Real Madrid News

Real Sociedad left it late to earn a valuable point with a 3-3 draw against a largely second-string Real Madrid side at Anoeta.

Gonzalo Higuain put los Blancos ahead inside six minutes and despite a valiant fight from the hosts which saw them control the game for large parts, Jose Callejon added a second after the break. Xabi Prieto and Antoine Griezmann brought the Basques level and despite it looking as though Sami Khedira had won it for los Blancos, Prieto popped up with a stoppage time equaliser.

Jose Mourinho made six changes to the team which suffered defeat in the Copa del Rey final last weekend it only took six minutes for one of those replacements to open the scoring.

Mikel Gonzalez hesitated in possession in front of his own goal and a clumsy pass saw him gift the ball straight to Higuain. The Argentine thanked him by racing through on goal to slot a cool finish past Claudio Bravo and into the bottom corner.

Montanier’s men were not fazed by going behind and were only denied an equaliser by an irrepressible Diego Lopez. The former Sevilla keeper readjusted excellently to keep Griezmann’s header out after 20 minutes and soon after he turned Imanol Agirretxe’s nodded effort over the bar.

Los Blancos still posed a threat on the counterattack, and although the hosts were in control of possession they were unable to reap the rewards of their domination.

Alberto De La Bella latched onto Asier Illarramendi’s chipped pass and rolled the ball across the box shortly before the break. Griezmann stretched to get a touch but inadvertently took it away from Agirretxe who was awaiting a simple finish at the back post.

The second half continued in a similarly exciting manner, with Kaka failing to bend his shot on target from the top of the box before Diego Lopez parried a thunderous cross-goal effort from Agirretxe.

But it was los Merengues who struck next as Kaka bided his time on the left wing before finally threading in a magnificent cross upon spotting the run of Callejon. One-on-one with the keeper, he steered the ball into the corner of the net with his first touch.

Montanier’s side were offered a route back into the game as Khedira handled the ball inside the area with 63 minutes played. Prieto was given the responsibility of the penalty and he showed nerves of steel to roll it into the bottom corner.

Six minutes later the game should have been level as Griezmann latched onto Agirretxe’s scything through-ball. The Frenchman rounded the keeper but was unable to wrap his foot around the ball and send it into the empty net.

Agirretxe was unfortunate not to find the net from Diego Ifran’s free kick, but with 12 minutes remaining the Basques equalised. A quick move down the right ended with Carlos Martinez sending a low ball to the back post where Griezmann finally got his goal with a simple tap in.

The game was only level for two minutes, though, as Germany internationals Khedira and Mesut Ozil combined with the former dinking a delightful finish over Bravo to regain his side’s lead.

But the same defiant spirit that Sociedad had displayed earlier in the game shone through in stoppage time as Prieto bundled in a stoppage-time equaliser.

A draw still means that the San Sebastian outfit will need results elsewhere to go there way if they are to secure a return to the Champions League, while Madrid fall 15 points behind champions Barcelona.

The former France international believes his ex-team-mate can make a success of the position if he takes on the role in the near future

Robert Pires has offered Zinedine Zidane his backing as rumours gather the France legend is to be reappointed as Real Madrid’s sporting director.

Zidane initially held the role under Jose Mourinho before stepping down to pursue coaching qualifications back September last year, with some reports suggesting the pair had fallen out.

But the 40-year-old has remained on the club’s payroll and is now set to return to his previous position once Jose Mourinho has officially left the club and Florentino Perez is re-elected as Madrid president in June.

“He shoulders responsibility well and has an excellent temperament,” Pires told RMC Sport. “He knows football by heart.”

Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti is widely expected to replace Mourinho at the Santiago Bernabeu after revealing his desire to leave the club following an approach from los Blancos.

And Pires is convinced that the Italian and Zidane will work in perfect harmony, with his former international team-mate a comforting figure to have by his side.

“If Ancelotti must rely on him in relation to his knowledge then he can be a big help,” he added.

“He can be an excellent sporting director. It is up to him to make the decision if he wants the job, but it would be good for French football to see Zidane on a bench again.”

Pires, 39, retired from football in 2011 after lifting the World Cup and European Championships with France alongside Zidane.

The Spanish giants have ignited another transfer saga, to be played out as much in public as in private, and Tottenham must decide whether to fight or play the game

ANALYSIS
By Julian Bennetts

Zinedine Zidane shot forward in his chair, ears pricked firmly up, engaged and focused unlike the 10 minutes previous. Excited, enamoured and ready to send a message: he wanted to talk about Gareth Bale and Real Madrid.

“Bale is more than good enough for Real Madrid,” he said. And with that, it was history repeating for Tottenham and the Premier League. Time to man the barricades.

We’ve seen this story before, of course. We all know exactly how it’s going to end. Just like Madrid’s chase of Luka Modric, and Barcelona’s campaign to lure Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal, the Spanish hawks are circling over English football’s biggest stars.
 

The tactics are simple. The first step is that a player is identified by either Barcelona or Madrid, and one of their high-profile players comes out and praises them in public.

In 2009 Xavi said Fabregas had ‘Barca DNA’. In 2012 Gonzalo Higuain claimed that ‘Modric is a player that likes the club and us’. And in 2013 Zinedine Zidane has claimed that Bale is the third best player in the world who could make it at the Bernabeu.

Are you sensing a pattern?

I was there when Zidane said those words. He had been sat back in his chair for the duration of the 20-minute interview with around 10 of us, and PRs were attempting to drag him away.

But the last topic of conversation was Bale, and it was not hard to think that the Frenchman knew exactly what impact his words would have, ensuring that both Bale and Tottenham were well aware of Madrid’s intentions.

True, the signs are that Bale is likely to stay at Tottenham for another season. He is settled, has a baby daughter and is, of course, loved at his present club, while, as reported by Goal, Spurs are thrashing out a plan to keep him at the club as well as recruit alongisde him.

But money talks. Tottenham and Madrid have a partnership which was announced after the Modric transfer, and which would ease the transfer of players between the two clubs.

With Madrid missing out on Neymar to Barcelona, they could firm up their move for Bale, ensuring that they have at least one superstar signing this summer.

And although chairman Daniel Levy is seemingly firm in his conviction that Bale is staying at the club, a £60 million offer would be hard to turn down, particularly with a proposed new stadium to pay for.

Tottenham are also likely to be more open to selling Bale to Madrid than one of their domestic rivals. Manchester United would almost certainly be interested, but it would be more appealing to Spurs if Bale was playing in La Liga rather than the Premier League if and when he does leave.

And there are similarities to the Fabregas deal in many respects. Every Arsenal fan knew their captain was going to leave at some point, almost certainly for Barcelona. They let him go once the player himself had made it clear he wanted to go, but they were fighting fires for two summers before he eventually did depart. That is tiring and time-consuming.

That has been the case across north London for numerous seasons. It started with Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars, and continued with Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. The issue is that it creates an inherent instability, with long-term plans ruined by players’ desire to leave. As an example, look at the Arsenal team that Arsene Wenger was building – Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and Alex Song all left before the manager would have wished.

The advantage that Tottenham have is that they know the game now. They waited so long to sell Modric last summer that it left them little time to bring in replacements, and the points they dropped early in the season – against West Brom and Norwich at home, for example – eventually proved decisive.

Now they know that the game is well underway. Yet if Bale does sign another new deal then they are, at the very least, guaranteed a large amount of money. If Daniel Levy allows Andre Villas-Boas and an incoming director of football to spend it on new recruits, the team as a whole could improve even without their star man.

But Madrid have made their intentions extremely clear. They know the rules of engagement in the transfer market, and you should expect a number of their players to be praising Bale in the coming months.

Specifically, expect Modric to claim in the near future that Bale would excel in the Bernabeu.

These deals are conducted over long periods of time, and as much in public as in private. It is a battle for hearts and minds, a propaganda war that the Spanish giants have perfected.

Bale has never said he wants to leave Tottenham, but the focus this summer at White Hart Lane is on whether their star player can be persuaded to stay, not on who they can sign to take them forward from their fifth-placed finish in this season’s Premier League.

As far as Madrid are concerned, the future is already written. All Tottenham need to do is look at the past to see what happens next. Now they have to decide whether to stand and fight, or play the game.

Following Bayern Munich’s final triumph, Goal looks back at a memorable campaign, picking out the 11 players who made the difference and kept us firmly on the edge of our seats

Another enthralling season of Champions League action has ended after Bayern Munich’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night.

Bayern’s triumph in the all-German final caps a remarkable continental campaign, where we saw favourites Barcelona and Real Madrid crash out in the semi-finals and no Premier League sides make it past the first knockout round.

Our team, selected in a 4-2-3-1 formation, has a few key parameters. Players must have played on the side of the pitch they are listed in positionally for their clubs over the course of the tournament, while the 11 players were selected from the list of top performers for each position on our player ratings index. Only players who reached the quarter-finals or further were considered.

Here is Goal’s Champions League Team of the Season:

Debutants Malaga were the tournament’s surprise package this season, blitzing their way into the quarter-finals before they were controversially defeated by Dortmund having had one foot in the last four.

Key to their performances was Argentine goalkeeper Willy Caballero. The shot stopper’s displays in both legs against Jurgen Klopp’s side were inspirational and the reason they came so close to progression.

Philipp Lahm was the man who lifted the trophy for Bayern Munich after another season where he proved himself to be right up there with the game’s most consistent full-backs. Outstanding in both legs against Barcelona in the semi-finals.

Italian champions Juventus conceded only eight goals from 10 games in the tournament and key to those performances was Leonardo Bonucci as Antonio Conte’s men progressed to the quarter-finals before falling to the eventual winners. Edged out Dante for selection after the Brazilian’s poor showing in the final.

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain impressed in the tournament under coach Carlo Ancelotti, reaching the last eight where they only suffered a narrow away-goals defeat to Barcelona. Thiago Silva again underlined his credentials as one of the world’s best centre-backs with a string of solid displays, including against the Catalans.

Alongside Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini ensured Juventus’ defence was a formidable obstacle for Champions League attackers this season. Chiellini slots in at left-back given that he played on the left-hand side of the Turin side’s back-three.

Bastian Schweinsteiger played alongside Javi Martinez at the base of Bayern’s midfield to provide the cornerstone of the German club’s success this season. The duo were vital in orchestrating the progress over Juventus and Barcelona, before combining again in the final to help them to victory.

Arturo Vidal’s all-action performances in midfield have made him indispensable to Antonio Conte if Juventus are to build a squad that can go further than the last eight next time around. He played a crucial role in dumping out holders Chelsea in the group stages, scoring against the Blues home and away.

Big-game failure had become synonymous with Arjen Robben until Saturday’s final at Wembley. Indecision in the first half failed to knock the Dutchman out of his stride as he set up Bayern’s opener and then scored the priceless late winner to defeat Dortmund and cap what has been an excellent individual tournament.

It has been a whirlwind few weeks for Mario Gotze. After announcing he would be joining his current club’s rivals Bayern, he suffered an injury in the semi-finals which saw him ruled out of the final. But that should not overshadow the huge role he played throughout Dortmund’s run to Wembley, with his creative performance in the 4-1 win over Real Madrid still firmly etched in the public’s consciousness.

It was another prolific campaign for Cristiano Ronaldo in Europe, with his Champions League goals tally now sitting at a round 50 for his career. Scored in both legs of an emotional victory over Manchester United in the last 16 and ended the competition with 12 goals and the Golden Boot award.

Lionel Messi may not have added another Champions League winners’ medal to his collection this season, but he was highly effective again in Europe’s elite club competition. Was inspirational in getting his side past PSG in the last eight and his fitness worries proved costly against Bayern in the last four. Finished up with eight goals to take his overall tournament tally to 59 as he closes in on Raul at the top of the all-time top goalscorers’ list.

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The full-back has revealed his desire to one day move back to his boyhood club, while believing that his spell in Germany has helped him to fulfill his potential

Bayer Leverkusen defender Daniel Carvajal has admitted he dreams of returning to Real Madrid in the future.

The 21-year-old left the Santiago Bernabeu last summer in his bid for regular football, and quickly nailed down a spot with the high-flying BayArena side.

And after amassing 32 appearances en route to securing Champions League football for the Werkself next season, Carvajal believes he is playing the football of his life.

“Going up against world-class footballers makes you improve. I’ve fine-tuned the points where I was strong,” he told Marca. “Tactically speaking, I’m better.

“I have faith in myself and I feel ready to go back to Real or to play in the Champions League with Leverkusen. I think of myself as a Madrid supporter. I was born a Madrid fan.

“I wore the shirt for 10 years and Madrid is in my blood. At the moment, I’m with Bayer until 2017 and I don’t know if I’ll go back.”

Los Blancos are reportedly keen on re-signing their youth team graduate in an effort to rejuvenate their squad following an underwhelming domestic and European campaign.