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Real Madrid are reportedly interested in reinforcing their defence with Athletic Bilbao’s centre-back Aymeric Laporte, Spanish sports newspaper Marca has claimed.

The Basque club are not willing to negotiate the Frenchman’s exit, and they will only let him go if he pays his 42-million-euros buy-out clause. That’s the answer they’ve given to every club that has asked about Laporte, including Barcelona and Arsenal.

However, Los Blancos want to take advantage of Athletic’s interest in Asier Illarramendi to facilitate a deal for Laporte. According to Marca, during negotiations over Illarramendi’s transfer, Real Madrid directors have shown Athletic their willingness to bid for Laporte next summer.

Yet, president Josu Urrutia was clear about the defender’s price. Like he did with Javi Martinez, Fernando Llorente and Ander Herrera, he will only accept a bid that matches the buy-out clause.

The 20-year-old is one of the most promising defenders in Europe. In a couple of years he has become the leader of Athletic’s defence. He arrived at the Basque club’s youth teams in 2009 and he spent a year on loan at Basconia before joining the first team.

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On-loan Cordoba forward Bebe has said Cristiano Ronaldo is a good person despite his antics on Saturday when he was sent off.

Los Blancos defeated the Andalucian side 2-1 but Ronaldo wasn’t on the pitch when Gareth Bale scored the winner. He’d been given his marching orders for a petulant kick at defender Edimar – his ninth red card of his career.

But speaking afterwards, Bebe, who played with Ronaldo briefly at Manchester United, said the 29-year-old Ballon d’Or winner is a good person despite his moment of madness.

He told AS: “Cristiano has already apologised. It is something that could have happened to anyone. It has happened to me and to many other players that I know.

“I know Cristiano from our time at Manchester United. He is a good friend and good person. He is the best ever and what happened could have happened to anyone at such a tense moment in the game.”

Edimar has already said the authorities shouldn’t come down too hard on Ronaldo and he should get a standard suspension, while the Portugal captain came out after the game to issue an apology to the Cordoba player and to his team mates for letting them down with his behaviour.

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Carlo Ancelotti has said there is no negativity from his players whenever the name Jose Mourinho is brought up and that the Portuguese’s era at the club was quickly forgotten.

The now Chelsea manager left under a cloud having fallen out with many of his own players in his final season in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu. In his three years in charge he did win the Copa del Rey and La Liga, but his is most remembered for picking fights with referees, opposition players and managers, and members of his own squad.

When asked about Mourinho – who has been linked with a return to Madrid by his agent Jorge Mendes – Ancelotti said there’s no negativity from his players.

“I don’t know Mourinho’s methods particularly well. He works in the same way that I do. We work a lot with the ball,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“When I came here I didn’t hear a bad word about him. I don’t what happened with the players when he was here. When I arrived, another cycle began and the other one is forgotten.”

Ancelotti asked spoke about Cristiano Ronaldo, saying he is in top condition despite not scoring for his last two games – a drought by his standards.

“I have not seen any deterioration in him. It’s true he hasn’t scored in a couple of games recently but his physical and mental condition is always maximum.”

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Cordoba are looking to agree a deal with Real Madrid to take midfielder Alvaro Medran on loan, the club’s president has said.

The two teams met at the weekend, with Real winning 2-1 in a close encounter, coming from behind thanks to goals from Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.

Ahead of the game, Carlos Gonzalez had spoken to reporters about wanting to bring players in during the transfer window and said he would speak to Florentino Perez when the directors met to have lunch prior to the match.

“Medran played in the youth ranks at Cordoba, and I’d be happy to have him again,” he told SER Sports.

He added: “I’ll give you a scoop. At lunch, I’ll ask Florentino about signing Medran. My sporting director’s asked me to do so. If Madrid make him available [for transfer] and the player [wants to be transfered] too, for sure I’ll say yes [to signing him] because there’s nothing better than one of your own coming back in the Primera. At lunch I’ll beg Mr. Perez to loan us Alvaro.”

Youngster Medran has made five appearances for Real this season and is highly rated by the coaches at the club. His path to first team football at the Santiago Bernabeu has been complicated following the arrival of Lucas Silva, so a loan move may allow him to help his development.

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New Real Madrid signing Lucas Silva has described his move to Los Blancos as a dream come true.

The highly-rated 21-year-old arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu on Friday in a 14 million euro deal from Brazilian club Cruziero. He will be officially unveiled on Monday after passing his medical first.

But having the opportunity to say a few words to the press about the move, the Brazil Under-21 star said he was delighted to be making the switch to the Spanish capital.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, a dream come true. I’m very happy right now,” he said.

And the defensive midfielder added: “My rise in Cruziero changed a lot of things in my life.  From here, the whole world was able to recognise me, see my talent, my football, my personality, my conduct within the club.  The titles we won were very important in my growth as a player.”

Silva broke into the Cruziero team two years ago and has played a key role in helping the side to two successive Brazilian league titles. He was also part of the Brazilian Under-20 side that was successful at the Toulon tournament, featuring in four matches and netting one goal.

 

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Jose Mourinho could return to Real Madrid one day, according to his agent Jorge Mendes.

The Portugues, who spent three years in charge of Los Blancos between 2010 and 2013, is now in his second spell in charge at Chelsea where he is yet to win a trophy since returning as boss.

His time at Real Madrid is remembered by many as being tumultuous and turbulent. He won the Copa del Rey in his first season in charge, and La Liga in his second. But he failed in his main objective – to win the Champions League. His final season in the Spanish capital was marred by fall outs with most of his squad and many of the fans came to dislike him over his decision to drop club legend Iker Casillas.

But speaking to reporters, Mendes said Mourinho would be open to a return to the Santiago Bernabeu.

In quotes published by the Express, he said: “Mourinho’s return to Madrid? We must ask Florentino. Mourinho is very happy at Chelsea and Perez is happy with Ancelotti. But that’s football and he could return to Real Madrid. This is the best. Mourinho is different off the field. I know him from his time at Barcelona with [Sir Bobby] Robson. I began to represent him when he was in Porto.”

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James Rodriguez said the style of play adopted by Real Madrid in their 2-1 win over Cordoba was different to how fans expect them to play but the three points were no less glorious.

Los Blancos were made to work hard for the win, coming from behind after the conceded a third minute penalty. Cristiano Ronaldo was the villain on the day, getting a red card 10 minutes from the end – the ninth of his career – before Gareth Bale saved the day with the 89th minute winner.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Colombian Rodriguez, who recently was named as the Goal of the Year winner by Fifa for his effort against Uruguay in the World Cup, said Real showed they could be grafters when they needed to be.

“They played intensely and were solid at the back. Winning like that is also a glorious feeling. We fought and were made to suffer a lot and I think it was a fair result,” he said to journalists.

He added: “Other teams always give it their all against us. We have to be well aware that we are Real Madrid and we always have to go out to win. It can sometimes be difficult to win or get into a game when a team shuts up shop at the back”.

 

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Carlo Ancelotti to Real Madrid

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has been named as Coach of the Year by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

The Italian recorded 169 points beating Diego Simeone to the award after the Atletico de Madrid boss scored 139. Pep Guardiola, manager of Bayern Munich, was third with 76 points.

Ancelotti enjoyed a remarkable first year in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, guiding his side to success in the Champions League. The famous victory over Atletico in Lisbon last May ended the club’s 12-year wait for their 10th Champions League crown – La Decima. Los Blancos also won the Copa del Rey in April, seeing off Barcelona in a thrilling final in Valencia.

At the start of this campaign, Real won the European Super Cup by defeating Sevilla in Cardiff. The lost out to Atletico in the Spanish Supercopa but in December they picked up their fourth trophy of 2014 by lifting the Club World Cup.

Ancelotti has previously been recognised by IFFHS as he won the Coach of the Year award in 2007 when he was in charge at AC Milan and won the Champions League with them that year.

Simeone’s Atletico won La Liga last season, while Guardiola managed his team to a domestic double, lifting the Bundesliga and German Cup.

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Iker Casillas

Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas has admitted no one in the side played well in the 2-1 win over Cordoba but scraping to victory like they did is the difference between winning and missing out on the league title.

Los Blancos conceded after just three minutes after Sergio Ramos was adjudged to have handballed in the box and Nabil Ghilas converted the penalty. Karim Benzema equalised after half an hour for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Life was made more difficult for Real as Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for a petulant kick 10 minutes from time but Gareth Bale saved the day in the final minute to pop up and convert a spot kick awarded for a handball.

Speaking after the game, Casillas told reporters: “No one was at their best in this game and we got through this more with character than with good play. These are the types of games that win league titles and we had no choice but to win. The penalty came right after kick off and was a setback. The supporters pushed their team on from the beginning until the end. Córdoba created chances and could have made it 2-1.”

He went on to add: “We knew they would be a tough team to play against and they were very good on the counter-attack. The game looked destined to finish all square after we went down to ten men, but we managed to get that penalty and now leave here happy with three points in the bag. But we’re also annoyed because that is not the way we usually play.”

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Goal scoring hero Gareth Bale has said it’s too soon to talk about the title after Real Madrid came back from a goal down to see off Cordoba 2-1 on Saturday.

Los Blancos were made to work hard for the win – they conceded early on before Karim Benzema levelled. Cristiano Ronaldo received a red card close to the end leaving the 10 remaining men to find a winner.

And it was the Welshman who did, scoring from the penalty spot after Nicolas Cartabia handled in the box in the last minute of normal time. It was his 14th goal of the season, and Madrid’s 100th in all competitions.

Speaking afterwards, he said the players were happy to pick up another three points but talk of the title was premature.

“Córdoba were a tough opponent and we knew that it was going to be a tricky ground to come to, so we’re happy that we managed to turn a very difficult match around,” he stated.

And he told reporters: “There’s still a long way to go this season, a lot of games before we talk about the title. What’s clear to us is that there can be games like this one when the going gets tough. Cristiano is really disappointed with his red card, but these are things that happen in football.”

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