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Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has described playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo as a ‘dream’.

Along with Gareth Bale, the pair have formed a formidable attacking unit for Los Blancos, helping the side to their current position at the summit of La Liga and into the final of the Copa del Rey, where there take on Barcelona next month. Real are also all but through to the quarter final of having beaten Schalke 6-1 in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

Ronaldo, who is chasing Ferenc Puskas’ goalscoring record to move fourth in the all-time Real Madrid scoring charts, scored the only goal in the win over Malaga at the weekend. In doing so, he became the first player to score at least 25 goals in La Liga for five consecutive campaigns.

In an interview with Telefoot, Benzema, who was injured in the game at La Rosaleda on the Costa del Sol, said the 29-year-old Ballon d’Or winner is the ideal player to play alongside as he scores and creates opportunities for others in abundance.

“He made me dream and he still makes me dream,” Benzema said. “For me, he is the best player of all time. I play with the best player in the world. We get along well on and off the pitch and I learn a lot from him.”

*Follow Paul Collins on Twitter @pabmundo

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Chelsea defender Ashely Cole could be set for a reunion with his former boss Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid, according to reports in the UK press.

The Sunday Mirror and Sunday People said Ancelotti wants to sign two left-backs in the summer, one experienced player and one up and coming youngster.

We reported earlier this week that Sevilla defender Alberto Moreno on Madrid’s radar, and the player himself is keen on the move. The 21-year-old has apparently told his teammates he is set for the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer.

And 33-year-old Cole would fit the bill as the experienced player, able to help Moreno in his development. The reports say the England international will be offered a two-year deal, with the option of a third year should he play the required number of games. Cole played under Ancelotti for two years when the Italian was in charge at the west London side.

Cole is out of contract at the end of the season, so Madrid would not have to pay a transfer fee. Having been ousted from the Chelsea side by Cesar Azpilicueta, Cole is believed to be considering his next move. Jose Mourinho, now in charge at the Blues for the second time, has said he would like Cole to remain at Stamford Bridge for another year.

Follow Paul Collins on Twitter @pabmundo

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Jese Rodriguez is comfortable with his position in Real Madrid’s squad, according to manager Carlo Ancelotti.

The young Spaniard deputised immaculately for key players by scoring regularly when required in the first team at the start of the year.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema are Ancelotti’s favoured starters, and the Los Blancos boss says Jese accepts and understands his role in within the team.

The Italian told the press: “Jese does not ask for time to play, he’s concentrating. Every day I talk to Jese, he is calm and understands the situation and knows that he can help the team.”

The coach was keen to stress the importance to all the players like Jese, on the fringes of the first team, of their involvement in the squad during the title race.

“All players have to be ready because even if they play one minute, it may be the most important minute of the season,” he said.

Los Blancos currently lead La Liga ahead by three points, with city rivals Atletico second. Barcelona trail by four points ahead of next weekend’s clasico.

For this reason it is possible Madrid may focus on the next league game more than their midweek Champions League fixture, where key players may be rested with progress virtually guaranteed after their 6-1 first leg victory against Schalke.

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Bayern Munich may look to replace wantaway Toni Kroos with Real Madrid star Luka Modric, according to new rumours.

Kroos has been linked with a move away from the European champions in recent weeks. Talks to renew his contract, which expires in 2015, have stalled, and in midweek, the German international hinted at a possible move to the English Premier League over the summer.

Implied, then, is that Bayern boss Pep Guardiola would need to seek a replacement in the middle of the pitch. The former Barcelona boss also has midfield star quality in the form of Mario Goetze, Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger, but a [football] direct news report this week indicates that he may look to sign Modric, Cesc Fabregas or Arturo Vidal.

Despite being criticized as a poor transfer in his early Madrid days, the 28-year-old Croatian has been in stellar form for Los Blancos this season and now stands as a key player.

Modric has the necessary qualities to fit in nicely at Bayern, as he possesses both the vision to orchestrate the attack from deeper in midfield as well as the ability to pick a fine through ball — plus, it never hurts that he can pop one in from distance.

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The weekend’s round of results means the situation at the top of La Liga stays as it was, with Real Madrid three points clear of Atletico de Madrid, and four ahead of Barcelona.

The Catalan’s 7-0 defeat of Osasuna yesterday sets up an intriguing Clasico next weekend with the champions in rampant form, and Los Blancos undefeated in the league since their reverse at the Nou Camp back in October. There will be more build up to that match as the week progresses.

But for now the focus shifts to the Champions League on Tuesday night. Carlo Ancelotti’s men face Schalke in what is essentially a dead rubber having seen off the Bundesliga outfit 6-1 in the first leg.

Cristiano Ronaldo will not see the game as one to take easily, as the Portuguese seems to always have some sort of record in his sights. And AS goes for a picture of him on the front cover, focusing on his next target – beating the goalscoring record of Ferenc Puskas. The legendary Los Blancos striker scored 242 goals in 261 games for the Santiago Bernabeu side at a rate of 0.93 a game.

Ronaldo is just two behind, on 240 in 235 matches, and a strike rate of 1.02 per game. Once he overtakes Puskas on the list of all-time goalscorers for Madrid, he’ll have just Raúl (323), Di Stéfano (307) y Santillana (290) ahead of him.

Elsewhere, Marca says Karim Benzema is out of the clash with the Germans and is a doubt for El Clasico after picking up a leg injury against Malaga.

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Diego Lopez has thanked Iker Casillas for the support he has given him this season and the recent praise he showered on his goalkeeping rival at Real Madrid.

World Cup winning captain, and club legend, Casillas, told journalists that Lopez is one of the key reasons why Los Blancos are top of the table. Lopez has been used by Carlo Ancelotti in La Liga this season, while Casillas has had to make do with a bit part role, playing in the Copa del Rey and Champions League.

Speaking after keeping another clean sheet after the 1-0 win at Malaga on Saturday evening, Lopez said he respects Casillas and listens to every word his captain says.

“I respect everyone’s opinion and I want to help my club, and fight for the team as Iker does,” Lopez said.

He added: “He is the captain and an icon and I appreciate his words. I’m a lot happier when I play but I like Iker a lot. We’re competing for a place in the biggest team in the world. I demand a lot of myself and keep demanding more.”

Despite the narrow win at La Rosaleda, Lopez said he never felt Malaga threatened too much and Los Blancos were always in control.

He stated: “We controlled the game, although the score led to some uncertainty near the end. It was clearly not our best game but we didn’t have many problems. We were in control. With a 1-0 score line you should have finished the game before the final whistle and while it was tight, it hasn’t cost us.”

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Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso said Malaga made life difficult for Los Blancos and the players were delighted to come away with a 1-0 victory.

The win, which came about thanks to another Cristiano Ronaldo finish, ensures Los Blancos maintain the pace at the top of the table ahead of the Clasico fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu next weekend.

Speaking after the game, Alonso said all the Real players suffered and never really got going at La Rosaleda, at the hosts closed down quickly and fought for every ball.

“We found it hard against Málaga because they squeezed us in the second half and we struggled to move up the pitch with the ball. They played well and pressured us. They worked well together while we lacked passing accuracy both in terms of link up play and the final ball,” the World Cup winner said.

Discussing the situation at the top of the league, Alonso said we have now reached the stage of the season where players must treat each game as a cup final and go for the win. He also played down the importance of the Clasico, saying every league game now is of equal significance in the race for La Liga.

“These are three very important points. Every match is fundamental for us. We have a points advantage and don’t want it to slip away, now we have to approach each game as if it were the last. The Clásico won’t be decisive but it could be very important,” he stated.

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Carlo Ancelotti showed his satisfaction for his team’s efforts against Malaga, pointing out that “you can’t always win 2-0 or 3-0; I am happy because the team was solid, had a good attitude and worked hard together, which is a good thing.”

The Italian claimed “this was a very good and important result because winning here wasn’t easy but we managed to do it.”

“There are matches in which we have to play to different strengths. Our players’ attitude in defence was great and they worked hard. I think we are ready to play the Clásico,” he confessed.

“We had plenty of chances to kill off the game but were lacking in terms of the final ball. It was a normal game against a very motivated side, like all the teams are at this stage of the season,” he admitted.

Real Madrid’s boss praised their rival’s attitude: “They played a good match in which they put a lot of pressure on us and worked really hard. Winning here is not easy but we did it”.

Asked about Karim Benzema’s injury, Ancelotti explained “he got a knock to his muscle and couldn’t carry on. I don’t think it was a serious injury.”

Isco started in his return to Malaga to play in midfield first and up front when Benzema was injured. Ancelotti thinks “he did well to the left of centre midfield, he gave the team balance and created some good play. When Benzema came off he changed to a position he has no problems with playing in.”

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Real Madrid’s hard fought 1-0 win over Malaga last night means the side how now gone 30 matches unbeaten in all competitions and keeps up their march towards title success.

The Madrid press this morning hails the win as it means now matter what happens in El Clasico next week, Los Blancos will still remain above Barcelona. Marca and AS say the Catalan side have no margin for error as they look to catch Carlo Ancelotti’s men.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal at La Rosaleda last night, his 25th league goal of the campaign. And AS takes a closer look at the Portuguese forward’s goal tally since his arrival in Madrid. The 29-year-old has broken a host of goalscoring records, and last night he claimed another, becoming the first player to score 25 league goals or more for five consecutive seasons.

Since his arrival in the Spanish capital, Ronaldo has scored 26, 40, 46, 34, and 25 in each respective La Liga campaign. Leo Messi could equal that record – he needs 10 more league goals this season to do it.

There is also some concern in Marca today about the state of Karim Benzema. The Frenchman left the field after only half an hour having picked up a muscle problem following an accidental collision with Ronaldo. The club has yet to confirm how serious the problem is.

 

 

 

 

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Real Madrid won a crucial battle in their way to conquer La Liga, as the earned a hard-fought victory against Malaga. Cristiano Ronaldo was the match-winner once again. Nevertheless, Bernd Schuster’s men can be proud of their performance, as they threatened to equalise until the last minute.

Los Blancos should have taken an early lead as the referee denied a clear penalty. Gareth Bale took the ball down inside the box and looked to cut in on his right foot but went down under the challenge of Marcos Angeleri. The ref waved play on although it looked like a clear foul.

Malaga’s Nordim Amrabat gave Los Merengues defence a lot of trouble. Yet, Real made it 0-1 in the 23rd minute as Cristiano Ronaldo received the ball on the left of the box and skipped passed the challenges of Ignacio Camacho and Angeleri before lashing a strike into the bottom right corner.

The Portuguese later hit Karim Benzema accidentally and the Frenchman had to be replaced by Angel di Maria.

Amrabat had a couple of chances to equalise before half-time, but he missed both: the first one was saved by Diego Lopez and the second one went wide off the post.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men could have extended their lead as Di Maria carried the ball the length of the field before putting it on a plate for Isco, but the Andalucian didn’t have a good day and fired high and wide of the crossbar.

As both teams started to show tiredness, the match gained interest. The hosts missed a great chance as Sergio Sanchez collected a loose ball outside the box and sent a volley high.

Ronaldo also came close to making it 0-2 as he met a corner from Di Maria, but plantted his header wide of the post.

Malaga pushed forward in the last minutes. Pepe was providential to save a brilliant assist by Amrabat. Roque Santa Cruz came close to equalising with a brilliant header that went wide of the post.

However, Malaga’s efforts could have cost them a worse defeat, since Madrid could have scored in two counter-attacks. Argentinian goalkeeper Willy Caballero met Cristiano’s and Jese’s shots.

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