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The dream is over for Wales. The British team won’t be present in the World Cup for the first time in their history after losing at home (0-1) against Ireland due to a goal scored by James McClean in the second half. Another Real Madrid player, Luka Modric, keeps his dream alive after winning (0-2) in Ukraine, so they will have to play the playoff in the European qualification.

Wales played two summers ago their first big competition in their history with the Euro in France doing a great job. Real Madrid player Gareth Bale was the star but this time he couldn’t help his national team. Bale got injured after travelling from Madrid to Cardiff and he had to leave the training sessions. His teammates were able to win in Georgia (0-1) but they lost their chances at home against Ireland, even if a draw was enough to finish second in their group and play, at least, the playoff.

Luka Modric was luckier than his teammate. Croatia drew at home against Finland and they were in a very difficult position in their group. However, Croatia was able to win (0-2) in Ukraine with two goals scored by Kramaric, so they will go to the playoff. Iceland, surprisingly, won this group and they’ll play their first World Cup in their history.

The Spanish players of Real Madrid also got the ticket to Russia this weekend. On Monday they played an irrelevant game in Israel (0-1) with Nacho or Sergio Ramos in the line-up. Isco also had some minutes in the second half, being one of the best players of the team.

Today it’s going to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s time. Portugal host Switzerland and they need to win to get the first place in the group. Otherwise, the Euro champion will have to go to the playoff to get the ticket to Russia.

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The magazine France Football has announed this Monday the list of the candidates to win the Ballon d’Or 2017. Cristiano Ronaldo is the great favourite after winning the Champions League and La Liga, helping the team with very important goals, including two in the European final against Juventus.

During the whole day, France Football was announcing the names of the candidates via Twitter. Hour after hour, the list is getting published and there aren’t many surprises in these 30 players.

We can see seven Real Madrid players: Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Modric, Marcelo, Kroos, Isco and Benzema. Los Blancos is the team with more nominees, one more than last year, when there were six candidates. In this list we cannot see Gareth Bale, after a difficult year with many injuries.

Cristiano Ronaldo biggest rival to win the trophy is, again, Leo Messi. The Argentinian player only won the Copa del Rey trophy last year, but he has started the season very well, scoring goal in all the important games in the start of La Liga and the Champions League.

Cristiano Ronaldo also won last year award, beating Messi and Neymar. The Portuguese striker was the topscorer of the Champions League and he also won the Euro in France. For this reason, we can expect him to win again this award.

La Liga is again the competition with more candidates to the Ballon d’Or, 11 in total. However, we can only see two Barcelona players: Messi and Luis Suárez. Oblak and Antoine Griezmann are the Atlético Madrid footballers in this list.

This is the complete list of players: Cristiano (Real Madrid), Messi (Barcelona), Isco (Real Madrid), Hazard (Chelsea), Bonucci (Milán), Mbappé (PSG), Benzema (Real Madrid), Aubameyang (B. Dortmund), Cavani (PSG), Hummels (Bayern), Kroos (Real Madrid), Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid), Falcao (Mónaco), Mané (Liverpool), Buffon (Juventus), De Gea (Manchester United), De Bruyne (Manchester City), Lewandowski (Bayern Múnich), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Dzeko (Roma), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Luis Suárez (Barcelona), Oblak (Atlético de Madrid), Coutinho (Liverpool), Mertens (Nápoles), Neymar (PSG), Modric (Real Madrid), Dybala (Juventus), Marcelo (Real Madrid) and Kanté (Chelsea)

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The draw for the FIFA Club World Cup was held today, so Los Blancos already know their path to retain the title of world champions. Zidane’s side has to travel to Abu Dhabi in December to play the last two games of the competition and try to bring home again another trophy.

Real Madrid entered directly in the semi-finals of the competition and they will face the Asian champion -still unknown- or Al Jazira from Abu Dhabi or Auckland City. Both clubs will play the first game of the tournament on the 6th of December. Then, the winner will meet with the Asian champion in the first quarter-final.

The second quarter-final will be between the African champion and Pachuca from Mexico. The winner will meet the Copa Libertadores champion in the other semi-final of the tournament. Finally, the final will take place on the 16th of December in the Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi (17:00, Uk Time).

Los Blancos will try to win again this title after raising the cup last year in Japan. Real Madrid suffered a lot to beat Kashima Antlers (4-2) in the extra time thanks to the hat-trick scored by Cristiano Ronaldo. Shibasaki scored two goals to put Los Blancos in trouble. However, they were able to overcome this and win the last title of a great year 2016.

Now, Real Madrid could finish one of the best years of their history with another title. They were able to win the Champions League, La Liga, the Spanish Supercup and the European Supercup. The Fifa Club World Cup could be the fifth title of the year, something great in Real Madrid history. The Copa del Rey title could be the only one that escaped from Zidane’s hands.

This time, the FIFA Club World Cup comes in a very difficult time of the season. After the tournament, Los Blancos have to travel back to Spain to close the year with El Clásico at Santiago Bernabéu. It won’t be comfortable but it’s always very important to win all the titles available.

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Florentino Pérez changed his policy of signing stars and now he’s made a lot of deals with young and promising players. The result is very successful and Marco Asensio, Isco or Dani Ceballos are already shining in the club. However, we cannot forget that Los Blancos are also able to raise stars in their academy. Actually, many of them are stars in important teams around the continent.

In this article, we want to create a line-up with some Real Madrid players who are being successful abroad. Some of them played for Los Blancos for many years, but others didn’t have the chance to shine with Los Blancos and had to earn a spot in a foreign club.

For instance, we all remember Iker Casillas, Porto goalkeeper that was raised in the Spanish capital. His substitute could be Diego López, currently playing for Espanyol.

In the defense line, we can choose two Atlético Madrid players. Juanfran and Filipe Luis played for Castilla. Besides, Marcos Alonso, now playing for Chelsea, or Diego Llorente (Real Sociedad) could be the full-backs of the team. Javi García, former Zenit St Petersbourg player and now in Betis, could be the replacement.

The Inter Milan midfielder Borja Valero or Dani Parejo (Valencia) could be the playmakers in this team, but we also have José Manuel Jurado at Espanyol. José Callejón is giving his quality to Napoli, whereas Juan Mata was raised in Madrid, but now he’s defending Manchester United.

In the attacking line we have several options. Obviously, we cannot forget Álvaro Morata, who joined Chelsea for €80M this summer. Mariano Díaz, now at Olympique Lyonnais, is also very successful in the French league. But we have several replacement options here. Rodrigo Moreno (Valencia), Roberto Soldado (Fenerbahce), Álvaro Negredo (Besiktas) or Jesé Rodríguez (Stoke City) played also for Real Madrid in the past.

This is not a bad team, is it?

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thibaut-courtois

Real Madrid have four options for the goalkeeper position in the future: David de Gea, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Thibaut Courtois. The club is still looking how to get any of these young players to cover a key position, but they don’t want to spend a huge amount of money yet.

According to Zinedine Zidane, this position is well covered with Keylor Navas in the goal. The manager gave the Costa Rican footballer a lot of confidence during tough moments in the last season and, so far, Keylor Navas is untouchable in the squad, having won the last two Champions League. The manager is also happy with Kiko Casilla in the substitute role. But the club needs to think ahead.

For this reason, they are thinking in Keylor Navas replacement for the future. It’s not a secret that Florentino Pérez wanted to sign David de Gea and he’s not very convinced with Keylor. Besides, there are several youngsters in the market that could be the goalkeeper of the future.

In the recent days we spoke about the possibility of Kepa Arrizabalaga joining Real Madrid. The Athletic Club goalkeeper doesn’t want to hear about any offers, but he has yet to renew his contract with the club. If the agreement is not sealed, Los Blancos could have an option to get him.

However, there are other possibilities. According to MARCA, Thibaut Courtois doesn’t want to renew his contract, expiring in 2019. The newspaper published that he wants to go back to Spain, where he was very happy playing with Atlético Madrid. Some members of his family live in the Spanish capital and he will be looking forward to join them.

Roman Abramovich doesn’t want to get rid of him, but the player has the last word. If he’s convinced to join Real Madrid, Los Blancos could make a good offer to tie one of the best goalkeepers in the world. The possibility is there because he hasn’t signed any paper yet, but the pressure will start arriving to the Belgian player, so he continues defending the Blues t-shirt.

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Mateo Kovacic

Mateo Kovacic got injured at the beginning of the season in the first game in the Champions League against APOEL. The midfielder suffered an injury in the adductor muscle that keeps him out of the pitch at least six weeks. For this reason, he didn’t have to play with his national team and he took this opportunity to travel to Italy on holidays with his wife.

This fact has triggered all the rumours. Kovacic uploaded a picture with his wife in the San Peter’s square, in the Vatican, Rome. The Roma supporters saw that as an opportunity for the player to know the city and fall in love with the team, who is chasing his signing.

🇮🇹 What a wonderful experience ⛪

Una publicación compartida de Mateo Kovacic (@mateokovacic8) el

Last summer, Roma tried to sign Mateo Kovacic. Actually, many Italian clubs are chasing him up since his arrival to Madrid. He came from Inter Milan, where he shone, but Real Madrid don’t want to get rid of him and it’s very unlikely to think on a possible transfer.

Kovacic said several times that he was very happy in Madrid. He has convinced Zidane and little by little he’s having more opportunities on the pitch. However, the competition is tough and there are several players in his position, including the new signing Dani Ceballos. For this reason, his injury could prevent him to play many minutes in the next months in the team.

In the meantime, Roma will try to sign. Monchi, former Sevilla FC sports director, is now working for the Italian team and Kovacic is one of his targets. According to Corriere dello Sport, many supporters are already dreaming for him. Roma and Inter fans are fighting in the network for him, trying to convince the player to leave Spain and join Inter Milan or Roma. At the moment, Kovacic needs to get ready to play again and join the rest of the group, in Madrid.

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Zinedine Zidane has several injury concerns, the last one is Gareth Bale, but the player that worries the most is Daniel Carvajal. The right back got a virus last week and some medical tests detected a problem in the heart. The defender needs to stop playing without a return date. This is very serious.

Everything started after the game against Borussia Dortmund. Dani Carvajal was feeling unwell and he had some tests. Initially, it was a viral infection, but it developed in a pericarditis, a problem with the membrane wrapping the heart. The proximity of such a vital organ makes this illness very difficult to treat.

Now Dani Carvajal has to rest. He needs to stay at home without making any effort and wait. There is no date to come back and he shouldn’t rush. The only treatment is to wait, be patient and rest. The viral infection should go away in two or three weeks, but then he needs to wait for the pericardio to go back to the normal size. And there is no real treatment for this.

Carvajal cannot exercise during his lay-back period. For a normal person, this illness could be easier to treat, because the main issue is to rest and don’t make any physical effort. Obviously, for a professional athlete this is not possible, so he needs to be very careful and do not rush during some weeks.

After the victory in Dortmund, the player needed to stop. Now there is no date to come back, unfortunately, but it won’t be soon. Recently, Carvajal extended his contract and he commented in the press conference that there was no problem for being the only right back in the squad.

This illness alters Zidane’s plans. Achraf Hakimi is the only right back in the squad and he made his debut last weekend against Espanyol. It looks like Achraf will have several opportunities during this period, although Nacho Fernández could also play as a right back now that Marcelo and Theo Hernández are back in the training ground.

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Jesús Vallejo went back to Real Madrid after spending one successful year on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt. The full back was signed from Zaragoza one year earlier, but he hasn’t made his debut with Los Blancos yet. He arrived in summer with the idea of replacing Pepe as the fourth full back, but the injuries have prevented it.

Now Vallejo has been called to play with the Spanish national team U-21 and he’s fully recovered from his injuries. He was on the bench in the last game in La Liga against Espanyol and he’s able to help his team mates in the next fixtures.

He’s expected to play some minutes in the next game against Slovakia, so he could gain some experience and minutes to recover the pace. Daniel Carvajal is injured and the club doesn’t know when he could be back because it’s a rare problem in the heart, so Nacho and Achraf Hakimi should be covering this important absence.

For this reason, it’s very important for Zinedine Zidane to count with Jesús Vallejo. He has a great potential and should be able to cover the eventual absences of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane. Besides, Theo Hernández and Marcelo were injured the last couple of weeks, although both should be able to be back in the next game against Getafe.

Zinedine Zidane is already training with Karim Benzema, Theo Hernández and Marcelo, so at least some key players are back with the group. The same we can say about Jesús Vallejo, who is having many problems in his career with the injuries. These problems also appeared last season in Germany, when he missed several key games for an important problem in his knee.

Although we’ve just started the season, Real Madrid are having too many injury concerns. Mateo Kovacic, Karim Benzema, Theo Hernández, Marcelo, Carvajal or Jesús Vallejo are some of the players hit with these problems.

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Gareth Bale had to withdraw from Wales concentration prior to play the last two fixtures for the qualification for the World Cup because a physical problem. Now Real Madrid have confirmed the injury and the Welshman will miss the next month of competition.

“Following tests carried out on Gareth Bale, he has been diagnosed with swelling but no tear in the soleus muscle of his left leg. His recovery will be monitored”, Real Madrid said in a statement in their website.

Gareth Bale travelled to Wales after missing the last game in La Liga against Espanyol for a problem in the thigh suffered in Germany against Borussia Dortmund. Zidane said that Bale was not injured, so he had permission to join his national team. However, after the first training session of 20 minutes, he suffered some pain and had to stop.

Now Gareth Bale will miss the next month of competition because of an injury in the soleus, the muscle that is giving him many problems. Now that the Welshman was feeling much better and playing at a higher level, he has again to stop, so we will have to wait more than 6 weeks to see him in good physical conditions.

The statistics say that Bale has a great problem with the injuries. Since his arrival to Madrid, he’s missed 1 out of 3 games with Los Blancos, something really unusual for a professional player. This has prevented him to play at a good level and the supporters are already getting tired to wait for the best Gareth Bale.

Bale cannot help his national team to play the key games against Georgia and Ireland. With Real Madrid he won’t play the derby against Atlético Madrid or the important fixture in the Champions League against his former club Tottenham Hotspur. Again, bad news for Bale.

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Toni Kroos travelled to Germany to join his national team to help them in their last two fixtures before the World Cup. The German side has already the ticket to Russia, so they are more focused on other issues. The Real Madrid footballer has spoken about his career with the German Federation and he said several interesting things about Real Madrid, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti or Zinedine Zidane.

He was asked about his signing for Real Madrid: “My change of team was correct, actually, from my point of view it was completely correct. Obviously, if you go to a superior foreign club it means a step forward in your development. Carlo Ancelotti wanted me in Madrid, he bet for me. The good start for a foreign player in a club like Real Madrid it was very important. Three years after the change I can make a positive balance”.

Kroos also spoke about the few injuries he’s having in his career: “It’s good that I can play strong and constantly, not only six months or one year but a long time period. If you have a look behind, since Jupp Heynckes arrival to Munich, I could constantly play at a very high level. It’s good that my body allows that. Many other players are stopped by the injuries”, Kroos said.

The midfielder was also questioned about Pep Guardiola: “I wouldn’t underestimate Pep Guardiola’s year because my level as a footballer gave a step forward. I see this in stages. Jupp was the most important coach in the first stages in my career, in Leverkusen and in Munich. Pep Guardiola put me as the central player in his formation. His formation was beneficial for my qualities. That year I grew up a lot as a footballer”.

Although Munich and Madrid are two different cities, he’s very happy in Spain: “The fact that my family feels fine it’s the most important thing. My wife, my son and I arrived well and from the last summer, after my daughter’s birth, we all live in Madrid. It’s quite normal that this is a huge change when you go to a foreign country with a young family – I was 24 and Jessica [his partner] 26-. We adapt ourselves fine after a period to become familiar with the city. Nowadays we are a normal family in Madrid, we can live a good life. Besides, I love the sun. I feel comfortable in my team. It’s important that my family likes Madrid and this gives me strength”.

Kroos also spoke about his current manager, Zinedine Zidane: “In first place, he gives me a lot of confidence. In these two years he’s counted on me in almost every game, especially in the important ones, although in the current football there are only important games. I feel his confidence. And he knows he can always trust me, I will always try to give everything to the team. We have a good relationship. The good relationship with the coach is important for every player”, Kroos finished.

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