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Tag: Real Madrid

  • 11 Arsenal, Real Madrid stars who will miss UCL clash

    11 Arsenal, Real Madrid stars who will miss UCL clash

    Both Arsenal and Real Madrid have a number of key players missing for Champions League second-leg clash on Wednesday night at the Bernabeu stadium which should be an interesting affair.

    Arsenal remain unbeaten against Real Madrid in European competition (W2 D1), and haven’t conceded a single goal across their three meetings. However, hopes are high in Madrid and many fans believe a comeback is possible despite a disappointing first leg. The Gunners are missing several players who manager Mikel Arteta will have to deal without for the clash.

    Defenders Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu all haven’t travelled to Madrid whilst Jorginho, who replaced Odegaard in the starting line-up on Saturday, suffered a knock and won’t feature as Thomas Partey flies with the squad to replace him. The North London side will also miss forwards Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz who have been long known to miss the rest of the season.

    Madrid, however, will miss backup goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, defenders Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy who remains on the sidelines. Eduardo Camavinga is suspended after a reckless challenge in the first leg. In total eleven players will watch the game from the sidelines in a game enclosed under the roof of the Bernabeu, where history could be made by either side.

    Tribalfootball

  • Mbappe sees red as Camavinga shines for Real Madrid

    Mbappe sees red as Camavinga shines for Real Madrid

    Real Madrid lost star striker Kylian Mbappe to a first-half red card, but held on to beat Deportivo Alavés 1-0 at the Estadio Mendizorrotza, duly ending a run of three winless matches in all competitions and keeping the LaLiga title race alive.

    The 17th-placed home side began on the front foot, looking to worsen Real’s poor pre-match away form, which had seen them take one win in their last four games on the road, but they failed to create a clear opportunity.

    Los Blancos grew into the game though, and after Rodrygo dribbled into the box and forced a save from Jesus Owono, the resulting corner was met by Raul Asencio.

    However, he was denied a first senior goal, owing to a foul on the goalkeeper by Antonio Rudiger.

    Los Babazorros were not deterred from venturing forward, but found themselves lacking in front of goal – Kike García was particularly wasteful when given time to turn and shoot inside the box, sending his effort over.

    Almost inevitably, they were made to pay in the 34th minute, when Eduardo Camavinga combined neatly with Arda Guuler in the middle, before the Frenchman sent a delightful curling effort past Owono from over 20 yards out.

    But Madrid smiles were wiped away just five minutes later, when a dreadful challenge by Mbappé on Antonio Blanco saw the striker given a straight red card after a VAR review.

    Attempting to make their man advantage count, Eduardo Coudet’s men made a bright start to the second half. Yet, though García sent a header wide and both Carlos Vicente and substitute Toni Martínez forced routine saves from Thibaut Courtois, the visitors’ lead seldom looked threatened heading into the final quarter of the match.

    And in another twist, Alaves’ man advantage was no more come the 70-minute mark, when Vinicius Junior chased a ball over the top and was caught clumsily by Manu Sanchez.

    VAR was called into action once more and came to the same conclusion, sending the hosts’ Madrid-born defender off.

    That did little to increase the attacking output from Carlo Ancelotti’s side, who never looked like scoring a second until Jude Bellingham forced a fine save from Owono in the 89th minute, but the Blancos had already done enough to ensure they did not lose further ground to table-topping Barcelona.

    Meanwhile, Alaves can take encouragement from this display, with their fate still in their own hands after just a second loss in six LaLiga outings.

    Tribalfootball

  • Magical things always happen at Bernabeu – Vinicius warns Arsenal

    Magical things always happen at Bernabeu – Vinicius warns Arsenal

    Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr insists their Champions League quarterfinal with Arsenal isn’t over.

    The Gunners outclassed Real Madrid 3-0 in the first-leg on Tuesday night.

    But Vini Jr insisted this morning: “There are no excuses. We played a bad game in London.

    “Now we have to improve so we can fight for promotion at the Bernabeu. Magical things have always happened at the Bernabeu, and they can happen again.

    “We always fight until the last whistle.”

    Along with defeat at Arsenal, Real Madrid were also beaten at home by Valencia in LaLiga on Saturday.

  • Rice scores two free-kicks as Arsenal thrash Real Madrid

    Rice scores two free-kicks as Arsenal thrash Real Madrid

    Declan Rice stunned Real Madrid with two brilliant free kicks – the first scored in his career – as Arsenal took a commanding 3-0 first leg lead in their Champions League quarter-final.

    Mikel Arteta had asked the Arsenal fans to arrive early to create an impressive atmosphere inside the stadium, and the team responded by starting the game quickly with a number of dangerous crosses into the Madrid penalty area.

    It took until the 20th minute for Madrid to have their first real chance, when Vinicius Jr curled an effort wide.

    But Rice took control of the tie for Arsenal in the second half.

    The Gunners were the better side all evening and took the lead in the 58th minute, when Rice curled the first of two excellent free-kicks round the Real Madrid wall into the corner of the net past Thibaut Courtois.

    Rice scored his second of the night with a free-kick of equal quality 12 minutes later, bending another long-range effort into the top right-hand corner to leave Madrid stunned.

    Mikel Merino then made sure it was a memorable night for Arsenal when he curled a shot into the bottom corner from inside the area just five minutes later.

    Things only got worse for Madrid when Eduardo Camavinga was sent off in stoppage time for picking up a second yellow card.

    Arsenal have not reached the semi-finals stage of the Champions League since the 2008-09 season, but they have given themselves a huge chance of progressing to the last four with this result.

    BBC

  • Valencia shock Real Madrid with 95th-minute winner

    Valencia shock Real Madrid with 95th-minute winner

    Hugo Duro’s injury-time winner for Valencia stunned Real Madrid as the hosts lost ground in the La Liga title race.

    With the clock showing 95 minutes, Rafa Mir put in a sublime cross which Hugo Duro headed home from close range.

    Mouctar Diakhaby had opened the scoring for Valencia when he rose highest to head home Andre Almeida’s cross.

    It was a blow for Madrid who had passed up a big chance minutes earlier when Vinicius Jr’s penalty was easily saved by goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili after Cesar Tarrega was judged to have fouled Kylian Mbappe in the box.

    Shortly after the break, Vinicius atoned for his penalty miss, sending an effort high into the roof of the net to equalise.

    Mbappe stabbed an effort just wide but was unable to find the target in a frustrating afternoon for the French striker and his side.

    The result means Los Blancos remain three points behind leaders Barcelona, who play Real Betis later on Saturday.

    Madrid have missed five penalties this season in all competitions (11 scored from 16), their highest tally of failures in a single campaign since at least 2013-14.

    With Thibaut Courtois out with a muscle injury and Andriy Lunin suffering discomfort in his leg during the win over Leganes, 19-year-old Fran Gonzalez became the youngest goalkeeper to make their Madrid debut in La Liga since Iker Casillas did so aged 18 years 115 days in September 1999.

    For Valencia, it is a momentous win and the first time they have been victorious at the Bernabeu since 2008.

    Carlo Ancelotti’s side travel to Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to face Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

    BBC

  • Ronaldo eyes shock Real Madrid return

    Ronaldo eyes shock Real Madrid return

    Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly has his heart set on a shock return to Real Madrid with his Al Nassr contract due to expire at the end of the season.
    Spanish outlet El Desmarque are reporting that the 40-year-old is hoping to return to Real Madrid in the summer and play in the FIFA Club World Cup.

    It’s understood that Inter Milan and Al Hilal are both interested in Ronaldo who is expected to leave Al Nassr at the end of the season.

    The move would be temporary, allowing for Carlo Ancelotti to rest key players ahead of the new season rather than play them in yet another tournament.

    It remains to be seen whether the Spanish giants are interested in bringing the legendary Portuguese forward back, even temporarily.

  • Mbappe hits brace as Real Madrid silence Leganes

    Mbappe hits brace as Real Madrid silence Leganes

    Real Madrid went level on points with Barcelona at the La Liga summit after recovering from a half-time deficit to beat Leganés 3-2, stretching their unbeaten run at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu to eight league matches.

    The hosts started relatively tentatively against their relegation-battling opponents, but they soon started to force openings. Luka Modric registered the first shot on target by testing Marko Dmitrovic from an acute angle, before the Croatian was teed up by Jude Bellingham at the edge of the area, but Sergio Gonzalez jumped to head his shot away.

    Kylian Mbappe was next to be thwarted by Dmitrovic, but the Serbian stopper didn’t anticipate Mbappe’s audacity to chip down the middle from the penalty spot after Arda Guler was fouled by Oscar Rodriguez in the area.

    But that opener was undone by Leganes less than two minutes later, with Valentin Rosier marauding down the right to pick out Oscar, who shuffled it through for Diego Garcia to easily tap in.

    The Bernabeu – housing just a handful of away fans – was stunned into silence, which subsequently turned to groans as the visitors stunningly took the lead.

    Seeking to further make up for his penalty concession, Oscar was again the architect by shifting the ball past Raul Asencio and pulling it back to Dani Raba, who made no mistake by sweeping in.

    Los Pepineros couldn’t even hold on for two minutes after the restart though, with Bellingham smashing in on the rebound after Renato Tapia touched Brahim Diaz’s initial shot onto the bar.

    Brahim then struck the post, but the hosts had to wait until the last 15 minutes to finally edge back in front.

    Bellingham won a free-kick from Tapia on the edge of the box, from which Mbappe expertly curved around the wall and into the bottom corner.

    While it was laid off by Fran Garcia, that was remarkably the first goal the Frenchman has scored from a direct free-kick situation in his career.

    The hosts appeared to sit back and invite pressure during the final moments, but Leganés could go no closer than Munir El Haddadi’s wayward header.

    The win gives Los Blancos parity with Barcelona at the top of the table, but the gap could yet go back to three in the likely event that the Blaugrana defeat Girona on Sunday.

    That means May’s Clasico could well be one of the most significant in recent memory, while Leganés face nine games of such importance in their bid to beat the drop.

    Tribalfootball

  • I’m not angry about him going for free – Carragher on Alexander-Arnold’s move

    I’m not angry about him going for free – Carragher on Alexander-Arnold’s move

    The Liverpool right-back is out of contract at the end of the season and is expected to make a free transfer to the La Liga giants which has sparked much controversy online. However, Carragher has defended the 26-year-old’s move on the Stick to Football podcast, but admits he is disappointed in how the move has evolved in recent months.

    “It seems like there’s not one thing people are unhappy with – it’s leaving on a free or that he should have come out and told the club earlier – people are angry for three or four different things.

    “I’m not angry about him going on a free. In an ideal world, Liverpool would get £70M or £80M for him to reinvest, but you can’t have it both ways as a supporter. If Liverpool sign someone on a free in the summer, we’d all be delighted, so does that mean that his former club should absolutely hate him? Also, when you’re a local player you don’t cost anything – Trent going on a free is like Virgil van Dijk leaving for £75M, we’d still break even.”

    Carragher also spoke on legacy and how Alexander-Arnold could have helped the Reds push further ahead of Manchester United in their trophy haul if he had decided to stay with the club for a few more seasons under manager Arne Slot.

    “Where I’m at is that, as a local player and a Liverpool fan, Liverpool are in a position where they’re competing for the league and a European Cup every year. So, if you’re a Liverpool fan and a local player, I’m just disappointed that he doesn’t think that this is it. I’m putting myself in his position, where I’d be thinking that we could go level with Manchester United in league trophies. I’ve got another seven or eight years at Liverpool and want to get three or four ahead of them, with a couple more European Cups.

    “We always talk about rivalries and never think of it as European. In some ways, Real Madrid is a rival, and no one will catch them – they are the biggest and most famous team- but I’m desperate for Liverpool to get second on that list – AC Milan are on 7 (European titles).

    “If I was him, I’d be thinking that we’ve got a great opportunity to win the league this year and could do this and that and at the end of his time, put Liverpool in a position (to top others).”

    Tribalfootball

  • UCL: Real Madrid beat Atletico on penalties to reach last eight

    UCL: Real Madrid beat Atletico on penalties to reach last eight

    Title holders Real Madrid survived a missed penalty from Vinicius Junior in regulation when they beat crosstown rivals Atletico Madrid 4-2 on penalties for a place in the Champions League quarter-finals.

    Antonio Rüdiger sealed the last 16 victory as goalkeeper Jan Oblak got his hands on the ball but couldn’t stop it from crossing the line.

    Oblak had saved from Lucas Vazquez in the shoot-out but Atletico’s Julian Alvarez had his successful kick disallowed upon review because he touched the ball with both feet, and Marcos Llorente hit the crossbar with his attempt.

    Record winners Real had won the first leg 2-1 at home but Conor Gallagher levelled it up for Atletico in the opening minute at the Wanda Metropolitano.

    Vinicius Junior had the big chance to restore Real’s aggregate advantage but fired the penalty high over the crossbar in the 70th minute after Clement Lenglet had brought down Kylian Mbappe.

    Real maintained their perfect record against Atletico in knock-out ties and finals in the event, and now meet Arsenal, who completed an emphatic 9-3 aggregate victory against PSV Eindhoven with a 2-2 home draw.

    Last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund won 2-1 at French side Lille to advance 3-2 for a date with Barcelona.

    Marco Asensio’s brace helped Aston Villa beat 10-man Club Brugge 3-0 on the night and 6-1 overall and into a quarter-final meeting with his parent club and Liverpool conquerors Paris Saint-Germain.

    The other quarter-final tie is Bayern Munich v Inter Milan, with the matches set to be played April 8/9 and April 15/16.

  • Capello backs Zidane to coach French national team

    Capello backs Zidane to coach French national team

    Former Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello thinks Zinedine Zidane has what it takes to manage France.

    Capello was speaking to Flashscore on a wide variety of topics. Zinedine Zidane was one of the big personalities covered.

    What does the legendary Italian manager think about Zizou as a coach?

    “He surprised me with the skill with which he coached Real Madrid. He had the team, but it’s not enough to have the team. You have to know how to manage it, you have to know how to bring it to your side, you have to convince it to do certain things and he had the charisma that he had on the pitch, so I consider him capable of coaching the French team,” Capello said.

    “The fact that he didn’t agree to go to other teams makes me realise that he could have accepted a team that was only at the top. After coaching Real Madrid, the top team could be Manchester City or Liverpool.”