Tag: Real Madrid

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MANCITY V REAL MADRID UCL FIXTURE THREATENED BY FRESH COVID-19 POSITIVE CASE

Mariano Diaz has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the Champions League clash against Manchester City.

The 26-year-old will not feature against Man City in next month’s Round of 16 second leg tie.

He has also entered a period of self-isolation and quarantine.

Mariano hasn’t started a single game this season and has made just four substitute appearances for Real Madrid.

Man City vs. Real Madrid could now be in serious doubt following the positive COVID-19 not to mention Spain’s recent wave of coronavirus, which has seen the country placed on UK’s quarantine list.

But Madrid have been made exempt from strict rules preventing travellers from Spain coming here without a fortnight’s quarantine.

Though news that there is a positive result within the Spanish side’s camp could prevent the second leg from happening.

The Champions League fixture is currently scheduled for August 7 at the Etihad with Man City leading Real Madrid following their 2-1 victory in February.

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Real Madrid end Title winning season with a draw

Champions Real Madrid drew their final La Liga game which relegated opponents Leganes to the second division.

Celta Vigo’s goalless draw at Espanyol was enough to keep them up by a single point at the expense of Leganes.

Captain Sergio Ramos netted his 12th goal of the season by heading in from Isco’s cross for Real, who had wrapped up the title in their previous game.

Bryan Gil and Roger Assale netted either side of Marco Asensio’s strike but it was not enough for the visitors.

Leganes needed to find a late goal to leap out of the bottom three and Oscar broke forward in the 96th minute, but lashed his effort over from the edge of the area.

Zinedine Zidane’s side will look to overturn a 2-1 first-leg loss against Manchester City in the Champions League last 16 when they return to action in August.

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Bale left out of squad for Madrid last game

Gareth Bale has been omitted from Real Madrid’s 22-man squad for their final La Liga game of the season against Leganes on Sunday.

Bale was an unused substitute in the game which secured Real’s 34th Spanish league triumph, a 2-1 win over Villarreal on Thursday night.

The Welshman has made two appearances in Madrid’s 10 matches since the season restarted after lockdown in June.

Eden Hazard also misses out on Zinedine Zidane’s squad.

Bale has made headlines in recent weeks for his actions while sitting alongside fellow substitutes during matches, and he appeared to be on the fringes once more as Zidane’s team celebrated the title.

The forward, who turned 31 on the day his side won the league, was pictured standing at a distance with arms folded as manager Zidane was thrown in the air by some of the Real players.

Bale has made only 16 La Liga appearances all season, starting 12 matches.

Hosts Leganes are 18th in the table, a point behind Celta Vigo, and must beat the newly crowned champions to avoid relegation from the Spanish top flight.

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Real Madrid win La Liga

Zinedine Zidane says sealing a first La Liga title with Real Madrid in three years has made him happier than winning the Champions League.

Real wrapped up the title with a game to spare as they edged past Villarreal at an empty Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium.

Karim Benzema fired between the legs of Sergio Asenjo and added a controversial second from a retaken penalty.

In bizarre fashion, Sergio Ramos had rolled the first attempt for Benzema to smash in but the effort was disallowed.

Vicente Iborra pulled one back but it mattered little to Real as the club wrapped up their 34th Spanish title.

Zidane’s side have won all 10 of their matches since Spanish football restarted in June.

They head into the final day of the season with an unassailable seven-point lead over second-placed Barcelona.

“This is better than anything. It takes a tremendous effort to win La Liga,” said the Real Madrid boss.

“After 38 matches, you have more points than anyone else. After lockdown and everything, it’s astonishing.

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REAL MADRID’S LUKA JOVIC REJOINS TEAM AFTER TESTING NEGATIVE TO CORONA VIRUS FOR THIRD TIME

Real Madrid attacker Luka Jovic rejoined the squad in training on Tuesday after testing negative for Covid-19 for the third straight time.

Jovic had been in touch with a friend who tested positive recently and had to miss the last week of training even though he had been testing negative since the very beginning.


It has not been an easy time for Jovic after the quarantine. The attacker needed to recover from a foot fracture and lost his spot as Benzema’s backup to Mariano Diaz.


Reports from the Spanish press suggest that Real Madrid are willing to sell the attacker even after spending €60 million to sign him away from Eintracht Frankfurt just a year ago, meaning that Jovic’s return to the squad will not mean much for coach Zinedine Zidane right now.

The striker has had a very tough season and should not make a big impact for Real Madrid this season.

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Real Madrid two points off top

Leaders Real Madrid moved to within one win of the La Liga title after surviving a scare against Granada.

France defender Ferland Mendy opened the scoring with a ferocious finish from a tight angle before countryman Karim Benzema doubled the lead.

But Real were forced to endure a nervous second half after Darwin Machis fired through Thibaut Courtois’ legs.

Zinedine Zidane’s side are four points clear of nearest rivals Barcelona with two games remaining.

Given Real’s superior head-to-head record over Barca, Real require two points from their final two games, at home to fifth-placed Villarreal on Thursday and at relegation-threatened Leganes on Sunday, to win the league.

“We have to be happy and rest up for Thursday,” said Real boss Zidane after his side’s ninth successive win since La Liga resumed in June.

“We will be back training on Tuesday and we will be back on the pitch on Thursday. The final minutes were tough. Granada made us defend a lot in the second half.”

Gareth Bale was once again an unused substitute as Real scored twice in six first-half minutes before the hosts hit back.

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GUARDIOLA WARY OF REAL MADRID EN ROUTE HIS TEAM’S UCL AMBITION

Pep Guardiola warned his Manchester City players not to look too far ahead after their route to a possible final was mapped out on Friday.

The Blues discovered that they will face either Juventus or Lyon in the quarter-final, and then possibly Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the semis, after today’s draw in Nyon.

But they have to finish the job against Real Madrid in the second leg of their last 16 game on August 7 or 8, to reach the tournament for the last eight next month.

It could be an extremely tough route to the final, but Guardiola insisted that he only has his sights fixed on Madrid, with City having a slender 2-1 lead from the first leg in the Bernabeu.

Guardiola was also puzzled by suggestions that he, or City, had influenced Uefa’s decision to play that second leg at the Etihad Stadium, after it was initially touted that all last-16 second legs might also be switched to Portugal.

When asked about the draw, Guardiola said: “We have to play against Madrid. If we think about the next step, the kings of this competition will put us out.”

And he was nonplussed by the suggestion that it was unusual that the second leg be staged in Manchester.

“The first leg we played in Madrid, the second leg we play at home,” he said – there had been mischievous suggestions in Spain that he had personally tried to influence that decision.

“It’s a normal situation. It’s not about advantage. It is what it is. In knockout games it’s one at home and one away.

“Why should we play in another place? The first leg we played in Madrid, the second leg we will play at home.

“It is not about advantage, it is what it is. When it is a knockout game with two legs, there is one at home and one away.”

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Real Madrid edge closer to Title

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Sergio Ramos scored the only goal for a second consecutive game as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao to move closer to the La Liga title.

Ramos slammed home a penalty – just as he did on Thursday against Getafe – after Dani Garcia fouled Marcelo in a decision given by VAR.

He has scored five goals in seven matches – all wins – since the restart.

Defending champions Barcelona took the gap back to four points when they beat Villarreal 4-1 on Sunday night.

Real Madrid’s win over Athletic Bilbao was a game of few goalscoring chances, with Thibaut Courtois making only one save.

Courtois became the first goalkeeper to keep 17 clean sheets for Real in a single La Liga season since Francisco Buyo in 1994-95.

Zinedine Zidane’s side only need to win three of their remaining four games to secure a second La Liga title since 2012

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Real Madrid beat Getafe with team spirit, says Zidane

Captain Sergio Ramos converted a late penalty, sending Real four points clear of title rivals Barcelona with five games left.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said his side used their team spirit to finally break down and beat a resolute Getafe side 1-0 at home on Thursday to inch ever closer to winning their first La Liga title for three years.

The league leaders created scant chances against their gritty neighbours but finally got the goal they craved when captain Sergio Ramos converted a late penalty, sending Real four points clear of title rivals Barcelona with five games left.

“We can be very happy today because we did an incredible job today against a side who caused us loads of problems, but we got the victory because of our team spirit,” Zidane told a virtual news conference after his side won their sixth game in a row.

“Me and the players have been suffering a lot because we have had to work so hard in all of these matches. It’s not easy to do what we are doing. You can’t achieve anything without suffering.”

Real knew victory against Getafe would give them a cushion over Barca, who drew 2-2 with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday and have dropped six points since the campaign returned after the coronavirus stoppage.

Zidane’s side, meanwhile, have been on a relentless run and defender Dani Carvajal, who earned the decisive penalty, revealed the coach had set the team the target of winning all of their matches when the campaign started up again last month.

“The coach’s message after the break was that we had 11 finals left and we had to try and pick up all 33 points. We’re on the way to doing that,” Carvajal said.

“It was clear that this was not like any other game and we had to make the most of Barca’s slip-up. Today was like a final for us and we treated it like one.

“Getafe put us under a lot of pressure but we produced a serious performance and proved we are a real team.”

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Real Madrid go top of La liga

BARCELONA, SPAIN - JUNE 28: Karim Benzema of Real Madrid assists teammate Casemiro for their side's first goal during the Liga match between RCD Espanyol and Real Madrid CF at RCDE Stadium on June 28, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Real Madrid are two points clear at the top of La Liga after grinding out a victory at bottom club Espanyol.

Casemiro scored the only goal as he latched onto Karim Benzema’s brilliant no-look backheel through the legs of defender Bernardo Espinosa before firing home.

The Brazilian had earlier gone close to the opener when his shot from his own half was saved by Diego Lopez.

Espanyol had several chances with Thibaut Courtois making five saves.

Sporting director Francisco Rufete took over as manager on Saturday after replacing Abelardo Fernandez – the third Espanyol boss to be sacked this season.

They put up a good fight, with Wu Lei among the players to go close, but fell just short.

Real Madrid are now only six wins – or five wins and a draw – from a second La Liga title since 2012.

City rivals Atletico can do them a favour when they visit Barca on Thursday.