La Liga
GARETH BALE LEFT OUT OF MUNICH-BOUND REAL MADRID
Gareth Bale’s future at Real Madrid took another twist when he was left out of the Spanish side’s squad for two friendly matches in Munich, starting with Tuesday’s game against his old club Tottenham Hotspur.
“Bale did not travel in order to resolve his future,” Spanish sports daily Marca reported on Tuesday, adding that Real Madrid were still in talks with Chinese side Jiangsu Suning who had offered the Welshman a three-year-deal worth £1 million ($1.1 million) a week.
However the Chinese club appear to have shut the door on Bale and sports daily As says he could be headed for a Premier League return.
“Bale wanted to stay (at Real Madrid) but Zidane has made that impossible,” said As.
“The preferred destination for Bale is the Premier League which closes its transfer window on August 8. There are only 10 days to find a team there.”
Real Madrid held up the proposed transfer to Jiangsu Suning on Sunday in a dispute over the fee and the Chinese club announced Monday they had signed Croatian striker Ivan Santini from Anderlecht instead.
Bale, 30, has been at the centre of transfer talk since Zinedine Zidane returned as coach of Real in March.
The Frenchman has made no secret of his desire to offload Bale who joined Real Madrid in a then world record £85 million move from Tottenham in 2013.
The Spanish press has been mooting a possible return to Champions League finalists Tottenham although Bale’s salary demands are likely to be far beyond the pay structure at the north London club.
Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett has already insisted that any deal which sees the Welshman leave the Bernabeu would have to be a permanent one and not one that sees him shipped out on loan.
“Gareth is one of the best players on the planet. I can guarantee you he will not be going on loan to any club,” said Barnett.
Bale was not the only familiar name missing from the 24-man squad for Munich. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who shipped seven goals last week against Atletico Madrid, is injured while James Rodriguez came back late from holiday after playing for Colombia in the Copa America.
Following the Spurs match, Real will face either Fenerbahce or Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
- AFP
It was mission accomplished, said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after his side fought back from two-goals behind to snatch a rip-roaring 4-4 draw on Tuesday for a 5-4 aggregate win that put them through to the Copa del Rey final.
Ancelotti brushed off questions about a sub-par performance by his side and praised his players’ effort in what he considered a highly entertaining encounter.
“We have achieved our goal today which was to reach the final and there is not much time to think about it,” Ancelotti told a press conference.
“It was an entertaining game with some mistakes and a lot of good things. It was fun and we are in the final.
“I never saw ourselves out of it because anything can happen at the Bernabeu. When we have to come from behind, we never give up. We never give up, especially at home, with the fans by our side.”
Ancelotti said David Alaba was not to blame after he deflected two balls into his own goal, calling it “bad luck” by the Austrian defender, but urged his defence to play with better focus moving forward.
“It’s not good to concede four goals in a game,” Ancelotti said.
“Right now we are a team that has a lot of effectiveness up-front, but little balance.
“However, we can’t ignore what we did in attack, scoring four goals against Real is not that easy. I think we are doing quite well.”
Real Madrid, who have won the Spanish Cup only once in over a decade, will play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid in a mouth-watering final in Seville next month.
Atletico fought back to hold Barca to a thrilling 4-4 draw ahead of Wednesday’s second-leg in Madrid.
-Reuters
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Real Madrid’s legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti will go on trial next week for allegedly failing to declare income to Spain’s tax office, the Madrid court which will hear the case has said.
Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of four years and nine months for the 65-year-old Italian, accusing him of having cost Spain’s treasury more than one million euros ($1.1 million) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.
The trial will begin on Wednesday and it is expected to last two days, a spokesman for the court said.
Ancelotti, who as a coach has won a record five Champions League trophies including three with Real, must be present for the hearings, he added.
Prosecutors accuse him of only declaring in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid during those two years even though he himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated his home was in Madrid.
They accuse Ancelotti of allegedly setting up a “confusing” and “complex” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings from his image rights as well as from other sources such as real estate.
A Spanish court in 2023 ordered Ancelotti to stand trial over the affair, but did not set a date.
Ancelotti dismissed the affair last year as “an old story that I hope will be resolved soon” when he was asked about the case.
He took over at Real Madrid in 2013, leaving in May 2015, before being appointed at Bayern Munich the following year.
The former Italy international midfielder, who as a player won the European Cup twice with AC Milan, later managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021.
Aside from his success in the Champions League he has won domestic league titles with Madrid and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.
-AFP
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Spain’s former soccer chief Luis Rubiales told Reuters on Thursday he would appeal a court ruling which found him guilty of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent.-
-Reuters
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