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Former Real Madrid forward Michael Owen has revealed he never actually wanted to join the club and couldn’t wait for a return to the Premier League.

The striker signed for Los Blancos from Liverpool in 2004 but left just a year later for Newcastle United having failed to settle in the Spanish capital. He scored 18 goals in 41 games for Real.

Speaking on BT Sport, Owen was asked about his time at the club and if there were any similarities between his situation and that of Gareth Bale – who has also been linked with a move back to the Premier League in the summer. Bale, however, is keen to stay at the club.

Owen said: “Towards the end of the season I was wanting to come back to the Premier League to be honest. I never really wanted to go in the first place.

“I was happy at Liverpool and then just got presented with the opportunity and thought ‘I can’t say no to that – it’s such a good opportunity I’ll always be able to come back if I don’t like it’.”

He added: “My family didn’t particularly settle out there and if anything I did want to come back into the Premier League. It was a World Cup year at the end of [the 2005-06 season] and I wanted to be playing all the time.”

“I enjoyed it [at Real Madrid], I loved the football, I got on with the lads – but I loved the Premier League more.”

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Real Madrid Castilla boss and Los Blancos legend Zinedine Zidane has finally been awarded his UEFA Pro coaching badges, he has revealed.

On his official Instagram account, the former mercurial attacking midfielder revealed he had got the badges that allow him to coach at the highest level.

“Very proud to have received my coaching diploma. Mission accomplished,” he wrote.

The qualification is significant for Zidane after he was banned in the autumn by the Spanish FA for not holding the right badges. Real Madrid contested the back, and Zidane argued that the qualifications he held at the time were from France, and different to the ones that the Spanish authorities officially recognise.

The ban was overturned and he was able to resume his duties coaching Madrid’s second team.

The timing of the announcement is intriguing, with plenty of speculation surrounding Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti. Although he and club president Florentino Perez deny the Italian will be leaving this summer, neither has been particularly convincing when asked to give assurances he’ll still be in the dugout when the new season begins.

Zidane has long been touted as the successor to Ancelotti and now he has he badges, he could step up to the top job at the Santiago Bernabeu sooner rather than later.

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Real Madrid midfielder Isco has rued his side’s bad luck after the 2-2 draw with Valencia all but ended their hopes of winning La Liga.

Los Blancos came from 2-0 down to take a point at the Santiago Bernabeu, but know it could have been all three on a different day. They hit the woodwork three times, while Cristiano Ronaldo also saw his penalty saved by Valencia’s Diego Alves, who had an outstanding game for the visitors.

Speak to the press port-match, Isco said luck wasn’t on Real’s side on the day, but the players can take heart from the fight shown.

“We couldn’t do anything more. Hitting the woodwork three times, a missed penalty, the team’s attitude in the second half…What happened to us today does not happen often in football. We had quite a lot of bad luck but Madrid had to fight until the end.

“We had a great performance in the second half to turn the 0-2 around. We were able to but Diego Alves was incredible. It is a step back and a shame that the goal wasn’t able to get the three points,” he commented.

Speaking about the crucial match against Juventus on Wednesday, Isco stated: “The semi-final is open and we cannot slip up at the Santiago Bernabéu. We need the fans. It is a crucial game and we cannot miss out on this chance at home.”

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Daniel Carvajal

Daniel Carvajal has said the Real Madrid players are disappointed not to have taken the fight for La Liga down to the final day of the season, but must focus all their energies on the Champions League.

Los Blancs came from 2-0 down at home to Valencia to draw 2-2. A point wasn’t enough though to exert any more pressure on Barcelona, who won earlier on in the day, and now find themselves four points clear with two matches remaining.

The right back took time out to talk to journalists after the match, and said the players must put their reputations on the line now on Wednesday as the holders of the Champions League must overturn a 2-1 deficit against Juventus if they are to reach the final in Berlin.

“The team stood up to be counted, the fans got behind us and we fought right to the last minute. We take heart going into Wednesday’s match. At home we couldn’t slip up, we’ve done that and we say goodbye to the league. It’s painful because we wanted to fight until the final day, though we’ll keep on doing that,” he said.

And he added: “Our reputations are on the line against Juve and the crowd will be spectacular and will be our twelfth man. Today we put in a shift for the full 90 minutes, we ran, fought, and if you don’t put it in it ends up taking its toll, but on Wednesday we’re going to go all out. The crowd got behind us and didn’t give in at any point.”

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Real Madrid defender Pepe has said the players have no time to be moping around having seen their title chances ended with a draw against Valencia.

Los Blancos find themselves four points behind leaders Barcelona with two games to go and given the Catalans’ form right now, it is fairly safe to assume they won’t be dropping points in both their remaining games.

It means Real must focus on the Champions League and throw everything they have into overturning a 2-1 deficit to Juventus when they take on the Italians in the second leg of their semi final this week.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Pepe said the players can’t be down for too long as they have a huge match to prepare for.

“The second half was really good and if we keep playing like that against Juventus we’ll have a great chance of going through. It’s difficult, but we have to play and give our all, which is what the fans demand from us and what we’re going to do. We win together and lose together,” he stated.

And he continued: “We still don’t know how serious Kroos’ injury is. It was a nasty fall, but there is time to recover, hopefully he can help us on Wednesday. Even so, we have players with quality. It’s a very delicate situation, but we have to pick ourselves up. On Wednesday we have an important game.”

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Carlo Ancelotti to Real Madrid

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has said winning La Liga is going to be a difficult task now after watching his side draw 2-2 with Valencia.

Los Blancos came from two goals down to take a point at the Santiago Benabeu, but that is unlikely to be enough and Barcelona are four points clear with two games to play. Real could have taken all three points on a different night as they hit the bar three times and Cristiano Ronaldo also missed a penalty.

It means that the Champions League is the last chance of silverware this season, and the boss believes that despite the result, the players can take confidence going in to the retur leg with Juventus on Wednesday evening.

“The result isn’t good, the game was the opposite: very good. We fought until the end and deserved to win. Sometimes that is not enough. We had a lot of opportunities, we hit the post three times, missed a penalty…We have played the game and I think everyone appreciated it. We feel good and if we play like this on Wednesday then everything will go well,” he told reporters.

“We have to value the positive aspects of our game, and also look at the small errors, that are really costing us. We also have to remain calm because we will have more chances playing like that,’ he added.

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Sergio Ramos

Real Madrid lost all hopes of winning La Liga as they drew against Valencia thanks to a superb performance from goalkeeper Diego Alves, who saved his team from defeat.

The visitors took a 0-2 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Paco Alcacer and Javi Fuego. Carlo Ancelotti men came back after the break with goals from Pepe and Isco, but they were unable to score a third.

Los Blancos dominated the first stages of the game and could have taken the lead in two very clear chances. Gareth Bale hit the crossbar in a superb corner kick and five minutes later Ronaldo’s header also hit the woodwork.

However, Valencia made it 0-1 in their first good chance as Alcacer poked home from close range following a super cross from Los Merengues target Jose Luis Gaya.

The goal was a big blow for Madrid and things turned even worse when Toni Kroos had to leave the field injured. Asier Illarramendi replaced the Germany international.

One minute later, Valencia doubled their lead as Fuego flicked a header into the bottom corner following a super delivery from former Los Blancos manager Daniel Parejo.

Real hit the woodwork again when Chicharito Hernandez combined with Bale and dragged an effort against the post.

Real missed an even bigger chance to shorten Valencia’s lead as they were conceded a penalty and Ronaldo was denied by Diego Alves.

Pepe made it 1-2 at the start of the second half. The Portuguese defender rose high in a corner kick and powered a header past Alves.

Real kept forcing the issue and Alves kept saving his team. Yet, Isco levelled with six minutes to go, giving the hosts some hopes of victory. The Spaniard fired a stunning shot into the top corner.

However, Real were unable to score a third and Barcelona started celebrating as they see themselves as La Liga champions.

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Real Madrid captains Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos supported the strike called by the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) to boycott the last two dates of La Liga.

Casillas and Ramos represented Real players in a press conference that gathered all La Liga teams’ captains, showing the Los Blancos squad commitment with the protest.

Spanish footballers are protesting because the Government has not consulted them for writing the new law that regulates how football television rights are sold. They believe the distribution is not fair and are willing to stop all competitions until the Spanish Government sits to talk with them.

The president of AFE, Luis Rubiales, claimed “we believe what we are doing is right, because we are defending ourselves against a violation of our rights.” “We have been excluded from the negotiations,” he added.

AFE Vicepresident Vicente Blanco explained “they are eliminating footballers’ wages guarantees” and “not recognizing our trade union.”

Blanco criticized that the new law gives AFE only 0.5 % of the money from television rights, while in England and France its 1.5 and 1.09.

He also complained about the distribution of the money between the first and second division, as the second will only receive 10 % while AFE claims it should be an 80-20 share.

Casillas refused to talk to the press after the press conference, arguing “Rubiales has already explained everything.” Meanwhile, Ramos published a picture of the press conference in Twitter to show his support.

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Real Madrid could have their last chance to overtake Barcelona in La Liga as the Spanish Football Players Association (AFE) has called a strike and the last two dates of the championship could be suspended.

AFE are protesting for the Government not including them in the drawing of the new law that regulates football broadcasting rights. The have called for a boycott on the last games of the season, meaning that Barcelona could be the La Liga champions if they beat Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Los Blancos hope that Real upset the Azulgranas a couple of hours before they host Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu in the most difficult match they have remaining in the tournament.

Valencia are fighting for the third spot of the table and are a very dangerous side. They will try to take advantage of the physical effort Real made this week against Juve.

Carlo Ancelotti will still miss Luka Modric but he will recover Karim Benzema, who is completely recovered from his knee injury. Yet, the Frenchman could start from the bench, leaving his spot for Chicharito, although he will surely have minutes of play in the second half.

Some players will rest ahead of the crucial second leg of the semi-finals of the Champions League. Alvaro Arbeloa could come in for Daniel Carvajal and Asier Illarramendi could feature in midfield. Sergio Ramos will surely return to the center of defence, sending Raphael Varane to the bench.

Nuno Espirito Santo will only miss striker Rodrigo, who is suspended for three games after being shown a red card in their game against Rayo.

Possible line-ups:

Real Madrid: Casillas; Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo; Bale, Illarramendi, Kroos, James Rodriguez; Chicharito, Ronaldo.

Valencia: Alves; Barragan, Mustafi, Otamendi, Gaya; Feghouli, Parejo, Javi Fuego, Enzo Perez, De Paul; Alcacer.

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Carlo Ancelotti has urged his side to put any thoughts of the Juventus game out of their minds and focus only on getting the job done against Valencia.

Los Blancos still have their hopes set on catching Barcelona in La Liga, and will likely start the game against Los Che five points behind the leaders, who face Real Sociedad at home a couple of hours earlier.

Three points is a must for Ancelotti’s men, and he told his press conference on Friday that the players must play with intensity against a team brimming with confidence and high on quality.

“We must play with a lot of intensity against a side who are on a very good run, confident and fighting for a Champions League spot. We are not thinking about Juve, we are going to put our best side out against Valencia,” the boss said.

He was also asked about team news and gave an update on Gareth Bale – who has been heavily criticised this week – and Karim Benzema, who is making his way back from injury.

On Bale, Ancelotti said: “I don’t read statistics because they don’t give me a great idea of how the game went. His game in Turin was like Madrid’s game. I don’t need to talk to him. He will be playing well again soon, like Real Madrid.”

And on the French forward, he added: “He is available. He still isn’t 100%, but we have good feelings about him and he is in tomorrow’s squad. It is to be decided is he will start or come on later.”

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