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Spanish radio station Cadena SER has claimed Real Madrid are close to giving up on Xabi Alonso’s contract renewal negotiations, since they are convinced the Basque midfielder is willing to leave.

The 31-year-old is yet to give an answer on the club’s last contract extension offer, and the long time he’s taking to reply has made Real directors fear the worst according to SER.

The midfielder could start negotiating with other clubs from January 1st and he could leave for free on June 31st, when his commitment with Los Blancos will end.

Meanwhile, Spanish journalist Enrique Marques stated at TV sports show Tiki Taka that a number of Los Merengues players have mobilising to prevent Alonso from leaving the Santiago Bernabeu.

“In the last two weeks, Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Álvaro Arbeloa have shown their interest on the status of the negotiations and have make their moves to favour Xabi’s renewal,” he claimed.

“They have asked Alonso and told him that the fans want him to stay, that the president is worried,… But there are no news about the Basque’s decision,” Marques said.

In case Alonso left Real Madrid, his most probable destinies would be Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Juventus, Napoli or Paris Saint Germain.

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Sergio Ramos and Marcelo are expected to return to Real Madrid’s starting eleven for the crucial game against Valencia. Los Blancos need to win the last match of the year if they want to be in with a shout of getting past Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

The Competition Committee accepted Los Blancos’ appeal regarding the first yellow card Ramos was shown against Osasuna, agreeing that the video shows the Andalucian “had not brought down his opponent.”

The Committee argued “there was no contact”, therefore recognising the referee’s mistake. However, they did support the ref’s decision to show Ramos the second yellow card for elbowing Roberto Torres and they have fined Los Merengues with 180 euros over the incident.

Thus, Carlo Ancelotti will be able to line-up the Spanish international on Sunday. The Italian is slowly recovering all his starting defenders, as Marcelo is also expected to make a return from his recent muscle problems.

The Brazilian was already available for this week’s Copa del Rey clash against Olimpic Xativa, but Ancelotti decided to rest him for a better recovery.

Central-defender Raphael Varane is still on the sidelines recovering from his knee problems and is expected to get back to playing in January.

Cristiano Ronaldo will also return to action after missing one game due to suspension. Meanwhile, Gareth Bale is a doubt for the coach with a contusion in his calf muscle.

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Cristiano Ronaldo has quite a bit going for him as a fan favorite between his phenomenal talent and his good looks, but he may have just won over even more hearts.

Ronaldo can now claim that he played a part in getting charges dropped against a 20-year-old student who invaded the pitch at an August friendly not to light flares or to streak, but simply to embrace his favorite Real Madrid player and Ballon d’Or candidate.

Charges were dropped against the student Monday three months after Ronaldo wrote a letter asking the case to be dismissed, according to various news outlets.

During an exhibition match against Chelsea in the International Champions Cup, Canadian citizen Ronald Gjoka dashed onto the pitch in Miami and hugged the Portuguese superstar for almost a minute.

Ronaldo reacted calmly, and the two shared a conversation to the applause of the fans. Gjoka was then peacefully escorted off by security.

Gjoka was put in jail for 36 hours, according to a National Post article Tuesday, and was charged in a Florida court with trespassing and disorderly conduct.

On Monday, however, prosecutors for the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office officially dropped charges against the student.

Richard Hujber, Gjoka’s lawyer, told the National Post in an email that the Madrid star’s intervention played a part in the dismissal of the case.

“It appears the letter from Ronaldo was helpful in terms of getting the case dropped,” he said.

When Ronaldo heard in October that Gjoka was being charged for his antics, he wrote a letter defending the student and mailed it via his lawyers in Portugal to Miami.

“He was not aggressive or violent in ANY way,” Ronaldo wrote. “In addition, he did not resist security or police in any possible way.”

Ronaldo wrote that he was concerned Gjoka would face unnecessary consequences related to his immigration status and his student visa to attend Palm Beach State College as a result of the two charges.

“I understand your position and the importance of enforcing rules and laws,” Ronaldo wrote. “However, I respectfully request that you and your office reconsider this decision and dismiss the 2 criminal charges this young man faces. I do not want to see him face criminal penalties for his error. It appears that he has an extremely bright future, and I do not want to see that future detrimentally affected by this mistake in judgment.”

Hujber said Gjoka now hopes to thank his idol in person, according to a Monday Yahoo! Sports story.

Hopefully, that meeting will be under better circumstances.

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Madrid press report 20-12-13

Spain’s most sol sports daily, Marca, claims Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is dissappointed with the team’s youngsters performance in the Copa del Rey.

The Italian gave them a chance to play in the two legs against Olimpic Xativa, and apparently he’s not happy with the results: a goalless draw in Xativa and a 2-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“Ancelotti gets mad,” Marca titles. “The poor performance in the Copa and the draw against Osasuna have annoyed him,” they state.

“Excepting Jese, Ancelotti expects a lot more from the youngsters and has asked for an effort to those that will play in Mestalla,” Marca reports.

The Madrid paper also brings to its front page the latest Iker Casillas words on his possible move out of the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the season. “My decision is to continue in Madrid,” he told the press.

Marca also covers the news of German company GMT Architekten being entrusted with the Santiago Bernabeu’s remodelling. “The German Bernabeu awaits its surname,” the Spanish daily titles in a reference to the new name the Stadium will have, possibly including a sponsor.

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Laurie Cunningham is not up there with the household names of footballers who have done so much to change the face of the game we all love such as the likes of Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidanne and Leo Messi, who have scaled the heights in their own way.

But few could have achieved what Cunningham did in his tragically short life – he was killed in a car crash on the outskirts of Madrid in 1989. The genius left winger enjoyed his best moments on the field at West Bromich Albion, where he formed a formidable trio with Cyril Regis and Brendan Baston in the 1970s.

However, his legacy is one of breaking down racial barriers and inspiring generations of black footballers to reach their dreams.  The son of a Jamaican racehorse jockey, he was released at a young age by Arsenal and spent three years at Leyton Orient before his switch to the Midlands in 1977. He flourished under manager Ron Atkinson along with his two strike partners and the trio soon became known as the ‘Three Degrees’ in tribute to the American soul group.

At a time when casual racism was a problem in football, the three black players helped West Brom play some of the most attractive attacking football seen, which went some way towards slowly breaking down perceptions and allowing more black players to try and make their mark in the game. So impressive were Cunningham’s performances that we was selected by England manager Ron Greenwood in 1979 to become the first black player to represent England in a competitive fixture.

Albion’s UEFA Cup run hadn’t gone unnoticed by the big boys, and Cunningham was signed by Real Madrid that summer to become the first Englishman to represent the club. He hit the ground running in Spain, scoring a brace on his debut and terrorising fierce rivals Barcelona at home and away. Indeed, he is one of the few Los Blancos players to ever get a standing ovation at the Nou Camp for his display. A league and cup double followed, and his was Madrid’s third highest scorer in his first season.

His second season in the Spanish capital saw the beginning of his career start to unravel. Injuries prevented him from playing much and he was affected psychologically as well. A fall out with the Madrid hierarchy soon saw him shipped out on loan to Manchester United but injuries and a love of partying meant he would never hit the heights again as he had done at West Brom and the early days with Los Blancos.

He began a journeyman’s path through Europe, representing Marseille, Leicester City, Rayo Vallecano, Sporting Charleroi, and Wimbledon. Unable to settle again in England, and married to a Spaniard, he moved back to Madrid for another spell with Rayo. Cunningham is still held in great affection in the Vallecas suburb of Madrid because he scored the goal that sent Rayo into La Liga in 1989.

Tragically he would never be able to represent the club in the top league, as a few weeks after scoring that goal, he was killed in a car crash at the young age of 33. His former strike partner Regis believes his story should never be forgotten.

“For the third generation of 16 and 17-year-olds, their heroes are Thierry Henry and people like that. But Laurie has a focal place in history because he inspired so many black players and that story deserves to be told. This guy broke down a lot of barriers so that they could play football,” he said in an interview earlier this year.

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Real Madrid received a €40 million bid for Xabi Alonso from English side Manchester Unied according to reports in Spain.

The Barclays Premier League champions were very active on the transfer market in the summer with unsuccessful approaches for Athletic Bilbao’s Ander Herrera and Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas.

Sami Khedira, Thiago Alcantara and Luka Modric were also moves the Red Devils failed to complete before Everton’s Marouane Fellaini arrived before deadline day for 33 million euros.

According to El Confidencial, United made an approach for Madrid’s Xabi Alonso before they completed the signing of the Belgian. The move barely saw the light of day as president Florentino Perez refused to discuss the transfer.

Alonso’s previous experiences at Liverpool make a transfer to hated rivals United seem very unlikely, despite being linked with a move back to the Premier League.

The 32 year-old’s contract will expire at the end of the season so whether he feels inclined to fuel the old rivalries he left behind remains to be seen.

Follow Louis Gibberd-Thomas on Twitter: @mercutio156

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Just last week we posted an article looking at the betting odds and the general opportunity for Cristiano Ronaldo to break the group stage scoring record in Real Madrid’s last group match against FC Copenhagen. And as you may have heard by now, he indeed pulled it off. Continuing the scoring tear he’s been on of late, Ronaldo knocked in a 48th minute goal for his 9th of the group stage—a new record.

Now seems like as good a time as any to turn our attention to the next potential goalscoring achievement: Will Cristiano Ronaldo lead the Champions League in scoring? He certainly seems like he could reach that level at this point, though Zlatan Ibrahimovic is right on his heels and Leo Messi will always be a threat.

The odds, however, are in Ronaldo’s favor at this early stage. At Betfair, a sports betting site featuring up-to-date odds on any number of football competitions and scenarios, Ronaldo leads all candidates with 1/2 odds to be top goalscorer. Ibrahimovic is behind him at 7/2, which are fairly tempting odds, actually, given that he was on even par with Ronaldo until the final game of the group stage. As for Messi, he’s sitting at 9/2 odds. Sergio Aguero has 4th best odds at 14/1, with Robert Lewandowski and Neymar even with 18/1 odds at the 5th spot.

Of course, these things can be a bit tricky to predict. Whereas entire team outlooks can be fairly reliable, there’s no telling when an individual player will have a poor match, when a minor injury might occur, and so on. But these odds are a strong reflection not just of Cristiano Ronaldo’s talents in general, but of his superb play of late for both Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team.

If Ronaldo can stay on top in the goalscoring arena, it will help Real Madrid continue moving toward success in Champions League play. Not only that, but he could also keep on narrowing the gap that Messi has spent the last year or two opening up as the (largely) undisputed world’s top player. Stay tuned.

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Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has claimed that the club has received no offers for winger Angel Di Maria, despite reports suggesting he will leave in January.

The likes of Manchester United and Monaco have been linked to the Rosario-born 25 year old capped 44 times by Argentina, who played for his hometown club and Benfica in Portugal before his move to Madrid.

But Perez said “He has a contract in place until 2018 and many clubs want him, though we have not received any offer for the sale of Angel di Maria. This is the truth of this subject.

“Nobody has told me anything about this situation, I have asked the club if someone has approached us and nobody knows anything.”

However, Di Maria seems to be determined to leave Madrid after a lack of first team football following the arrival of Gareth Bale for a record fee from Tottenham, and his behaviour recently has been petulant.

His petulancy reached a low point, as he had to be told numerous times to warm up against Olympic Xativa in the Copa Del Rey away leg, so the return leg, where Di Maria is expected to start, could be a hostile atmosphere for the winger.

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19-12-13

Spain’s most sold sports newspaper, Marca, puts its focus today on Asier Illarramendi’s great performance in Real Madrid’s 2-0 victory against Olimpic Xativa in the Copa del Rey.

“Illarra’s night,” they title, pointing out “Asier scored his first goal as a professional footballer in an easy game against Xativa.”

The other main Madrid sports daily, As, highlights the fact that Santiago Bernabeu “chanted Xabi Alonso to stay and asked for his contract renewal.”

Los Blancos will face Osasuna in the next round of the Copa del Rey, As publishes.

The Madrid paper also reports that Sergio Ramos second yellow card against the Rojillos has been nullified by the Committee and the Andalucian will be able to play against Valencia.

* Follow Real Madrid News on Twitter

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Real Madrid eased into the next round of the Copa del Rey with an easy 2-0 win over third division side Olimpic Xativa.

Los Blancos had failed to earn a victory in the away leg, but Asier Illarramendi and Angel di Maria goals left the visitors without any hopes of getting into the next round.

Olimpic arrived to the Santiago Bernabeu in their best fitness, and they threatened to score in the first minutes with their courageous efforts.

However, Real soon took control of the game, and Di Maria was close making it 1-0 very soon. Nevertheless it took 15 minutes for Illarramendi to receive a great pass from Jese and score his first goal for Real Madrid.

A couple of minutes later, Isco’s header stroked Kike Alcazar on the arm and the referee conceded a penalty. Di Maria managed to score despite the ball hitting the post after goalkeeper Francis slightly touched it.

The two goals ended Olimpic’s dream to qualify for the next round, and Real comfortably controlled the rest of the match.

Casemiro and Jese could have made it 3-0, but there efforts were denied by Francis.

Olimpic tried to score at the end of the match, but they weren’t lucky enough to find the back of the net.

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