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It’s a busy day in Madrid with plenty of news to cover this morning, and we’ll start with the draw for the Champions League.

Los Blancos will find out this evening who they will face as they set out to become the first team to defend the trophy since it became known as the Champions League back in 1992. AS looks at the number of possibilities Carlo Ancelotti’s men can get, and the worst they can hope for is a group of death involving Real, Dortmund, Liverpool and Roma.

As well as the draw for the Champions League, UEFA will also name the winner of the best player in Europe. Cristiano Ronaldo is on the shortlist for the final three and could win it for the first time in his career.

Marca has an interview with the Portuguese star, who said that if he overdid it last season in terms of pushing his fitness to the limit, it was worth it in the end as the club won the Copa del Rey and Champions League.

Elsewhere, Xabi Alonso is expected to leave the Santiago Bernabeu for Bayern Munich today. The midfielder, who retired from international duty on Tuesday, has agreed a move to the Allianz Arena and has told Ancelotti he wants to join Pep Guardiola’s side.

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Real Madrid defender Marcelo has said he is sad to see winger Angel di Maria leave the club.

The Argentinean midfielder left the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday to sign for Manchester United in a 75 million euro deal, ending a four-year stay in the Spanish capital.

Marcelo and di Maria had formed a good understanding on the pitch on the left flank for Los Blancos, and were also close friends off the field too. And at the unveiling of the new dragon-inspired shirt that Real will wear in the Champions League this season, Marcelo said he didn’t want 26-year-old di Maria to leave the 10-time European Cup winners.

“It was very sad because he is not only a footballer to me but also a friend. I can say that he is like a brother to me. I am very sad but football is like that,” the Brazilian left-back stated.

But looking ahead at the new season, he claimed Los Blancos had done well in the tranfer market and the new players would lift the club to even greater heights than those achieved last campaign.

“The new teammates that have arrived are very good. Not only as footballers, but also as people. They are willing to learn new things and also accept the challenges we face here,” he said.

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Summer signing Toni Kroos has said he felt comfortable on the field on his league debut for Real Madrid.

The German midfielder, who signed from the club from Bayern Munich in July, was part of the side that defeated Cordoba 2-0 in their La Liga opener at the Santiago Bernabeu. Karim Benzema opened the scoring in the first half – ending a run of 15 games without a goal for the club – and Cristiano Ronaldo secured the three points with a goal in the last minute of normal time.

Speaking to journalists in the press area after the game, the World Cup winner said he was happy to help the team get the three points but admitted they were made to work hard by the visitors.

“This victory is important, the first match of the league is always tough and we managed to win. I felt very comfortable on the pitch,” Kroos said.

The World Cup winner then switched his attention to Real’s next game against Real Sociedad, which takes place on Sunday evening. And he admitted he is expected a tough game in San Sebastian.

“We’ve had a series of very intense matches. Now we have a week to prepare for the next one. The visit to Real Sociedad will be difficult but we will go all out for victory in the Anoeta,” he commented.

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Daniel Carvajal has said Real Madrid just need a few games to find their fluid, attacking game, but at the moment are grinding out result based on hard work.

Los Blancos beat La Liga newcomers Cordoba 2-0 on Monday night and face Real Sociedad next weekend in a tough trip to Anoeta. And the right-back told reporters the players are aware there is plenty to improve on, but it will take time until they are at their best.

For now, says the 22-year-old, the most important thing is to win and get off to a good start in the league.

“This has just started. Last year, we really struggled to beat Betis and look how the season ended. We’re going to give it time because it is early days yet. Things need to get rolling and there are players who recently joined. We have been getting more fluid with every training session. Losing the Supercup of Spain did not create any doubt and it helped us start the league with a win,” Carvajal said.

He also added that he was happy with his own pre-season preparations and is feeling good for the rest over the summer too.

“Doing a complete preseason with the team gives you a boost to start the season with strength and to help the rest,” the defender told the press.

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Angel di Maria completed his 75 million euro move from Real Madrid to Manchester United yesterday. It is Los Blancos’ biggest sale ever, eclipsing the 50 million euros Arsenal paid for the services of Mesut Ozil last summer.

Immediately after signing for the Red Devils, di Maria penned a goodbye letter published in Marca, in which is put forward his version of events as to why he was sold. In recent weeks, the official line from the club was that di Maria wanted to leave for a new challenge.

However, the winger revealed he never wanted to leave the club and had fought hard to prolong his stay in the Spanish capital. He stated in his latter that he wanted a fair contract that reflected his standing in the team, something that was promised but never arrived.

AS says today that with the money received from the di Maria deal, Los Blancos will look to tie up the transfer of Radamel Falcao in the coming days. Interest in the Colombian forward is picking up as the end of the transfer window approaches, and Real want to get their man in before anyone else can scupper the deal.

Finally, the club released the new shirt that will be worn in the Champions League. The all-black kit has the image of a dragon on the front of it, and is designed to appeal to fans in China, who are celebrating the year of the dragon.

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Angel di Maria

Angel di Maria has completed his move from Real Madrid to Manchester United.

The Red Devils have splashed out a British record fee for the 27-year-old winger, a figure reported to be in the region of 75 million euros.

Di Maria arrived in Manchester last night with his entourage, and completed a medical this morning before putting pen-to-paper on a five-year deal worth around 200,000 euros a week.

The move ends a summer of speculation for the Argentina winger, who was one of Madrid’s key men last season. He scored the opening goal in the Copa del Rey final, and picked up the man of the match award in the Champions Final as Los Blancos saw of city rivals Atletico de Madrid in Lisbon.

But the arrival of James Rodriguez at the Santiago Bernabeu put the midfielder’s future in doubt and he was linked with moves to PSG and Manchester City as well the Old Trafford side.

But new Red Devils boss stepped in to fend off the competition and has finally landed his man who he thinks can help revive the club’s fortunes.

In his four seasons in the Spanish capital, di Maria played 190 times and scored 36 goals along the way. His departure has upset a number of Madridistas, and a poll in AS at the weekend suggested 83% of the fan base wanted him to stay.  Time will tell whether the Real directors have made a good move in allowing him to leave.

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Italian newspaper Il Mattino has claimed Real Madrid have offered Asier Illarramendi to Seria A side Napoli.

The midfielder only joined Los Blancos from Real Sociedad last summer in a 30-million-euro deal but has found first-team opportunities hard to come by. The 24-year-old was seen as the long-term successor to fellow Basque midfielder Xabi Alonso, but needs playing time to improve his game.

Even with the departure of Angel di Maria and Casemire, and possibly Sami Khedira too, Illarramendi is still behind the likes of Alonso, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in the pecking order at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The paper claims Los Blancos have offered the defensive midfielder to Rafa Benitez’ side on loan for the season to allow him to get more playing time before coming back and establishing himself in the Spanish capital.

Should a move materialise, Illarramendi would be the fourth Real player to make the move to Napoli in the past 12 months. Last summer, former Los Blancos youth team coach Benitez signed Gonzalo Higuian, Raul Albiol and Jose Callejon from the 10-time European Cup winners.

If it’s true that Illarramendi is available for loan, it could be of interest to La Liga side Athletic Bilbao, who are also keen on the midfielder. A transfer to either of the two sides could be dependent on who qualifies for the Champions League, with the two facing each other in the play-off round. They are locked at 1-1 after the first leg in Naples last week.

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Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has said picking up three points in the opening La Liga fixture was more important that the performance itself.

Los Blancos saw off Cordoba 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Monday night with goals from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. But they make hard work of the match, while the visitors deserve much praise for a resolute performance.

A small section of the home support whistled as the game went on, annoyed at the slow and sluggish performance put in by many of the Real players. But speaking to the press after the game, Ancelotti said the most important factor was the three points, while performances will improve as the new players adjust and the overall fitness of the team gets better.

“We need to play quicker and up the tempo of the game. The important thing was to start with a victory, we struggled, but everything worked out fine. The team is balanced. We controlled the match well and we didn’t give away chances,” Ancelotti said.

The Italian stated he hadn’t heard any whistling and that the struggles in the match were just due to rustiness at the start of the season.

“We struggled with tiredness. We’ve played every three days and it is a point of the season that is not easy. But we didn’t struggle much, the match was under control. I didn’t hear any whistling. When we struggled the fans helped us,” he said.

And he denied the sale of Angel di Maria has left his squad short of options in midfield and on the creativity front.

“No, we have one player fewer but we have players who can play in different places on the pitch. There are midfielders who can play further forward. We are fine with this squad,” he told journalists.

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Real Madrid beat Cordoba 2-0 in the La Liga opener last night with goals from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.

It wasn’t a stroll in the park though and Los Blancos made hard work of it while the visitors should get plenty of credit for the way they approached the game. Marca and AS have plenty of analysis, of which the main theme is that Real are nowhere near playing their best football at the moment. They are looking shaky in defence and too slow going forward, but that will improve as the season progresses and the new signings bed in.

There is plenty of praise for Cristiano Ronaldo, who opened his La Liga account for the new season in the 89th minute. Marca says the forward always puts out Madrid’s fires, while AS says Real suffered until Ronaldo appeared. The 29-year-old has now scored against 47 of the 48 clubs he has played against in a Real Madrid shirt – Dynamo Zagreb being the only side to keep him out.

The other news to break last night was the arrival of Angel di Maria in Manchester. The winger is set to sign a five-year deal after Real Madrid and Manchester United agreed a deal of 75 millions euros.

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The new La Liga season kicked off for Real Madrid with a home match against Cordoba last night. It was something of the unknown, since Los Blancos had only faced the Andalucian side eight times at the Santiago Bernabeu in their whole history, and it had been 42 years since the last time they met in Madrid.

Last time Cordoba played at Chamartin was February 13th 1972, when they were thrashed, going down 4-1. Visits to Los Merengues’ ground do not bring many happy memories for Cordoba, since they used to be at the wrong end of a goal fest every time they paid a visit to Real Madrid.

Prior to the 2-0 loss last night, statistics were absolutely against them, since they had conceded a total 27 goals in the eight games they have played against Madrid in La Liga (29 in nine now). It means they concede an average of three or more goals every time they face Los Blancos at the iconic stadium in the heart of the Spanish capital.

On the other hand, the have only scored four goals against Real Madrid in those nine games. Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo scored the goals as Real Madrid had a pleasant start to life in the new championship campaign, never really getting out of second gear.

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