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Javier Hernandez has said playing under Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid is similar to working alongside Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

The Mexican striker has been on a season-long loan at Los Blancos, and despite having to make do with a bit-part role, has grabbed the headlines in recent games with four goals in his last five appearances – including the last gasp winner against Atletico de Madrid in the quarter final of the Champions League.

Speaking to Cadena SER, Chicharito said he enjoys the freedom given to the players by Ancelotti – a sign that the manager trusts his players to behave well and train as hard as they can.

“Ancelotti works a little more closely with the players, he has a calmer approach. Ancelotti is more like Ferguson, he gives his players a little more freedom,” he stated.

The forward also spoke about his future, saying it is out of his hands for now. Real look unlikely to take up the option of a permanent deal, while the Red Devils are looking to move the player on at the end of the campaign.

“[My future] is between the club’s board and my agent. I’m not thinking about the future now, I’m enjoying the moment. I’m at the best club in the world.”

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Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal has said he is looking forward to playing at the Santiago Bernabeu in 10 days time and believes the Italians can knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League.

The Chilean has been linked with a move to the Spanish capital in the past, but will be in black and white for the visit of the Italian champions. First, the teams meet in Italy on Tuesday before the return leg in Spain a week later.

And Vidal urged his team mates to put any title celebrations on hold and focus on the Champions League now.

“I feel good and the team is playing with maturity. We will be heading to the Bernabeu for the return leg, a stadium that gets me excited just thinking about it,” Vidal said after the Italians had clinched the Seria A title with a 1-0 win over Sampdoria.

“I know Real Madrid are the best team in the world but we want to be in the final. It would be a dream to win the Champions League. We will have time to celebrate at the end of the season..

“By keeping a clean sheet in Turin and maybe scoring too is how Juve can win. Now we’ll get down to work so that we are ready to give it our best effort.”

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Juventus and Spain forward Fernando Llorente believes the Seria A leaders can beat Real Madrid and reach the final of the Champions League.

The sides meet next week in the first leg of the semi-final tie, with Real the favourites to qualify for the final as they seek to retain the trophy they won last May. They are aiming to become the first side to win the Champions League back-to-back.

Real and Juve met in last season’s competition at the group stage, with Los Blancos winning 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu and the teams drawing 2-2 in Turin. And Llorente, who netted against Real last season, said the Old Lady can go one better and beat the Spanish giants this time.

Speaking about the tie after playing his team’s win over Fiorentina, the former Athletic Bilbao man stated: “We will need a perfect performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League. I am confident that we are more than capable of causing them a few problems, though.”

Speaking about his own form, he added: “I hadn’t played in a while and Wednesday’s goal was important for me. We were four points off the title, now it’s just one. We’ll look to wrap it up as soon as possible and then we’ll think about the Champions League. Could I start against Madrid? I scored last year against them, but the coach has many options. I’m ready to give my all if I get the nod.”

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Ramon Calderon has claimed Jose Mourinho will be remembered as the Real Madrid manager with the worst CV.

In an interview with the IB Times, the former Real president said Mourinho’s appointment was probably the worst decision made by Florentino Perez in his tenure at the club, and that he supported him too much.

Mourinho was hired as the man to end Madrid’s wait for to win La Decima having won the Champions League with Porto and Inter Milan previously. But although he considers himself to be special, he utterly failed in his task – an never even qualified for the final in his three years in charge between 2010 and 2013.

Having spent millions on new signings and having one of the biggest budgets in world football, a return of just one La Liga title and one Copa del Rey doesn’t actually make Mourinho look that special really. Indeed, some would conclude it is well below par for a club of Real’s size.

Calderon told the publication: “Florentino Perez has had lights and shadows during his spells. It was wrong to consider that this was Hollywood instead of a football team. Then he has spent around €1bn and the results in terms of titles got it have not that good.

“But his biggest mistake during his two spells as Real Madrid president was his staunch support to Mourinho during a time that was embarrassing for the club. Mourinho complained and criticised everything when he lost. The president supported him even when he poked [former Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova] in the eye by backing him. During some games, there was a big banner at the Santiago Bernabeu saying: ‘Mou, your finger points the way.

“It was an outrage and Mourinho eventually finished his tenure at Real Madrid as the manager with the worst CV ever in the history of the club after three years on charge.”

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Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas said the players must keep focused and win their remaining three La Liga matches if they are to stand any chance of winning the title.

Los Blancos took the three points in a tough encounter at Sevilla, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s timely hat trick. Barcelona beat Cordoba 8-0 meaning the gap at the top is still two points.

Speaking after the game at the Sanchez Pizjuan, Casillas said Real can only control what they do – and must win their three games and not think about what Barcelona do.

“It was difficult to get a win at the Sánchez Pizjuán, where Sevilla had not lost in lots of games. We managed it and it allows us to keep fighting for the league. We have suffered a lot but our chances revolve around winning the three games left.

“Only wins are any use to us, we already knew their result and we have won. It was another step forward and we will fight until the end. We now need to think about getting a good result in Turin.”

The 33-year-old took time to praise Ronaldo for more heroics. “We are delighted that he always manages to score and if we add up all of his goals it is impressive. He is important for us and with his goals we are still fighting for a league title that is out of our hands,” he stated.

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Daniel Carvajal with Bayer Leverkusen

Daniel Carvajal has said the victory over Sevilla on Saturday gave Real Madrid three huge points in their attempts to overtake Barcelona in La Liga.

Los Blancos remain just two points behind, but games are running out for them. Three rounds of matches are left to play, and Real must win all three and hope Barcelona slip up against Atletico, Real Sociedad or Deportivo La Coruna.

Speaking to reporters after the game, the right back stated: “Sevilla had gone 34 games without a loss here and we go away happy with the three points that allow us to keep fighting for La Liga. It was a difficult and hard-fought game. We suffered in the last ten minutes but victory tastes better like that.

“Now all the matches are finals, we will aim to win the three remaining games and hope that Barcelona lose a few points. We depend on Atlético, Real Sociedad and Deportivo.”

Real must switch their attention to the Champions League though. This week, they face newly crowned Italian champions Juventus – and Carvajal was quick to play down the favourites tag.

“We are not superior, this is a Champions League semi-final and there are no favourites. They have just won their league and we will try to get a good result,” he commented.

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Sergio Ramos

Sergio Ramos admitted Real Madrid will not give up in the fight for La Liga despite trailing Barcelona by two points with three matches remaining after their 2-3 win against Sevilla.

“We knew it was a life and death game, because playing at Sevilla is very complicated. We had to get three vital points to stay in the fight. I’m very happy with the team’s effort during the 90 minutes,” Ramos confessed.

“We will try to win everything. We can’t leave La Liga aside. It is complicated that Barcelona will drop points, but we have to keep fighting until the end. We will give everything in every game,” he added.

The Andalusian praised team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick: “Cristiano Ronaldo’s game depends very much on scoring and it’s very good news that he has scored three in this game.”

Asked about his mistake in one of Sevilla’s goals, Ramos said “these are things that happen in football, but you have to look at the good side of things and be optimistic.” “Not many teams have won at this stadium, in fact Sevilla were unbeaten here for the last 15 months,” he added.

Ramos played in midfield again, like he did against Atletico Madrid. Asked whether he will keep that role against Juventus in the Champions League, the defender explained “it depends on the coach.” “For me the important thing is to play at a good level, regardless of the position,” he concluded.

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Carlo Ancelotti praised his team after their important 2-3 victory at Sevilla thanks to a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We have controlled most of the game but we have made some mistakes in defence that have given Sevilla chances. The three points are very important,” he told the journalists at the press conference.

Real Madrid are still trailing Barcelona by two points after the Azulgranas trashed Cordoba 0-8. Asked about their rival’s victory, Ancelotti admitted “they are a great team, so it’s something normal that they score so many goals.” “I’ve always said it is better to win eight games 1-0 than winning one 8-0. We have to keep winning and see what happens. We’re focused on winning the three remaining games,” he added.

“We still have hopes of winning La Liga. We have to do our part, winning the next three games. It’s not on us that Barcelona drops points,” Ancelotti explained.

Asked about the upcoming Champions League semi-final against Juventus, the Italian admitted he doesn’t know whether Karim Benzema will be fit to play or not: “We’ll see if he recovers on time. If he can train, it’s possible. Bale has played 30 minutes without any problems. He have recovered a very important player and we also hope to recover Benzema.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo kept Real Madrid title hopes alive as he scored a hat-trick to lead his team to victory at Sevilla, where all La Liga clubs –including Barcelona– had failed to win this season.

The hosts fought hard in the second half to try to salvage a point, but Los Blancos defended well and maintained the two-point difference with leaders Barcelona.

The Portuguese international opened the score before the half-hour mark, sending a superb header past Sergio Rico after receiving a cross from James Rodriguez.

It only took Ronaldo two minutes to double his side’s lead. Daniel Carvajal raided down the right flank and sent the ball into the box where the Portuguese fired it home at the back post.

However, Sevilla would shorten Los Blancos lead one minute before the break. Sergio Ramos made a terrible mistake taking Aleix Vidal down inside the box and the referee awarded the penalty. Carlos Bacca held his composure and send Iker Casillas the wrong way to make it 1-2.

Sevilla exerted a high pressure in the second half, but Ronaldo would increase Los Merengues lead thanks to a great cross from Gareth Bale. The Portuguese made contact with his header and lifted the ball into the top corner over Rico.

Nevertheless, the hosts never gave up and scored their second with ten minutes to go as Iborra made an immediate impact from the bench slotting the ball into the bottom corner from Vidal’s cross.

Unai Emery men had a couple of chances to savage a point, but Los Blancos defenders managed to clear the ball every time and secured a crucial victory to stay alive in La Liga.

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Luka Modric

Croatian coach Niko Kovac has denied he has had a falling out with Real Madrid over Luka Modric’s injury problems.

The midfielder may not feature again this season after picking up a knee ligament damage in the win over Malaga 11 days ago. The 29-year-old had only just returned from a four-month spell on the sidelines having picked up a thigh problem on international duty back in November.

Back then, Kovac claimed Modric was injured because he had been overplayed by Carlo Ancelotti at Madrid. And this week, Kovac’s doctor in the national team set up, Boris Nemec, said the latest injury setback was because Ancelotti had not eased him back after his layoff.

Speaking to Marca, Kovac said Nemec’s comments were unfortunate, and injuries are part and parcel of sport.

“We firmly believe that Real Madrid, with Ancelotti, want the best for Luka the same as we do,” he stated.

He added: “Luka’s injury is the product of different circumstances. He has played many games over the last three years, with his club and national team. Injuries are part of sport, and I would like to avoid pointing the finger at anyone.”

Some reports have said Modric will be out for the remainder of the season, while other suggest he is targeting a comeback for May 24th against Getafe, meaning he would be fit for the Champions League final should Los Blancos make it.

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