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The first important test for Julen Lopetegui will take place this Saturday (20:45, local time). Read here the preview of the game Athletic Club v Real Madrid, where Los Blancos will try to continue with their victory run in La Liga.

Athletic Club v Real Madrid Preview

Los Blancos have started very well the season but the calendar was quite easy. Getafe, Girona or Leganés are rivals that have to be beaten if the team wants to win the title. However, the first important test will be San Mamés, a tough stadium where Los Blancos were unable to win (0-0) last year. Besides, Real Madrid face a difficult part of the season with the debut in the Champions League -Wednesday against Roma- and they play against Sevilla and Atlético Madrid before the end of September.

Julen Lopetegui has all his squad available. Odriozola is fit after his injury, so he could make his official debut in La Liga with Los Blancos and give some rest to Dani Carvajal, who showed an excellent level with the Spanish national team. Mariano Díaz, who stayed in Madrid training during the international break, could also have some minutes but he should start on the bench. Besides, Thibaut Courtois is set to start defending the goal, with Keylor Navas as substitute.

Athletic Club haven’t started very well the season at home. They beat Leganés (2-1) in the last minute thanks to a goal scored by Muniain and they were surprised by the new promoted team Huesca (2-2) at San Mamés. They couldn’t play away yet in the competition because their game against Rayo Vallecano was suspended.

Probably Line Up Athletic Club v Real Madrid

Athletic Club: Unai Simon; Yuri, Iñigo Martínez, Yeray, De Marcos; Dani García, Muniain, Unai López; Susaeta, Williams and Aduriz.
Real Madrid: Courtois; Marcelo, Ramos, Varane, Odriozola; Casemiro, Modric, Kroos; Asensio, Bale and Benzema.

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Luis Enrique made his debut as Spanish national coach this week with two tough games against England and Croatia in the new UEFA Nations League. Spain won both games, beating (1-2) England at Wembley and thrashing Croatia (6-0) thanks to the brace scored by Marco Asensio and the goals of Sergio Ramos and Isco. It was not a coincidence that these Real Madrid players score as Los Blancos are in charge of the Spanish national team.

Only some years ago, the Spanish national team able to win two consecutive Euro and the World Cup 2010 in South Africa was lead by FC Barcelona players like Xavi, Iniesta or Puyol. This tendency has changed and, against Croatia, only Sergio Busquets started the game. Meanwhile, six Real Madrid footballers were in the line up -Nacho Fernández, Sergio Ramos, Daniel Carvajal, Dani Ceballos, Isco and Marco Asensio-. When Busquets was replaced by Rodri, Barça had no players in the field represented in the Spanish national team.

This is not an anecdote. Florentino Pérez has changed the transfer policy at Real Madrid and this is noted in the national team. Now Los Blancos have prioritized the signing of young Spanish players and the consequence is having Isco, Asensio or Dani Ceballos in the national team. Besides, we don’t have to forget Lucas Vázquez, who was in the World Cup, or Mariano Díaz, waiting for Luis Enrique’s call.

Florentino Pérez was able to tie Isco, Asensio or Ceballos when they had the chance to join FC Barcelona. However, Los Blancos project was more appealing and there are many other names who have joined Real Madrid and Castilla to continue building this interesting project.

“The basis is Real Madrid and I’m happy with it”, Luis Enrique said after the game. The coach admitted that he doesn’t look the club but only the quality of the players. Many Real Madrid supporters -and even players- were concerned when the former Barcelona coach was appointed Spanish national coach because of his past. However, Luis Enrique has only continued with the tendency of the last years, calling many Real Madrid players to the national team, as happened when Lopetegui was in charge. This will only grow because Lopetegui is determined to give importance to the Spaniards and the youngsters in the team.

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Gareth Bale is ready for new challenges and he’s showing his best level in this start of the season. Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure is a great opportunity for the Welshman to show his quality and lead the new Real Madrid. In these first weeks of the season 2018/19 he has shown that he is ready to take the lead both with Los Blancos and Wales.

Only one year ago, Gareth Bale got injured again in the Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund, missing two months of competition. However, it wasn’t his only injury during that time, and he spent most of the season between the nursery room and the bench. He got fit at the end of the season and he shocked the world with his stunning goal in the Champions League final against Liverpool.

Now Gareth Bale is showing all his potential and has started really well the season. During the international break, he lead Wales to beat (3-0) Ireland and he even scored a great goal, Arjen Robben style. He couldn’t avoid the defeat against Denmark, but Bale again showed a great level and lead the team.

Bale is doing exactly the same with Real Madrid. Julen Lopetegui has decided to form with Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale in the attacking line, with Isco and Marco Asensio behind them. The Welshman is free to move in the attacking line, appearing in both wings with many danger for the opposite goalkeeper. As a result of this, he has scored in all three games in this start of the season in La Liga, being also an important player in the new style of Los Blancos.

The Welshman is now back to the training ground with Los Blancos and he needs to get ready for the next challenges of the team. Real Madrid will face Athletic Club, Roma, Sevilla and Atlético Madrid in the following weeks, so Lopetegui will need the best version of Gareth Bale to continue with the good level shown in these first weeks of competition. Will be this year Gareth Bale’s best season with Los Blancos?

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Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo left the club in July after many threats leaving a gap in the dressing room and in the attacking line of the team. However, the Portuguese star departed without leaving a space in Real Madrid supporters heart. As the time passes, his name will be forgotten especially for the way of leaving the club. This is why the fans won’t love Cristiano Ronaldo as much as they remember Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo Nazario, Roberto Carlos or Luis Figo, other foreign stars of the team.

Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t born in Madrid or Spain. Therefore, we cannot expect him to be ‘madridista’, but many other players who wore the white t-shirt converted themselves and became fans of the team. Zinedine Zidane is a clear example of understanding the club and the values represented. The Portuguese star left the club thinking than his figure is bigger and Real Madrid owe him for all his year of service. However, it’s all the way around. Cristiano Ronaldo owes Los Blancos for everything received in these 9 years of relationship.

CR7 said Juventus FC is a family after spending the first weeks in Torino. By his words, we can understand that he thinks that Real Madrid wasn’t a family while he was playing in the club. Most of the current players of the squad replied him on their social media profiles, reflecting the good vibes of the dressing room. Only with a good atmosphere a team can win three Champions League in a row.

The Portuguese striker underestimates his colleagues. Cristiano Ronaldo thinks he is the best -he might be right- and the other players are lucky to play with him. However, he doesn’t realize that without his team mates he wouldn’t have never won all his five Champions League titles. Only having a look at the UEFA prizes -all won by Real Madrid players- we can understand that he was surrounded by the best players in the world.

Cristiano is the centre of the world. His absence in the recent UEFA ceremony awards cannot be understood. He knew Luka Modric was going to win the prize of best player of the last Champions League and Cristiano Ronaldo decided not to attend to the ceremony even if he won the best striker and the best goal of the year award. Jorge Mendes, his agent, said the award given to Modric was “ridiculous”, despising the Croatian international. It was a bad gesture to all Real Madrid fans and to his former colleagues.

Threatening is not the right choice. Cristiano Ronaldo hinted several times his disappointment with Florentino Pérez and the bosses because they didn’t want to raise his salary or pay his debt with the Spanish Tax Authorities. Even after winning the last Champions League title against Liverpool, he didn’t let the supporters celebrate the title, but told the press straight away that he was about to leave the club.

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At the end of the summer transfer window, Real Madrid bosses decided to sign Mariano Díaz from Olympique Lyonnais. The Dominican striker was sold last year to the French club for only €8M and Sevilla FC wanted to acquire him for €40M. Real Madrid executed their right and the opted for signing him before their rival. The result was a great deal for €20M.

The first decision took by the striker was choosing the number 7 for his t-shirt. It is not an unimportant choice, but he decided to pick up the same number left by Cristiano Ronaldo. Mariano needs to fill the space left by the Portuguese in the attacking line and in the dressing room. Will he be able to do it?

Mariano has shown this year a great personality and he will fight to grow as a player at Real Madrid. Before joining again Los Blancos, he said he wanted to go back to the Spanish capital, so he finally accomplished his dream. As an ambitious player, he left the club looking for more minutes and he found his place at Lyon, where he scored 18 goals in the French League in only 34 games, great numbers for his debut.

Now he comes back with more responsibility. Mariano will be the first option in the attacking line when Lopetegui looks at the bench. With Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema at a great level in this start of the season, Mariano starts with disadvantage in the fight for a position in the starting eleven, but he will have many minutes this season as he is the only good alternative as an striker.

We cannot compare Mariano with Cristiano Ronaldo as this will be very unfair for the Dominican international. Mariano cannot score the 40 goals by season promised by the Portuguese star, but he will add something different for the attacking line. For sure, Mariano is a better player than Borja Mayoral and he is very focused on the rival’s goal, being able to create many chances and score goals. For this reason, and given the options in the market, Real Madrid made an intelligent movement at the end of the market. We’ll see if this will be enough to fill the space in the squad.

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Champions Leaguetrophy_GI

Real Madrid can consider themselves very lucky with the Champions League draw for the group stage. Los Blancos will be the team to beat after winning the last three trophies in a row and they will start defending their crown against Roma, CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen in Group G. Lopetegui’s men will make their debut on the 19th of September against Roma at Santiago Bernabéu’s stadium.

There is a lot of expectation to see if Los Blancos can keep their great level in the best competition after Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure. Obviously, they will be great favourites, but there are a bunch of teams with options to beat Los Blancos like Juventus, PSG or Manchester City. At least, Los Blancos should get to the knock-out stage without any problem and topping their group, something they couldn’t achieve in the last two years.

Their first rival in this stage will be Roma. Real Madrid supporters will give a great welcome to the Italian team after beating FC Barcelona (3-0) in the last Champions League in an amazing comeback at Olimpico stadium thanks to a header of Manolas. This season, Di Francesco has lost important players like Radja Nainggolan or Alisson Becker, but they also have acquired Pastore or Kluivert so it will be a tough team to beat. They haven’t started very well the Serie A though, so there will be doubts around the giallorossi.

Lopetegui’s squad will have to travel to Moscow to face CSKA. The Russian team is also struggling in this start of the season with only 9 points in the first 6 games in their local competition. Last season they were able to finish second in the Russian Premier League after Lokomotiv Moscow, earning their spot in the Champions League. The Russian playmaker Dzagoev is their most dangerous player.

Finally, the easiest team in the group should be the Czech champions Viktoria Plzen. They earned their place to the group stage directly, without any preview game, but they will have little chances to go through with these good teams as rivals.

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Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale lived a very difficult season last year. He lost his spot in the starting eleven and Zidane put him on the bench after several problems with the injuries. He had to see the most important games of the Champions League from the substitutes bench, with Asensio or Lucas Vázquez ahead of him in the list. Now, his role has completely changed and he has become the only star for the team. Will he answer accordingly?

Bale touched the glory in Kiev. The last games of La Liga were used by Zidane to give some minutes to the players with less minutes during the season and he gave some rest to the starting eleven. Bale started these games and scored 4 goals during May, including a net in El Clásico. Zidane saw him fit and gave him the chance to play the second half in the Champions League final. Bale answered with a stunning volley -perhaps the best goal in the competition history- and another goal from outside the box -we have to thank also Karius. The glory was for Gareth Bale.

Just right after the final whistle, Bale complained for his situation and admitted that he would leave the club if his role doesn’t change. Only two months later, everything is upside down in the club. Cristiano Ronaldo left, letting Bale being the star of the club. The Welshman is now the most important player and everybody looks at him when talking about attacking and goals. Will he be able to replace Cristiano Ronaldo?

For sure, Bale is ready to stand the pressure. He has understood his role during the summer and he has been one of the most important players during the pre-season. Bale has scored three goals during the friendly games -Roma, Juventus and Milan- and gave a great assist to Benzema in the European Supercup. His level has been very high, but we have to ask ourselves if the injuries won’t betray him again.

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Cristiano Ronaldo Wins Yet Another Award

Cristiano Ronaldo has earned a place in Real Madrid history after almost a decade of success. The Portuguese threatened several times to leave the club expecting a pay rise and he had finally completed his threat. His departure leaves a space very difficult to fulfill, especially with Florentino Pérez not willing to sign any top player in this transfer market. Will Los Blancos miss the Portuguese star? I’m quite sure they will.

Just in the start of the season, Los Blancos have lost the European Supercup against his city rivals Atlético Madrid. Lopetegui promised a better defense this season to cope with Cristiano’s departure. Los Blancos lose 35 goals per season, but the coach was confident to have a better structured team. So far we haven’t seen a good defense or a great striker in the club.

Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema are called to lead the attacking line. Both are showing a great level in this start of the season, but they won’t score the 35 goals promised by the Madeira star. Besides, Marco Asensio or Lucas Vázquez are the other options to complete the attacking line, but they are wingers and we cannot ask them to score these amount of goals.

Lopetegui needs to find solutions for this important departure. So far, Florenino Pérez hasn’t reacted and he has left the club with only two top strikers. Benzema and Bale cannot lead this team to win titles without any other help. Los Blancos had a problem with the goals at the start of the last season, when Cristiano Ronaldo was on draught. Now that he is gone, who will be able to score his goals?

There are a bunch of good strikers who could help to fill the space left by Cristiano Ronaldo. One good option could be Mariano Díaz, who already knows the club and the city and he’s having great success with Olympique Lyon. For sure, the solution will not be Borja Mayoral, whose role in the team is completely secondary.

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The first games of the pre-season are always a good opportunity to see the youngsters and their possibility to shine and convince the coach that they could be very important during the year. Especially after the World Cup, when most of the big players are still on holidays, they are able to show their quality and gain a spot in the squad. However, this year they could have more importance during the season, especially if Florentino Pérez doesn’t surprise us with big signings.

Florentino Pérez and José Ángel Sánchez policy has been to sign good and young players both from Spain and from Europe and America. We saw arriving this year Lunin, from Zorya Luhansk, or Vinicius Jr, from Flamengo. Besides, Álvaro Odriozola arrived from Real Sociedad. They followed the path of Dani Ceballos, Jesús Vallejo, Marco Asensio,Theo Hernández or Odegaard.

Not all of them are being successful at Real Madrid and there is a big risk in these signings, but giving the overpriced market, this is Los Blancos new policy. Julen Lopetegui could be the perfect coach to fit all these players after his experience with the Spanish national team. And we could see this in the first games of the pre-season tour.

Jesús Vallejo will stay in the squad as the fourth full back, Odriozola will be a very important player in the right back and Dani Ceballos will enjoy much more minutes that in his debut season with Los Blancos. Besides, Vinicius Jr, has shown a lot of quality in the first trainings and games and he could have a spot in the dressing room at Bernabéu Stadium after his arrival from Brazil.

Whether Real Madrid is successful this year or not we will discover in the following months. But most of the responsibility for this will be given to the youngsters. Without Cristiano Ronaldo, Marco Asensio, Isco and Lucas Vázquez have to become the new stars of the team and cover the hole left by the Portuguese. Will they be able to achieve it?

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The pre-season is over for Los Blancos after losing (2-4) the European Supercup against Atlético Madrid in Tallinn. Real Madrid didn’t defend well and Diego Costa was able to break the defense and the goal several times. The pre-season left many good things, but the team needs to improve if they want to fight for titles this year. Julen Lopetegui needs to work harder and find solutions for the many mistakes we’ve seen these days. Here are some conclusions left after one month of work.

Bale is the new leader

With Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure, Gareth Bale is the new leader of the attacking line. The Welshman knows his new role and he will take the lead this season. Bale has played really well this season, scored a couple of good goals and his assist to Asensio is the best image of this pre-season for Los Blancos. Besides, in the European Supercup he also played quite good, giving the assist to Benzema in the first goal. If the injuries stay away from Bale, we can expect a top player at Bernabéu.

New signings are needed

Despite the good level of Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, the team needs new signings. Lopetegui’s options on the bench are very reduced, with Borja Mayoral as the only striker available. Besides, with Mateo Kovacic gone, the club also needs a new midfield because Marcos Llorente or Fede Valverde are not able to play with the white t-shirt. Finally, the team also needs a new full back with Jesús Vallejo having several problems with the injuries. So we should expect at least three signings in this end of the summer transfer market.

The youngsters will take the lead

Without signings -only Odriozola and Courtois-, the youngsters need to step forward and show their quality. Lopetegui will trust them and we saw some good signings. Dani Ceballos will have an important role this season and he needs to focus and reply with his quality. Besides, Marco Asensio, Lucas Vázquez or Fede Valverde will also have many chances. Regulón, the left back, will have a spot in the dressing room this season.

Asensio, Cristiano’s replacement?

The former BBC is now BBA. Asensio has taken Cristiano Ronaldo’s place in the starting eleven and he will be the third striker or the fourth midfielder. The Spaniard showed a very good level in this summer and we all expect him to become a new star this season.

Lopetegui will trust the Spaniards

Lopetegui wants the ball and high pressure. The idea is arriving to the goal playing well, with the possession. We have to be very skeptical with the new coach giving his resume and because it’s not easy to wear Zidane’s shoes. However, we like the idea of trusting the Academy and the youngsters. Only the time will decide if Lopetegui was the right choice for being the manager.

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