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Gareth Bale put in a sensational performance and silenced many of his critics following his two-goal display against Sevilla on Wednesday night, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti claimed.

Making his first start for his new club at the Santiago Bernabeu, Bale thumped in the opening goal after just 13 minutes before adding a second later on in the first half. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick and Karim Benzema also scored a brace as the Los Blancos front trio ran riot in a 7-3 rout of the Andalucian side.

It was undoubtedly the best attacking display Real have put on since Ancelotti took charge in the summer, and the Italian said afterwards that he was pleased with what he saw, particularly from 24-year-old Bale, who moved to the club in a 91-million-euro deal from Tottenham Hotspur.

“Tonight everyone saw the real Gareth,” Ancelotti said. “He played really well, showing fantastic skills. It takes time but it was a necessity, now he doesn’t have problems physically and he is improving his confidence so he will be very important for us in the future.”

The Italian spoke of his concern about defensive errors though, and warned his team they need to cut them out if they are to achieve their trophy targets this season.

“It was a bit of a crazy game, we started very well and were 3-0 up. We then lost a bit of concentration and balance and the game was alive againm” he stated, before adding “obviously we need more balance to avoid problems going forward, but up front all three players were very dangerous.”

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Real Madrid paid a huge sum of money to sign Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer – 91 million euros according to Spanish reports.

But the 24-year-old Welshman has enduring a difficult life in the capital so far having been held back by foot and thigh injuries. Despite a goal on his debut, the rest of his performances have been below the standard his set last season and in recent days he has been heavily criticised in the media.

That criticism has led to doubts about whether Bale will stay in La Liga for long, and bookmakers are already taking bets on his next destination and when.  Manchester United were after him last summer, and odds of 8/1 are available on Bale going to Old Trafford in time for the 2014/15 season.

City rivals Manchester City are at around 16/1 to take Bale back to the Premier League, while big spending French club PSG can be found at 33/1 as his new destination.

The odd on Bale leaving next summer are 4/1, while he can be found a 20/1 to leave in the January transfer window.

Bale wouldn’t be the first Brit to leave Madrid after just one year. Michael Owen’s unhappy time with Los Blancos last just 12 months, and although Jonathan Woodgate lasted longer – three years – he only managed 14 appearances in that time.

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There’s only one place to start today in the Madrid press and that’s the reaction to Los Blancos’ amazing 7-3 win over Sevilla in La Liga last night.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick, while the much criticised duo Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema both grabbed a brace. And the Madrid-based dailies Marca and AS hail the side’s win as the launch pad for things to come.

Lead by their general, Cristiano Ronaldo, the press is confident Madrid are back on track and ready to fight for the title. Ronaldo overtook the legendary Ferenc Puskas in the La Liga scoring charts for the club, with his 157th in 146 league games for Los Merengues.

Ronaldo celebrated his third goal by saluting – a reference to Sepp Blatter’s comment about him while speaking at the Oxford Union last week. The support for Ronaldo last night was 100%, with fans holding banners encouraging the Portuguese star.

There is also very positive press for Bale this morning. Since his poor showing in the Clasico he has been heavily criticised but answered back with two excellent finishes.

Xabi Alonso also spoke to the press after the match about his relief at making his first team come back and his frustration at sitting in the sidelines for the last five months.

Check back later for reaction to the match.

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Gareth Bale put in a stellar performance to guide Real Madrid past Sevilla, silencing the critics that he had received due to his poor start of the season. The Welshman scored a brace and provided two assists to lead Los Blancos emphatic win at Santiago Bernabeu.

Cristiano Ronaldo also had a brilliant night, scoring a hat-trick and responding to FIFA’s president Joseph Blatter’s mockery on him.

Bale put Los Merengues ahead in the 14th minute after receiving a pass from Karim Benzema in the far post and rifling a strike into the top left corner.

The pair had a good connection, and just two minutes later Bale could have doubled it after exchanging a one-two with the Frenchman. Sevilla’s goalkeeper Beto denied his effort. And again the two forwards connected in the 21st minute, but the Welshman’s shot went a few centimetres north of the crossbar.

However, Bale wouldn’t miss his third chance when he took Cristiano Ronaldo’s place to shoot a free kick. His powerful strike deflected of Alberto Moreno and ended up in the back of the net.

Sevilla’s defender didn’t have his best night, as he hauled down Isco inside the box, conceding Ronaldo a penalty to make it 3-0.

When the game seemed to be decided, Figueiras went down after a challenge from Marcelo and the referee pointed to the penalty spot in a very controversial decision. Ivan Rakitic shortened the differences, and only two minutes later Carlos Bacca made Sevilla believe in the come-back after picking up a pass from Jairo and netting it from eight metres.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick

The Andalusians’ expectations changed drastically when Benzema scored the fourth goal in a counter-attack slotting a superb cross by Bale. The Welshman was decisive to seal the victory when he dribbled three defenders to reach the goal line and assisted Ronaldo, who scored easily from two metres.

Rakitic made it 5-3 with a delightful curled left-footed shot from the corner of the area, but it was just a consolation goal before Ronaldo scored his third. The Croatian missed a penalty Mbia was sent off, leaving free way for Santiago Bernabeu’s joy.

Benzema closed the goal party with a brilliant header in the 80th minute. Los Blancos remain third in the table, six points behind the leader Barcelona.

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FIFA President Sepp Blatter has apologized to Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo over remarks he made about the Portugal captain.

Club president Florentino Perez demanded an apology after the 77-year-old’s comments were met with great dissatisfaction, as the Portuguese Football Federation and Madrid took exception to his words.

Blatter last week spoke at the Oxford Union and was asked to compare Ronaldo with four-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, and although describing both players as exceptional has come under great scrutiny for his comparison.

He voiced his preference for Messi and labeled him “a good boy” before claiming, in apparent reference to Ronaldo, that “one has more expenses for the hairdresser than the other.”

The FIFA president has now written to Los Blancos insisting his remarks were made in jest and that he regards Ronaldo as an “exceptional player”.

Ronaldo has since taken to Facebook to air his view by posting a video of Blatter’s comments to his personal page.

He added: “This video shows clearly the respect and consideration that FIFA has for me, for my club and my country. Much is explained now.

“I wish Mr Blatter health and a long life, with the certainty that he will continue to witness, as he deserves, the successes of his favourite teams and players.”

 

 

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Real Madrid vs Sevilla match preview

Real Madrid will be looking to bounce back from Saturday’s El Clasico defeat to Barcelona  as they host Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu tonight.

Goals from Neymar and Alexis Sanchez gave Barcelona the win in a controversial game at the Nou Camp last weekend, as Real were left angry at referee Alberto Undiano for not awarding a penalty for a foul on Cristiano Ronaldo, with Los Blancos run of four consecutive victories coming to an abrupt end.

The result also left Real six points behind Barcelona in the La Liga table, and six behind city rivals Atletico.

It won’t be plain sailing against tenth placed Sevilla, who have recovered from a below par start with no wins in their first five La Liga games to go seven games undefeated in all competitions.

However, Madridistas should be confident as Real have beaten the Andalusians eight times out of the last nine in all competitions, but Raphael Varane (knee) is a doubt, and despite recently returning to training Xabi Alonso (groin, foot) is also unlikely after five months out.

Sevilla are without on-loan Chelsea winger Marko Marin (hamstring), but should have midfielder Ivan Rakitic available after recent groin and hip injuries.

Possible line-ups:

Real Madrid: Lopez; Arbeloa, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo; Illarramendi, Modric; Bale, Isco, Ronaldo; Benzema.

Sevilla: Beto; Figueiras, Pareja, Carrico, Moreno; Iborra, Mbia; Jairo, Rakitic, Vitolo; Gameiro.

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Real Madrid vs Sevilla bets

Real Madrid had their four match winning run come to an abrupt end on Saturday evening with defeat in the Clasico, but they are odds on favourites to beat Sevilla in La Liga tonight.

Los Blancos are at 2/7 with BetVictor to win the match at the Santiago Bernabeu, while their Andalucian visitors are out at 12/1 to take the three points. Ladbrokes is offering 11/2 for the game to end all square.

Sevilla’s away from has been poor in recent months – 0 wins in the last 22 fixtures on the road – but this particular fixture tends to see plenty of goals. If you fancy a flutter, bookies are offering odds of around 7/10 for both teams to score.

The more adventurous out there may be tempted by 21/20 for the game to have more than 3.5 goals. Carlo Ancelotti’s men have scored 19 goals in their last five matches against Sevilla, so the bet may look quite tempting.

In terms of first goalscorers, Cristiano Ronaldo is at 2/1 with Ladbrokes to get his name on the sheet first. Karim Benzema is at 4/1, and despite his woes in a Madrid shirt so far, Gareth Bale can be found at 5/ alongside Alvaro Morata. Watch out for Sevilla player Kevin Gameiro, who will be out for revenge having fallen out with Ancelotti at PSG. He is at 12/1 to net the first goal of the night.

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Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti has defended his tactical decision to field Sergio Ramos as a central midfielder in his side’s 2-1 defeat to rivals Barcelona.

The capital club went down to an early Neymar goal and Alexis Sanchez settled the tie with a brilliant individual effort that ended Real Madrid’s chances despite a late consolation goal from Jese Rodriguez.

“Ramos in midfield? I do not think I was wrong there,” the Italian told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope.

“It is true that Sergio Ramos has not played in this position before. Before deciding I spoke to him. He was happy, excited to play in this position.

“I do not think the game was so bad. It is not true that putting Ramos in midfield was defensive. The defensive midfielder was the same as when Asier Illarramendi was playing there.” the former AC Milan coach proclaimed.

Real’s vice-captain could face an uphill task of being ready to face Sevilla as he’s suffered with muscular discomfort during the week.

“If the week in training was the same as I saw last week, then yes, I would put Ramos in midfield again, if the Clasico was played tomorrow,” he concluded.

Real Madrid are now six points adrift of league leaders Barcelona following the defeat.

Follow Louis Gibberd-Thomas on Twitter: @mercutio156

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Real Madrid’s La Liga match against Sevilla will reunite Carlo Ancelotti and Kevin Gameiro, after having spent the last two seasons together at Paris Saint Germain.

However, the relationship between the manager and the striker wasn’t very friendly. The reason is the Italian coach never really trusted the current Sevilla striker. As a matter of fact, last season Gameiro appeared in 25 games for PSG in Ligue 1, and only in two of them he played the whole 90 minutes.

That situation lead the Frenchman to explode against Ancelotti on April 13th this year, after being taken off in the 64th minute against Troyes. As he was heading to the bench, he furiously hit a bottle of water and shouted: “It’s always the same with him. Every time I play, it’s the same, and now he’s touching my balls.”

Ancelotti played down the incident, claiming it was a “normal” attitude of a player who has been substituted. Nevertheless, Gameiro wouldn’t make it in a starting line-up until one month later, when the team had already won the league.

That caused that the striker doesn’t keep good remembrances of Ancelotti. “It was a tough situation to live, and it’s difficult to understand. When a striker doesn’t score week after week, and they don’t even count on you, that’s difficult,” he told Spanish TV station Canal+.

Gameiro also complained about Ancelotti not giving him a chance even when the other strikers couldn’t feature: “It was a great disappointment to learn I wasn’t going to play despite the fact there were no other strikers available. From that moment, it was tough.”

“I was lacking the manager’s and the club’s trust and that is what I have found here at Sevilla,” he said. That is why Gameiro will certainly look for revenge as his team visits Santiago Bernabeu.

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Sau Paulo’s vicepresident Joao Paulo de Jesus Lopes has confirmed in an interview with Terra.com.br that Real Madrid tried to sign young forward Ademilson six months ago.

“Real Madrid contacted us and came six months ago to speak about Ademilson,” he said.

“However, we weren’t interested in selling the player. These kind of young footballers keep the attention of big European clubs when they play well, because we have a history of selling good players,” Lopes stated.

“But we thought it was too soon for selling him. The manager likes him, he makes a difference and we don’t want to let him go,” he added.

Lopes revealed they asked the forward about a possible move to Madrid: “We told him about it. If he wanted to leave, we wouldn’t step in his way, but he wants to stay at Sao Paulo and is not thinking about leaving.”

Other European clubs have been reported to be interested in bringing the 19-year-old to this side of the Atlantic Ocean. AC Milan is one of them. However, Lopes admitted he had no news about that: “We were only contacted by Real Madrid.”

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