Gareth Bale has not run out of credit at Real Madrid and just needs to be looked after by the club following his injury issues, according to Alvaro Arbeloa.
The Welshman s future at the Santiago Bernabeu appears uncertain after enduring another stop-start season, with reports in the Spanish media suggesting the club could be ready to sell the player in the next transfer window.
Bale, who has twice suffered calf problems this season, has found first-team opportunities hard to come by under head coach Zinedine Zidane since his return to action last month.
Isco was preferred for the first leg of Madrid s crucial Champions League last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain, and while Bale did start the 5-3 win over Real Betis last weekend, he was back on the bench for We…
Serie A outfit Verona have completed a deal to sign Artur Ionita from Swiss Super League side FC Aarau on a free transfer.
The Moldova international has completed the formality of a medical and penned a three-year deal at the Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi.
Ionita s contract with Verona will come into affect from July 1, upon the expiry of his deal at Aarau.
A statement on the club s official website read: Hellas Verona announces that it has acquired the player Artur Ionita.
The midfielder, born in 1990 of Moldovan nationality but with a Romanian passport, joins on a free (transfer) and will be available from July 1 2014.
The 19-year-old has plied his trade with Aarau since 2009, and has three goals in 18 league appearances this season.
Ionita joins a…
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti shrugged off any criticism from Sunday’s derby defeat as his “upset and angry” team look for an immediate response against Las Palmas.
Los Blancos lost 3-1 to city rivals Atletico on Sunday after opening the season with six straight wins in all competitions.
That was only the second time in 15 LaLiga clashes that Real had been beaten by Atletico and they host Las Palmas on Wednesday having dropped to third in the table, trailing Barcelona and Girona by a point.
“It’s normal when you’re the Real Madrid coach to receive criticism if things don’t go well. It doesn’t affect me,” Ancelotti told a press conference.
“I have to assess what we did well, which is a lot, as well as the things we didn’t do so wel…
Best odds: 16/5
Bookmaker:
The first finalist of the 2021-22 Champions League will be known on Tuesday evening, after Villarreal battle it out against Liverpool in the second leg of their semifinal clash at the Estadio de la Ceramica. The Merseysiders travel to Spain in good spirits, carrying a two-goal lead with an own-goal from Pervis Estupinan and a calm finish from Sadio Mane the difference last week at Anfield.
Villarreal
The first thing that should be said (again) is that Villarreal are here, at this stage of UEFA s elite club competition, against all odds. They were huge underdogs in the round of 16 but they got the better of Juventus, and repeated the feat against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.
Capable of playing different styles of footbal…
Arsenal are set to reignite their interest in Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema after it was reported that France international has been put up for sale, .
The Gunners have been linked with a move for the striker during the last two transfer windows, as he has struggled in patches during his time in the Spanish capital.
He has however scored over 110 goals in all competitions since signing from Lyon in 2009, and would provide welcome depth to a position where the North Londoners have been short in numbers.
Fellow Frenchman Olivier Giroud is Arsenal’s top league goal scorer this season with fourteen, with midfielder Aaron Ramsey, who missed three-and-a-half months through injury, next on the list with nine.
Arsenal’s win over Hull City on Sunday after…
Competition: International friendly
Market: Spain to win against Germany
Odds:
Spain, the European champions, face World champions Germany in an international friendly this evening, with more than just bragging rights for grabs. Spain have emerged victorious in their last two competitive meetings 1-0 win against Germany in the 2010 World Cup semi-final, and a 1-0 win in the Euro 2008 final and will be desperate to prove their credentials against the World Cup holders.
Germany have somewhat struggled for results since their World Cup triumph in the summer, with Joachim Low’s side having lost two and drawn one of their last five games. They won’t regard their friendly again Spain as that important to win, compared to how desperate La Roja will be to get on…
Chris Richards has signed a new contract with Bayern Munich to keep him at the club until 2025 before returning on loan to Hoffenheim.
The 21-year-old joined from FC Dallas in 2019, initially signing a contract until June 2023, and has penned a further two-year extension with the Bundesliga champions.
Richards spent the majority of last season on loan at Hoffenheim, starting 11 top-flight fixtures before a thigh injury cut his season short in May.
The United States international impressed as a ball-playing defender, ranking third among Hoffenheim defenders for recoveries per 90 minutes (6.37) and second for successful passes (55.98).
On confirming Richards new deal, Bayern s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said on Tuesday: We are very pleased with …
Cologne s relegation from the Bundesliga was confirmed on Saturday as Fortuna Dusseldorf returned to Germany s top division in dramatic fashion.
Rouwen Hennings scored a 90th-minute winner in a 2-1 victory at Dynamo Dresden that means Fortuna are back in the Bundesliga for the first time since 2013.
Cologne s stay in the Bundesliga is over, though, with a 3-2 defeat at Freiburg ensuring they can no longer climb out of the relegation zone.
A Nils Petersen double left Cologne 2-0 down, although Timo Horn saved a penalty for his side with the score at 1-0 and Leonardo Bittencourt dramatically gave the visitors hope with goals in the 82nd and 87th minutes.
However, when substitute Lucas Holer struck in stoppage time, Cologne who needed to win to have any c…
Hector Bellerin insists Arsenal remain united behind under-fire manager Arsene Wenger following the club s latest Champions League capitulation.
Arsenal exited the competition with barely a whimper, trounced 10-2 on aggregate in the last 16 by Bayern Munich, who eased to a 5-1 victory against their 10-man opponents.
The Londoners led 1-0 at half-time through Theo Walcott but it all turned sour when Laurent Koscielny was sent off nine minutes after the break as Bayern piled on five unanswered goals at the Emirates Stadium to reach the quarter-finals.
Tuesday s rout only added fuel to the fire and increased the pressure on Wenger, who is out of contract at the end of the season, but Spain international full-back Bellerin wants the Frenchman to continue in 2017-18.<…
Jude Bellingham has got over the disappointment of England s World Cup quarter-final defeat to France but still wonders what might have been.
The 19-year-old midfielder had an impressive tournament in Qatar before England s 2-1 defeat at the hands of the eventual runners-up, with Three Lions captain Harry Kane both scoring and missing a penalty.
Ahead of his return to domestic action with Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham spoke to the Bundesliga club s media and opened up on his feelings following the World Cup.
You come to terms with it pretty quickly, to be honest, but I still think about the game at times, he said. There was an instance in training where I had a shot and I thought: That was just like the one that I had in the France game , and if I put it more to…