General News

Real Madrid and Barcelona will play the Copa del Rey final at Valencia’s Mestalla stadium on April 16th, the Spanish football federation has announced.

Following a meeting between Spanish FA chiefs and representatives of both clubs, it was decided that the game will kick off at 9.30pm local time (8.30pm GMT).

It is currently the best forward line in the world of football and is on course to becoming the best of all time.

Between Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale 70 goals have already been scored this season. In the perfect setting, with all of Europe watching, the Madrid trio put on another exhibition. With two goals each against Schalke, they effectively sealed Real Madrid's passage to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer in both the Champions League and La Liga. The recently crowned Balon d'Or winner has racked up 36 goals so far and his ability to overcome opposition defences shows no bounds.

The Portuguese is aided perfectly by Benzema, who is on course to finish the season with the biggest goal tally of his career (he's already on 20); and by Bale, who has already scored 14.

Fourth game this season with all three scoring

The match against Schalke was the fourth this season in which all three of the White forwards found the back of the net. Prior to the trip to Germany, they had all bagged goals in the league against Sevilla (7-3), Almería (0-5) and Betis (0-5).

Real Madrid director Jorge Valdano believes Raul could soon become Los Blancos’ very own version of Pep Guardiola.

Raul has announced that he will retire from playing at the end of this season in order to pursue a career as a Coach.

“He is calm and I am just as excited as he is to know about his future plans,” Valdano is quoted as saying by Marca.

“Raul is a bigger admirer of the German style than the Brazilian one, so for this reason I think he will have a different approach to Guardiola.

“But yes, I think that soon he will be the Guardiola of Madrid, and I think he is preparing for that.”

Zinidine Zidane has made no effort to downplay talk of Real Madrid winning the treble this season, instead saying Los Blancos should be on that level.

Madrid’s assistant coach conducted an interview with El Confidencial and discussed the past, present and future.

“I don’t think you can compare the time when I was playing in Madrid to now,” Zidane said.

“Every era has it’s good and some things that are worse.

“Now we have a very young team but in my playing days, it was a more experienced team.”

Zidane continued by welcoming talk of Madrid winning the treble this season, arguing the club has to aim to win everything every year.

“Of course we should talk about the possibility of winning the treble,” Zidane said.

“When you play at Real Madrid you know what the objectives are and you always have to give your all to win.

“We’re in three competitions - the Cup final, top of the League and almost the quarter-finals of the Champions League.”

Zidane was asked about his future and confirmed he didn’t want to be an assistant forever.

“[Coaching] is what I want to do in the future. I’m learning from a good Coach.

“I knew [Carlo Ancelotti] already because he was my Coach and now what I’m doing is learning to do it myself one day.”

Zidane was also asked about one of Madrid’s players, Cristiano Ronaldo, who followed in the Frenchman’s footsteps by winning the Ballon d’Or.

“It was well deserved,” Zidane replied.

“I see it every day in training. Ronaldo is there before we start and will stay for two hours after training.

“He has no limit. Ronaldo wants more and more and more. He is a born competitor.”

Emilio Butragueno has said he was impressed by Real Madrid’s win over Levante and Los Blancos’ form in general since Christmas.

Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo and a Nikos own goal gave Madrid a comfortable victory and put Carlo Ancelotti’s side three points clear of Atletico Madrid and four ahead of Barcelona.

Speaking to reporters after the final whistle, Butragueno praised the performance but suggested Madrid could have scored more goals.

“We have kept up our very good track record and there are a lot of good signs,” Butragueno said.

“Sometimes we could have scored more goals without giving up the protection between the goalkeeper and the defence.

“The team is very good, dominating from the first minute and we started both halves well. I think the result is a little short though.

“It’s true that we have a very strong team and we are much more relaxed than before,” Butragueno continued.

“The 4-3-3 has given us security and Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric are moving the ball well with Angel Di Maria, who has taken to the centre of midfield very well.

“The important thing is to win. If our rivals slip further, even better. We are doing very well because at Christmas we were five points behind and now we’re three and four ahead.”

Ancelotti rang the changes in defence, making three switches from the back four that started against Atletico Madrid, and Butragueno was impressed with one of the players picked.

“It’s always good to see Raphael Varane in the starting XI.

“He never makes mistakes, reads the play very well, is elegant and athletic, and that’s great because we need his knee to respond well to the end of the season.”

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has admitted the main aim of his club this season is to win the Champions League.

The Spanish giants have not won the top European title since 2002 and are desperate to lift that trophy for the 10th time.

Madrid take on Borussia Dortmund in Wednesday's quarter-final first leg at the Bernabeu.

"Real Madrid's dream right now is to win the Champions League," Ancelotti said to Italian radio station Radio Anch'io Sport.

"However, we are not giving up on the (Primera Liga) title race, even if we are third."

Real led the Primera Liga standings earlier this month but successive defeats to Barcelona and Sevilla saw Ancelotti's side drop to third in the standings.

Los Merengues bounced back from those defeats with a 5-0 mauling of Rayo Vallecano at the weekend and are one point behind bitter rivals Barcelona and three points adrift of league leaders Atletico Madrid with seven games remaining.

"We had led the table for a long time and were unbeaten," Ancelotti said. "We suffered two consecutive setbacks and we have fallen behind.

"But we will continue to fight and it will be an interesting end to the season."

The Italian tactician, who led former club AC Milan to two Champions League titles, is in his first season with Real.

He says it has been a special experience, adding: "Real is the most complete team I have coached.

"Besides great champions like Cristiano Ronaldo, I have so many young promising players as well as experienced ones.

"I want to highlight the fact that this season not only (Gareth) Bale arrived, but also five players from the youth team."

Xabi Alonso says both he and his Real Madrid teammates will stand by Pepe after the Portuguese accused Sergio Busquets of being a liar.

The Barcelona midfielder appeared to stamp on the defender’s head during last week’s match between the two teams but has since denied any wrongdoing.

“Pepe has expressed how he feels and we are with him 100 per cent,” Alonso told the media. “People would have talked about it a lot if it were the other way around. He is a key player for us.”

The midfielder was then asked which trophy he would prefer to win this season out of La Liga and the Champions League.

“Both are very difficult to win, it’s not easy to choose. The Champions League has a special glamour to it and it is a long time since we last won it.

“It’s not a question of choosing, we need to fight for both.

“In the league we are doing better compared to last year, it’s not a question of comparing though.

“We have six very important weeks of the season remaining with decisive matches. It’s coming up to crunch time.”

Real Madrid fans have been cheered by the news that Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to training this morning.

The Portugal international was left out of the Blancos squad for Saturday’s 4-0 win over Real Sociedad at Anoeta.

But that move from Carlo Ancelotti was just precautionary as the record-breaking goalscorer returned to full training on Sunday.

It means that the Ballon d’Or winner will likely return to action on Tuesday when the capital outfit travel to Germany to face Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

Angel Di Maria also took part in today’s session, having recovered from his bout of gastroenteritis.

Real Madrid fear players causing controversy or division amongst their ranks, following questionable messages via social network Twitter, which could lead to problems within the club, amongst team-mates or with the fans.

As Real Madrid head into the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday night against Barcelona, chasing the first of three possible trophies Los Blancos could achieve this season, the club have urged restraint from their players via social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

Given all the players who have social network accounts, particularly with Twitter and with millions of followers, simple words or images they post are extremely wide-reaching and if not kept in check or thought about a little more carefully, can be just as harmful on occasion, as they can appear to be positive.

Heading into the most crucial stage of the season, according to Spanish daily El Confidencial, the communications department at Real Madrid have asked all their players to be more thoughtful and to moderate the comments or images they post, via all social networks.

This in light of apparent divisions caused in the locker room in the past, with the club preferring to avoid cliques and unnecessary problems, to ensure there is complete unity amongst all the players, as well as throughout the club itself.

Real Valladolid players have expressed their disappointment and anger, given their match against Real Madrid has been postponed this weekend, due to the busy schedule of Los Blancos in the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, feeling such a move is prejudicial against their chances of fighting for survival in the Primera.

Few have been able to hide their annoyance at Real Valladolid, after their schedule La Liga match against Real Madrid this weekend, was postponed due to the busy schedule of their opponents.

Manager Juan Ignacio Martínez was fuming when the LFP announced their decision and that anger was also shared by the players, starting with captain Javier Baraja.

“Clearly this affects us. This doesn’t benefit any of us. We’ll be going seventeen days without playing and our rivals will have played two games, before we return to action. This isn’t just about our position in the table, it also affects us mentally.”

Having got his frustrations off his chest, Baraja suggested that they must now try to make the most of the situation, rest, recover and plan ahead to their next scheduled encounter, against Celta Vigo on Monday 28th April.

“We just have to face this situation the best way we can, play against Celta with all our focus and at the very least, try to make the most of the rest we’ll have had.”

Víctor Pérez also vented his fury, feeling that the decision to postpone the game is prejudicial to the chances of his team, in what is such a vital stage of the season, even though it will benefit Real Madrid and their chances in Europe.

“We’re pissed off about this and we don’t like it one bit. We’ve been playing well recently and working hard. Now we’ve got to stop for sixteen days without competing. It makes absolutely no sense as far as we’re concerned. Sure, obviously it will help one of the Spanish teams in Europe, but for ourselves, it clearly works against us. It isn’t fair on us, or the teams around us who are also watching our results.”

Trying to maintain the competitive edge of the team, beyond normal training sessions, earlier this week Real Valladolid played a training match against the regional selection of Castille León. Next week, they have scheduled a friendly match away at Burgos CF, in order to hone their match sharpness, ahead of the following La Liga encounter against Celta Vigo.

Real Madrid legend and current assistant manager, Zinedine Zidane has reportedly informed club president Florentino Perez that he intends to leave the club at the end of the season to take the next step in his managerial career.

According to Spanish sports daily, Marca, Zidane is leaving voluntarily in order to gain experience as a first-team coach, before eventually making his way back to take on his dream job at Real Madrid once Carlo Ancelotti decides to move on.

Perez is said to be in agreement with Zidane’s decision, as that was the clear intention when the Frenchman was given the assistant manager role at the beginning of the season.

Zidane has been recently and most consistently linked with taking up the reins at French Ligue 1 giants, AS Monaco, as current manager Claudio Ranieri’s future remains uncertain, but is also being looked at by several others clubs in order to take the giant leap in to first team coaching.

Real Madrid President Florentino Perez has declared the current team as the best he has ever seen.

Marca reports that Perez has dubbed Carlo Ancelotti’s squad as the greatest of his lifetime, even better than the Galaticos squad he assembled in his first tenure as President.

“You are the best squad I’ve had in my life, since I was President for the first time in 2000,” Marca quotes the President as telling the players. Perez is said to have made the comments to the players more than once.

Madrid beat Bayern Munich 4-0 on Tuesday to reach the Champions League final, where they will play Atletico on May 24.

Perez’s previous Madrid saw the likes of Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos, David Beckham, Raul and Zinidine Zidane, now one of Ancelotti’s assistants.

Real Madrid assistant manager, Zinedine Zidane admitted that he’d like to take the next step in his coaching career and have a chance to show what he can do as the manager of his own club.

In a recent interview with Real Madrid’s official sponsor, Audi, Zidane first discussed his absence from football upon retirement and what brought him back.

“I just wanted to enjoy my family, my children, because for 16 or 18 years I was only in football and completely focused on that. And when I left football, I made it a point to dedicate myself to that. Now, I have the desire to do something, to return to football and show once again that I can contribute something to this profession as a coach.

“As a player, you play your game and then you go home. Now it’s different, a manager is responsible for 23 or 25 players and it’s a completely different job, I like it in every possible way, but it’s different. When you start the games, it’s the players who make the difference.”

Zindane continued on describing his family life and was surprised that all of his four children look to be footballers.

“I think family is the most important thing in my life. My wife and my four children. They were an important part of my career and continue to be. I have a great wife, who I’ve been with for 25 years. My parents instilled in me important values and I want to do pass those along to my children.

“I thought at least one of my four children would be something else, but that’s not the case. The two older ones train every day. When they were younger, around eight or 10, we always played football, because that’s what they wanted to be. What’s most important is that they’re good lads.”

Zidane concluded by discussing how his children have handled trying to live up to the Zidane family name.

“It was difficult for them, but it’s gotten a little better. Because time goes moves on. But they have and will always have the name. I spoken with them and the most important thing is that they respect people.”

http://www.insidespanishfootball.com/107064/zidane-i-want-to-show-what-i-can-do-as-a-coach/

Real Madrid CF will take on Spanish compatriots Sevilla FC for the 2014 UEFA Super Cup at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday 12 August.

http://www.uefa.com/uefasupercup/news/newsid=2108686.html