Iker Casillas: "Cristiano Ronaldo gives us goals and titles"

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Iker Casillas spoke to the press after the 1-3loss against Barcelona this last Saturday and stressed out that it's no one should be blamed individually for the defeat against Barça.Casillas still defended Cristiano Ronaldo from all the critics and said that the Portuguese player will keep delivering goals and titles to Real Madrid.

In the hangover of "El Clasico", Real Madrid captain and goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, granted a few statements to the journalists and made sure to defend his teammate,Cristiano Ronaldo, from all the critics blaming him for the loss against Barcelona.Casillas emphasized that when a team loses, then everyone loses and not only a few selected persons. The Spanish goalkeeper also stressed out that Cristiano Ronaldo is still the player who will keep scoring goals for Real Madrid, which will eventually help the club reaching the big titles at the end of season.

Cristiano Ronaldo bad performance against Barcelona:

Iker Casillas: "It's not going to be hard to cheer up our fans really soon. We're playing in a long-term competition and this last Saturday, there was a team who actually defeated us in the Santiago Bernabéu. We just have to focus on the next match against Sevilla and pull of the 3 points from the Sanchez Pizjuan", said Real Madrid goalkeeper in an attempt to not give too much importance to 3 points loss, when there's the opportunity to redeem in the next scheduled fixture against Sevilla, right on the next weekend.

When asked if there was any reason to point fingers at someone for the 1-3 defeat against Barcelona and to make of Cristiano Ronaldo a scapegoat for everything bad that happened, Casillas granted a categorical answer: "We are a team and either we win or lose, we take our responsabilities as a group. Cristiano Ronaldogives us goals and titles. We must all help each other in adversity", said the Spanishgoalkeeper, before leaving a final remark about the rivalry with the Blaugrana: "Barcelona shouldn't be an obsession."

Sergio Ramos has also spoken a few words regarding the "Clasico" and showed that he also has some fair-play sense: "We have to congratulate our rivals, who are a great team." He then added: "The Spanish League didn't end today. We don't have to start being pessimistic all of a sudden, because we'll keep fighting for the title and there's still a long road ahead of us in La Liga. It's true that we lacked a bit of luck in the 1st half, but we could have also done a bit better in a few goalscoring chances, something which Barça accomplished to do. We must lift our heads and start preparing our next match against Sevilla, which will be a very tough opponent", notedSergio Ramos.

Real Madrid next game will be against Ponteferradina, on the 13th of December, in a fixture for the Spanish Copa del Rey. After the harsh loss against Barcelona,Cristiano Ronaldo should be available to be a starter on this match. This Monday, you can watch Manchester United vs Wolves for the English Premier League, and on Tuesday, you may also follow Pontefarradina vs Real Madrid for the Copa del Rey. All these games will be available from our football live streams section. You may check how much time is left for the next Cristiano Ronaldo game, by looking at the countdown timer, located on the top right corner of all pages.

Ponteferradina vs Real Madrid kick-off time (13-12-2011):

Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+7: 02:00
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+1: 20:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+0: 19:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-2: 17:00
New York (United States) | GMT-5: 14:00
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-8: 11:00
Beijing (China) | GMT-8: 11:00

Sources: ronaldo7.net / marca.com

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Real Madrid vs Barcelona preview: The end of a hegemony?

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Real Madrid and Barcelona will clash this Saturday, for the first time in La Liga this season. Real Madrid currently leads the Spanish League table, with 1 game less disputed and a 3 points gap from Barcelona. If the Merenguesmanage to pull off a victory from the "Clasico", the title race may very well turn out to be a 1-way ride until the end.

The "El Clasico" is right around the corner, as Real Madrid and Barcelona bump into each other this Saturday (December 10), in a "La Liga" fixture. Could we finally be on the verge of Barcelona's hegemony end? The "Merengues" haven't won a single game against Barcelona in the Spanish League, since May 2008 (4-1 win), in a total of 5 losses and 1 draw. However and for the first time in recent years, Real Madrid steps up to this match as slightly favorite, according to several football betting companies and sports bookie experts. The game will certainly be an exciting and thrilling one, as it has been an appanage of all the recent "Clasicos", but Pep Guardiola's men can't afford to lose this battle, otherwise they will risk seeing the gap to Madrid being extended to a 6 points margin, with still 1 game less disputed. IfJosé Mourinho finds himself on top with a 9 points lead, then not even a Barcelonadream team will probably be able to catch up the Merengues.

Real Madrid vs Barcelona - "El Clasico" Trailer/Teaser (ESPN Deportes):

Real Madrid, who is currently in a 15-game winning streak (10 in "La Liga"), will hostBarcelona in the best possible moment. In the other hand, the Blaugrana dropped 5 points in their last 5 matches for the Spanish League, after drawing 2-2 againstAthletic Bilbao in San Mamés and losing 1-0 to Getafe, in the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.Real Madrid seized that opportunity to takeoff and José Mourinho is certainly more than aware of the importance of such lead advantage. After this Saturday's "Clasico",Real Madrid next fixture in "La Liga" will be against Sevilla, in the "Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán" (17th December) and it could turn out to be crucial not conceding a loss toBarcelona, in the week before. Cristiano Ronaldo has been spared from the UEFA Champions League fixture this Wednesday, against Ajax, and it should be safe to say he'll be a starter against Barcelona on Saturday. The Portuguese player will be eager to improve his goalscoring stats, as he already counts with 17 goals in "La Liga" 2011/2012 and is actually tied with the Argentinian Lionel Messi.

Real Madrid starting line-up against Barcelona won't be very easy to predict, since there are a few regular choices who are still recovering from injuries and José Mourinho tactical choices could easily provide last minute surprises. While Iker Casillas will certainly be on the goal line, the defensive line could suffer a few changes. The Brazilian left-back, Marcelo, has been struggling with a few minor injuries and if he doesn't get fit before Saturday, he'll probably be replaced by thePortuguese player, Fábio Coentrão. In the center of the defense, Pepe should line-up with Sergio Ramos, but the right-back spot is also prone to raise some questions, even though Arbeloa should have his place secured after performing well against Ajax. In the other hand, Lass Diarra could actually lack the required experience to play on that position against such a challenging opponent as it isBarcelona, but he might be a valid option for the midfield, if Mourinho decides to strengthen his team against Barça's "tiki-taka".

However, we believe that the key changes can and will be driven in the midfield. WithXabi Alonso returning to his role as a starter, after having being suspended for 1 match and playing only for half an hour against Ajax, he should be the one dictating the Merengues game "tempo". It's natural that Mourinho may also pick Sami Khedira, in order to prioritize tactical concerns, which is exactly where the Germanplayer excels. But the surprise could come next, when deciding between Mesut Ozil, who has been accused of not peforming very well lately and being distracted with the glamorous Madrid night, or Kaká, who is actually completing his injury recovery plan. While going with Ozil could allow Real Madrid to handle the ball with more criteria, if Kaká is truly fit, he should be able to bring the speed and incisive runs on which the team seems to be exclusively dependent from Cristiano Ronaldo so far. As mentioned before, we can also witness an extra surprise with the inclusion of a 4th "natural" midfielder as it is Lass Diarra, but that would mean that Mourinho would abdicate of Real Madrid usual playing style that has given the club a 15-game winning streak, in order to forge a stronger midfielder that could dispute the ball possession against Barcelona.

As for the 3 players assigned with the most attacking tasks, we don't expect to witness any big surprise. José Mourinho should stick with Angel Di Maria, by instructing and ordering the Argentinian to defend a bit more than what he's used to, when playing against less dangerous teams. Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema should complete the starting line-up, but the Portuguese player should be granted with enough "tactical freedom" in order to look for free spaces and confuseBarcelona's defending zone pressures. Anyway, this is just a prediction and we'll have to wait for Saturday afternoon to see what kind of strategy and line-up will José Mourinho use to approach this authentic clash of titans of Real Madrid vs Barcelona.

Regarding Barcelona, the most concerning matter has been to know if Gerard Piquéwas going to be suspended by the Spanish Football Federation committee, after a review of his action against Rayo Vallecano. The Spanish defender forced his 5th yellow card on the competition, in order to be suspended for the match againstLevante, that was held this last weekend and by doing so, not risk missing the "Clasico" against Real Madrid on Saturday. However, the Barcelona defender escaped any further punishment, unlike what happened with Real Madrid in a very similar situation last season, in the UEFA Champions League, so Piqué will certainly be on the line-up this weekend.

Real Madrid and Barcelona represent one the of biggest rivalries in sports and both clubs certainly have a very long and rich history in "Clasicos". Below, we computed a stats tables, that will help analyzing the extent of a Real Madrid vs Barcelona clash.

Real Madrid vs Barcelona all-time stats (1929-2011)
Clubs	Real Madrid	Barcelona
Total matches	215
Wins	86	84
Draws	45
Losses	84	86
Goals scored	354	347

Real Madrid next game is against Barcelona, for the Spanish League "La Liga", on the 10th of December, 2011. After being spared against Ajax on Wednesday,Cristiano Ronaldo will most likely be on the line-up against Barça. This Saturday, you can watch Real Madrid vs Barcelona live but also Manchester United vs Wolvesfor the English Premier League. All these games are available from our football live streams section. You may check how much time is left for the next Cristiano Ronaldo game, by looking at the countdown timer, placed on the top right corner of all pages.

Real Madrid vs Barcelona motivation video:

Real Madrid vs Barcelona kick-off time (10-12-2011):

Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+7: 04:00
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+1: 22:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+0: 21:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-2: 19:00
New York (United States) | GMT-5: 16:00
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-8: 13:00
Beijing (China) | GMT-8: 13:00

Sources: ronaldo7.net / soccerbase.com / espn.com / wikipedia.com

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Ajax 0-3 Real Madrid. A nice and quiet warmup for "El Clasico"

Real Madrid came off the Netherlands with a 0-3 victory, after beating Ajax in the last UEFA Champions League group stage fixture. TheMerengues, who are on a 15 game winning streak, will now prepare for the epic battle against Barcelona, this Saturday in theBernabéu.

Real Madrid traveled to Amsterdam to face Ajax in a game where there wasn't much at stake for the Merengues, since the 1st place was already secured. For that reason, José Mourinho spared Cristiano Ronaldo and a few other usual starters, but the team still managed to pull off a brilliant win by 0-3. Callejón with 2 goals andHiguaín with a right-foot strike, were the goalscorers of the night and helped the club finishing the group stage with a perfect record of 6 wins out of 6 games. All the attentions will now turn to the "Clasico" Real Madrid vs Barcelona, which will be held in the Santiago Bernabéu, this Saturday at 22:00 (Madrid localtime: GMT+1).

Ajax vs Real Madrid goals and highlights video:

A second line Real Madrid side managed to impose in the Amsterdam Arena during the 1st half, even though Ajax fought bravely and had several goal scoring chances, including two unfair disallowed goals from scrambled plays. With Nuri Sahin, Kakáand Granero responsible for orchestrating and dictating the Merengues game, the team found their way to breach Ajax defense for several times. Close to the 21th minute, Kaká showed that he didn't lose his great game vision and passing skills, by assisting Callejón for the opener.

Ajax reacted ferociously and started putting Real Madrid into trouble by speeding up their passing game style and striking everytime they had the chance to do so. TheDutch side even scored twice during the 1st period, but in both occasions the linesman called the plays offside and Real Madrid sustained the lead despite the pressure. José Mourinho men didn't seem to bother much with it and would add another goal to the scoreline, after a good combination between Karim Benzemaand Gonzalo Higuaín, who showed his fantastic killer instinct when he found himself 1-on-1 with Ajax goalkeeper. The score would remain untouched for the remaining minutes of the 1st half and a sort of unfair 0-2 result had been set at the half-time.

As the second half started, Ajax went after the goal, which would relaunch them on the game. The Dutch side kept creating a few dangerous situations, but their ambitions kept crashing either on the crossbar or in Real Madrid's goalkeeper hands, Adán. Real Madrid was clearly attempting to slow down the game and let the clock tick and José Mourinho started rotating a few important players just a few minutes after the kickoff whistle for the 2nd half. Benzema, Granero and Arbeloawere replaced by Altintop, Xabi Alonso and Mendes, but Ajax ended up by not finding the right path to the goals and would even concede another one, close to the end. Callejón took advantage of plenty of space given by Ajax back line, and scored his second goal of the night, setting the final score into 0-3.

Real Madrid line-up vs Ajax:

Goalkeeper: Adán
Defenders: Fábio Coentrão, Raúl Albiol, Varane, Arbeloa
Midfielders: Nuri Sahin, Granero, Kaká
Attackers: Callejón, Benzema and Higuaín

Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
Ajax	vs	Real Madrid
0	Goals	3
0	Assists	3
18	Shots	8
7	Shots on goal	5
5	Corner kicks	2
10	Fouls commited	9
1	Yellow cards	1
0	Red cards	0

Real Madrid next game is against Barcelona, for the Spanish League. Cristiano Ronaldo has been resting against Ajax and should be on the line-up for this game. You can watch Real Madrid vs Barcelona, and Manchester United vs Wolves in oursoccer live streams section.

Real Madrid vs Barcelona kick-off time (10-12-2011):

Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+7: 04:00
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+1: 22:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+0: 21:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-2: 19:00
New York (United States) | GMT-5: 16:00
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-8: 13:00
Beijing (China) | GMT-8: 13:00

Sources: ronaldo7.net / record.pt

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