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Zinedine Zidane was pleased after the first victory of the season in the Champions League against APOEL (3-0). Cristiano Ronaldo was the key man, scoring the first two goals and leading the team. The manager wanted to highlight his performance and he defended Gareth Bale, who didn’t shine again although he had some good minutes when he played on the left side.

Zizou wanted to highlight the good minutes of Cristiano Ronaldo: “He is the best of the world. He’s always there, scoring goals. If today he had been well, he’d score four goals. We know how is Cristiano. We are happy with the second half and the clean sheet”.

However, the manager wasn’t happy about the first half: “I don’t know what happened. We didn’t start very well, especially with the speed with the ball. We make the difference there. We always put speed with the ball and the movements. Sometimes we suffer in defense, but with the ball we weren’t playing well. In the second half we were better, we other pace, and we had a good end”, the coach analyzed.

The coach also had some good words for the rival: “We are happy. There aren’t quite games. APOEL have players with experience and they are not impressed by Bernabéy, they come to play. If you are not focused, they can harm you”.

Zidane didn’t see many difference from the game against Levante: “The only thing that changed is that we’ve won. It was important. We cannot be happy with the first half, but we were much better in the second half. It’s important to start the Champions League winning and keeping a clean sheet”.

Finally, the coach analyzed Bale’s performance: “I don’t think that the people come here to whistle Bale whatever happens. Bale can play in the left or in any position in the attacking line. Today we started with Bale and Cristiano on the front and Isco behind. Little by little, we can see Bale, because after a four month injury you need some time to recover completely. I think we are going to see Gareth improving. I’m happy with his performance. Today he gave an assist. We have to give him some time”.

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CristianoRonaldo_APOEL

Real Madrid started their defense of the title in the Champions League with an easy victory against APOEL (3-0). Los Blancos controlled the game from the beginning and Cristiano Ronaldo was the star with two goals in his first appearance this season at Santiago Bernabéu.

The big news in the line-up was the introduction of Cristiano Ronaldo -very expected- and Mateo Kovacic because Toni Kroos needed some rest. Real Madrid started with the ball, but had difficulties to create chances because APOEL were defending very good. Actually, the team from Cyprus arrived with some danger to Keylor’s goal.

Everything changed when Cristiano Ronaldo touched the ball in the box. Gareth Bale gave a great assist from the left wing and the Portuguese scored at the first touch. The bad news arrived in the 20th minute. Kovacic fell on the ground and he asked for the substitution due a muscular problem. The chosen one was Toni Kroos instead of Dani Ceballos, who is not trusted in these first months.

Real Madrid kept the possession in the last minutes of the first half, trying hard, but APOEL knew how to defend and didn’t allow any chances. The second half started more interesting. Cristiano Ronaldo was about to score in the second minute, but he hit the bar when was very easy to find the net. Just two minutes later, Cristiano put the ball in the goal, scoring the second goal. And in the 53rd minute, Cristiano claimed another penalty, but this time the referee didn’t whistle.

Real Madrid arrived with much more danger to the rival goal and Sergio Ramos scored the third one with a great volley in the 61st. Some more goals could arrive, and actually the referee whistle offside when Cristiano found again the net, but Los Blancos didn’t need them.

It was an easy evening to start the Champions League. APOEL didn’t create any chances and it was a good game to recover the self-confidence before playing away against Real Sociedad, a tough team. Some players like Ceballos and Mayoral could enjoy some minutes in this great competition.

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During the summer, Zinedine Zidane said that they had a great squad and the team was closed. However, only three games after in la Liga, the manager admitted that “perhaps, we’re short of a ‘9’”. Los Blancos sold Morata and Mariano, getting back Mayoral. Perhaps it’s not enough to keep the good level of the team. Now, we want to show you the options to reinforce the squad during the winter transfer window.

At least, Real Madrid will have Cristiano Ronaldo back to face APOEL in their Champions League debut. Benzema’s injury and the poor level showed by Gareth Bale, gave us the impression that Real Madrid will need another striker very soon. In the market there are some options that we want to show you.

Alexis Sánchez. The Chilean striker is not playing the Champions League this year, so he’ll be able to participate in this competition from February onwards. His contract expires the next season, so he can negotiate from the 1st of January. He tried to leave Emirates Stadium in the summer, but he didn’t find a new club.

Kasper Dolberg. Ajax striker didn’t start very well the season, because the club was kicked out of the Champions League and the Europa League in the preview stages. He’s only 20 years old but he was able to lead his team to the Europa League final last season. It’s an investment looking at the future.

Timo Werner. With only 21 years old, he has become one of the best strikers in Germany and the future of the German national team. Currently, he’s playing with Leipzig, the runner-up of the Bundesliga and he’ll make his Champions League debut tonight. Therefore, he won’t be able to play the competition with other team.

Domenico Berardi. Although many newspapers linked him with Real Madrid, it’s very unlikely. The 23-year-old striker is playing with Sassuolo but last season he only scored 5 goals and the previous one 7. He’s having problems with the injuries, but he should get a transfer to a better club soon enough.

These are the best options for the winter transfer window, but, generally speaking, Robert Lewandowski is the best striker in Europe. This week, Bayern Munich’s executive board chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge admitted that Lewandowski’s love for Real Madrid. Los Blancos have always been interested in the player, who scored four goals against Real Madrid in a Champions League semi-finals. Perhaps, this summer is the good opportunity to get him.

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Zinedine Zidane spoke in press conference before facing APOEL in the first game of the group stage in the Champions League. The champions will try to defend their crown conquered in Cardiff and they have a very challenging group.

The team has been heavily criticized because they’re having difficulties to score some goals recently: “At the end, it’s true that we had Morata and Mariano in the past and now we only have Mayoral, so we can think we are short of a ‘9’. It could be, but we couldn’t make it. I’d have liked Morata to stay, but he wanted to play more and he left. We couldn’t get another player, but I believe in Mayoral. We have Karim, Gareth… we‘re going to handle this with the people we have”, Zidane said.

The manager made many rotations in the last game against Levante and he was criticized because of that: “You are there to do your job and I’m going to do mine the best way I can. Having this squad we can make a lot of things. I’m interested in my players. I respect the things outside, but I’m not going to change what I want to do”.

Los Blancos have not started well La Liga with two draws in a row: “It was the same last year, we’re not worried. We’re not happy with the results, but this is football. We are not going to chance our job, tomorrow we’ll try to play better and win the match”.

Real Madrid start the defence of the two titles won in a row: “We’re happy to be back to this competitions. We are the champions, but everything starts from scratch. We’re hopeful. It’s going to be tough, we’re all aware about this”.

Finally, Zidane spoke about Cristiano Ronaldo, who will be back against APOEL: “He’s very well, very happy to play again. Physically, he’s great, but also mentally, and he’s happy to be back to the pitch”.

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Real Madrid v APOEL RMN

Los Blancos make their season debut in the Champions League on Wednesday (19:45, UK Time) at Santiago Bernabéu. Real Madrid v APOEL will be their first test in their favourite competition after winning back to back titles in Cardiff against Juventus.

BACK REAL MADRID IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HERE

Real Madrid v APOEL Preview

Real Madrid forget La Liga for a while to focus in their debut in the Champions League, after winning three titles in only four years. The great start of the season winning two Supercups have ended with two draws in a row in La Liga against Valencia and Levante. Cristiano Ronaldo, absent in the Spanish league, will be present to face APOEL, together with Marcelo, sent off last Saturday. Benzema is injured, so Bale will also occupy a spot in the attacking line.

APOEL have just played one game in their home league and they won it. They had to go through three preview ties to arrive to the groups stages of the Champions League. Dudelange, Viitorul and Slavia Praha were their rivals in the competition so far. Last season they played the UEFA Europa League reaching the Last 16, knocking out the Spanish team Athletic Club.

Real Madrid v APOEL Predicted Line Ups

Real Madrid (4-3-3): Keylor Navas; Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Varane, Carvajal; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, Isco; Bale y Cristiano Ronaldo.
APOEL (4-5-1): Waterman; Lago, Carlao, Rueda, Vouros; Morais, Vinicius, Ebecilio, Zahid, Sallai, De Camargo.

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Real Madrid v APOEL Betting Tips

Real Madrid have won 5, drawn 3 and lost 2 games out of the last 10.
APOEL have won 6, drawn 1 and lost 3 of the last 10 games.
In the last 10 games, Real Madrid have scored an average of 1,9 goals and have received an average of 1,4 goals.
In the last 10 games, APOEL have scored an average of 1,6 goals per game and have conceded 0,8 goals per game.
There have been over 2,5 goals in 7 of the last 10 Real Madrid games.
There have been 2,5 goals in 5 of the last 10 APOEL games.

Real Madrid v APOEL Prediction

Cristiano Ronaldo is back and these are great news for Los Blancos. They had some problems converting the chances, but the Portuguese striker is the solution. Besides, Real Madrid always become more dangerous in the Champions League so we expect an easy victory against the weakest team of the group.

Real Madrid and APOEL met in 2012 in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Mourinho’s men won 0-3 in Cyprus and thrashed 5-2 their rival at Bernabéu.

Free Betting Tips

Match Prediction

Real Madrid win 1/25 at bet365.

Over/Under Prediction

Over 2,5 goals 2/11 at Bet365.

Result

Real Madrid to win 4-1 11/1 at Bet365.

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Gareth Bale is focusing all the criticism around Real Madrid after these three games of La liga. The team hasn’t started well the championship with two draws in a row and a lack of goals at home. Benzema is now injured and Cristiano Ronaldo is banned, so the responsibility is on Gareth Bale. The Welshman spoke in an interview in the newspaper El País about this feelings in Spain and his problems with the injuries.

Bale admitted that he’s played with pain and perhaps he made a mistake by coming back earlier than expected after his injuries: “For one side is easy to say now that I should have rested more. But when you are injured for three months and you see your team mates playing, you just want to come back and that’s what I did. I had to take a lot of painkillers to play. And yes, I now think that I should have taken more time to recover myself and come back playing much better, being able to do all the things that I’m not able to do it with pain in the ankle”, Bale admitted.

His injury problems are the main focus of the interview, but Bale is still confident about his performances: “I hope the best is still to come. There were great moments, and some others not that great”, the Welshman said. The player accepts the critics: “All are opinions. They have to sell newspapers somehow and they have to write about something… So I’m used to people writing good and bad things… It doesn’t bother me too much”.

The journalist asked Bale if he is a footballer made of glass, very fragile: “In football there is a lot of passion and everybody has their opinions. An injury is something very frustrating when you’re a professional athlete. Of course not playing has been very complicated, but I had a good preseason and I’m training hard to help the team winning more titles”.

Bale also spoke about the differences between Spanish and British football: “I think British football is quicker and more physical. In Spain, football is more technical and tactical”, he said.

The former Tottenham Hotspur player is happy living in Madrid, “a big beautiful city, with a lot of culture. The weather is very good”. Besides, he admitted that he’s flaw is being “lazy”.

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cristianoronaldo_fiorentina_GI

Since the first leg of the Spanish Supercup against FC Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo has been absent in the line-ups of Real Madrid. The Portuguese striker was banned 5 games after pushing the referee for sending him off for diving. Real Madrid have missed their star and they’ve lost four points in two home games in La Liga. Luckily, Cristiano Ronaldo is back to face APOEL on Wednesday in the debut in the Champions League.

During this time, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a superb goal in the Santiago Bernabéu Trophy against Fiorentina and a hat-trick with Portugal against Faroe Islands. Therefore, the Portuguese looks very fit in this start of the season, but Real Madrid cannot take advantage of this situation because of the ban received after El Clásico.

Unfortunately for Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence has turned into a huge problem. Los Blancos missed a lot of chances against Valencia, especially Benzema, and they couldn’t win that game. Against Levante, Benzema got injured, Bale had to play with pain as a forward and they were able to score the winning goal. Perhaps with Cristiano in the team, the situation would have been different.

Real Madrid supporters are already missing Morata and thinking if the club would regret selling him this summer. With Benzema out for at least one month and Gareth Bale far from his best fit, Cristiano Ronaldo becomes essential in this team. Borja Mayoral doesn’t look ready to fill the gap in the attacking line, so Zidane has to come up with some ideas to face Real Sociedad next week.

At least, Cristiano Ronaldo will be present against APOEL. Next weekend it will be a problem because Benzema and Cristiano are absent, so Zidane has to invent something in the attacking line, with Lucas Vázquez or Asensio as wingers, and Bale as the centre forward.

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Zinedine Zidane has several problems in the squad. The manager was very angry and disappointed after the second draw in a row at home. Zizou said in press conference that the team has to play much better if they want to fight for titles. Besides, he lost one important player for this month of September: Karim Benzema.

The French striker had to leave the pitch in the 26th minute after feeling pain in his knee. At the first moment, it didn’t look very serious, but the forward couldn’t walk anymore and he had to be substituted by Gareth Bale.

After the game, Zidane confirmed the injury and Real Madrid published a statement in their website: “Following tests carried out on Karim Benzema at the Sanitas La Moraleja University Hospital, he has been diagnosed with a muscular injury in the semimembranosus of his right leg. His recovery will continue to be assessed”, said the statement.

Benzema will be out of the pitches at least one month for this muscular injury. So Zidane has to find some solutions because the team has no striker in the squad, apart from Borja Mayoral, who hasn’t showed his quality yet with Los Blancos.

At least, Cristiano Ronaldo could be back with the team in the debut in the Champions League on Wednesday against APOEL. However, the Portuguese striker will miss the next game in La Liga against Real Sociedad away, so Zidane won’t have Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema or Marcelo -he was sent off against Levante- available.

The manager will have to look for a solution. Against Levante, Gareth Bale played as a forward, but the Welshman is not used to play in this role and he didn’t look really fit. Bale had a clear chance to score in the last minutes, but he missed a clear chance in the last minutes of the game after a header. Meanwhile, Morata is scoring goals with Chelsea…

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Zinedine Zidane wasn’t happy after the second draw in a row at home. Real Madrid lost 4 points in only three games in La Liga and they couldn’t beat Levante, a newly promoted team. Besides, Karim Benzema was injured and he won’t be available the next month.

“We cannot be happy with our game. Now we are four points below and we have to be a little bit worried. We have to find solutions because we didn’t play well”, Zidane said after the game against Levante.

The French manager is trying to find solutions: “We lack a lot of things today. The starts of the games are very important for us and we didn’t start well today. We played against a team locked up and we have to be intense and we didn’t make it. We have to score first and they did it, this bothers me. We don’t have to be mad and think already in the next game. We have to play better”, Zizou analyzed.

Zidane made many changes in the line-up, but the rotations weren’t the problem: “I’m not going to change what I’m doing with this team. I’m not going to change. We shouldn’t get crazy for one bad game because I believe in this and we’re keeping in the same line”.

Now, Real Madrid will face a problem because Benzema is injured and Cristiano is suspended: “This is the squad we have and we have to look for solutions here. Cristiano and Benzema weren’t here and we cannot change this. We’re going to find solutions with the things we have, we have this in the squad. We have to be more effective. We cannot be happy with the content of the game. We have to play better to sum”.

Finally, Zidane spoke about the challenging month they have ahead: “We cannot think, we have to play the Champions League on Wednesday and La Liga on Sunday. We have to forget what happened today, analyzed it it and find solutions in this squad that is closed”.

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Real Madrid drew (1-1) in the third week of the regular season against Levante at Santiago Bernabéu, in a tough game where Zidane decided to do a lot of rotations. This was the second draw in a row in La Liga after tying against Valencia in the last game of the regular season.

Zienedine Zidane did several changes in the line up with the goal of giving rest to the usual players, thinking in the Champions League game against APOEL. We can highlight the presence of Kiko Casilla between the sticks, Theo Hernández in the left back and Marcos Llorente playing as a stopper, instead of Casemiro, in his first official game with Real Madrid’s shirt.

Los Blancos started the game playing with a lot of intensity and having opportunities to open the score board. Levante are a promoted team and they defended quite good in the first minutes of the game looking for a counter attack because they didn’t want to have the ball possession. In the 12th minute Levante opened the scoreboard with a goal of Ivi in a big mistake of the defense in the fist chance of the tema managed by Juan Muñiz.

Real Madrid were attacking constantly looking for their first goal and in the 28th minute they received very bad news because Benzema had to leave the pitch because of muscular problems and Bale replaced the French player. Los Blancos don’t have any striker in the squad and the Welshman was the player who was going to be the No 9 of the team and the referent in the attack.

In the 35th minute Los Blancos tied the game in a corner kick in a reject of Raúl Fernández after a header of Sergio Ramos and Lucas only had to push into the net. The team managed by Zidane did the most difficult task and after Lucas goal it looked like Real Madrid were going to score another goal because they were controlling the game and they werehaving several opportunities, where we can highlight a ver clear chance of Gareth Bale in a one to one with Raúl Fernández.

The second half started with Real Madrid attacking but Levante were very focused in defense without letting any space and being very organized. In the 60th minute Zidane decided to introduce Isco in the pitch replacing Marcos Llorente who didn’t have his best debut in La Liga at Santiago Bernabéu. This was a very important change because Isco arrived to the game after having two great performances playing with his national team, showing that he is is his best moment of his career. In the equator of the second half, Real Madrid lowered the level because they were not having the control of the game and they were losing a lot of balls.

In the 71st minute Zidane did his third change replacing Lucas Vázquez by Kovacic. The Galician player did a very complete match but Zinedine Zidane wanted to recover the ball possession with another midfielder. After this change, Asensio and Bale almost scored the second one for Los Blancos but Raúl Fernández saved both opportunities with incredible blocks. There was not many minutes remaining when Marcelo was sent off after kicking out at Pedro Lopez in the injury time, and Kroos had the last chance of the game with a great shot from outside the box that finished in the bar.

Finally, Los Blancos couldn’t win against a promoted team as Levante and now they must focus in the Champions League game against APOEL. This was the second draw of Real Madrid in a row in the regular season and it seems Zidane’s rotations are not going as well as last year.

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