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Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale sat out training on Monday morning having come down with a bout of flu.

The Welsh wizard, who scored the winning goal in last week’s Copa del Rey final against Barcelona, was joined by injured duo Alvaro Arbeloa and Jese Rodriguez as the only players in the first team squad to miss training as Los Blancos prepare for their crunch match with Bayern Munich.

The official Real Madrid club website gave an update on which players were available. Cristiano Ronaldo trained as normal with the first team squad – a huge boost for the Madridistas around the world hoping to see the side beat the current Champions League holders on Wednesday night. The Portugal international, who has scored 14 goals in the competition this season so far, has missed the last four matches because of a hamstring strain.

The club confirmed Sergio Ramos also took part in the session having recovered from a knock picked up in the win over Barcelona. The vice captain needs to be on his best behaviour on Wednesday night as he is one booking away from being suspended.

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti called up a number of reserve team players to take part in the session including the likes of Llorente, Burgui and Pablo Felipe.

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Cristiano Ronaldo will very likely play against Bayern Munich next Wednesday in the first leg of the semi-finals of the Champions League, after completing his second regular training with his team-mates without suffering any physical problems.

The Portuguese has been sidelined for the last couple of weeks after suffering a thigh muscle tear. Since he was diagnosed, CR7 has been working five hours a day with Joaquin Juan, a prestigious Spanish personal trainer.

After missing Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey final victory against Barcelona, Ronaldo trained with the squad for the first time on Saturday. He’s been back at the training ground on Sunday morning despite it was a relaxation day for Real Madrid players.

Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Casemiro also worked on their free day. Despite having got back to the changing room before his team-mates out of precaution, it seems clear that Ronaldo will make it in the squad that will face Bayern, as he hasn’t felt any pain.

Nevertheless, Carlo Ancelotti might opt to sit him in the bench at first and only make him play if necessary. In fact, apart from the thigh muscle injury, Ronaldo has also suffered a tendinitis in his knee, so it would seem clever to let him rest a few more days to prevent further problems.

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While Real Madrid may not be favourites to win the Champions League semi-final tie with Bayern Munich, there is plenty for the Bavarian team to think about over the two games.

Los Blancos go into the match on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu having scored 32 times in their 10 games so far – an average of 3.2 goals per game. No team has managed to have an average of more than three a game over the course of a season since the competition was rebranded the Champions League 1992/93.

Indeed, along with Barcelona, Los Blancos have come closest to achieving that feat – scoring an average of 2.9 goals a game in the 2011/12 season, when Madrid were knocked out at the semi-final stage on penalties by Bayern Munich.

Carlo Ancelotti’s team are also chasing a club record for the number of goals scored in the competition in a single campaign. Their best was in that the 2011/12 season when they scored 35 goals, meaning they are just three short of that at the moment this year.

Their chances of breaking that goalscoring record will be greatly increased by the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, who has netted 14 times already in this season’s Champions League. It is a joint record with Leo Messi for the number of goals in a season in the competition, meaning one more will move him ahead of the Argentine to be the record holder on his own.

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Without a league match for Real Madrid at the weekend, the Madrid press is enjoying the time to build up to the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday between Los Blancos and Bayern Munich.

Yesterday the focus was on Pep Guardiola playing down his team’s chances of winning. Today, the limelight falls on Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian has never lost to Bayern Munich as a manager – winning four and drawing two in the six times his teams have come up against the Bavarians.

He will look to extend that record over the next couple of weeks, and to do so, AS says he will be switching back to his familiar 4-3-3 formation. With Cristiano Ronaldo expected to be ready to make the starting 11, Los Blancos will have the BBC trio as the attack again. Isco will drop to the bench according to the papers. Ancelotti played a 4-4-2 formation against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final.

AS also looks at the situation of players on a yellow card who could miss the second leg if they get booked at the Santiago Bernabeu. Real have three players one booking away from a suspension – Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Asier Illarramendi. Munich have one, top goalscorer Mandzukic.

In some early team news for the Bundesliga champions, Manuel Neuer looks set to win his fitness battle to start the game on Wednesday. He had picked up a knock against Borussia Dortmund but looks set to return to the side for his side’s crunch match.

 

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Porto midfielder Juan Quintero is attracting the interest of Real Madrid, according to reports.

Fichajes.com claimed Carlo Ancelotti wants to make a move for the midfielder, known as the Colombian Magician, before a host of other top clubs such as PSG, Barcelona and Juventus steal a march in the race for his signature.

The 21-year-old, who has scored four times and assisted three in 19 Primera Liga games for his club, is expected to play a key role for Colombia in this summer’s World Cup alongside the likes of Jackson Martinez, and Radamel Falcao – if the Monaco forward recovers in time from his knee injury.

Manchester United manager David Moyes is also thought to be keen on the attacking player, and the Red Devils may bid for Quintero at the end of the campaign as they look to build a competitive new team after a disappointing year following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson last May.

According to Fichajes, Ancelotti is keen to sign Quintero to add younger players to his squad as he looks to build a competitive team in the long-term at the Santiago Bernabeu. The club already has a host of young players with first team experience, such as Iso, Daniel Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Asier Illaramendi and Casemiro.

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Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the CEO of Bayern Munich, has said he wants to see Cristiano Ronaldo in the Real Madrid team when the two teams meet later this week.

The Champions League holders visit the Spanish capital on Wednesday for the first leg of their semi-final clash, but the Portugal star is a doubt having missed the last four games with a hamstring injury.

The 29-year-old has scored 45 goals for Real Madrid in all competitions so far this season. His 14 goals in the Champions League is a joint-record with Leo Messi for the most amount scored in a single campaign.

And while most opposition players, managers and staff may prefer to take on Los Blancos without Ronaldo, Rummenigge told TZ he wants his side to play against the best players.

“I always want to ensure that the best players are on the pitch because the semi-finals are a great spectacle shown all over the world,” he said.

“The other game [Atletico Madrid-Chelsea] is also good but if Real Madrid play Bayern Munich, then it is the game the whole world will be watching. I always wish for the best players to be on the pitch, but whether Ronaldo will be fit, I cannot say now.”

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Premier League side Arsenal are planning a summer move for Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric, according to reports in the UK press.

Football direct news and CaughtOffside,com said the 28-year-old was being sought by the FA Cup finalists as a replacement for midfielder Mikel Arteta. The 32-year-old Spaniard has probably seen his better days and is being linked with a move to Real Sociedad at the end of the season.

Modric, a former Tottenham Hotspur man, has played a key role in Carlo Ancelotti’s midfield this season and was in the starting line up on Wednesday night as Los Blancos lifted the Copa del Rey.

The Croatian international signed for the Santiago Bernabeu club in the summer of 2012 but took a while to settle in the Spanish capital. His turning point came last season’s Champions League match with Manchester United at Old Trafford, where he scored a sensational effort to knock the Red Devils out.

This season, he has formed part of the three-man midfield, usually alongside Xabi Alonso and Angel di Maria. It would seem like an unlikely transfer to happen, and none of the main UK media have reported it. But Madrid have a host of midfield options should an agreement be reached, with the likes of Sami Khedira, Asier Illarramendi and Casemiro also competing for a midfield start.

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The talk in the media now is all about the huge clash on Wednesday between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.

The current holders, now managed by Pep Guardiola, won the German league with seven games to spare and have had plenty of time to focus on the Madrid match. But having limped to a 2-0 over lowly Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday, former Barcelona boss Guardiola admitted his side was not coming to Madrid in the best of shape.

The Germans will likely to be missing their number one goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who was injured in his side’s 3-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund. “We aren’t going to Madrid in our best form,” said Guardiola, before adding “if we want to reach the final of the Champions League, we are going to have to play much better than that.”

Marca runs a piece on the importance of Karim Benzema in the current set up. The Frenchman has com in for stick from fans at times this season for a perceived lack of work rate and poor finishing. But Marca highlights the unappreciated work he does, bringing others into play and holding the ball up for his teammates.

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Angel di Maria has backed his international teammate Leo Messi and said the Barcelona star will come good again.

The former Ballon d’Or winner has come in for fierce criticism by media and fans alike of late for his lack of form, particularly in the Champions League quarter-final against Atletico de Madrid, and a below par performance in the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday.

But speaking to Radio America,di Maria, who scored the opening goal in Real’s 2-1 win at the Mestalla, said his Argentina teammate would return to top form soon.

“He’s very well, very calm. I don’t think he’s having a rough time of it in terms of his football. It’s just that opposition marks his so closely. The problem is that Messi is always in the thick of it, but things aren’t going very well for Barcelona right now,” he stated.

The 26-year-old also said he believes talk of Barcelona being at an end of an era and not being the force they were is over the top and the Catalan side are still one of the top sides in the world.
“I don’t think Barcelona are burnt out; what’s happened is that teams have figured them out and they’re finding it harder to win,” he said.

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Tottenham head coach Tim Sherwood says that if ex-Spurs Galatico Gareth Bale wins Real Madrid their tenth Champions League then he would be seen as a bargain despite his world record fee.

The Welshman scored an incredible solo goal to win the Copa Del Rey final for Real as they beat Barcelona 2-1 in Valencia on Wednesday, and face Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final first leg next week.

But Sherwood, who used to be a coach at the club when Bale was Spurs’ star man, believes that if Bale can help Real win La Decima, twelve years after Real’s last European triumph, then the Welshman would be seen as good business despite his 91 million euro move last September.

Sherwood said in his press conference “His fee looks cheap now.If he is going to deliver them the European Cup, which it looks like he might, then that looks good business for them.”

On Bale’s wondergoal, the Spurs man explained “When he was running on the track to score his goal against Barcelona he ran past three old ladies eating a hamburger, came back on the pitch and was still fastest to the ball.

“It was an incredible goal. He’s a freak of nature.”

 

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