I Love Real Madrid

Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard has refuelled speculation linking him with Real Madrid after insisting that he does not want to have any regrets during the backend of his professional career. The Belgium international has repeatedly admitted his dream of playing for the European champions and speaking to RMC, he has refused to rule out a potential move away from Stamford Bridge.

“The family is in London, I’m also going to be 28. I do not want to have any regrets at the end of my career. It’s a decision I’m going to make, I do not know when, but I’ll make it. As I said, I’m already finishing this year with Chelsea, I still have a year of contract after this year,” he is quoted as saying before the Premier League game at Brighton.

Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric remains optimistic that he can end the dominance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo of the Ballon d’Or crown. One of Messi or Ronaldo has won the prestigious accolade over the past decade but Modric is aiming to end the streak after enjoying a strong World Cup with Croatia, who were the runners-up behind France.

Speaking after Croatia’s stunning win over Spain, Modric said that he would like to win the Ballon d’Or title this time around but the failure to do so would not change the fact that he has witnessed the best year of his professional career, he said: “Let's see what happens. I'm very proud to fight for it. If I win perfect, otherwise it will not change anything. 'With or without the Ballon d'Or, it's the best year of my career.”

Barcelona legend Rivaldo believes Antonio Conte would be the perfect fit to become the next Real Madrid head coach as he would be able to instil discipline and introduce a strong work ethic within the club. The European champions have gone through a tough start to the ongoing campaign and they most recently suffered an embarrassing 5-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona.

Owing to that result, the Capital outfit decided to part ways with head coach Julen Lopetegui after just over 100 days at the helm and reports have since tipped Conte for the job. Speaking to Betfair, Rivaldo said that Conte would provide the much-needed experience and discipline to revive the club’s fortunes in both the domestic and European competitions.

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has said that the team remain confident of overturning their recent winless run across all competitions. The European champions have not enjoyed a fluent start to the 2018/19 campaign and they are currently on a run of four matches without victory while failing to score in any of those matches.

As a result, there have been plenty of question marks regarding the future of manager Julen Lopetegui at the helm but Kroos believes the club can overcome the recent lean patch, he told reporters: “It's a challenge to turn things around. We have shown at Real that we can do it. There have always been phases like that. I am not worried.”

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has admitted that he was sad with the way he had to part ways with Chelsea last month. The Belgium international had been desperate for a return to Madrid this summer but the move was supposedly delayed until the dying stages of the Premier League transfer window where the Blues recruited Kepa Arrizabalaga as his replacement.

Since then, there has been severe criticism and anger among the Blues supporters regarding the nature of the departure but Courtois has indicated that such a situation may not have happened, had the Blues agreed to sell him in advance, he said: “It makes me feel sad and obviously they don’t know all the truth. I think in March the decision was already made and I thought the club would accept it. Then because the transfer was closed I did not show up because I thought it better not to disturb the team and the squad. If I did go there maybe, I didn’t want to be toxic, so obviously it is a pity because I love Chelsea…. Hopefully it will turn around.”

Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui is confident that Gareth Bale can make a decisive impact for the European champions as the season progresses. The Wales international had played second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo in the attack front over the past five seasons but he has now got the opportunity to make his mark with the Portuguese superstar heading to Juventus.

Speaking after Los Blancos’ European Super Cup defeat, Lopetegui said: “Gareth Bale played very well, but I’m expecting he will get much better. It is normal in this moment of the season that the players are not in their peak physical shape so we know there is a lot more to come from Gareth and all the others. We are very happy with his performance and we hope he will continue to improve to make a decisive impact in the next matches.”

Brazilian teenager Vinicius Junior has expressed his delight after joining Real Madrid from Flamengo this summer. The European champions had reached a pre-agreement to sign the 18-year-old from the Brazilian outfit last year and they have now formally recruited him after sanctioning a deal worth €46m.

Speaking at a news conference, Junior said:“Since I came here, I felt something different, that I was going to be very happy, not only myself but also all my teammates and family. Everyone asks me what it’s like to be here. I always tell them there’s nothing better than being at the best team in the world and training with the best players in the world.I’m always very happy. Every day I’m happier to wear the Real Madrid jersey. I’m adapting very quickly, less so when people talk to me at such a pace!”

Former Denmark manager Morten Olsen has praised the progress of Christian Eriksen and believes the midfielder is ready to make the step up to either Barcelona or Real Madrid. The Tottenham Hotspur has been hugely influential for the Danes during the opening stages of the World Cup and he has already contributed towards both goals which they have scored the tournament.

As a result, there has been widespread praise over his showing and former Denmark head coach Olsen believes the 25-year-old is now capable of representing a club of Barcelona’s or Real Madrid’s calibre, he told Goal: “I think that he was in a very good school, at Ajax. But, the most important thing for the players is to play matches.

Germany head coach Joachim Loew regards Barcelona’s Lionel Messi as the most complete player compared to Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo has impressed with his goalscoring exploits with Los Blancos for the past nine seasons but Loew believes Messi is the better player overall due to his ability to contribute regular assists. Speaking to reporters, Loew said: “I’d go with Messi. Ronaldo is sensational, a professional, an incredible goalscoring machine but Messi is the most complete player. Messi’s an assist genius, the past 10 years he’ll get 30-40 assists and score 50 goals. He has an incredible way of playing.”

Messi ended the season with Barcelona with another domestic double but the Argentine would still be disappointed by the club’s failure in the Champions League. The Blaugrana were touted to at least make the last four of the elite competition but they only managed to reach the quarter-final stage where they were surprisingly eliminated by AS Roma.

La Liga president Javier Tebas does not believe Real Madrid would spend a staggering world-record sum of €400m to secure the services of Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain. The Brazil international has been heavily linked with a return to the Spanish La Liga this summer with Los Blancos president Florentino Perez said to be eyeing fresh faces for the first-team squad.

Los Blancos had a great end to the previous campaign as they secured their third straight Champions League crown but Florentino has still been fancied to bolster the squad during the summer after their not-so-good showing in their La Liga defence. The Capital outfit were out of the running for the Spanish league title from the opening weeks of the 2017/18 season and regardless of their mid-season recovery, they could manage a third place finish, 17 points behind champions Barcelona.