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Fresh from confirming the signing of Gonzalo Higuain, Seria A side may back back in contact with Real Madrid soon to discuss the transfer of left back Fabio Coentrao.

La Gazetta Dello Sport in Italy has reported Rafa Benitez’s new club want to make the Portuguese international their fourth purchase from the Santiago Bernabeu this summer.

The Naples-based side have already secured the signatures of Jose Callejon, Raul Abliol and Higuain.

Coentrao has been linked with a move away from the Spanish capital, and was believed to be keen on a switch back to his former club Benfica. Jose Mourinho, now in charge of Premier League side Chelsea was also keen to take the defender to Stamford Bridge.

But in Napoli those clubs could face stiff competition, as the Italians are flush with cash having sold star striker Edison Cavani to PSG.

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A solitary Karim Benzema’s strike gave Real Madrid the victory against Paris Saint Germain in an entertaining friendly at Goteborg.

Carlo Ancelotti’s methods are starting to take off, as his 4-3-2-1 formation worked perfectly in attack against his former club. Los Blancos had many chances to score, but goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu saved his team from a worst defeat.

With Luka Modric, Sami Khedira and Isco in the midfield, Real soon gain the lead in the game. Mesut Ozil’s assist allowed Benzema to send the ball into the corner of the net in the 23rd minute.

Laurent Blanc’s side tried to react after the goal. But Blaise Matuidi effort was denied by Diego Lopez and Ezequiel Lavezzi sent the ball out when he was just one meter away from the goal.

The rest of PSG’s attacks collided against a well organised defence. Youngsters Daniel Carvajal and Nacho Fernandez performed at a very high level and stopped the French’s powerful forward line with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lucas Moura and Javier Pastore.

New signing Isco showed very good manners. Thanks to him and Modric, the game was all Real in terms of possession.

The match quietened down after the half-time. But when Angel di Maria came in, Real came close to scoring the second goal. However, Ozil, Kaka and Ronaldo failed their shots.

Los Merengues remain unbeaten in the pre-season after having played three games. Now the squad will travel to North America to start their US Tour.

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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotii has revealed Brazilian midfielder Kaka is doing extra work on the training ground to improve his fitness.

The 31-year-old was a bit-part player under Jose Mourinho and has redoubled his efforts to force his way back into first team contention, the Italian manager said.

The pair worked together during their time at AC Milan, and Ancelotti said he knows Kaka can still offer a lot to Los Blancos.

Speaking to Spanish daily AS, he said: “He’s very motivated, as is everyone. He needed to do specific work because he needs to improve his speed. He started individual work two days earlier and we’ll see what happens in the coming days.
“I think his physical condition is going to improve. He’s very motivated; he didn’t play much last season and he wants to do better this year.”

The new manager also spoke about the competition for places amongst the goalkeepers – a much written about topic following the fall out between Mouriho and Iker Casillas last year.

The 54-year-old boss remained diplomatic on the topic, saying Casillas and Diego Lopez are two world-class keepers, both of whom are good enough to be number one.

“What’s most important is that we have two very good keepers who have experience and quality. I think that’s what we need for next season: two high-quality keepers,” he stated.

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Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has said the team is determined to win major trophies this season to help overcome the disappointments of last year.

Los Blancos meekly surrendered their La Liga crown to Barcelona and were dumped out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage to Borrusia Dortmund, with the Germans winning 4-1 in the first leg.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Real’s friendly with PSG, Modric said the squad’s aim was to be successful. He also admitted he is feeling more settled in the Spanish capital after completing his first year in Spain since his move from Spurs.

He said: “My goal is to win titles with Real Madrid. I’ve been here a year now and I have more experience. Real Madrid is a team where the pressure is higher, but I hope that we have a better season than last year, because our goal is to win titles.

“If I could choose, I want to win the Champions league, but La Liga is also important to us, and I would like to win both titles.

“It’s a long season, and we have to be well prepared for it. We want to start out right with both competitions.”

With Madrid’s interest in Gareth Bale being widely reported, Modric was also asked to give his opinion of his former team mate and whether he could envision him making the move to the Santiago Bernabeu.

But the Croatian was diplomatic in his response, refusing to be drawn on the details of any potential move.

“I’ve got a really good relationship with Bale, but I don’t talk about players who aren’t on the team. I’ll just say that he’s a great player,” he stated.

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New Real Madrid player Isco has said he has been impressed with the progress the team has made in pre-season so far.

Los Blancos beat big-spending French champions PSG 1-0 thanks to an early Karim Benzema strike. It followed an easy win over Bournemouth last week and a 2-2 draw with Lyon mid-week.

The team will now head off to the US for their tour, and Isco said the squad was settling down nicely and had a good attitude to face the long season ahead.

Speaking to the club’s official website, he stated: “I’m happy with the work we are doing. It’s early, but we have a great team with great players and a very good attitude. We are on the right track.”

The 21-year-old, who signed from La Liga rivals Malaga, added no individual is bigger than the team and that Los Blancos will try to play an attractive, attack-minded game this year.

“The team’s quality is impressive and that is important. The way the team plays is more important than individual players. We are a young team with a future. What we Ancelotti asks is for us to play well, play creatively and keep the ball,” he said.

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New Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has labelled star striker Cristiano Ronaldo a ‘phenomenon’and admitted he is delighted to be finally working with him.

Speaking to journalists ahead of Los Blancos’ friendly match against PSG and tour of the USA, Ancelotti said the combination of natural skill and physical fitness meant Ronaldo was one of the best players in the world to work with.

The two-time European Cup winner said: “I’ve trained tons of talented players. But Ronaldo is a phenomenon. He has an incredible talent, physical quality, and I’m extremely happy to be able to coach him.”

He added that he felt confident the Portuguese star would have a great season at the Santiago Bernabeu and help the team secure silverware they missed out on in the last campaign.

The 28-year-old finished second in the race for the Pichici award last season, scoring 34 league goals in 34 games. Only Lionel Messi scored more.

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The main headlines today surround the ongoing transfer saga of Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale. This story will probably rumble on for quite some time yet with five weeks left until the end of the transfer window.

Marca claims this morning that Real Madrid have offered Spurs £80 million plus £1 extra – a fee that would beat the amount they paid for Cristiano Ronaldo.

According to the paper, Spurs would be willing to sell if the fee was a world-record sum for a player, and that extra £1 would mean that would be the case.

The Spanish daily also carries quotes from the player telling Spurs chairman Daniel Levy he wanted to make the switch to the Spanish capital. Marca said that the pair had an agreement that if the North London side failed to make the Champions League last season, Levy could allow Bale to go.

Elsewhere, there is pre-match build up to the friendly match against PSG tonight in Gothenburg. New PSG boss Laurent Blanc, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti in the dugout at the Parc de Prince told a room full of journalists that he is looking forward to a competitive match.

In terms of team news, Asier llarramendi did not travel with the squad due to a slight knock. He will instead focus on his recovery to be fully ready for the US tour that takes place next week.

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Real Madrid and Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil has said he is looking forward to the new campaign after seeing the way Carlo Ancelotti has shaken things up at the club.

Speaking at an event to unveil Madrid’s new away kit, Ozil said fans can expect a more attacking approach in the coming season compared to the tactic employed by former boss Jose Mourinho.

The playmaker, who was mainly used on the left or right hand side of the midfield three under the Portuguese, revealed he is keen to play in a more central role under the new regime.

He stated: “The right wing is not my favourite position, I prefer to play in the hole. However, my relationship with the coach is very good. We’re training well and are very happy. Ancelotti knows how he wants to play, and his ideas are clear. He also has the right players for this system.”

French forward Karim Benzema also spoke at the event and said he was confident young forwards Jese Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata would step up to the challenge of replacing Gonzalo Higuain.

The 25-year-old stated: “Morata and Jese are ready to have a great season.”

He also said the appointment of Zinedine Zidane as assistant coach was an inspired choice.

“ Zidane gets on with everyone and gives advice, which is important here because he won everything. He’s a great example,” he added.

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Borussia Dortmund are considering taking up the option of signing Nuri Sahin on a permanent basis. The Turkish international is on loan from Real Madrid until June 2014, but the Germans are planning on buying him this summer according to As.

Sahin’s loan deal includes an option buy. Dortmund could acquire full legal rights of the midfielder by paying 8.5 million euros to Real.

The Turkish playmaker’s return to the Santiago Bernabeu seems unlikely to happen, since the club has already signed two young players for that position: Asier Illarramendi and Casemiro. This could encourage Dortmund to offer Sahin a permanent stay.

Sahin signed for Los Blancos two years ago, for 10 million euros. His first season at Bernabeu was not good, and the club decided to send him on loan to Liverpool.

However, the centre-midfielder didn’t perform as expected at Anfield either and went back on loan to Dortmund last January, even giving up part of his salary in order to return to the only place he thought he “could be happy”.

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Madrid sports daily As claims today in its front page that “Gareth Bale costs 120 million euros”. As states that Tottenham Hotspurs would only agree to negotiate ir Real Madrid makes an offer above that amount.

“Villas-Boas likes Angel di Maria and the Argentinian could cheapen the deal”, they report. According to As, Spurs owner Daniel Levy has offered Bale a nine million euros salary to keep him at London.

The other main Spanish sports newspaper also puts its focus on Gareth Bale’s transfer rumours. Marca states that the Welshman has told Levy: “Keep your promise and negotiate with Real”.

According to the Madrid paper, “Spurs president had promised Bale to negotiate his transfer if Tottenham failed to qualify for the Champions League”.

Marca also claims that Bale has declared: “I’m not interested in Manchester United, I want to play at Real Madrid”.

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