The team were incapable of the basics against PSG and it is a wonder Spanish clubs have not exploited the weaknesses moreAs Thomas Meunier and Juan Bernat capered through the open savannah that archaeologists believe was once populated by the Real Madrid midfield, the mind was drawn to another Parisian night two and a half years ago, when Ángel Di María orchestrated an even more emphatic victory for Paris Saint-Germain over a Spanish side. As it turned out, that 4-0 win over Barcelona didn’t turn out particularly well for PSG but, more generally, what on earth is going on with midfields in La Liga?On a night when Atlético twice conceded goals on the break at home to Juventus, the issue...
On Saturday night the season kicks off with Barcelona v Real Madrid, though the latter are strictly not called thatOn Saturday night the Spanish season opens with el clásico but this time it is different. At 6pm at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, for the first time ever, FC Barcelona Femení will play Real Madrid – even if they are not actually called that yet. By popular demand Madrid have finally joined the women’s professional game and they make their debut in Catalonia against the team set to be their great adversaries, last season’s league and Champions League runners-up. Tickets are on sale from €5 and they anticipate a full house for a historic rivalry with an entire history still to...
The situation at Real Madrid is baffling and does no credit to Bale or Zinedine Zidane, while Neymar and Laurent Koscielny have not enhanced their reputations this summer eitherIt has been a transfer window full of the usual long-running sagas and occasional surprises, but it does seem to have been a bad-tempered few months, with more than the usual number of players – as well as the occasional manager – trying to force moves in the most public and spiteful style. Related: Transfer deadline day live! Sessegnon, Sarr, Zaha, Lukaku, Carroll latest news Related: Transfer window 2019 – every summer deal from Europe's top five leagues Nouveau joueur, nouveau maillot, retrouvez-le dès maintenant ici https://t.co/6Jb2BRKbIo pic.twitter.com/eCfsGaSUYS Continue reading...
Zinedine Zidane identified the Belgian in 2010. Finally he has his man and Hazard will start despite the heftiest competition“I would take Eden Hazard with my eyes closed.” Zinedine Zidane’s words are not from this week or last; they’re not from last year, the year before, or even the year before that. Real Madrid’s manager said that in April 2010, almost a decade ago, when the Frenchman was just about to return to the Bernabéu as presidential adviser and Hazard was 19 and playing for Lille. He was also, Zidane said, “the star of the future”. Now, aged 28, he is Madrid’s present, not just their latest galáctico but their first for five years. He has been a long time...
The Real Madrid winger’s dream has turned into a nightmare and he finds himself in the same boat as Özil and SánchezIn his documentary State of Play, an examination of the current wellbeing of football aired on BT Sport last week, Michael Calvin was granted an audience with Gareth Bale. He put it to the Real Madrid winger that Rory McIlroy, in whose company Calvin had spent quality time while embedded with Europe’s 2018 Ryder Cup team at the invitation of their captain, Thomas Bjorn, had told him that when you reach a certain level as an athlete or sportsman you can no longer retain that joy you had as an innocent kid. “Have you found that?” he asked Bale.“Yeah,...