risked for that match and will probably make a return to first team action at the weekend when the 10-time Champions League winners take on Getafe at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real have suffered somewhat of a defensive crisis in recent weeks. Sergio Ramos has had ongoing issues since dislocating his shoulder earlier this season. Raphael Varane picked up a hamstring problem against Shakhtar and is expected to be out of action for another fortnight. Daniel Carvajal also picked up a knock in the win in Ukraine but is fit again.

Centre back Nacho Fernandez should keep his place alongside Pepe in the heart of the defence for the game in Andalucia on Wednesday, while Benitez also has veteran defender Alvaro Arbeloa to call on if needed.

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Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has won the award for best defender in La Liga at a ceremony in Barcelona.

The annual awards, organised by La Liga, recognise the achievements of the most outstanding performers throughout the 2014-15 campaign. And Ramos was named ahead of Barcelona centre back Gerard Pique in the defender category.

There was more good news for Real Madrid fans as Colombian James Rodriquez pipped the likes of Andres Iniesta and Antoine Griezmann in the best midfielder category having impressed following his move from Monaco in the summer. The 24-year-old netted 17 goals in 46 appearances in his opening season at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Despite scoring 61 goals – a personal best – Cristiano Ronaldo was beaten by Barcelona rival Leo Messi to the best striker award. Messi fired the Catalan outfit to La Liga glory last season and also helped the Camp Nou side to success in the Champions League and Copa del Rey. Ronaldo, though, did pick up a trophy as he won the Fans’ Player of the Year award.

Unsurprisingly, having experienced such success, more Barcelona players were recognised, with Claudio Bravo named as the best goalkeeper in the division, Neymar picking up the Best South American award, and boss Luis Enrique winning the coach of the year.

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Miralem Pjanic

Spanish sports newspaper Marca has revealed Real Madrid are watching Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic very closely and could be preparing an offer to sign him in January.

Los Blancos have been scouting the 25-year-old for a while, and his recent good performances could have convinced Florentino Perez to finally make an offer.

Pjanic is a talented midfielder with good passing skills and dangerous in attack. In fact, he has scored eight goals in 15 appearances this season: six in the Italian league and two in the Champions League.

Marca claims Real directors have had the first contact with the player’s representatives. For now, they just want to secure a priority signing option or at least make sure they will be given the chance to match any offer Pjanic could receive.

The Santiago Bernabeu fans have good memories of Pjanic, since back in 2010 he put in a superb performance there with Olympique Lyonnais, scoring one goal and knocking Los Merengues out of the Champions League.

A few days later, he admitted in an interview that his dream was to play for Real Madrid: “Real Madrid are my team, I’ve always enjoyed to watch them play. Perhaps one day I’ll get to play for them, alongside my friend Karim Benzema.”

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Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or award along with Barcelona pair Neymar and Leo Messi.

The 30-year-old Los Blancos frontman is the holder of the trophy and has won it three times in his career overall with Messi having won it four times. Neymar makes the three-man list for the first time in his career.

Although Los Blancos missed out on the major prizes last season, Ronaldo had a superb campaign on a personal level as he netted 61 times for his club – his best figures to date. This year, the Portugual captain has scored 14 times and in October he became Real’s all-time leading scorer, overtaking Raul’s haul of 324 goals for the club.

Ronaldo, whose future has been subject of plenty of speculation, faces a tall order though when the winner is announced at an awards ceremony at FIFA headquarters on January 11. Argentinean striker Messi played a pivotal role as Los Cules won the treble last season and is likely to be favourite to win the award for a fifth time.

Neymar’s influence on the Barca team has grown over the past few months and along with Luis Suarez he has scored the goals to cover for Messi’s absence through injury earlier this season.

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Real Madrid’s sporting director Emilion Butragueno says the side is having tough run of luck on the injury front after Dani Carvajal picked up a problem in the win over Eibar.

No official word have been made by the club yet but it appeared the right back picked up a muscle problem in the 2-0 win over the Basque side on Sunday evening. If it is confirmed, it would be the 16th muscular injury the side has suffered so far this season.

Boss Rafa Benitez has a crisis in defence with Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Marcelo already on the sidelines. Should Carvajal be ruled out for a prolonged period, it would leave Los Blancos down to the bare bones.

Speaking to the media, former Real striker Butragueno said: “We deserved to win today and made most of our chances. We struggled to connect with the front three because Eibar made it hard to. We’re having very bad luck. There’s an injury almost every game. The defence was attentive and strong today and ensured the win.”

He was also quizzed about Karim Benzema’s situation. The Frenchman was dropped to the bench for the game and has been the focus of a blackmail case against fellow international team mate Matieu Valbuena back in his homeland.

“We’re helping Benzema. Most important for him is to focus on his football as the season is very demanding. Benzema needs time to get back his rhythm after injury. Does Karim have our unconditional support? Totally,” he commented.

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Real Madrid defender Pepe says the team is proud to have kept a clean sheet in the win over Eibar but were made to work hard for the win.

Los Blancos prevailed 2-0 in the Basque Country with goals in each half from Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Having lost their previous two fixtures, including the humiliation at home to Barcelona, this win on Sunday was more about getting the confidence back and winning three vital points.

After making his 200th league appearance for the side, Pepe told reporters the players were delighted with the shift they had put in.

“We knew it would be a tough match because Éibar are a good side, they’re aggressive and they really give you a proper game. The work of the whole team played an important role in us picking up the three points. It was a tricky away game but we put in a great shift and played well,” he commented.

And he added: “Not conceding is important and the whole team worked hard to ensure that was the case today. It doesn’t matter who comes on as long as they do so with the same intensity and willingness to work for the team. That’s what we showed in today’s game.”

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