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Madrid sports newspapers put their focus today in the doubts over Gareth Bale’s return for the derby against Atletico Madrid. Marca claims the Welshman will recover on time from his injury and titles: “Bale to the rescue”.

Meanwhile, As states “Bale and Marcelo are forcing to make it to the derby”, arguing that Carlo Ancelotti doubts whether to put them in the starting eleven or resting them.

Marca’s main headline in the front page is “Ancelotti’s first warning”. The most sold Spanish newspaper claims the Italian is very worried about the team’s performance and has called a pre-match meeting at the training grounds halls of residence.

Both Madrid sports dailies also highlight the punishment referee Muniz Fernandez has received after his terrible performance at Elche, with a controversial penalty call when the time was already over.

“Muniz Fernandez condemned for his mistakes”, Marca claims. As highlights the president of the Referees Committee’s words: “I wouldn’t have made that penalty call”, Sanchez Arminio said. Fernandez has been penalized by not being given any game this weekend.

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Manchester United manager David Moyes is set to bid again in January for Real Madrid defender Fabio Coentrao.

The Scottish manager tried to sign Coentrao at the end of the last window, only for the deal to collapse at the last minute. But the Old Trafford side still maintain an interest in the defender and will look to follow that up once the window opens again in the New Year.

Moyes wants to sign a top left-back to provide competition to Patrice Evra, as he has been unconvinced by the current back up option of Alex Buttner. Moyes has shown an interest in raiding former club Everton for Leighton Baines, but sees Coentrao as an ideal signing for the Premier League champions.

Los Blancos may be willing to part with the player, who has only featured once this season for Carlo Ancelotti. An injury picked up on international duty has seen his playing time at the Santiago Bernabeu even more limited.

The Portugual international is believed to been keen to try a new challenge elsewhere. He was linked with Chelsea over the summer in a move that would have seen him link up with former manager Jose Mourinho. Coentrao was also  rumoured to be subject of interest from former club Benfica, but neither move materialised.

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Real Madrid’s manager Carlo Ancelotti is unhappy with his team’s performance in the controversial 1-2 win at Elche. The Italian manager claimed they will not beat Atletico Madrid in next Saturday’s derbi if they play like that.

Los Blancos beat Elche thanks to a controversial penalty in stoppage time. Madrid press agrees today that the penalty was unfair and the victory was undeserved.

“It’s difficult to talk about refereeing decisions. I don’t like to, because the position of the bench isn’t good,” Ancelotti stated. “I’ve asked Pepe about it and he told me that it was a clear penalty,” he added.

Ancelotti confessed he was unhappy with his side’s display. “I am not happy. We need to play differently. We suffered a lot, particularly during the closing minutes of the game. Playing this way, we are not going to win the derby against Atletico,” Ancelotti told the press.

“We need to play better, with more intensity and more personality. We didn’t have control of the game in the second half. The only important thing is that we won but that’s not enough. We need to improve,” Madrid’s boss affirmed.

Ancelotti on Pique’s tweet

At the end of the match, Barcelona’s defender Gerard Pique sent a message to Real Madrid players and fans via Twitter. “Watching a comedy on Canal+, they’re always good at this time of night!”, he tweeted.

Ancelotti responded saying that “Pique has to think more about playing than talking. He’s better on the pitch than off it”.

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Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has claimed he is convinced his team knows how to beat Real Madrid. The Belgium showed confidence in beating their city rivals in Saturday’s derby for the second time in 14 years.

Los Colchoneros had gone 25 matches without a win until last season’s Copa del Rey final, when they beat Los Blancos at the Santiago Bernabeu with a 1-2.

“We have a good team and we know how to beat Real,” the goalkeeper told Spanish newspaper As. “These are just three more points, another final for us. As a footballer you never go out to draw, you always go out to win,” he added.

Asked about the threat of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale powerful shots, Courtois said “in the penalty area you are always afraid when they are going to shoot, but you learn in talks and with videos about players. With Belgium I already played against Bale, and some team-mates who play at Tottenham told me how he hit the ball. I have been in La Liga for three years, and I know how Cristiano hits his free-kicks.”

Atletico sits second in La Liga after having won all their six games this season -but with a worse goal record than Barcelona. They will seek to maintain that unbeaten run against their archi-rivals, who sit two points behind in the table.

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Madrid sports newspapers put their focus today in Real Madrid’s dramatic 1-2 victory in Elche, with a controversial penalty in stoppage time.

“Crazy referee”, titles As, claiming the penalty “was unfair and out of time”. “Cristiano Ronaldo gave Los Blancos the win with two goals. He has already scored 210 in 206 games with Real”, they add.

Marca says “Pepe tricked the referee by falling inside the box”. Former international referee and Marca’s expert Rafa Guerrero claims “it wasn’t a penalty”.

The most sold Spanish newspaper states that “Los Blancos played a horrible match and will meet Atletico Madrid with many doubts”.

“We have been robbed. The referee is a scamp”, Elche’s defender Edu Albacar told Canal+ reporters after the game. “We will not win the derby playing like this”, Carlo Ancelotti said in the press conference.

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Usain Bolt has stated he could help Gareth Bale become an even faster and better player than he is now. The 100 metres world-record holder believes believes the Welshman is the fastest footballer in the world, but claims he can make him even quicker.

Bale clocked an incredible 40kmh during Real Madrid’s draw at Villarreal. That is just 3.2kmh behind the Jamaican’s world-record speed.

And World Champion Bolt says he will teach Bale how to run even faster if the player and Real Madrid want him to.

“I hear that he has been clocking speeds close to me – but it is about technique as well,”, Bolt told the press.

“I have a lot of respect for Real Madrid, and if they and Gareth want my help I am happy to fly in and take a private training session with Gareth. I know I could make him an even better player than he already is,” he added.

“I think Gareth is probably the fastest player in the world at the moment, but I will help him with his sprinting if he wants.”

“It is not just about how fast you can accelerate – but also when you have the football at your feet about balance while you are sprinting as well. I helped Ronaldo with his sprinting in a training session – and look what he has go on to achieve since then,”, he concluded.

The Jamaican runner trained with Bale’s new team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo in a session too. He has also recently spent time with Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero.

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Real Madrid maintained their unbeaten run in La Liga with a dramatic 1-2 victory at Elche. Cristiano Ronaldo’s took the three points home with a late goal in a controversial penalty after the hosts had equalised in stoppage time.

Los Merengues had a slow opening in the game. Despite having the possession most of the time, Elche’s midfield and defence lines moved tightly together to deny the visitors’ efforts to reach the box.

Seeing that Los Blancos were not feeling comfortable, the hosts gained confidence and started approaching Diego Lopez’s position. In fact they could easily have found themselves in front if the Galician goalkeeper hadn’t made two superb saves.

In the 10th minute, Lopez denied Lomban’s header from a free kick, palming the attempt away. And just four minutes later he brilliantly stopped Javi Marquez’s strike towards the bottom corner.

The match then became entertaining, with both teams looking dangerous on the counterattack. Marquez had another great chance from ten metres but his shot bounced over the bar.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side had a few chances to score before half-time. Ronaldo’s best effort fizzed past the post and Di Maria’s shot was saved by Manu Herrera.

Things could have been worst for Real if Sergio Ramos had been shown his second yellow card after going late to stop Coro. If he hadn’t been booked earlier, the referee would have probably gone into the book.

Ronaldo breaks the wall

The visitors finally got going early in the second half thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese smashed a free kick from more than 30 metres and the ball squeezed through the wall and past Herrera making it 0-1.

The goal was a hammer blow to Elche, as Real focussed on defending and the host’s options to counterattack diminished. And even more when Ancelotti reinforced the defence with Carvajal and Illarramendi entering in place of Modric and Isco.

Elche’s had a good chance to score with a powerful shot from distance by Aaron Niguez, but he sent his effort wide off the post. However, Real’s over-confidence punished them, and Boakye scored in stoppaged time.

But when Elche’s crowd were still celebrating, Pepe was brought down by Carlos Sanchez inside the box and Ronaldo saved his team dispatching the penalty.

Los Blancos didn’t humiliate their rival as expected. In fact, Elche was a decent adversary who probably deserved to savage a draw. However, Real managed to take home the three points to continue Barca and Atletico chase. Los Blancos sit third in La Liga just two points behind Barcelona and Atletico, three days before meeting Los Colchoneros in the Madrid derby.

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Paulo Futre is one of Atletico Madrid’s greatest legends, since he gave Los Colchoneros many glory days at Vicente Calderon. However, very few fans remember that we was about to turn into a villain as he was close to signing for their arch-rivals. In the week when Real Madrid and Atletico meet again in the derby, we remember that story.

It all happened in 1993. Real was willing to dethrone Barcelona as La Liga champions, since Los Azulgranas had won three titles in a row. However, Los Blancos league start was disappointing: they suffered two losses in the first three games of the tournament. Plus, the second one was very humiliating, as Deportivo emphatically beat Los Merengues 4-0 at Riazor.

Ramon Mendoza, Real’s president at that time, thought the team needed a catalyst, and after considering firing coach Benito Floro, he thought the signing of a world-class player would boost the team’s performance.

At that point, the name of Paulo Futre appeared over the papers. The arrival of the Portuguese would certainly be a decisive move: it would mean signing a star player and turning Atletico’s idol into a Madridista.

Mendoza was fast and determined in the negotiations and reach a preliminary agreement for Futre’s transfer: paying 600 million pesetas –more than three million euros- of which 400 would go for Olympique de Marseille, the Portuguese’s club at that time, and 200 would be for the player’s salary.

However, Mendoza didn’t know that, when Atletico’s president Jesus Gil sold Futre, he had covered his back in case a situation like this could happen. Gil force Futre to sign a contract that forced him to pay 300 million pesetas if he signed for an Italian club and 500 if he signed for a Spanish club. Furthermore, Gil included another clause according to which Atletico would receive 1.000 million –six million euros- if the Portuguese signed for Real Madrid.

Maybe now these amounts might seem ridiculous, but at that time it was a lot of money. That is why Mendoza considered the possibility of bringing Futre on loan. However, the president’s assistants advised against it, as the contract signed between Gil and Futre wasn’t clear about what would happen in a loan deal.

Mendoza finally followed his assistants’ advice and forgot about the transfer. Futre’s signing for Real Madrid never took place.

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Real Madrid visit Elche seeking to maintain their unbeaten start to La Liga. Carlo Ancelotti still hasn’t lost an official game since he arrived to Madrid and the recently promoted team should be an easy rival to extend his record.

Los Blancos sit third in the league with four wins and one draw from five matches. Dropping more points in Elche would allow Barcelona and Atletico Madrid increase their lead, as they both won their sixth consecutive La Liga game yesterday.

Ancelotti will recover Raphael Varane, Fabio Coentrao and Iker Casillas, who return from their respective injuries. Gareth Bale, Xabi Alonso and Marcelo are still in the infirmary and won’t make Los Merengues first trip to Elche in 24 years.

Luka Modric could return to the starting eleven after being rested against Getafe. The doubt is whether he will replace Isco as the playmaker or he will play as centre-half. In that case, Asier Illarramendi or Sami Khedira would sit on the bench.

Elche have the only concerns of Cristian Sapunaru and Sergio Pelegrin, who are not completely recovered from their injuries.

Fran Escriba’s men have failed to win any of their first five matches in the league, and they sit 16th in the table with three points. Getting some points against Los Blancos would be a huge success for them.

As a matter of fact, Elche have kept just one clean sheet this term, while Real have scored ten goals in their last two games.

Possible line-ups:

Elche: Herrera; Albacar, Botia, Lomban, Suarez, Fidel; Perez, Marquez, Sanchez, Richmond; Boakye, Coro.

Real Madrid: Diego Lopez; Arbeloa, Ramos, Pepe, Carvajal; Modric, Khedira; Ronaldo, Isco, Di Maria; Benzema.

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Madrid sports newspaper As highlights today in its front page the way Carlo Ancelotti praised Isco during a press conference at Real Madrid’s training ground.

“Isco’s quality is similar to that of Zinedine Zidane”, the Italian manager stated.

Meanwhile, Marca puts is focus on Los Blancos’ visit to Elche in their sixth La Liga game. “Ancelotti asks the players to be concentrated since the beginning”, they claim.

“Real have needed to make a comeback in three matches this season. They have conceded three goals in the first 20 minutes of their games”, Marca says. “Ancelotti has said they need to be more intense at the start of the matches”, they add.

Regarding today’s clash against Elche, As points out that it is Real Madrid’s first visit to the southern city of Spain in 24 years. Elche promoted last season after comfortably winning the second division title.

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