C. Ronaldo Robbed during El Clasico

It was as if time had reversed to the year 1714 in Barcelona last Saturday, as the 98,761 home fans at Camp Nou stadium chanted as if they were calling for Catalonian independence. This was the Welshman's first Clasico, but another Clasico rookie Neymar was not so generous in sharing the glory. In the 18th minute of the first half Barcelona's "miestro" Andres Iniesta threads a pass through a seam in Real's defense and Neymar finds the back of the net. Neymar is among the few to score in his first appearance in a Clasico. Bale, who had just two shots in his hour of play, was substituted early in the second half. 

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Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti also had bigger problems in the 70th minute when they could have tied the game. Ronaldo is brought down in the box by Javier Mascherano but referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco doesn't budge. Ronaldo clearly had a strong case in his appeal for a penalty but was quickly shut up when Alexis Sanchez pushed the game out of reach in the 78th minute with a talented goal chipping Madrid’s goalkeeper. It wasn't until stoppage time in the second-half that Jese Rodriguez scored Madrid's first goal.  

Barcelona's 2-1 victory in the Clasico rival was the team's first win in their last six match ups against Madrid. It also put them at the top of the La Liga table, 4 points above runner up Atletico Madrid and 6 points clear of Real Madrid.

But don't think this rival will simmer down any time in the near future either; it is likely we will see these two Spanish powerhouses in the UEFA Champions League competition or perhaps in other cup tournaments. 





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Pitch Philosophy

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"The philosophy of 10 years ago remains the same, buy great champions, entertain the fans and maintain the historic prestige of Real Madrid," Juventus and Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said in an interview with Spanish sports daily Marca published on Monday.

As Madrid fly through Europe and remain at the top of their group in the Champions League matches, there is still plenty of work for Carlo Ancelotti, who replaced Jose Mourinho at the end of last season, as Real Madrid look to face Italian champions this Wednesday.

Reports indicate that Ancelotti is promising attacking and entertaining football in their match against Juventus, a win will put Madrid just seven points clear of Juve with only three games left.

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"If we can play our game, we are a team who plays at a high tempo, which pressures high up the pitch, very well organized," Buffon said.

"But all that can go out the window the moment Cristiano Ronaldo... gets the ball, beats three players and scores."

After winning Saturday’s La Liga match over Malaga 2-0, Real are now only three points behind league leaders Barcelona. A second half penalty won by Gareth Bale, who came off the bench marking his return from injury, gave Cristiano Ronaldo the chance to convert from the spot and seal the game for Real Madrid.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.  Sources 

* http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/football-preview-buffon-questions-real-spending-juve-clash-015956665--sow.html (quotes from Buffon)

*http://www.realmadridnews.com/tag/cristiano-ronaldo/ (picture 1)

*http://football-craze.com/famous-football-player-gianluigi-buffon-italy/ (picture 2)

Madrid Making Moves

Real Madrid cut price of striker Karim Benzema to ₤20m as they prepare to purchase Liverpool’s Luis Suarez in January. An approach for Benzema was made by Arsenal during the transfer window for around ₤20m, which is half of what Real had originally priced the Frenchman at over the summer. Word from insiders at the club admit that head coach Carlo Ancelloti has had enough with striker Benzema, who has hit the back of the net only two times in eight matches this season.

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There is also a growing expectation that Uruguayan striker Suarez is still adamant about leaving his club Liverpool. Letting go of Benzema will help fund the Suarez move, but getting the Uruguayan to fall in line with the club will be the hard part. With that in mind, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has also identified Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero as a possible alternative.

With Arsenal at the top of the English Premier League, head coach Arsene Wenger, may feel signing this high prices forward is not necessary at the moment. It is important to know that Wenger is a distant admirer of Benzema, thanks to the rewarding faith shown by his countryman Oliver Giroud.

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Rubbish Reports

Despite managing to score on his Spanish La Liga debut match against Villareal, Welsh playmaker Gareth Bale has since been unable to play another minute for Madrid. After Bale finally completed his move to the Santiago Bernabeu only one month ago, reports from the Spanish sports daily Marca have stated that Bale actually has a lumbar disc hernia which will require an operation to cure the problem. The Wales agent Jonathan Barnett has religiously denied the report calling the story "complete rubbish, irresponsible and a disgrace."

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The Real Madrid club have recently come out strongly deny the Marca report on Bale. "It is completely false that the player has a discal hernia. He has a small chronic protrusion in a spinal disc that will not affect him playing," Real Madrid said in a statement. The newspaper reports are creating a storm of opinions and controversies which can only be confirmed when Bale actually return on the field with "Los Blancos" (Real Madrid.)

Meanwhile, Barnett released a statement reassuring the public's confidence that Bale will return soon and he is already training normally. "He is the most expensive signing in history. If there had been a problem they (Real Madrid) would have stopped the signing. Gareth will be available to Mr. Ancelotti after the international break. He has had a slight tear in his thigh. He is angry that a newspaper can write such rubbish."

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http://www.caughtoffside.com/2013/10/13/real-madrid-deny-gareth-bale-is-set-to-be-sidelined-for-three-months-with-back-injury/

Hala Madrid!

Real Madrid continues their perfect start as they grab the top spot in their UEFA Champions League group, after thumping Copenhagen on Wednesday 4-0. The two stars of the match were Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria, both scoring two goals apiece.  Ronaldo followed up on his hat-trick in the opening 6-1 win over Galatasaray with two pivotal goals Wednesday night. Ronaldo not only celebrated 100 games in European competition, but he also took his overall goal tally to 212 in 208 games for Real Madrid.

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 It seems Real is doing just fine with the absence of their injured world-record signing striker, Gareth Bale. The kings of Spain are playing like the kings of Europe as they lead group b with 10 goals scored in just two matches, ahead of PSG scoring 7 and Bayern Munich scoring 6. Ronaldo is also the competitions top scorer with 5 goals.

Copenhagen and Galatasaray are now at the bottom of the group b table with one point, while Real Madrid and Juventus hold the top two positions. Madrid is to play Italian powerhouse Juventus on match day 3 on October 23. The former two time UEFA Champions League trophy holders, Juventus, are second in group b with only two points.

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