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Real Madrid have done an incredible season winning the double with La Liga, and the Champions League. This was a very difficult task, because Los Blancos had not won La Liga in the last five years and they are the first team who proclaims for second time in a row Champions League winners. Now it’s the moment to evaluate the performance of the players during the season 2016-2017.

This has been the second season of Kiko Casilla since his singing with Real Madrid from Espanyol. The Spanish keeper has been Keylor Navas substitute during the season but he had a several minutes because of different circumstances. His performance was really good, because we must add that it’s not easy to play when you don’t do it with continuity.

Kiko Casilla played the first games of La Liga because Navas was injured and he only concede six goals in six games achieving two clean sheets, showing that can be the keeper who can defend Real Madrid’s target in the future.

The Spanish keeper played all the games of La Copa del Rey, but he could not show his quality because Real Madrid were kicked out quite soon by Celta in the quarter final round, where Iago Aspas was a nightmare for Real Madrid players, even for Kiko Casilla who couldn’t prevent the defeat. With his great performances in the La Copa (specially against Sevilla) there was a debate about if Kiko Casilla deserved more opportunities also in La Liga because he was being very secure, while Keylor had many important mistakes.

After this competition, it looked like Kiko Casilla was not going to have many minutes because the keeper who was in the usual line up in La Liga and Champions League was Keylor Navas. Suddenly, Zidane decided to give a rest to the Costa Rican keeper in La Liga’s games with the aim of having the Costa Rican keeper fit for the Champions League final stage. Casilla played important matches against Alavés, Sporting Gijón, Deportivo and Granada in the fight for the Spanish league.

We can say that Kiko Casilla’s season has been very good, but now he must decide if he wants to have more minutes playing in another team or if he is confortable being Keylor Navas substitute.

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The former Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuaín has nightmares when he plays a final. He has a reputation as a man who fails in the key moments, and in the Champions League final against Real Madrid he showed once again. He had a great chance to prove that this is not true, but his performance in the final was terrible, being absent during almost all the game, and failing some opportunities in the first minutes of the clash. Higuaín has only scored in just two of the ten finals he has participated.

Despite having completed a great season, where he scored 32 goals in 52 games, Gonzalo Higuaín showed once again that he disappears in the important games. In the first five minutes of the final we saw him playing with a lot of intensity, having some chances and assisting Mandzukic in the goal that gave the tie to the Italian side. Since that assist, he was absent in the Millennium Stadium because Real Madrid’s full backs pair started to cover him, without letting him any opportunity to create danger. In fact, he was very desperate because he could not avoid the catastrophe of his team.

In his stage at Real Madrid, he participated in three finals (Copa del Rey 2011 and two Spanish Supercups in 2008 and 2012) where he only scored in the second leg of the 2012 Spanish Supercup, showing that in the key moments he is not a player who you should trust to win the title.

When he left Real Madrid, he signed with Napoli, where he played three seasons. The Argentine striker won the Italian Cup but he didn’t score any goal in the final. He also won the Italian Supercup against his current team, Juventus, where he scored his last goal in an important clash.

In his stage at Juventus he has won two titles, the Serie A and the Italian cup. In the League we saw Higuaín scoring many goals but once again he didn’t saw the net in the final of the Italian Cup against Lazio where Juventus won 2-0 with goals of Bonucci and Dani Alves.

With his national team his numbers are not the best ones. Higuaín was the main focus in the final of the Copa America and World Cup, after missing many clear chances which may have changed the result of both finals. He had  massive chances to beat Manuel Neuer against Germany during the World Cup final, while in the continental competition he failed from 11 metres to beat Claudio Bravo. These are many mistakes for a striker who wants to be one of the best nines in the world.

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Real Madrid have done an incredible season winning the double with La Liga, and the Champions League. This was a very difficult task, because Los Blancos had not won La Liga in the last five years and they are the first team who proclaims for second time in a row Champions League winners. Now it’s the moment to evaluate the performance of the players during the season 2016-2017.

Keylor Navas had a very difficult season, where we saw him with a lot of doubts at the beginning of the year but in a high level at the end. He was the keeper who played La Liga and Champions League because Kiko Casilla was the in charge of defending Real Madrid’s target in La Copa del Rey.

During all the year there have been many rumors about the departure of the Costa Rican keeper and the singing of De Gea, Donnarumma or Courtois, with the target of replacing Keylor between the sticks in the next season.

After winning the Champions League in 2016, it seemed that the Costa Rican keeper had his place secured, because he was one of the best players in the last season. But 2016-2017 started totally different if we compare it with the last one. Keylor didn’t have vacations neither preseason on summer because he was recovering from an injury.

When the season started he looked very insecure between the sticks and the goalkeeper was not in the same level. He suffered at the end of the last season and, after the surgery in summer, he committed a lot of mistakes. With these mistakes Real Madrid supporters were very disappointed with the Costa Rican keeper and he was booed by the Santiago Bernabéu in several times.

With the pass of the games, Keylor started to improve his performance, recovering his best level and appearing in the most difficult and important moment of the season. Thanks to this improvement now Real Madrid have the tough decision of maintain him or sell him. The Costa Rican keeper finished the year being a very important player in the squad and being fundamental in the two trophies Los Blancos achieved this season.

 

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Zinedine Zidane doesn’t want to make many changes in the squad but there are some footballers who should leave the club during the summer. Pepe is already out of the club after refusing to renew his contract for one more year and he was furious with the coach and the president. Fabio Coentrao will leave the club after missing the celebrations of the Champions League title.

Another player who will leave the club in the summer is Mariano Díaz. The Dominican striker had a lot of offers during the winter transfer window to change team and go on loan to a First Division club. However, he rejected all the offers because he thought he would have opportunities with the first team. However, in the most important games of the season, Mariano was out of the list and he barely play in the last months of competition.

Considering his situation, his best option is to leave the club in July. Real Madrid want to sell him to a top flight club and include a buy-back clause. This formula was used with Álvaro Morata and Juventus with success. The club doesn’t want to give him on loan as they did with Asensio or Vallejo because they think the situation is completely different.

There are several clubs that would like to sign Mariano Díaz. The one that has showed more interest until now is Betis. They are starting a new project with Quique Setién on the bench and they want to reinforce the team. With Rubén Castro having problems with the justice, Mariano Diáz could be the perfect replacement in the attacking line, according to AS.

The striker has also offers from international clubs. Eintracht Frankfurt have also asked about him. Seferovic signed for Benfica, so the forward position is vacant. Real Madrid have a good relationship with the German team after the deal with Jesús Vallejo, who played on loan at Frankfurt this season.

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Corazon-Classic-Match-2017

Real Madrid Legends v Roma Legends play on Sunday a friendly game called Corazón Classic Match at Santiago Bernabéu at 18:00, UK Time. All the money fundraised will be given to the Real Madrid Foundation for the 41 projects they are developing in 29 African countries. This will the eighth time the friendly game take place.

Los Blancos will have in their squad great legends who want to take part in this solidary project. Among them, Ronaldo Nazario, Raúl, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo, Emilio Butragueño or Bodo Illgner. Most of the players who formed the team called ‘Los Galácticos’ will be at Santiago Bernabéu to have fun and give a hand to this great project developed by the club.

The tickets were gone on sale with prices from 5€ to 15€. Actually, the event is almost sold out and we expect a great atmosphere at Santiago Bernabéu. In previous years, we could see families and children enjoying the evening at the stadium, accomplishing a dream of watching the stars very closely.

Bruno Conti, a player who won the Spanish World Cup in 1982 at Santiago Bernabéu stadium, will be leading the AS Roma legends. In the Italian team we’ll see also other stars like Cafú, Tommasi, Delvecchio, Max Tonetto, Aldair, Scarchili and Chimenti.

This will be the eighth edition of the Classic Match. The first time that the friendly game took place was in 2010 against AC Milan. The next years, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Juventus, Inter Milán, Liverpool or Ajax were the rivals. Although the result is not important, Los Blancos have always won the game except in 2014, when they drew against Inter Milán.

With this game, Real Madrid will close the doors of Santiago Bernabéu stadium after a very successful season. They’ve celebrated two titles and the last official game was against Sevilla in La Liga. They came back to celebrate the 12th Champions League title and now they will shut the door with the friendly game ‘Corazón Classic Match’. After that, it will be time to refurbish the stadium to get ready for the next season.

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The former sports director of Sevilla, Monchi, joined AS Roma this summer and he is planning the next season. After failing again to win a title last year, Monchi has a lot of work to do to reinforce the squad and try to improve the level of the players. He would like to sign the Real Madrid player Lucas Vázquez in the summer, although it won’t be easy for the Italian club.

Monchi has still to tie up the next manager, although the former Roma footballer Di Francesco will be announced shortly. Soon after, Monchi has to think which players he can buy during the summer and he has put his eyes on Lucas Vázquez. The winger was a very important player for Zinedine Zidane, but he lost importance in the last part of the season and he wasn’t even included in the list for the Champions League final.

Since his arrival last season to Real Madrid, after playing on loan at Espanyol, Lucas Vázquez has been a very important player. Although he’s not usually in the line-up, he is the player number 12 in the squad, the first change. This season, with Marco Asensio or James Rodríguez at a good level, the winger lost some importance. This is why Monchi will try to convince him to leave the club and join AS Roma, according to OK Diario.

The numbers show that Lucas Vázquez has played more this year than the previous one. In La Liga, he played 33 games this season and 25 matches in the previous one, although he scored 4 goals in his first year and 2 nets in the current season. In the Champions League, he appeared in 10 games this season, scoring one goal, and in 7 matches in the previous year, failing to score a goal. However, he scored an important penalty in the final against Atlético Madrid in Milan in 2016 and he was out of the list against Juventus.

Real Madrid bosses are convinced that Lucas Vázquez will stay one more year in the club. However, Monchi will try to convince him with an appealing project and reassuring him to be important in the new AS Roma he’s trying to build up. In the past, Nacho was also tempted to join Roma, but he declined the offer.

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Cristiano Ronaldo is looking forward to finishing another successful season. The Portuguese star was able to win the Champions League and La Liga scoring very important goals in the decisive moments of the season. So he’s on his way to win his fifth Golden Ball and he wants to repeat the path to succeed also in the next season.

For this reason, Cristiano Ronaldo would need to rest in the summer. Last season he finished the season winning the Euro trophy with Portugal but he got injured in the final. Instead of having less holidays and come back with the group, the star rested and he missed the European Supercup and the start of La Liga.

Zinedine Zidane has prepared a similar plan for this season. Cristiano Ronaldo will play the Confederations Cup with Portugal and, if the team reaches the final, he will finish the season on the 2nd of July. He will have then one month of holidays, until the start of August. For this reason, it’s very unlikely that the Portuguese star could play any of the friendly games Real Madrid have in the United States during the summer.

Cristiano Ronaldo will also miss the friendly game against Barcelona in Miami, the 29th of July. The first title of the season will take place on the 8th of August, the European Supercup against Manchester United. Like last season, Cristiano Ronaldo won’t play that game, but he might be able to reappear against FC Barcelona in the Spanish Supercup, one week later. Therefore, Cristiano Ronaldo will try to replicate the same preparation of the last summer that has been proved to be the right one.

Apart from Cristiano Ronaldo, the players with the Spanish national team under 21 who will play the European tournament during the summer will have 30 days of holidays. The final of the competition is on the 30th of June, so they might start training with the group later than expected. These players are: Jesús Vallejo, Marcos Llorente, Marco Asensio and Borja Mayoral. Read here the full pre-season plans for Real Madrid.

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Marco Asensio

Marco Asensio is living a dream in the first season with Real Madrid. He made his debut in a top flight club last year with Espanyol, where he played on loan. He was one of the best youngsters of La Liga, but this season he has step up and amazed the world with great performances, especially in the Champions League quarter-finals against Bayern Munich.

Now, Asensio is not on holidays because he’s been called by the Spanish national team for the first time in his career and he made his debut on Wednesday against Colombia. He’s now training to have more opportunities against Macedonia, in an official game, and then he will swap national team and play with the U-21 the European tournament.

Asensio spoke in press conference about his first season at Real Madrid: “I kept a cold mind. I had moments without playing but I wanted to take advantage of the opportunities the coach gave me and I finished in a great shape”.

The Spaniard was asked about leaving the club in the summer: “No, my intention is to continue at Real Madrid and having many minutes. My goal is being in the line-up at Real Madrid”.

Asensio was asked about the future of two of his colleagues, James Rodríguez and Álvaro Morata: “It’s their thing and the club’s. I hope they continue with us”. He also spoke about David De Gea, his colleague in the national team: “De Gea is calm, we haven’t spoken about the issue. We have three great goalkeepers and it’s an issue of the club”.

The winger unveiled his goals in the future days: “I expect to stay with the national team and I want to keep playing and winning titles with Real Madrid”. Obviously, the club and Zidane count on Asensio for the next season. Actually, they don’t want to sign a star in his position like Eden Hazard, so the Spaniard can enjoy more minutes in the future.

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james-Morata-GI

James Rodríguez and Álvaro Morata played yesterday a friendly game with their national teams at Murcia, in the South of Spain. Both lead their teams and the striker even scored a great goal from a header in the last minutes of the game.

James Rodríguez was very motivated during the game and he cheered his supporters up and try to win the game. It wasn’t a friendly match for the Colombian playmaker, who wanted to show off in front of the Spanish public. After the game, Morata was asked about his future and the Colombian: “James? Perhaps we are colleagues the next season. Who knows?”.

Álvaro Morata said after the party for the Champions League that he wants to play in the best team of the world, opening a possibility of staying in the club. There were a lot of rumours about his departure to Italy, but now there is also a lot of options for him to stay in the Spanish capital.

Much more complicated is James Rodríguez situation. When he was changed against Sevilla, he had his farewell to Real Madrid supporters. He was applauded by the supporters and it looked like a gesture of farewell. Besides, Zidane didn’t include James in the list in the Champions League final. The Colombian has many offers from Italy and England, so he had plenty of options to decide.

Apart from this club, James can also choose to stay. Zidane is trying to convince both James and Morata to stay one more year. The manager is very happy with his current squad and he would like to see the same faces when he comes back. Pepe and Coentrao are gone, with Vallejos and Theo Hernández as replacements. Besides, Marcos Llorente will be back after his loan at Alavés. But, besides these changes, Zidane wants the same players.

Now the players have to choose. The position of the manager and the club is very clear: they want both to stay. James and Morata have been complaining because of the lack of opportunities during the season. They know that the competence at Real Madrid is very high, but it’s also very rewarding. They’ve won four titles in the season and the team continues to grow.

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Mbappe-GI

Florentino Pérez is looking for his Galáctico in the summer transfer window but it’s not easy to find. Especially when the president has the most powerful squad in the world. These players have been able to win three times in fours years the Champions League, showing his quality. For this reason, it’s not easy to find players who could add more quality to the team.

Real Madrid boss has learnt the lesson and buying all the best players of the world doesn’t mean to have the best team. The Galácticos team with Beckham, Ronaldo, Figo, Zidane, Raúl is a proof. Now, Florentino Pérez and Zinedine Zidane have to think on how to improve the team. And they agree that Kylian Mbappé would be a great signing, especially thinking in the future.

The problem with Mbappé is how to fit the French player within the team. Therefore, if the Mónaco player arrives, one star needs to leave. Gareth Bale, at this point, would be the first option to sell. The Welshman is a target for many Premier League teams and he’s been injured the whole season. Besides, he plays in the same position as Mbappé, so the French footballer would be his perfect replacement.

According to the Spanish newspaper MARCA, Zidane and Florentino Pérez agree on signing Mbappé only if Bale leaves. The manager doesn’t see a squad with Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Mbappé. It would be very difficult to control and keep the balance. Besides, the progression of Asensio or Isco will be stopped by these foreign players.

Another option they could consider is signing Mbappé for the 2018-19 season. The French player will be more mature and they can see if Bale improves his performance. Besides, nowadays the Welshman doesn’t want to leave the Spanish capital, where he’s very happy living with his family.

The last thing to consider is Mbappé’s price. Monaco always sell at a very high price, as Florentino Pérez knows with James Rodríguez. The president doesn’t want to spend €100M for a player to be on the bench, as he did with the Colombian playmaker. In the next days we’ll know the steps followed by the Real Madrid boss.

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