Now it's being reported that it might be Ramos. Either way it's sounding more and more like all 3 will be out there today which is hilarious since Khedira, Illarra, & Silva will all be on the bench... Makes me miss when Sammi used to be worth a shit.
God I hope I'm wrong but this is starting to shape up like all of the other games they gave away late after not capitalizing earlier despite controlling much of the game.
Still pumped about yesterday. That was easily the most passion and energy they've shown all season and it had a major impact on the game. Ramos was the MOTM imo. He had a could of issues early on but he absolutely dominated in front of the back 4, won everything in the air, and completely neutralized Griezmann & Mandzukic. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if Carlo kept him there until Luka returns. Varane was great. Again. Starting to look like he did before the knee injury and has to be included in the XI from here on out. Thought Coentrao played well too given his injuries and lack of minutes. Obviously Ronaldo & James were mostly responsible for the goal but Chicharito played well (for him) and it was nice to see him rewarded by the team & fans. He's obviously an easy target and still definitely not good enough to play in Madrid but he moved well without the ball and played with a lot of heart & effort, which had been sorely lacking against Atletico recently. Big game this weekend on a short turn around. Celta on the road is no slouch so they'll have to be sharp to avoid a letdown. CL draw tomorrow morning, we get the Italians.
As soon as I saw an alert in this thread this morning from you, I was hoping this would be the news.....hell yeah. Super jacked about this. I am guessing the first leg we may see a similar lineup to Wednesday's, but who is expected back? I would think everyone but Luka has a shot.....
That's a good question but I'm guessing your probably right. Similar lineup Sunday @Celta and then maybe work Benz & Bale back in next week for Sevilla & Juve? 4 tough and important matches in a 10 day span coming up that will go a long way towards defining the season.
What a roller coaster ride this season has been......started the season off like complete shit....then go on a historic run only to be ended terribly filled with injuries....then everyone starts to return and the team looks to be on a roll again...only to killed by injuries again....then Wednesday happens and Ramos steps up just huge with a depleted lineup. Hopefully the good carries on for another 45 days.
The next 6 weeks will determine what happens this summer but I feel like this team is just a few quality depth signings from being complete. I'd love a repreve from the Galagtico summers and instead see Perez add a tough CM like Verratti and a capable backup for Benzema after they sell Illarra and tell Khedira to fuck off. Both fullback positions have/are being addressed already which means just recall Denis, loan Jese and wait for the Casillas/DDG saga to play out.
That Schalke draw was really rough coming off that rough group stage where Basel finished second. Man. You guys were almost sunk but persevered so hard
Martin Odegaard is getting called up for tomorrow....wow.....will be interesting to see if he gets any time.
To be honest I have no idea how he is doing or haven't seen any news on him since he scored his first goal for the team. I saw the video for that. To say the lineup tomorrow is depleted would be a severe understatement....good thing it is Almeria. Saturday is going to be really, really tough unless a couple of the injured players can make it back. Sounds like Bale and Benzema are good for Juventus.
Doesn't sound that abnormal for someone practicing with the first squad and playing with the reserves
Would have been surprising earlier in the year but now that the club have officially written off Khedira & Illarra it makes more sense. I can see him getting 10-15 minutes late tomorrow. It sounds like he's had a tough time acclimating recently with the Castilla coaches is squad which is probably made worse by the fact that he spends most of his time training with the first team.
Nothing is official but it certainly sounds like a ban is probable. Cadena & Cope aren't always the best of sources but it's also being reported by the usual insiders. The good news is that it's also being reported that its highly likely any punishment won't go into effect until January leaving Perez & Co. free to spend big time this summer. The club issued an official statement in response to the claims back in January which means they've obviously been aware of this possibility for a while and almost certainly why Flo got to work on the transfers earlier than normal.
So the RFEF came out this morning and said they haven't recieved any notice from FIFA about Real being sanctioned, just Atleti. The club released an official statement saying the same thing and referencing the January response so who the fuck knows what's going on at this point.
Odegaard made the bench so I wouldn't be surprised to see him come on late. A lot of reserves today as expected. Navas, Arbeloa, Coentrao, Illarra, & Jese starting.
That was about the only worthwhile thing to happen that half. Hopefully the can pour it on early in the 2nd and yank James & Kroos early.