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Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has said he always encourages youngsters who want to be footballers to follow their dreams.

At an event to make a new Fly Emirates advert, one of Real Madrid’s main sponsors, the 29-year-old offered his advice to those aiming to make it as a professional footballer. He warned that as satisfying as it is to represent club and country, it takes huge amounts of work and dedication.

“People have to follow their dreams. That’s what I tell kids who want to be footballers. It’s fantastic, but it’s difficult. You are always under pressure. They should believe in themselves and work hard,” he said.
Brazil legend Pele also took part in the making of the add, and Ronaldo said he was thrilled to be so close to one of his idols. “Being in the Emirates advert with a legend like Pelé was fantastic,” the Ballon d’Or winner said.
He also took the opportunity to discuss what it means to represent his country, and spoke about Portugal’s chances at the World Cup in Brazil this summer.
“When I was a boy, I watched the players who played for Portugal and wanted to be like them. I always wanted to play for the national team, with players like Figo. I played my first game for Portugal at the age of 18,” he commented.
And he added: “We’re not favourites in the World Cup and that’s good. It takes the pressure off. I’m confident. We have a tough group, but we’ll take it one step at a time and one game at a time.”

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Iker Casillas will not return in goal for Real Madrid’s league game against Rayo Vallecano, Carlo Ancelotti has said.

In various polls carried out by Marca and AS in recent days, the majority of Madrid fans want to see the World Cup winner back between the sticks at the Santiago Bernabeu rather than the incumbent Diego Lopez.

The current number one has put in some unconvincing displays of late, and has shipped six goals in his last two games. He has also been at fault for some of the goals Madrid have conceded in big games this season – notably the second in Los Blancos’ 2-2 draw with Atletico de Madrid at the Vicente Calderon last month.

But speaking to the press ahead of the game against their local rivals Rayo, Ancelotti said Lopez would continue to play in La Liga fixtures while Casillas will get his starts in the cup games – a policy first started by former boss Jose Mourinho last season.

Ancelotti stated: “It’s an issue we’ve spoken about before and the situation’s very clear. Diego López is doing well, like Iker when he’s played. Tomorrow Diego López will play and Casillas on Wednesday. It is a debate for outsiders, not one for us here.”

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A busy day today with Real Madrid playing Rayo Vallencano at home tonight after the other two teams involved in the fight for the title have played. Should Atletico de Madrid and Barcelona win their matches, Los Blancos will be six points off the pace, making a win even more crucial.

But we start in the press report with comments by Carlo Ancelotti responding to Jose Mourinho – which make Marca’s cover story today. The former Real Madrid manager, now at Chelsea, may possibly be missing life in the Spanish capital because all he does is talk about Real Madrid.

This week, he said Carlo Ancelotti and the team should be doing better than they are given the fact Barcelona aren’t the force they once were. In response, Ancelotti told reporters at his press conference that “we are involved in the title fight – something that didn’t happen last season.”

Elsewhere, AS looks at the current goalkeeping situation at Madrid, and points out that you have to go back 10 years for the last time Los Blancos had conceded as many goals at this stage of the season. With 32 goals conceded in 30 games, they have the joint third best defence in La Liga with Athletic Bilbao. Barcelona have let in just 25 goals in their 30 games, and Atletico de Madrid just 21.

Marca also highlights Gareth Bale’s form and says today is the day he needs to find the heart again (in reference to his goal celebrations). The Welshman hasn’t scored in five matches.

 

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Former Real Madrid manager John Toshack has slammed Gareth Bale for leaving the field during the game against Sevilla – which resulted in the Andalcuian side scoring their winner while Los Blancos were temporarily down to 10 men.

The 91 million euro summer signing was on the touchline when Carlos Bacca scored Sevilla’s second goal in their 2-1 win over the nine-time European Cup winners at the Sanchez Pizjuan on Wednesday evening.

Sevilla attacked down the same side that Bale had vacated to change his boots with just 20 minutes to go – something Toshack described as being criminal. The defeat left Madrid in third place in La Liga and fighting to stay in the race for the championship.

Speaking to Madrid daily Marca, Toshack claimed current boss Carlo Ancelotti shouldn’t talk to Bale for a month.

“Bale changing his boots 70 minutes in – leaving the pitch to change them – is criminal, is to go to prison one month; the coach should give him the silent treatment for a month,” he said.

And he added: “At Liverpool, the club I grew up at, it would be simply inconceivable.”

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Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is not 100% fit, but will play against Rayo Vallecano this weekend, manager Carlo Ancelotti has said.

Reports in the press have suggested the Portugal frontman is suffering from a tendonitis problem in his left knee. Despite the issue, the 29-year-old has still managed to find the net in his last nine games for club and country.

Speaking to the press after training at Valdebebas, Italian boss Ancelotti revealed the problem, but said it isn’t serious enough to prevent Ronaldo playing games or training properly.

“Ronaldo has a small issue but it is does not stop him training normally or hamper him in games,” Ancelotti stated.

“Tomorrow he will play as normal. He trained well today, and has no problem. He has confidence. If things get worse naturally he would rest. But at the moment everyone is relaxed. It is a very, very small problem which can heal in the coming days as he trains and plays.”

The manager also spoke about the recent setbacks in the league, but said he was confident the team would get back to winning ways at the weekend. “What we have lost is that we no longer depend on ourselves in La Liga,” he said. “But we still have confidence as the defeats were not due to problems in our play.

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Former Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has once again spoken about his old club, this time saying they should be doing better in La Liga.

Since leaving the Santiago Bernabeu back in May last year, the Portuguese manager has often spoken about the nine-time European Cup winners rather than focus on his own work at Chelsea.

And speaking on Eurosport this week, the self-anointed Special One suggested Carlo Ancelotti and his troops should be doing better than they are in the league because Barcelona are no longer the force they once were.

“I am a little surprised. I expected Madrid to be higher up, with a great advantage, because Barca have lost a lot more points this year than in the past three seasons,” Mourinho, who failed to land the club’s Decima Champions League despite a huge transfer budget and one of the best squads in the world every season, said.

The controversial manager, who fell out with a large part of his own team in his time at Madrid, went on to talk about the difference between the English Premier League and La Liga.

“The English League has four clubs fighting for the title. While in Spain there are three clubs with only two or three points between them.

“Atletico Madrid have an incomparably lower budget [to Barca and Madrid] but are doing a fantastic job. People are used to seeing La Liga as a competition for two clubs. Now it has become a League of three. That’s good.”

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Real Madrid playmaker Isco has said the players are confident they can turn their season around and end on a high.

Having gone 31-games and five months unbeaten in all competitions, Los Blancos have now lost two La Liga games in a row – the first time that has happened since 2009. The 4-3 defeat to Barcelona and the 2-1 reverse at Sevilla have seen the nine-time European Cup winners lose ground at the top of the table.

Real now sit third behind Atletico de Madrid and Barcelona. But Spain international Isco, a summer signing from Malaga, said the team is confident they will return to form, starting with the match against city rivals Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Isco stated: “It is a huge blow because it has completely changed the situation we were in two games ago. We are Real Madrid and are obliged to pick ourselves up. There are eight games left and we are confident in our ability to turn this situation around. We have already done that more than once. We came back from six points behind so why wouldn’t we be able to do that now.”

He also urged Madridistas around the world not to read too much into talk of a crisis at the club following the two defeats and that there is plenty for everyone to look forward to.

“This has been a big blow for them and also for us. But they should remain calm. We are still competing in all three competitions.”

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It’s been a bad week for Real Madrid and fans and players alike must be looking forward to Saturday’s match against Rayo Vallecano to get back to winning ways and put the two recent setbacks behind them.

One person who has had a particularly bad week is Real Madrid goalkeeper Diego Lopez, and today’s Madrid papers suggest it is time for Iker Casillas to return in goal. Lopez has conceded six goals in his last two games from just nine shots at goal.

He has also been at fault for some of the goals in Madrid’s biggest games this season – the long range effort from Gabi when Los Blancos played Atletico de Madrid was an effort he should really have done better with.

Marca and AS both say the Madridista fans want to see a return for Casillas, who has had to play a bit-part role for more than a year.

Elsewhere, there is some concern over Cristiano Ronaldo’s level of fitness. He is believed to be suffering from tendonitis in his knee, an injury he has had previously. According to the papers, he is managing to keep the problem under control by doing extra gym work focusing on the area, but everyone will have their fingers crossed it doesn’t turn into anything more serious.

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Xabi Alonso says Real Madrid must improve defensively in the coming matches as they have no room left for error in La Liga.

The 32-year-old, who gave the ball away for Sevilla to score their first goal in Los Blancos’ 2-1 defeat at the Sanchez Pizjuan on Wednesday night, said the players must keep on fighting to win every point in their remaining seven league games.

Talking to reporters after the game, he said: “There were times at which we were in control, we had chances but it wasn’t our day and in the end we lost. We made defensive errors that led to our defeat. Obviously there is barely any room for error now, but we’re going to try and turn the situation around, it is in our hands”.

He added that he is hoping for the other two teams above them to slip up.  “There is still time to win. Atlético and Barcelona are there, who have to make a mistake, and we cannot falter, but we have to believe.

“We have to look at what we did wrong and get our game back to where it was, which is key for the end of the season. I think above all we are losing a little strength in defence that allowed us to win a lot of games.”

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Real Madrid are preparing a 30 million euro raid on Manchester City for their England goalkeeper Joe Hart in the summer, according to reports.

Real manager Carlo Ancelotti is not completely convinced by current custodian Diego Lopez that he should be Los Blancos number one next season.

And the Italian has continued the lead of former Real manager Jose Mourinho in freezing out club legend Iker Casillas, who could be allowed to leave the club in the summer after an trophy laden 15 years at the Bernabeu.

Los Blancos have looked at several keepers, including City’s rivals Manchester United current number one David De Gea, Huge Lloris from Tottenham and Atletico goalie Thibaut Courtois, on loan from Chelsea.

But none of the trio look remotely interested in negotiating a deal, whereas City may be willing to let go of Hart if they can secure the signing of Victor Valdes on a free from Barcelona in the summer.

However, a deal could be made harder depending on City’s transfer business during the summer, particularly any English players leaving the Etihad.

Hart is one of few homegrown players at Eastlands that are required for a Premier League squad list, and therefore could be become much more expensive.

 

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