After lifting his fourth Ballon d'or award, Real Madrid star striker Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted that the competition for the trophy would have been fiercer if he and Lionel Messi were in the same team. Ronaldo, who inspired Zinedine Zidane's side to the Champions League glory and Portugal to the European Championship 2016 trophy, defeated Messi and Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann to win the coveted prize.
Real Madrid's Gareth Bale has the qualities to fill the void left by his fellow forward Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Juventus, the Spanish side's new manager Julen Lopetegui has said.
Diego Costa gave Europa League holders Atletico a dream start against Champions League winners Real by firing them ahead after 49 seconds, knocking down a long pass and smashing the ball into the net from a tight angle.
Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema kept up his impressive run of form by scoring and providing two assists in a 3-1 win away to Eibar on Sunday, taking the champions level on points with La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.
Portugal defender Pepe is in the last year of his contract with Real Madrid but is keen to prove doubters wrong by signing a new deal with the Spanish club.
The last-16 knock-out round kicks-off this week with Chelsea visiting Paris on Tuesday; Zidane to coach Real Madrid as manager in his first match in Europe
Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale has been ruled out of Saturday's La Liga game at Athletic Bilbao, coach Zinedine Zidane said on Friday, after the Wales international picked up yet another injury on his return to action on Tuesday after 63 days out.
Barcelona's star striker Lionel Messi has backed Atletico Madrid to seal this year's Champions League title, saying his team don't want to see Real Madrid claim the trophy.
Gareth Bale again came to Real Madrid's rescue by heading home the winner in a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad on Saturday that keeps their title hopes alive.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo faces a race against time to be fit for the Champions League semi-final second leg with Manchester City on May 4.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted a first-half penalty as injury-depleted Real Madrid recovered from their derby defeat by Atletico Madrid at the weekend with a 3-1 win at Levante on Wednesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his recent Ballon d'Or award by scoring twice for the first time in a La Liga game this season as champions Real Madrid swept to a stunning 5-0 win over Sevilla on Saturday to go five points behind leaders Barcelona.
Spain and Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos faced a new setback in a season littered with injury problems when his club said on Tuesday he had tested positive for COVID-19.
David Beckham has no doubt that his former team mate and "Class of 92" graduate will make a success of the job if he takes it.
Zidane plays down Ronaldo injury; Liverpool's Gomez sidelined after surgey
Real will ease the pain by retaining their Champions League title, their only hope of salvaging a disappointing season.
Prolific Cristiano Ronaldo hit a 35th hat-trick for Real Madrid who swept aside Espanyol 6-0 in a ruthless attacking display in La Liga on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo said Real Madrid's late escape act against Sporting Lisbon should serve as a warning after the European champions staged a remarkable four-minute turnaround to open their Champions League defence with a 2-1 win on Wednesday.
Real, who have not won the title since 2017, lead the table on 74 points, four ahead of Barca with five games left and have a superior head-to-head record over the Catalans which would give them the trophy if both teams finished the season level on points.
Real Madrid tightened their grip on top spot by beating Alaves 3-0 at home in La Liga on Sunday to provisionally move five points ahead of nearest challengers Barcelona despite coach Zinedine Zidane making a string of changes in defence.
Real Madrid's reliance on their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo was more evident than ever on Tuesday as the Spanish and European champions meekly lost 1-0 at Espanyol in La Liga.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit back at his critics after a remarkable 35th career hat-trick fired Real Madrid past VfL Wolfsburg.
Cristiano Ronaldo says he decided to quit Real Madrid this summer because the Spanish club's president, Florentino Perez, only ever saw him as a means of making money.
Sky reported Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea have been in touch with Kane's representatives.
A naturally shy character who rarely gave interviews or spoke Spanish in public, Bale never ingratiated himself to Madrid supporters
Donning the white strip of the 13-times European champions, the club's joint-record signing kicked balls into the crowd and posed for photographers on the pitch at the official presentation.
The 33-year-old Messi, who signed his last contract in 2017, has become more outspoken against the club's hierarchy in the last year and radio station Cadena Ser said last Thursday he is unhappy with how Barca is being run and wants to leave in 2021.
Spanish soccer's 'El Clasico' encounters between Barcelona and Real Madrid will happen in December and April, two of the most anticipated games of the 2016-17 Primera Division season whose fixtures were announced on Friday. Defending champions Barca host Real on Dec. 4 at the Camp Nou. The reverse fixture will take place on April 23, at the Bernabeu stadium, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirmed after the draw. As the La Liga season kicks off, Barca will begin their title defence at home to Real Betis on Aug. 21.
The hard-fought win took Zinedine Zidane's side on to 77 points after 34 games, seven clear of second-placed Barca who visit in-form Villarreal later on Sunday.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo may be on course for his worst domestic goal haul since 2010 but with two strikes against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday he became the first player to score 100 goals in UEFA competitions.
"The intention is to sell him, but there's no offers forthcoming," read the front page of Marca, accompanied by a picture of the 29-year-old Bale looking sullen.
Real Madrid endured their toughest test at Granada on Monday since La Liga restarted but showed real determination to grind out a 2-1 win and record their ninth consecutive victory as they moved within touching distance of reclaiming the title. Early goals from Ferland Mendy and Karim Benzema were enough to restore a four-point lead over Barcelona and Real will clinch their first league title since 2017 with a win over Villarreal on Thursday or at Leganes on the final day of the season.
Real Madrid suffered a humiliating 2-1 home defeat by Leganes on Wednesday to exit the King's Cup at the quarter-final stage on away goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to hit 30 La Liga goals in six consecutive seasons as he inspired Real Madrid to a 4-0 thrashing of Eibar on Saturday.
Manchester United should sack Louis Van Gaal and install his assistant Ryan Giggs as manager, according to former striker Dwight Yorke who wants to launch his own managerial career at struggling Aston Villa. The former Trinidad and Tobago striker said changes were needed at United, with the 20-times English champions sixth in the Premier League, out of the Champions League and suffering a 2-0 loss to arch-rivals Liverpool in the Europa League this week. "At the end of the day, it's all about results," Yorke was quoted as saying by Singaporean daily The New Paper on Saturday after a promotional event in the Southeast Asian citystate. "In the two years that he's (Van Gaal) been there, he's spent tons of money, brought in tons of players, and simply hasn't got the results that he and everyone else had hoped to. "You see a lot of young managers, Zinedine Zidane's been given the opportunity at Real Madrid, you got Luis Enrique at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola who's coming to Manchester City, Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino, they're all ex-players. "And I feel that the game is going down that road, and maybe this is the right time to give Giggsy the job." Yorke won three Premier League titles and the 1999 Champions League with United under former manager Alex Ferguson after joining from Aston Villa.
The local government, meanwhile, is deploying more than 200 national police officers to prevent crowds assembling, with mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida also asking people to stay away.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona are in the middle of an injury crisis as they head to Valencia for Saturday's La Liga game looking to keep up with pacemaking pair Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Without injured goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen and right back Sergi Roberto for the last two games, Barca will also be missing defenders Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique after both were hurt in Wednesday's 4-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League. Pique sprained his right ankle while Alba injured his left hamstring and both are out until November.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
After taking home their first La Liga trophy in five years, Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. took their celebrations from streets in CelebesPlaza to the Town Hall.
