Page 536

By -
0

While much of the attention in the press is on Spain’s journey to the USA and of course, whether Prince Felipe will be crowned King bu the time the World Cup final takes place following Juan Carlos’ abdication, there is still lots of news surrounding Real Madrid.

Today we start with the kit launch which took place at the Santiago Bernabeu last night, In a glitzy affair in the Spanish capital, the new designs were beamed on the outside of the stadium. The main talking point is the away kit which next season will be pink.

Fans were divided over how it appears with Marca interviewing a number of supporters after the launch. Some were happy with the new look and said it is something slightly different, while others say the club should stay true to tradition and ensure the club plays in purple in away fixtures.

Elsewhere, assistant manager Zinedine Zidane showed he has none of the touch he had as a player as he pulled the strings in an exhibition match between Real Madrid legends and Juventus legends in Turin. The Frenchman scored for Los Blancos in their 5-1 win, but also appeared for Juventus in the second half.

Other stars to take their place in the team included Emilio Butrgueno, Michel Salgado, Fernando Morientes, and Claude Makalele.

By -
0

AC Milan are desperately looking for a left-back to reinforce their squad and they have set their eyes in the Santiago Bernabeu.

For the last months, Fabio Coentrao has been linked with a move to the Italian club among others. However, his outstanding performance at the end of this season has guaranteed his stay at the Spanish capital.

Now, Milan have turned their interest to Marcelo, according to Spanish sports newspaper As. The Madrid-based daily claims Los Blancos have receive an offer from the Rossoneri.

Nevertheless, As states Los Merengues have given an emphatic “no” as an answer, since they are determined to keep both the Brazilian and the Portuguese for the left-back position.

Carlo Ancelotti has told the club he wants both players in the team, and they will remain in the squad unless they ask to leave, something which is very unlikely to happen.

Real Madrid have a list of possible substitutes in case something unexpected happened, including Guilherme Siqueira, Alberto Moreno and Juan Bernat.

* Get all Real Madrid news in out Twitter account @realmadridnewsw

By -
0

May 24th 2014 is a date that will go down in history for Real Madrid and remain etched on the minds of the club’s fans as it was the day Los Blancos finally achieved winning the much coveted Decima trophy, defeated Atletico de Madrid in the Champions League final. It was a triumph that confirmed a Madrid tradition: they normally win the European Cup having had a bad year in the league.

Real finished this season in the third position of La Liga and arrived at the last game of the league without and chance to lift the title. That didn’t prevent Carlo Ancelotti’s men from winning the Champions League at Estadio da Luz, since Los Blancos have become specialists in succeeding in the European competition after a failure in La Liga.

Their ninth Champions League arrived in similar conditions. During the whole 2001-02 season, Madrid fought to win the league, and even sat at the top of the table for a few weeks. However, in the last part of the tournament they came down and finished third in the table, behind Valencia and Deportivo de la Coruna. However, Real would end up winning La Novena in Glasgow thanks to Zinedine Zidane’s magical volley.

Two years before things had been even worse for Los Blancos in La Liga. In a very rough season in which Real had two different managers –John Benjamin Toshack and Vicente del Bosque- the Madridistas finished the league in fifth position. But that didn’t influence Los Merengues performance in the Champions League, as they thrashed Valencia 3-0 in Paris to turn 2000 in an unforgettable year.

The season Madrid won their seventh European crown followed a similar pattern. After having fought for the league with Barcelona during the whole year, Real lost strength in the last weeks of the season and ended up fourth in a time when only the two first clubs would qualify for the Champions League. Nevertheless, 1998 will always be remembered thanks to Pedja Mijatovic’s goal to conquer the European title against Juventus after a 32-year wait.

By -
0

Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane has said he is paying no attention to rumours Premier League side Chelsea are interested in signing him.

The 21-year-old endured a frustrating season at the Santiago Bernabeu, missing a large part of the campaign through injury and failing to make the step up into the first team as a result of the outstanding form of Sergio Ramos and Pepe.

Reports in Spain and the UK have said former Los Blancos manager Jose Mourinho wants to take him to Chelsea to boost the Stamford Bridge playing squad having failed to win a trophy in his first season since returning.

It was Mourinho who signed Varane for Real Madrid from Lens back in 2011, and gave him his chance in the first team in the 2012/13 season in which the youngster ousted Pepe from the centre of defence.

But speaking to journalists about the story, Varane said he is ignoring any speculation and is concentrating on having a good World Cup with France. After the tournament is over he will sit down with Carlo Ancelotti to discuss his role in the team.

“I’m not thinking about interest from Chelsea right now. There’s a World Cup to prepare for; now’s not the time to dwell on that sort of stuff,” he stated.

 

By -
0

Karim Benzema has said Carlo Ancelotti was the perfect appointment for Real Madrid last summer as the Italian brought calmness to the club following the turbulent reign of Jose Mourinho.

The Portuguese boss left the Santiago Bernabeu under a cloud to return to Chelsea. Despite winning the Copa del Rey and La Liga in his three year stint in Madrid, his tenure is looked back on as a failure as the self-proclaimed Special One failed to achieve the club’s goal of winning La Decima.

And in his last season in charge, more was written about the off field goings on at the club that what was happening on the pitch, with Mourinho falling out with officials, opposition players and managers, and a large part of his own squad.

Speaking to AS, Benzema was asked about the differences between the two managers, and he responded saying Ancelotti has a calm way about about his work.

“Ancelotti is serenity. He doesn’t put pressure on the players. It’s different from Mourinho, another method,” he stated.

Despite speculation linking him with a move away from the club, the France striker said his is happy in the Spanish capital.

“I’m happy in Madrid. This is my home. “There were difficult days] but I overcame them. At first, some mornings I said ‘I have no desire’ but I couldn’t afford to give up. I love working. In Madrid, we have meet for training between 10.30 and 11. I arrive at 9.30. After training I stay in the gym. I noticed this about Cristiano Ronaldo. At first I was like others, turning up at 10.30. I realised I should aim higher, like he does. Some people don’t know the difference between a good game and a very good game,” he commented.

“When I have a normal game, they say I’m no good.”

By -
0

Plenty of news about Real Madrid this morning as the papers go through a bit of a lull between friendly matches ahead of the World Cup.

Marca and AS go with different stories on their front covers today, and both are to do with Los Blancos. First, Marca has a picture of Iker Casillas, with the headline ‘He’ll continue’.

Plenty of column inches have been taken up in the past year or so about the future of the World Cup winner and club captain having lost his place to Diego Lopez under Jose Mourinho and being used largely as a cup goalkeeper under Carlo Ancelotti. Plenty of clubs around Europe were linked with a moved for Casillas, who was thought to be unhappy with his bit-part role.

But according to Marca, the shot stopper had told club president Florentino Perez he will remain at the Santiago Bernabeu next season and fight for his place in the team.

Meanwhile, AS opts for an image of Gareth Bale on his express tour of Indonesia, with the headline ‘Indonesia goes wild for Bale’. The Welshman secured his place in Real Madrid folklore in just his first season at the club by scoring the winning goal in the Copa del Rey, and the crucial second goal in the Champions League final.

In Jakata, thousands of fans waited more than 15 hours to catch a glimpse of their new idol, and sang ‘Como no te voy a querer’, when he did appear. They also had the chance to meet him at a dinner on Saturday evening, with guests paying up to 190 euros for the chance to meet him,

By -
0

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has revealed a number of dressing room secrets while being interviewed on a Spanish TV show.

Appearing on Telecinco’s ‘Hay Una Cosa Que Te Quiero Decir’ the Italian revealed Sergio Ramos is always the last one out of the dressing room before a match starts. Giving a glimpse of what the atmosphere is like behind the scenes, the European Cup winning manager said Isco is the biggest eater in the squad, while Brazilian Marcelo is the biggest joker.

And on a slight more serious note, young players looking to make the grade as a professional football should look no further than Xabi Alonso, who according to Ancelotti, is the most disciplined member of the Real Madrid squad.

When asked about his thoughts on the upcoming World Cup, Ancelotti wished all his players well, but added he will be supporting Italy and not the country in which he makes his living now.

“It’s been a very long season. Now I wish the Real players who are going to the World Cup luck, but I’ll be rooting for Italy,” he stated.
In another light-hearted moment, he gave a wonderful response when told that he is actually held in high regard by many Barcelona fans. “I care more about what the Real fans think of me,” he said.

 

By -
3

Karim Benzema has told journalists he would love to play alongside countryman Paul Pogba at Real Madrid.

The France forward is currently on international duty preparing for the World Cup, and admitted his is enjoying playing alongside and training with playmaker Pogba.

Pogba currently plys his trade in Italy, where he has a key role in the Juventus side that won the league this season once again. But has has long been linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu, and was subject of much speculation 12 months ago.

Should Los Blancos maintain an interested in the former Manchester United man, they may want to make they move sharp, as according to some media outlets, the likes of Chelsea and Barcelona are interested in securing his services too.

When asked by journalists whether he would like to play alongside Pogba at club level as well as international level, Benzema said he would be delighted to see the midfielder come to the Spanish capital.

He’s a young player playing at a big European club. He gets better with each game and he’s at a high level and will continue to work hard,” the Madrid striker said.

And he added: “I would love him to leave for Madrid because he’s French and can become a great player.”

By -
8

Speculation surrounding Luis Suarez’ future at Liverpool is likely to increase after his lawyer admitted the striker would find it hard to turn down Real Madrid.

Los Blancos are widely expected to be on the lookout for a world class striker and have been linked with the Uruguayan in the past. He would certainly fall into the world class bracket, having scored 31 league goals this season for the Anfield side, helping them to second place in the Premier League and a place back in the Champions League next season.

The 26-year-old was unhappy on Merseyside last summer after what he believed to be unfair treatment by the British press. His popularity reached a all time low when he was given a 10-game ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic.

But he returned to the side and couldn’t stop finding the back of the net. That turnaround in fortunes saw him put pen to paper on a new deal at Anfield and put on record that he is happy at the club.

However, his laywer, Alejandro Balbi, told Cadena Ser radio that Suarez would find the chance to join Madrid too good to turn down.

“A year ago he was very likely to leave Liverpool. Now I think it is very difficult because he is an idol, although clubs can offer a lot of money,” he said.

And he added: “If there is such a big offer from Real Madrid, it would be very difficult to say no. Luis Suarez has always had a predisposition for Spain.”

By -
1
Daniel Carvajal with Bayer Leverkusen

Real Madrid right-back Daniel Carvajal has been cut from Spain’s World Cup squad and will not be traveling to Brazil.

The 22-year-old was one of those who failed to make the 23-man squad chosen by boss Vicente del Bosque, with Atletico de Madrid’s Juanfran selected ahead of him instead.

Real Madrid will be represented by Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos, as Spain set out to defend the trophy they won four years ago in South Africa. The Spaniards face a repeat of the 2010 final against Holland in their opening match, before taking on Chile and Australia.

Carvajal, who returned to the Santiago Bernabeu last summer after a year playing in the Bundesliga with Bayer Levekussen, impressed in the right-back role, particularly in the second half of the campaign when Alvaro Arbeloa was out injured. The former Spain Under-21 player was part of the side that defeated Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final, and he also picked up a winners medal in the Champions League.

Having been told by del Bosque that he would not be going to Brazil, Carvajal expressed his disappointment, but wished the team well. Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “A shame not to be on the final list, still very proud to have been close. The best of luck to the Spain team.”

1...535536537...733Page 536 of 733

www.gambleaware.co.uk or www.gamcare.org.uk
Please gamble responsibly