The first quarter-finals of the World Cup took place with Germany defeating France and Brazil narrowly beating Colombia to set up a mouthwatering semi-final clash next week. It means Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane are now on their way home after a good tournament for both. But Marcelo and Sami Khedira will go head-to-head.
And sticking with the German midfielder, AS says Italian side Fiorentina have joined the race for the 26-year-old. The former Stuttgart man is looking increasingly likely to leave the Santiago Bernabeu this summer, particularly if Los Blancos sign his team mate in the German side, Toni Kroos.
FA Cup winners Arsenal are the favourites for his signature and are thought to have made an offer close to 30 million euros for Khedira, but Fiorentina have asked to be kept informed of developments and are expected to come up with an offer shortly themselves.
Elsewehere, Marca and AS both ran articles on Alfredo di Stefano honouring his birthday yesterday. The Real Madrid legend turned 88. The online editions of both papers have video compilations of his best goals in a Madrid shirt.
And finally, Zinedine Zidane will make he ‘debut’ as Real Madrid Castillas boss on July 14. The second string team, which was relegated from Segunda B last season, will return to work ahead of the new campaign then.
