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Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has revealed in an interview how noticeable it was that the players did not like Jose Mourinho and there was tension around the club when he first arrived.

Ancelotti took over from Mourinho in the summer of 2013 and did in his first season what the Portuguese had failed to do in his three seasons in charge – lead Los Blancos to Champions League success.

Mourinho, who considers himself to be special, fell out with a number of players in his own squad, as well as riling opposition players and managers and the football authorities in Spain. He controversially dropped club captain Iker Casillas in the belief that the keeper was leaking stories to his journalist partner Sara Carbonero.

And in a wide ranging interview with So Foot this week, Ancelotti revealed there was still tension and a bitter taste surrounding the place after Mourinho left to take charge of Chelsea again, where he is yet to win a trophy since returning.

“I already knew that there were problems in the dressing room between Mourinho and some of the players even before I arrived,” Ancelotti said. He added that everything quickly went back to normal though. “But when I took charge of the team everything went back to normal. Everything was calm again,” he added.

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La Fabrica is without a doubt one of the most important youth systems in the world. This has come completely clear during this week of international matches, in which five players who grew up at Real Madrid’s youth teams have made it into Spain’s squad for the European qualifiers.

The most relevant of all is Iker Casillas. The goalkeeper arrived at the club at nine years old and he is still a Madridista, having lifted uncountable trophies at the Santiago Bernabeu. Casillas influence is similar in the Spanish national team, where he’s also the captain, just like at Real Madrid.

Another of the goalkeepers picked by Vicente del Bosque is Kiko Casillas, also trained at La Fabrica. The current Espanyol’s goalie was part of Madrid’s youth teams from 2003 to 2007. In fact, Fabio Capello selected him frequently for first team matches when he was the manager at the Santiago Bernabeu.

For the defence, Del Bosque has also picked two players that grew up at Real: Juanfran Torres and Daniel Carvajal. The youngster has a brilliant past, present and a future ahead at Madrid. He joined the club at the age of ten, and at 12 he was selected to place alongside Alfredo di Stefano and Florentino Perez the first stone of the new Los Blancos sports complex. After a year abroad at Bayer Leverkusen, Carvajal is now completely settled as an important piece in the jigsaw for Los Merengues and for Spain.

Juanfran, who also plays as a right-back, didn’t have that role when he started his career at Real Madrid. He was a pure winger, and he was considered as one of the pearls of the club. In fact, in 2004 there were rumours that Roman Abramovich was willing to make an important bid to bring him to Chelsea. Juanfran played six official games for Los Blancos, but had to leave the Santiago Bernabeu looking for more minutes of play.

The last of the La Fabrica-grown players in Spain’s squad to face Slovakia and Luxembourg is Rodrigo. The Brazilian-born striker arrived at Real Madrid from Celta Vigo, and soon started to shine. His progress to reach the reserve team was meteoric. However, the lack of first-team opportunities made him leave the club in 2010.

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Former Arsenal and Villarreal star Robert Pires has said the Gunners will win the league if the sign Sami Khedira.

The German World Cup winner, currently sidelined with a hamstring problem, was subject of intense speculation in the summer over a move to the Emirates Stadium. A move failed to materialise, but with less than a year to go on his current contract, Los Blancos could cash in on the midfielder in the January transfer market rather than risk losing him on a free next summer.

Khedira, who signed for Los Blancos after the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, cut a frustrated figure in the early part of last season as he couldn’t make it into the first team, with players like Luka Modric, Xabi Alonso and Angel di Maria keeping him out. In November last year he sustained a serious knee injury that kept him on the sidelines until April, but he came back to make an appearance in the Champions League final.

Having sold Alonso and di Maria in the summer, Khedira was hopeful of earning his place back in the team, but compatriot Toni Kroos is now blocking his path to regular first team football.

And Pires said Khedira is just the player Arsenal need. Talking to the Daily Telegraph, he stated: “He [Wenger] needs a big player in the middle — like Viera, strong, tall — because this position is very important for the balance between attack and defence.

“The quality is there, but you need more. Maybe they have an opportunity with Khedira in the January window. He played very well with Germany. My advice is that if he can buy Khedira he can be the Vieira figure, providing more aggression in the middle.”

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Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane faces a three-month ban from coaching the Real Madrid Castilla side after the club received a notice from the Spanish Football Federation over his lack of qualifications.

The 42-year-old, who was right hand man to Carlo Ancelotti in the first team set up last season as Los Blancos won the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, took over as boss of the club’s reserve team in the summer.

He currently holds the UEFA A Level Two coaching qualification, but needs the Level Three certificate to be able to manage in Spain’s third tier. According to Marca and AS, Zidane needs to complete more hours of coaching recognised by the France Football Association, with who he did the coaching badges, to obtain Level Three.

A spokesman for the club revealed Los Blancos had received notification from the Spanish FA over the matter and had to launch an appeal in the next 10 days. The spokesman said: “We’ve received a notification (from the Spanish Federation) detailing a possible suspension. We have 10 days to present our defence, which is what Real will do.”

Since taking over as manager of Castilla, Zidane hasn’t set the world alight like he did in his playing days, losing five of his first seven games.

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Even though we are in the middle of an international break with Euro 2016 qualifiers taking place, there is still plenty of news around this morning surrounding Real Madrid.

And we start today with Marca claiming David de Gea is close to ousting Iker Casillas as the Spain number one – and also attracting the attention of Los Blancos to be the long-term successor to the World Cup winner.

Casillas has been under fire for some time now with plenty of critics calling for him to be replaced. De Gea, a former Atletico de Madrid player, has been playing well for Manchester United this season and could be tempted back to La Liga should Real make an offer, the paper says.

Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes has been speaking about his client’s future in the wake of interest from the Red Devils. And he poured cold water on any suggestion Ronaldo will move back to Old Trafford any time soon, saying the 29-year-old is happy in Madrid, and wants to retire at the club.

Finally, Real legend Raul has visited his new club, New York Cosmos, to get to know his new surroundings and team mates. The forward will link up with his team in the new year ahead of the start of the new campaign.

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Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has opened the lid on his tenure at PSG and revealed he had many shouting matches with the club’s owners.

The Italian guided the French side to the Ligue 1 title in 2012, their first league win in 18 years, before making the switch to the Santiago Bernabeu to replaced the outgoing Jose Mourinho.

Speaking to So Foot, the manager said he felt frustrated in the French capital because the owners never have any faith in him. He said their desire for instant success only added pressure on him.

Ancelotti, who has won an impressive haul of trophies in his career and managed teams in Italy, England, France and Spain, said: “At the end of the second season, I started to convince myself that something was wrong at PSG. We were leading the championship, but I was not convinced that the work we were doing was right.”

He went on to add: “In any case, I had such a complicated relationship with the club’s leaders. They no longer believed in me, they wanted immediate results.

“They were eager for instant success, but PSG need to work in the medium and long term. The club should not yet think about winning the Champions League. When I was there, every game we lost resulted in shouting matches.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo has said he risked his career by playing in the Champions League final for Real Madrid and following it up by representing Portugal at the World Cup.

The 29-year-old, who has netted 17 times in 11 games so far this season, struggled with a number of injuries towards the end of last season but still managed to play a pivotal role as Los Blancos won the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

Madrid’s medical staff has urged the forward to take a complete break to recover from knee and thigh problems. But Ronaldo decided to make himself available for the side’s biggest matches – and it was a decision that worked brilliantly as he scored in the semi-final of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, and found the back of the net in Lisbon against Atletico de Madrid as Los Blancos finally won La Decima.

In an interview with ESPN, Ronaldo stated: “In your life you do not win without sacrifices and you must take risks. We were taking part in big competitions and it was difficult. Things went well, I beat the record for goals in the Champions League. On holidays I rested and looked after my body. Sometimes I bring my body to the maximum, all elite athletes do that.”

And he continued: “If I had stopped I would have been fine. I did not want to miss the final of the Champions League or the World Cup. I was not fully fit, but I forced the issue. On a club level it went well. We won, I scored and the team achieved La Decima, which was what we all hoped for. With Portugal it did not go so well.”

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Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has said he is enjoying playing in Spain because La Liga attracts better players than the Bundesliga.

The 24-year-old joined Los Blancos from Bayern Munich in July, shortly having played a key role in Germany’s success at the World Cup.

Kroos was a first team regular under Pep Guardiola at the Allianz Arena but failed to agree a new deal with the Bavarian outfit and decided to move on and test himself in a new league.

And speaking to FourFourTwo about the move to the Spanish capital, the midfielder says he has no regrets.

“There are differences. The teams have quality just like in Germany, but they’re a bit different. Teams in the table below still play beautiful football. The Spanish league has better footballers than the German league,” Kroos atated.

And the World Cup winner added: “However, in Germany there are more teams that are uncomfortable to play against because they are more aggressive than teams in Spain.  From the level both leagues are equal. You’ll win no game easily.

“It’s always a lot of work. This is true in La Liga as well as in the Bundesliga. You must always give all you have.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo is not a selfish player and is willing to play in any position to help out the team, manager Carlo Ancelotti has said.

The Portugal forward has started this season in blistering form, netted 17 times in just 11 competitive outings. His hat trick against Athletic Bilbao moved him equal with Alfredo di Stefano as the player to score the most hat tricks for the club.

Throughout his career at Real Madrid and Manchester United many fans and pundits have labelled the 29-year-old a selfish player and someone unwilling to help out other team mates in pursuit of individual glory.

But amid talk of another Ballon d’Or trophy, the award recognising the best player in the world, Ancelotti was keen to point out that Ronaldo doesn’t just look out for himself but is a real team player.

Speaking to So Foot, he said: “Ronaldo is a player with boundless talent, who can score 50 goals per season.”

The Italian boss, who has seen plenty of world class players during his coaching career in Italy, England, France and Spain, added: “More importantly, I can say that he provides plenty of help to his team mates and his coach. Cristiano is not selfish, he plays in any position he his asked to.”

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Real Madrid right-back Alvaro Arbeloa has expressed his support for Zinedine Zidane, calling him a ‘great coach’, after the Frenchman has come in for criticism recently.

The former Los Blancos and France playmaker, who won a host of trophies in a glittering playing career, took over at boss of Real Madrid Castilla in the summer after serving as Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant last season.

Critics were out shortly after the season started as Castilla lost their first three games. And the scrutiny on the Frenchman has increased with some saying he shouldn’t be allowed to manage because he doesn’t have the right coaching qualifications yet.

Arbeloa joined a training session with Real Madrid Castilla earlier this week while much of the first team squad is away on international duty. Asier Illarramendi and defender Nacho Fernandez also took part in the training session.

And taking to social media site afterwards, Arbeloa expressed his support for Zidane, saying: “It’s a pleasure to work and learn from such a great coach. Zizou, a genius!”

Arbeloa, who began his career in the youth team at the club, rejoined Real Madrid from Liverpool in 2009 and recently celebrated making 200 appearances in the famous white shirt. He has won a number of trophies in his time at the club, including La Liga, the Champions League, and the Copa del Rey.

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