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Karim Benzema is the biggest concern for Carlo Ancelotti as he starts to think about his team selection for the Champions League final on Saturday.

Los Blancos take on Atletico de Madrid in Lisbon, and there were some question marks over the fitness of some of his players. But it appears Portuguese pair Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe will win the race against time to be in the lineup.

Ronaldo sat out the final day win over Espanyol as a precaution, missing out on the chance to secure the Golden Boot award for himself as the top scorer in Europe. Instead he ended the campaign with 31 league goals – the same as Liverpool’s Luis Suarez.

Pepe had initially been ruled out of the match with a calf strain picked up in the draw at Valladolid, but has made a quicker than expected recovery, providing Ancelotti with some good news.

But Frenchman Benzema may not feature having left the field on Saturday with a groin strain. Although not thought to be serious, it is preventing him from training with the squad and is causing some discomfort.

According to Marca, both Benzema and Ronaldo will not take part in first-team training until at least Thursday, instead being looked after by the club’s physios to give them the best possible chance to be ready for Lisbon.

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Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso has furiously denied claims he owes the tax authorities in Spain more than six million euros.

Reports in the Spanish press suggested the experienced player owed the amount to hacienda in unpaid taxes plus interests. The story comes shortly after Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas settled a large tax bill with the authorities in Spain too.

According to reports in the press, a number of high profile footballers have been audited. Alongside Casillas and Alonso, Atletico de Madrid forward David Villa was also audited by the tax authorities.

After the claims that Alonso owed the vast sum, he released a statement denying they were true. He also added legal action against publications such as Marca, who printed the piece, would also be looked at.

“Every single piece of information that refers to these tax matters is totally untrue”, a statement by the player insisted.

“Xabi Alonso reserves the right to instigate any pertinent legal action against Marca and against the professional who has undersigned this false information which damages the player’s image”, the statement concludes.

The 32-year-old will sit out the final of the Champions League against city rivals Atletico de Madrid this weekend having picked up three bookings in the tournament.

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It’s all quiet in Lisbon at the moment as ground staff get the Estadio da Luz ready for the Champions League final on Saturday – but there will be an invasion soon.

Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid have been given a 17,000 ticket allocation for the big game, but it is expected that on top of the 34,000 fans going to the ground itself, around 100,000 more people will travel to Portugal to soak up the atmosphere and try to get their hands on a ticket however possible.

Both Marca and AS are providing plenty of updates about the fitness of the players, given than both teams have a number of injury concerns ahead of the game. For Atletico, it looks very unlikely that Diego Costa will play, although he hasn’t been ruled out yet. Arda Turan, who left Now Camp pitch in tears on Saturday has a better chance to make it.

For Madrid, the main worry is Karim Benzema. But yesterday after training Carlo Ancelotti gave an update in which he said he expects to be able to pick his BBC front three – Bale. Benzema and Cristiano.

Elsewhere, Iker Casillas turns 33 today and will be looking to end the week on a high in Lisbon.

And finally, Los Blancos will come up against a familiar face when they take on Barcelona next season, with the Catalans having appointed Luis Enrique as their new manager for the next two years.

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AC Milan assistant manager Mauro Tassotti could be Carlo Ancelotti’s choice to replace Zinedine Zidane in Real Madrid.

The Rossoneri president Adriano Galliani suggested in an interview with Sky Sport Italia that Tassotti could have sit for the last time in Milan’s bench in their 2-1 victory over Sassuolo.

“Assistant managers form pairs with coaches and he could form a pair with another coach who has passed through Milan. We’ll see, anyway, it’s not certain this will be his last game,” Galliani explained.

Tassotti has been Milan’s assistant player for the last 13 years. He started in 2001 as Ancelotti’s assistant, and he has worked with Leonardo, Massimiliano Allegri and Clarence Seedorf.

Tassotti has also admitted his years at Milan could have ended: “There are many reasons to leave. Stories begin and at times they don’t end. Let’s wait and see what happens.”

Besides having formed Milan’s managerial pair for eight years, Ancelotti and Tassotti also played together at the Italian club during five seasons, from 1987 to 1992.

Thus, Ancelotti knows him well, and knows he could be a good replacement for Zidane when the Frenchman leaves the Santiago Bernabeu this summer.

Tassotti is well known in Spain for having elbowed Luis Enrique in the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup between Spain and Italy. The referee denied the Spaniards a clear penalty that would have qualified them for the semi-finals. Now, Tassotti and Luis Enrique could meet again in El Clasico, as the current Celta manager is expected to take the job left by Gerardo Martino at Barcelona.

* Follow Alejandro Gonzalez on Twitter @alejandrognieto

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Real Madrid winger Angel di Maria has said he is pleased with how the team has battled on three fronts this season, and when it is eventually over, they will look back and be proud.

Los Blancos missed out on La Liga having gone through a poor run of form in the final few games, but lifted the Copa del Rey in April having seen off Barcelona in the final. The last game of the season sees Real take on city rivals and newly-crowned champions Atletico de Madrid in the final of the Champions League in Lisbon.

Speaking to the press after the team had seen of Espanyol 3-1 in the final home game of the season, di Maria said he was pleased with the way the players had stayed in contention on three fronts all season. He added the win over Espanyol was good preparation for the final on May 24.

We wanted to play a good match, step up to the challenge and show that we were unlucky in the last game. Things didn’t come off for us. The important thing today was to win, play well and set ourselves up in the best way possible ahead of next Saturday’s game,” he said.

And he continued: “This season has been good overall. We did everything we could to try and win the league title and the important thing is that we fought for all three competitions right until the end, which is what we wanted to do at the beginning of the season. The Champions League final is an important match, we are all happy and looking forward to it.”

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Real Madrid might be eyeing a possible midfielder swap with Fiorentina including Sami Khedira and Juan Cuadrado, Italian website Tuttomercatoweb reports.

Fiorentina has long desired the German international, and Los Blancos might see Cuadrado as a good replacement.

The 26-year-old Colombian can play either in the right side of the midfield or in the right-back. Thus, he could be the perfect fit to cover Alvaro Arbeloa’s departure and to give Carlo Ancelotti more options in the midfield line.

Cuadrado has played at Fiorentina the last two seasons, scoring twenty goals in 82 appearances. His solid performances have caught the attention of many big European clubs, including Barcelona.

In fact, the Azulgranas are the main candidates to sign Cuadrado this summer, especially if Alexis Sanchez ends up leaving Barcelona. The Chilean has been linked with a move to Juventus.

Cuadrado will play the World Cup in Brazil next month, and his price could increase if he puts in some good performances. Thus, Los Merengues have reportedly pushed the talks in order to close the deal as soon as the league ends.

* Follow Alejandro Gonzalez on Twitter at @alejandrognieto

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Atletico de Madrid players and fans met in Plaza de Neptuno last night to celebrate their La Liga success, with more than 200,000 supporters lining the streets to celebrate the first league title since 1996.

Now, with those celebrations out of the way, there is just one thing everyone is waiting for this week – the Champions League final.

As reports on events in Lisbon, now that the stadium has been handed over to UEFA for the week. Stadium tours have been suspended until after the final, there are Champions League final posters both inside and outside the ground, and what is normally the Benfica club shop has been turned into a Champions League one, with replica Real Madrid and Atletico shirts on sale. The media area is already up and running, and the game will be attended by around 500 members of the fourth estate.

Marca and AS both look back at the La Liga campaign too, and there is praise for Cristiano Ronaldo who has won the Pichichi award – the top goalscorer in Spain. He ended up with 31 league goals, three ahead of Leo Messi and four ahead of Diego Costa. He also shares the Golden Boot prize with Luis Suarez of Liverpool.

 

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Daniel Carvajal has said the Real Madrid players have the desire and determination to go out and win every match they play in.

The right-back played his part in the final home game of the season against Espanyol as Los Blancos ran out 3-1 winners. And even though it was a relatively meaningless game because the hosts had no chance of winning La Liga, Carvjal told reporters he was pleased to see the players still fighting to win the three points.

He also said the game was good preparation for the Champions League final next week against Atletico de Madrid.

“It was a match to take our pulse before Lisbon. The team has a lot of desire and determination to win the final. It’s a long season and there are a lot of games at a high level. Those of us who are available will give it everything,” the 22-year-old stated.

When asked about the fitness of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, two key players for next weekend’s match, the youngster said he hoped they would be ready.

“Cristiano didn’t feel comfortable and opted not to play in the match. I didn’t find out about Benzema until I was in the shower. The doctors are examining him and it’s probably nothing. Today’s match was a bit of a formality, but the team didn’t give up in the Liga even if it at the end it wasn’t to be,” he commented.

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Carlo Ancelotti has said his players will be fit and ready for the Champions League final after concerns emerged about the state of his squad with just one week to go.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the main worry after he pulled out of the game with Espanyol on Saturday, while Karim Benzema also left the field before full time appearing to be nuring a groin problem. But speaking to journalists after the 3-1 in the final league game of the campaign, the Italian said he is confident his players will be ready.

“Cristiano wasn’t comfortable before the game. Yesterday he trained well and was confident. We didn’t risk him; he has had a test and it looks like a minor spasm. We’re relaxed because he has time to recover and play in the final. He hasn’t played in the last few matches. It wasn’t a risk because he trained normally yesterday and was full of confidence,” Ancelotti said.

When asked about other players in the squad, Ancelotti said Benzema had a minor issue, and that the likes of Gareth Bale and Angel di Maria came through the game without any problem.

“Benzema suffered a minor abductor contracture when he passed the ball to Bale. I don’t think he will have any problems to play the final. Di María played without any problems and it was the same for Carvajal. Khedira needed minutes to regain his match fitness. Illarra was excellent. Now we will start thinking about the next game,” he stated.

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Real Madrid left-back Marcelo has said the team is fully focused on the job at hand as they prepare for the final of the Champions League.

Los Blancos ended their league campaign with a 3-1 win over Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabeu, and now head to Lisbon next week to take on La Liga champions Atletico de Madrid. Diego Simeone’s men secured the title with a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp against Barcelona.

Speaking after the game, the Brazilian international said the club had waited too long for the Decima, and the players will do all they can to bring it back to the Santiago Bernabeu next weekend.

“We are focused on winning an important title, one we have been waiting to win for a long time. We have been trying for a number of years and now at last we are through to the final. We are one step away from making history for Real Madrid and we’ll try our best to do it,” he said.

Marcelo also commented on Ronaldo’s fitness situation after the talisman pulled up injured in the warm up and sat out the match, putting his participation in Lisbon in doubt.

“The decisions about the starting line up belong to the manager and I’ll be there to help the team and play my role. Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t right today and ended up not playing. I haven’t been able to talk to him yet but hopefully it’s nothing serious,” he stated.

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