Real Madrid News

October 16, 2022

Match Report: Real Madrid 3-1 Barcelona

It was the hosts, Real Madrid who found success in this season’s first El Clasico and kept their unbeaten record intact in all competitions. Goals from Ballon D’Or favorite Karim Benzema, Fede Valverde and Rodrygo helped the hosts cruise through the derby while handing Barcelona their first defeat of the season in the league. With this win, Real Madrid have regained the top spot in the LaLiga standings and are now 3 points clear of their Catalan rivals who shifted to 2nd place after coming short at Madrid.

Real Madrid drew first blood in the game as talismanic forward Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Los Blancos in the 12th minute. Toni Kroos unleashed a wonderful through ball for Vinicius to chase who picked and set up a 1v1 situation with Ter Stegen, Vini’s shot was saved by the German goalkeeper but Karim Benzema was on point to smash the ball home from the rebound.

The 35-times LaLiga champions further strengthened their lead in the 35th minute with a tremendous out-of-the-box effort from Fede Valverde. Vini released Ferland Mendy who drove through an unsettled Barca defence and rounded the ball off to Valverde before the Uruguayan smashed it into the goal with a powerful long-range strike.

It was a cautious start for both the teams in the second half as the midfield battle was crucial for either team coming towards goal. A lack of urgency was also noted from the trailers, Barcelona who were clearly showing fatigue after their 3-3 draw with Inter in the Champions League.

It was the substitute Ferran Torres who showed a ray of hope to Blaugrana supporters after scoring Barca’s first from a well-worked move from the Catalan outfit. In spite of a challenge from Valverde on the right side, Ansu Fati drove through uncovered space in the final thirds before sending a low cross for Lewandowski, who flicked it on for Ferran Torres at the far post and the Spaniard thumped the ball home from close range past a diving Andriy Lunin.

The Bernabeu went a little shocked with fears of a Barca comeback on the cards but the hopes of the Blaugrana were shut after Eric Garcia stepped on Rodrygo’s foot inside the box for a clear penalty in the 90+1st minute. After a brief on-field review, referee Hernandez Hernandez pointed to the spot and 21-year-old Rodrygo kept his cool to send the ball in the right corner past a diving Ter Stegen.

Real Madrid next faces Elche at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero on Wednesday.

October 10, 2022

Shakhtar Donetsk v Real Madrid | Preview

The current UCL holders, Real Madrid will set themselves up to continue their perfect win record in the Champions League as they visit Poland to face Shakhtar Donetsk in Matchday 4 of the top-flight European competition.

Both sides involved will face other only one week later of their previous matchup β€” which ended in a 2-1 victory for Real Madrid. In their defeat at the Bernabeu, Shakhtar showed tremendous character after conceding early and kept the scoreline respectable after last season’s debacle.

Real Madrid currently sits at the top spot in Group F of the Champions League with 9 points while Shakhtar secure second place with 4 points.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side will secure their qualification for the knockout stages if they come away with a win against the Ukrainian giants.

Team News

Shakhtar manager Igor Jovicevic is expected to name an unchanged eleven as his team has not been in action after their defeat at the Bernabeu.

Viktor Kornienko is the Ukrainian outfit’s only player to be out of this match with a long-term injury. Mykhailo Mudryk, Taras Stepanenko and the goalscorer in the last matchup between the two sides, Oleksandr Zubkov are expected to retain their places in the starting lineup.

Meanwhile, for Real Madrid, Karim Benzema got his much-needed rest to fully recover from a slight injury in Real’s last match against Getafe.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is set to be out of this fixture with Sciatica.

Dani Ceballos faces a long-term injury surrounding his hamstring.

Predicted Lineups:

Shakhtar Donetsk: Trubin; Taylor, Bondar, Matviyenko, Konoplya; Stepanenko; Shved, Bondarenko, Sudakov, Mudryk; Zubkov.

Real Madrid: Lunin; Vazquez, Rudiger, Alaba, Mendy; Camavinga, Tchouameni, Kroos; Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius.

October 3, 2022

3 observations as Real Madrid shares points with 10-men Osasuna

Real Madrid’s nine-game winning streak in all competitions came to an end after they played out a 1-1 draw with 10 men Osasuna.

It was a day of thrillers as Vinicius’ deceiving cross-like shot found the back of the net and Osasuna’s equaliser came in the form of a no-look header from Kike Garcia who was completely unaware of his header’s direction.

As Real Madrid shared points with the team from Pamplona on the day, they got toppled by Barcelona in the league standings who now occupy first place sending their Madrid rivals to second with points tied.

Here are my three observations from the match:

Weary from the International Break

As predicted, the players did come from the International Break with tiredness and stress. It was evident in the movements of Dani Carvajal, Aurelien Tchouameni and others. The International Break blues not only disrupted the performances of the players called on duty but it also seeped through the players staying at Madrid who didn’t receive any kind of football action.

Of course, Madridistas are gutted to see their team’s winning run falter but it was coming sooner or later. Hopefully, the players will be able to strike off their weariness and be truly back for the mid-week clash against Shakhtar.

Defensive woes continue

It has been another match where Real Madrid failed to keep a clean sheet because of defensive instability. If Antonio Rudiger could predict the incoming cross from Unai Garcia for Kike, Real could have kept their long-awaited clean sheet, such latency to foresee an attacking ball from the opponent will no doubt cost Ancelotti’s men many during the season.

There are more problems existing in the defence and Ancelotti might need to sort them out soon with El Clasico approaching this month.

This defeat doesn’t make the season

Let’s be clear on one thing. Yes, Real Madrid started the season on a high after composing a nine-game win streak but certainly, Madridistas perhaps didn’t expect an ‘invincible’ season from their club.

Optimistically speaking, this defeat was coming sooner or later and it happened early enough to give the team time to compose and restructure themselves.

The standards are always high at Madrid and as Ancelotti states, “We’re competing for everything.” It’s these kinds of games which win you the league at the end of the season but it’s also these kinds of games which brings you back to the roots to sort yourself out.

October 1, 2022

Real Madrid v Osasuna | Preview and Predictions

Real Madrid will look to stretch their perfect record in all competitions since the start of the season as they return to action against Osasuna in Matchday 7 of the La Liga.

Los Blancos has the upper hand in this upcoming fixture after dismantling their rivals Atletico Madrid in their previous match while the visitors suffered a 2-0 defeat to Getafe in their last league outing.

Preview

Carlo Ancelotti will have the talismanic Karim Benzema back on the squad list who is expected to start from the bench. The attacking trio of Fede Valverde, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo will look to continue their fine run of form after their exemplary outing in the Madrid Derby.

Real Madrid have scored at least two goals in each of their fixtures this season across all competitions and will look to continue their quintessential goalscoring form but at the same time, Real’s defensive vulnerabilities have been exposed owing them clean sheets in most of their wins.

Meanwhile, the visitors enjoyed an upright start to the season, sitting fifth in the league standings but the defeat to Getafe has left a bitter taste.

Despite their frailties in their last league fixture, they came back with a win, scoring two goals against Real Valladolid in a friendly match during the International Break.

Osasuna have managed to hold Real Madrid to two 0-0 draws in the last two seasons. But they have now gone 16 games without a win against the champions in all competitions since edging 1-0 in January 2011.

What to expect?

Real Madrid is expected to dominate possession as well as set the tempo of the game with the like of Toni Kroos starting. Luka Modric will be out of this match due to a muscle overload and Real’s sufferings are well known when the Croatian is absent. As Benzema is in contention to come on from the bench, the trio of Vini, Rodrygo and Valverde will need to establish a strong start in order to reduce the strain on the recovering Frenchman.

Osasuna have worked hard to sit fifth place and they always set up quite the force to destabilize the opponent’s midfield. Jagoba Arrasate will need to orchestrate his men to keep their cool after a hot-tempered clash against Getafe.

Prediction: REAL MADRID 2-0 OSASUNA

August 19, 2022

Ancelotti talks about Casemiro, signings and more

Ancelotti talks about Casemiro, signings and more

July 9, 2022

Real Madrid to make a decision on loan returnees

We successfully completed one month without football and there’s still another to go. We take a look at the players who will be returning from their loan spells away from Real Madrid and what decisions the club holds for them.

May 21, 2022

3 Players Real Madrid will look out for in the summer

After missing out on Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid will certainly look to strengthen the squad in the upcoming summer transfer window with an enormous amount of resources.

Real Madrid defeat Espanyol 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu to clinch their 35th LaLiga title!
May 3, 2022

Real Madrid clinch their 35th LaLiga title!

Real Madrid defeated Espanyol 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu to clinch their 35th LaLiga title!

Manchester City won 4-3 versus Real Madrid in what became an instant Champions League classic
May 2, 2022

Manchester City keep on shooting but Real Madrid refuse to die

Manchester City threw all their firepower at Real Madrid in a 4-3 win at the Etihad Stadium, but the Los Blancos stuck to their own script in refusing to give up.

Real Madrid look to finish the job against Chelsea at the Santiago Bernabeu
April 11, 2022

Real Madrid vs Chelsea FC | Preview

Real Madrid lock horns with current Champions League holders Chelsea in the second leg of the UCL quarter-finals

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