The main focus in the Madrid press this morning is the match between Villarreal and Real Madrid at El Madrigal later tonight.
Carlo Ancelotti confirmed new signing Gareth Bale will make his debut for Los Blancos on the right hand side of the front three. And Marca looks at the deadly trio of Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo – saying rightfully that the Villarreal defence will be kept on their toes tonight.
AS opt to look at the rivalry between Ronaldo and Bale – the former gave the latter a ‘welcome’ in training on Friday by going in hard on the Welshman’s ankle in a tackle during the training session. The paper looks at who will take freekicks, and labels the two a pair of torpedos ready to sink the Yellow Submarine.
According to research Ronaldo score 6.1% of the freekicks he takes, compared to Bale’s 4.4%, so the Portuguese may want to carry on taking them for now.
Asier Illarramendi is also set play for Los Blancos after recovering from injury. The midfielder signed for the club from Real Sociedad in July but has been on the sidelines receiving treatment.
Carlo Ancelotti also put an end to the keeper debate yesterday by confirming Iker Casillas will play in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey with Diego Lopez keeping his place in the side for La Liga matches. The Italian manager has done something similar in the past – notably with Christian Abbiati and Dida being rotated while he was in charge at AC Milan.
