La Liga
MANCHESTER UNITED WADES INTO BALE’S NIGHTMARE AT REAL MADRID
With Gareth Bale set for a showdown talks with Zinedine Zidane over his future at Real Madrid, Spanish newspaper, Marca has reported that Manchester United are keen at getting the Welsh player.
Bale hit out at Real Madrid in a recorded interview, for making it ‘very difficult’ for him to leave, and admitted he would consider a return to the Premier League.
According to Marca, Real Madrid are preparing ‘operation exit’ for the frustrated Welshman following his return from international duty.
It adds that Jose Mourinho would ‘love to have’ Bale at Tottenham, but chairman Daniel Levy has ‘no money’.
While it is clear both parties believe it’s better for the 31-year-old to leave the club, Real have not had any offers as yet and there is the complicated issue that they are unwilling to pay off the remaining two years of his salary.
According to Daily Mail, Bale’s €17million (£15.1m) wages over his remaining two years would mean Madrid would have to negotiate a possible €34m (£30.2m) pay-off which they are not in a position to do.
Following Bale’s interview with Sky Sports, the winger and Zidane are set for an awkward face-to-face meeting to try to facilitate the end of his Madrid nightmare.
Bale has has been frozen out of the Madrid set-up Zidane. . The player who joined Madrid in 2013 in a then world-record £86million deal from Tottenham , only played 20 times in all competitions last season, cut a dejected figure during their title celebrations and has become infuriated with the club’s handling of his potential departure.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Bale also expressed frustration at Madrid thwarting his mega-money move to the Chinese Super League. He was on the brink of a move to Jiangsu Suning on a three-year deal reported to be worth in the region of £1m per week.
He said: ‘Last year they blocked everything at the last second, so it was a project that I was excited for last year but it didn’t materialise.
‘There have been other incidents when we’ve tried to go but the club wouldn’t allow it or have done something, so as for the club, what can I say.
‘I want to play and I’m still motivated to play football so I guess it’s on the club really. I can’t really do much, they are in control of everything. I have a contract so all I can do is carry on doing what I’m doing and hopefully something comes up.
‘As I’ve said it’s in the club’s hands and they make it very difficult, to be honest.’
Asked if he is keen to move to the Premier League again, Bale added: ‘As I said it’s not really in my hands, I think it’s one of those situations if offers arrived it would be something I’d look at for sure but we will have to see what happens.
‘We have got plenty of time left in this transfer window and others as well but time will tell. Mainly the reason is the decision is in Real Madrid’s hands.’
Marca state that Bale’s Madrid team-mates are ‘indifferent’ to his situation as they already see him ‘out of the club’ after he was left out at games against Leganes and Manchester City at the end of last season.
Madrid are determined to offload some players including James Rodriguez who is set for a move to Everton, so they can therefore spend on new players.
Manchester United have been linked with Bale on numerous occasions in recent years.
So far this summer, they have made just the one signing – Donny van de Beek from Ajax for £40m.
Raphinha knew there was no reason to panic as Barcelona struggled to break down Espanyol on Thursday and said it was only a matter of time before the “golden feet” of Lamine Yamal steered them to a title-winning victory with a glorious goal.
Yamal, 17, took the ball on the right touchline and made a superb lateral run across the edge of the box before unleashing a curling strike between two defenders and into the top corner to break the deadlock early in the second half.
The stunning strike set Barca on course for a 2-0 win that secured the LaLiga title, with Real Madrid seven points back with only two games left to play.
“We didn’t have many clear chances but we have a kid in there who sometimes pulls something out of the golden feet he has and he gave us peace of mind to stay in the game more calmly,” Raphinha said.
“In January some people were saying we would fight to be third. We have confidence in ourselves. That’s the key. We trust in the work and in what we know we can do.”
Raphinha has scored 18 league goals this season, including a brace in Saturday’s crucial 4-3 win over Real Madrid, and was quick to credit the trust shown in him by coach Hansi Flick.
The Brazilian tripled his goal tally from last season and also has the third-highest number of assists in the competition with nine, three less than leader Yamal.
“The most important thing was the confidence of the coach. Knowing at the start of the season that he was counting on me, a person who controls the team … it changes you in the end,” he said.
-Reuters
Former Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso is set to become the next Real Madrid manager on a three-year deal when he leaves Bayer Leverkusen after this season, Spanish media reported on Monday.
Alonso, 43, is expected to replace current Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, who is being lined up for the vacant Brazil job ahead of the 2026 World Cup, soccer sources told Reuters.
Despite the Italian having a year remaining on his contract, Real’s underwhelming season and his desire to coach Brazil have led to a mutual agreement to part ways, the sources added.
Alonso, who said earlier this month that he was leaving Leverkusen after guiding them to the double last term, will join Real before the inaugural Club World Cup in the United States from June 14 to July 14, multiple media reports said.
Alonso, who also played for Liverpool and Bayern Munich, last season steered Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, ending the Bavarians’ 11-year domination, and they also won the German Cup and German Super Cup.
Reports of Ancelotti’s likely departure come as no surprise after Real’s 4-3 defeat at Barcelona in a thrilling ‘El Clasico’ on Sunday left his side on the brink of a trophyless season.
The 65-year-old Italian, who returned for a second stint at Real in June 2021, led the Spanish giants to two Champions League and LaLiga doubles, the latest of which came last season.
He is the most successful manager in the club’s history with a total of 15 trophies and the first coach to claim titles in Europe’s top five leagues.
However, this season Real were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Arsenal and allowed Barca to fight back and win 3-2 in the Copa del Rey final.
Second-placed Real are seven points adrift of Barcelona, who could secure the league title on Wednesday without kicking a ball if Real fail to win at home to Mallorca.
Regardless of Real’s result, a Barca victory in the city derby away to Espanyol on Thursday would clinch the title.
An official announcement regarding a managerial change is expected before Real’s last game of the season at home to Real Sociedad on May 25.
-Reuters
Schmuelgen/File Photo
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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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