There have been increasing speculations that Cristiano Ronaldo could exit Real Madrid this summer. The Portuguese has had a tremendous run in Europe in the last three to four years. He recently declared that he could continue until his 40’s. Following his third straight Champions League title after seeing off Liverpool, the top star has fueled rumours that he could exit the team.
Real Madrid continue to struggle in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo. The defending La Liga champs have made a poor start to the new term as they drop more points in the draw against Levante.
Since the red card was for Spanish fixtures, the player would be available as Real play APOEL in the Champions League on Wednesday.
After winning their first game, Madrid have drawn their last two, leaving them four points adrift Barcelona early in the La Liga race. The latest was the stumble at the Bernabeu against Levante. The team has now lost KarimBenzemato injury. He could be out for one month, further limiting the goalscoring options at the club.
The bad news so far are in line with what analysts had predicted ahead following the sale of Alvaro Morata to Chelsea without a replacement of any sort. The lack of striking options has been revealed and it could get bad as Madrid are set to have a busy three weeks. Read More
It is expected that a record number of people will be placing bets on the Champions League final match between Juventus and Real Madrid.
Indeed the Champions League final is the most prestigious club competition and people from around the world will be following this match.
Betting companies are expecting a rise in the number of betting compared to last year given that there will be no major competition during the summer this time.
Online betting companies have tended to benefit from finals of a major cup competition. It is reported that for the FA Cup final game that saw Arsenal beat Chelsea the amount of online betting rose by 16%.
Elsewhere in South East Asia, illegal betting companies have also benefited from the increase activities for the Champions League final. Police report that they have arrested a number of people that were involved in illegal betting. Read More
There are now strong indications that Real Madrid might release James Rodriguez this summer.
The player was hired by Florentino Perez after his brilliant display for his national team at the 2014 World Cup. In his three year stay at Santiago Bernabeu, he has scored 28 times with a min/goal average of 177.18. He has created at least 181 chances during that period, hitting 124 shots with conversion rate of 22.58. His passing accuracy is 87.61%. His stats show that he could be a better threat in the Red Devils set-up.
Coach Jose Mourinho is still working the team. After throwing big money in a quick fix attempt by luring Paul Pogba back to the Theatre of Dreamsand convincing Zlatan Ibrahimovic to exit PSG, Mourinho is now looking at specific needs of the team. Read More
Cristiano Ronaldo may look like a tough fellow from outside, but, behind that tough exterior of the man is a real soft heart and we get to see the glimpse of that softness every now and then.
There is an organisation in Portugal which picks up stray dogs in bad condition of their health from different parts of the country and provides them the medical treatment to save their lives.
That organisation, of late, had been lacking funds to continue their services. So, they got in touch with Ronaldo through one of his acquaintances with a polite enquiry if he could do anything for them and to their delight, they got a positive response from the player and that too immediately. Read More
Zinedine Zidane saw his Real Madrid outfit secure a 2-0 comfortable victory against Club America in the semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup.
Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo scored the goals that were enough to see off the Mexican opponents. A first-half injury time goal from Benzema was a major factor in relieving the pressure off Real Madrid in the second half. The Spanish club were able to double their advantage in the second half through Ronaldo and this goal also made the game safe. Read More
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsenal’s current coach Arsene Wenger seem to disagree over who should win the Ballon d’Or going by their statements. Wenger is known not to be a fan of world football
“We have seen many people only thinking about themselves because they are obsessed by Ballon d’Or and not by the team performance,” said Wenger.
The Emirates boss added that he believes that the game is one that involves collective effort of the players.
“… we live already in a world where everything is individualized. We want to respect what football is about, first and foremost about the team effort,” he said. The manager seems not to be impressed with the fact that Mesut Ozil missed out of the 30-man shortlist, but congratulated the player for his nomination for the France Football award.
On the other hand, Sir Alex Ferguson backed Cristiano Ronaldo to win the award this year. Read More
US business magazine Forbes says Portuguese super star, Cristiano Ronaldo was the highest paid footballer last year in their new report.
Forbes added that the forward was also the highest-paid team athlete last year. Real Madrid star Ronaldo was said to have earned a total of $82 million (£56.7m), with an annual salary of $53m (£36.7m) and $29m (£20m) in endorsements.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or winner, was second in the list on $77m (£53.3m), with the 28-year-old’s $51m (£35.3m) salary augmented by $26m (£18m) in endorsements. The Argentina captain renewed his Barca contract in 2014. Ronaldo and Messi, who have been the only Ballon d’Or winners since Kaka’s 2007 success, are some distance ahead of Paris Saint-Germain star Zlatan Ibrahimovic in third. Read More
Real Madrid Superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo has allayed the concerns that his impressive season for the Spanish giant, Real Madrid, might come to a much earlier end. The Portuguese sustained a late injury in Real Madrid’s victory over Villarreal in La Liga.
The talented winger raised concerns when he limped off in the final minutes in the game against the Spanish side. He caused a scare that he had picked up an apparent muscle injury in his right leg. Though he walked off the field by himself at the Santiago Bernabeu at the 3-0 triumph, he left his team mates and fans worried.
The player has netted 31 goals in the La Liga just this season that sets him top in the goal scorers’ chart. The three-time Ballon d’Or winner posted on popular social media app, Instagram, that he doing fine. The intent was to reassure fans.
“All good. Thanks for your support,” he posted.
However, the Spanish side has come out in line with the fears to posit that the star player is expected to have medical tests as a precaution. Madrid are a point behind fierce rivals, Barcelona. The face local rivals Rayo Vallecano on Saturday in their next La Liga title chase. They also have Champions League semi-finals matches where they face a two-legged affair with English side, Manchester City. Read More
There are reports that Rafa Benitez, the new head coach of the Los Blancos, would be using Cristiano Ronaldo alone upfront next season.
It would be quite different to the formation that his predecessor Ancelotti used to use.
Ancelotti had three men playing in the offensive line most of the times.
The reports also say that Karim Benzema would struggle to find himself amongst the starters of Benitez who has already coached several big teams before.
Benitez has come to Bernabeu with a reputation of being defensive minded and if he opts to go with a single striker, it would only draw criticism.
He, however, refused to admit in his press conference yesterday that his management style is defensive.
He was quoted as saying, “There is a perception that I create defensive formations, but, that’s not the case. You see the no. of goals that Napoli struck in the 2014-15 Season. It’s more than 100.” Read More