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Real Madrid have five players on loan and now Florentino Pérez must decide what will be their future. Jesús Vallejo, Diego Llorente, Marcos Llorente, Burgui and Borja Mayoral have experienced different sensations this season and they don’t know if they are going to return to Real Madrid or if they are going to be one year more growing in another side.

It looks like only two players are going to return to Real Madrid next season, Jesús Vallejo and Marcos Llorente. Jesús Vallejo has played almost all the season with Eintracht Frankfurt, being a kaiser and with Pepe’s departure, he may be the perfect replacement in the defense.

Marcos Llorente has been the best player in Alavés in the return of the Basque side to La Liga. The Spanish midfielder did a very complete season, being the reference in the midfield and one of the best young players in all La Liga. Marcos Llorente can be a perfect substitute of Casemiro when the Brazilian player needs to rest or when he is injured.  Nowadays Casemiro is the only stopper of the team and the young Spanish youngster may be a great player to complete even more the squad.

Burgui has less chances to return to Real Madrid. Although the midfielder has accumulated a good amount of minutes in Sporting Gijón (32 games), the fact is that Florentino Pérez is already looking a new team in which he can play next season. Real Betis, Deportivo Coruña and Espanyol are the team who are interested in the Spanish winger.

There are more doubts with the future of Diego Llorente and Borja Mayoral. The defender has done an acceptable season with Málaga and it’s possible that Zinedine Zidane will wait to his evolution in the preseason. It’s true that with the return of Jesús Vallejo and the great improvement of Nacho in the current season, it will be difficult to include another full back in the squad.

Borja Mayoral had a difficult year in his experience at Bundesliga. The Spaniard striker has only played three games from the beginning and after the few opportunities Eintracht Frankfurt gave him this season, he will return to Real Madrid. Mariano may go on loan next year and Mayoral could be his replacement in the team.

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Real Madrid and Alavés keep a really good relationship in the last years and they could agree some deals during the summer. Los Blancos will have in their squad for next season, the footballers that have defended the Basque country team. Now, Florentino Pérez is willing to give more players on loan, knowing that this is the perfect club to develop the skills of the youngsters.

Theo Hernández and Marcos Llorente couldn’t bring misery to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final last Saturday but both played a great match with their team. The French left back even scored a great goal from a free kick and Marcos Llorente was one of the best players in the midfield, even with a bandage in the head.

Marcos Llorente said goodbye to Alavés supporters in a moving letter as he will play for Real Madrid in the next season. The youngster is the best replacement for Casemiro and he could be a very important player in the midfield next season.

Taking in consideration the success of the loan, Real Madrid are thinking to give more players to Alavés next season. The one with more odds to play in Alavés next season is Achraf Hakimi, the right-back of Castilla born in Morocco.

With only 18 years-old, we spoke about him because he had the chance to be in one of Zinedine Zidane’s lists this season. Ẅith Dani Carvajal and Danilo in the squad, there is no room for him in the team and he’s been highlighting with Castilla in the Third Division. Real Madrid bosses think that Hakimi could have the level to play in a top-flight club and Alavés would be the first option.

Unfortunately for Real Madrid, Castilla, the second team, didn’t perform well this season. They were unable to qualify for the play-offs and they will remain one year more in Segunda B, the third division in the Spanish football. Zidane hasn’t used many Castilla players, but Hakimi is the one who stand out among his colleagues.

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Cristiano Ronaldo has been heavily criticized during his career because he didn’t show up in important days. Obviously, no one can doubt nowadays that the Portuguese striker always helps his team in the crucial games. The Champions League final in Cardiff would be another important date in his calendar.

This would be the fifth Champions League final for Cristiano Ronaldo. He won the first one in Moscow with Manchester United against Chelsea. The Portuguese striker scored for the Red Devils with a great header. Although he missed a penalty in the shoot-out, he was able to lift the cup. One year later, he was unluckier against FC Barcelona in Rome. In 2009, Messi brought misery to Cristiano, who couldn’t score in that final.

Cristiano Ronaldo played two more finals of the Champions League with Real Madrid. In both he arrived quite bad physically, after a very demanding season. However, he scored from the penalty spot in Lisbon in the extra time and he kicked the last penalty in Milan to lift the 11th Champions League.

This year he has already showed his importance, scoring a brace at the Allianz Arena in Munich and a hat-trick against the German side at Santiago Bernabéu. In the semi-finals, he scored again three goals in the derby to dump Atlético Madrid. In La Liga, he was very important with goals against Sevilla, Celta de Vigo or Málaga in the three last games of the competition.

Cristiano Ronaldo arrives, then, better than ever to the last game of the season for Real Madrid -he’ll have to play the Confederations Cup with Portugal-. Zinedine Zidane knew how to give him rest, and now the Portuguese striker has the Champions League and a probable Golden Ball in his mind.

We can set even more examples of Cristiano Ronaldo showing up in very important days with Los Blancos. For instance, he’s a specialist in scoring goals to FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. We all remember El Clásico in the final of Copa del Rey in 2011 and his header to beat Pinto. He has scored 10 goals against Barcelona at the Camp Nou, including the definitive one to win La Liga in 2012.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo be the star in the next Champions League final?

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Real Madrid lived the ‘Media Day’ on Tuesday with hundreds of journalists at Valdebebas, Los Blancos training ground. There were especially a lot of foreign journalists covering the previous days of the great final between Juventus and Real Madrid.

Apart from Zinedine Zidane, who highlighted the threat of Dybala, some other players spoke with the press. The captain, Sergio Ramos, was among them and he said some interesting things before the big clash. “I sent an invitation to Piqué, but he didn’t answer”, the player commented laughing.

Sergio Ramos affirmed that he wouldn’t kick a penalty in a Panenka style: “Not even crazy! And less to Buffon, who is an expert and he waits until the end. I try to travel to his mind and know what he thinks about me”.

The player arrives to the final in one of the best moments of his life: “The family and the children give you an emotional stability that allow you to play better on the pitch. The captain is a plus and you can enjoy more the victories. This is one of my best periods and hopefully it can last the years I have left in my contract”.

Sergio Ramos also spoke in this interview with the radio station COPE about the controversy Bale-Isco: “Having available all the squad is the best news for Real Madrid. It’s fucked for our coach because it will be tough to make a decision”.

According to the Real Madrid captain, the team arrived to the final in a very good moment: “We could celebrate La Liga and we had one week of training. These require two days for recovery because they were touch sessions. We arrive very very well physically and with everybody on board”.

The defender is very confidence about his team: “Juventus have a superb team, but we have to be confident and be convinced about what we want to achieve. We’re going to fight there”. Sergio Ramos spoke also about the similarities with Atlético Madrid: “These are two rivals that look a like a lot”.

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20th of May 1998. This is a very special date for the Real Madrid supporters. A whole generation of fans didn’t see his team winning the Champions League. The curse was broken 32 years after when Pedja Mijatovic scored one of the most important goals of the history of the club. Finally, millions of ‘madridistas’ knew how was of the feeling of being European Champions.

Real Madrid were the kings of Europe, but all the cups were won in black and white. The last one in 1966. Fifteen years later, in 1981, Los Blancos lost their last final in the Champions League -European Cup, in the old denomination- against Liverpool in Paris. Several years later, Real Madrid could get into another final after knocking out Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund in the knock-out stages.

Juventus were the favourites in Paris. With a team full of stars –Zinedine Zidane, Deschamps, Davies, Inzaghi, Del Piero…-, the Italian side was one of the strongest in Europe. They had won the cup only two years earlier against Ajax. It was their third final in a row, so Lippi’s side arrived to Amsterdam as the team to beat.

Los Blancos had a great squad, but they were able to qualify to Europe in La Liga, after a very poor season with a lot of problems. Seedorf, Raúl, Mijatovic, Suker, etc weren’t able to have the balance during the season. However, they focused on the Champions League to arrive to the great final.

Sanchís and Hierro, the full backs, played one of the best games of their life. Bodo Illgner made amazing saves in the first 15 minutes of the game, where Juventus were trying hard to get the lead in the match. Fernando Redondo and Christian Karembeu tried to stop Zidane and Del Piero in the midfield; whereas Raúl, Mijatovic and Morientes tried to find the goal of the victory.

In the 66th minute, the magical moment arrived. A shot from Roberto Carlos touched in a Juventus player, the ball was in the box. Mijatovic took it, dribbled Peruzzi and scored with his left foot avoiding Montero. It was La Séptima’s goal -the seventh- and the only goal of Mijatovic in the competition that year. Real Madrid defended 25 long minutes until the German referee Hellmut Krug finished the game with the final whistle.

32 years later, the Champions League trophy travelled back to Madrid. A new era opened for Los Blancos and they were able to win two more cups in the next four years. However, the turning point was the 20th of May 1998 and the goal scored by Mijatovic. Real Madrid modern era started and they become giants of Europe again. Until today, when they can lift their 12th Champions League, the third in only four years.

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Real Madrid celebrated this Tuesday the ‘Media Day’ and more than two hundreds journalist arrived to Valdebebas to follow the training sessions and to speak with Zinedine Zidane and the players.

The coach looked very relax after the day of holidays he gave to the players when the manager went to visit his father and brother. Zinedine Zidane knows the main problem about Juventus: “Yes, [Dybala] is the threat number one. All are very good, but Dybala is one of the best. After they have Higuaín, Alves… With Real Madrid is the same, people talk about some of them but everybody is so good”.

The main question about the line-up is whether Isco or Bale will play the game: What a good question. They can play together! They played 16 times this years. Both arrive very well to the final, although Gareth had less minutes. And we know Isco and what he’s done at the end of the season”.

The manager was asked about the possible injustice in case Isco doesn’t play the final: “He deserves to play like everybody. But there are players who won’t be in the list and this is tougher. This is the thing that hurts me the most. Everybody deserves to play the final”.

In this final, we’ll see the team that has scored more goals in the competition and the team that has conceded less goals: “This is a final and nothing affects. What happened in the Champions doesn’t affect in the final. I think we are the two best teams of Europe and for this reason we’re going to play the final. When you arrive to the final, it’s always deserved because the season is very long. They also won their league… It will be an interesting final”.

Zizou also defended why he’s the right coach for Los Blancos: “I have DNA Real Madrid. This is my home because since my arrival they gave me all the support. I’ve always defended the values of this club. I’m living with this club an amazing thing. No matter what happens, I’ll always be Real Madrid supporters because is club of my life”.

The manager also remembered the final of 1998, when he was playing for Juventus: “My memories are fucked. When you lose a final is a shame, but it’s part of football. I always accept what comes football. Then I arrived to Real Madrid and I won with the white t-shirt and I was happier”.

Finally, the manager spoke about the qualities of his team to win: “We always believe. We are very close from winning again and we are the first that can win back to back Champions Leagues. We are here thanks to the players, who have believed in this. But this is not over”, Zidane warned.

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Pepe is living his last days as Real Madrid player. 10 years later is time to say goodbye to all the fans, although this is not how the footballer wanted to finish his time with Los Blancos. The defender wants to extend his contract with the club, at least two years, but Florentino Pérez is not willing to agree with this deal. So the 30th of June, he won’t be tied with a contract with Real Madrid.

Despite we are in the week of the final of the Champions League, these are not happy days for Pepe. The footballer has always said that he wanted to stay at Real Madrid and he’ll wait until the end for a decision. However, the decision has been made and the club won’t offer a two-years deal to Pepe, so the footballer has to leave the Spanish capital.

The 34-years-old player can still sign his last good contract as a footballer. His willingness is to stay in Madrid, where he’s the captain and he’s lived the last 10 years of his life. He’s very comfortable in the Spanish capital and he’s become one of the most beloved players of the squad by the supporters.

Pepe will have to look at this point for a new club. It will be very easy for him. He could earn a lot of money at the end of his career in China or he could stay in Europe and play in a top-flight club. For instance, Inter Milan would like to sign him, so Pepe won’t have any trouble to find a new club.

After 10 years with Los Blancos, Pepe would have loved to say goodbye to the Real Madrid fans. He couldn’t do it in the last game at Santiago Bernabéu against Sevilla, where he wasn’t in the list with little physical problems. Hopefully, if Real Madrid win the Champions League, there will be a party in the stadium, so he could have his farewell.

Pepe has played 13 games in La Liga this season and he has scored two goals. Only in the season 2009/10 he played less minutes than in the current one. His last game was in the derby against Atlético Madrid, when he scored a goal and he got injured in the ribs. Pepe has been one of the best defenders in Real Madrid history and he should have a good and deserved farewell.

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Cristiano Ronaldo is eager for more titles and the Real Madrid star is already looking forward to the final in Cardiff against Juventus. The Portuguese striker spoke with the UEFA media about the great final: “This is a goal that all the players want to accomplish. We want to make history and, if we win, we’ll be the first team who is able to win back to back titles with the new format of the Champions League. It’s an ambition and a dream. We’ll keep the fingers crossed”, Ronaldo explained.

The striker knows that Juventus is a very tough team: “We know it’s going to be a very difficult game but we are Real Madrid and we have a good opportunity to win”, the player said. Cristiano thinks it won’t be very different from the finals against Atlético Madrid: “It will be very similar to the last ones. These are finals that are at 50%. Both team will try to take of advantage of the rivals’ errors. The team that makes less errors will probably win. I hope this will be Real Madrid. It will be a thrilling game, everybody wants to watch it and the players want to be on the pitch to enjoy it. The expectations are high and the team has confidence”, the striker commented.

The Portuguese star also spoke about the rival, Juventus: “It’s an excellent team. They are not in the final by accident. They won the Italian League and the Cup. They are a tough rival and we know it will be a complicated game. They like to cover closely their rivals, like Atlético Madrid. Perhaps they have a great defensive line, but despite the great defenders, there is always a flaw in each defense. So we have to find the flaws, take the space that Juventus will give us during the game and take advantage to score”, Cristiano Ronaldo analyzed the game.

This will be Cristiano Ronaldo’s fifth Champions League final, after the two played with Real Madrid and the others played with the Manchester United t-shirt. “It’s always special playing the final of the Champions League. We’ll face a great team. Ke know it’s going to be tough but we are Real Madrid and we have a good opportunity to win. I think the final is at 50% but obviously I expect to win because it would be extraordinary”.

The player also wanted to highlight the difficult path to get to Cardiff: “Winning the Champions League is extremely complicated. In the Group Stage we went through in the second place after Borussia Dortmund, but I think we did well. After we were able to knock out big teams like Atlético or Bayern, for this reason we deserve to be in the final. Since I arrived to Real Madrid, we’ve always prepared the knock-out games even more focused and I think this show we are a great team”.

Finally, Cristiano Ronaldo spoke about his coach, Zinedine Zidane: “He’s done a extraordinary job. He started this season from the beginning and he’s showing the great coach he is becoming. I’m very happy with his job. I admired him as a player and now even more as a coach because he’s a positive person, very hard-worker and very respectful with the players. So I have no doubt that the success is due to Zidane and the excellent job he’s doing. All the players are happy with him”, the Portuguese star said.

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We are all looking forward to the final of the Champions League that will take place next Saturday (19:45, UK time ) at Cardiff. Real Madrid would like to lift the 13th Champions League trophy against Juventus, the team that has lost more finals in the history. Now we want you to have a look at some stats given by UEFA.

  • Real Madrid will be the first time to score 500 goals in the Champions League, from group stage to final, if they are able to score a goal in Cardiff.
  • Real Madrid and Juventus will play their 6th Champions League final, a record equaling AC Milan.
  • Real Madrid have the record of titles -having won five-, while Juventus have lost more fixtures with four defeats and only one victory, against Ajax in 1996.
  • Apart from Real Madrid, only Inter Milan, Marseille and Porto have a 100% record winning. The other teams only arrived once to the final.
  • Los Blancos try to become the first team to win back to back titles in the Champions League. Milan (1989. 1990), Ajax (1995, 1996), Juve (1996, 1997) and Manchester United (2008, 2009) lost their finals as holders.
  • After the defeat at Vicente Calderón in the second leg, Juventus is the only undefeated team in the tournament. Manchester United, in 2008, was the last undefeated champion.
  • Ronaldo and Ramos can become the first players to score in three finals. Now, Raúl González (Madrid 2000 and 2002), Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona 2006 and 2009), Lionel Messi (Barcelona 2009 and 2011), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United 2008, Real Madrid 2014) and Ramos (Real Madrid 2014, 2016) have scored twice.
  • Ronaldo could become a record four-time winner of the UEFA Champions League. Only Clarence Seedorf was able to do it.
  • Italy and Spain have the most appearances in the Champions League finals. Spain has 16 victories in 27 appearances whereas Italy has 12 victories and 15 defeats.
  • If Los Blancos win, it will be the 10th Champions League title for a Spanish side, the fourth in a row. No country has done this.
  • This is the fourth Spain v Italy final, the most frequent of all times. One more than England v Spain or Spain v Spain.
  • In the previous 24 UEFA Champions League finals, there have been 17 outright wins and seven games decided by penalty shoot-outs.
  • Seventeen European Cup finals have gone to extra time, including the 2016 decider.
  • No player has scored a hat trick in a Champions League final. Daniele Massaro (Milan 1994), Karl-Heinz Riedle (Borussia Dortmund 1997), Hernán Crespo (Milan 2005), Filippo Inzaghi (Milan 2007) and Diego Milito (Internazionale 2010) scored twice.
  • If Juventus win, Gigi Buffon will become the oldest player to appear in a final victory with 39 years and 126 days.

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    Juventus and Real Madrid are fighting for Kylian Mbappé, one of the best strikers this season and a player who has been targeted by Los Blancos. After winning the Ligue 1 title, the footballer might think on changing the team and Raphael Varane has spoken about how Mbappé would fit in the Spanish capital.

    According to the Real Madrid defender, the Monaco striker would be perfect for Real Madrid: “He’s a great player with a superb potential. He has the quality you see in the great players. If he comes to Madrid? Of course I would like it because, besides of being French, he would be very welcome in the dressing room. We’ll have to speak about this in Clairefontaine”, Varane said to the French TV TF1.

    Raphael Varane was asked about this issue because it looks like Florentino Pérez would like to sign Kylian Mbappé. If Morata finally decides to leave, probably to Milan, Mbappé would be the perfect replacement although he will be very expensive, after the transfer of Bernardo Silva to Manchester City for €80M.

    The player said that he wanted to give a title to Monaco and he has accomplished the goal. With Hazard out of the list after the great performances of Marco Asensio, Mbappé is the player with best odds to be the next Galáctico of Real Madrid.

    Raphael Varane also spoke about the Benzema’s situation with the French national team: “If he’s affected about the national team? Benzema is human and these things affect him. But he has a mental strength that helps him to overcome the things that are not seen on the pitch. He keeps doing well and he’s calm”.

    The French manager doesn’t shut the door to the return to the national team, although it doesn’t look very likely that Didier Deschamps can include in the list very soon: If he should go back? It’s not a players issue, but Karim is a top player”, Deschamps said.

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