Real Madrid struggled to an unconvincing 4-2 win over Osasuna on Saturday as the Jose Mourinho era came to an end in an atmosphere of division at the Bernabeu.
Madrid squandered a 2-0 lead provided by Gonzalo Higuain and Michael Essien as Osasuna rallied with second-half goals from Roberto Torres and Alvaro Cejudo, but Karim Benzema and Jose Callejon scored late on to end the season with a victory.
Before the match, the Portuguese coach gave a short goodbye in a statement on Madrid’s website after a three-year stint in the Spanish capital.
Paris Saint-Germain’s (PSG) director of football, Brazilian Leonardo, confirmed today that the club’s first-team coach, Carlo Ancelotti, has asked to leave the French side at the end of this season to join Real Madrid.
“Carlo has asked to join Madrid, but we want him to stay”, Leonardo told ‘L’Equipe’ in a statement picked up by the newspaper’s website. The director of football said that “no decision had yet been made” and that having listened to Ancelotti, they would look into the matter, prioritising “keeping him at the club”.
Atlético Madrid ended a 14-year winless streak against city rivals Real Madrid in grand fashion with a 2-1 win in extra time in the final of the Copa del Rey at Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. It is the 10th Copa won by the ‘Rojiblancos’ and ends a futile stretch against ‘Los Blancos’ whom they had not beaten since a 1-3 win at the Bernabeu in 1999.
Real Madrid once again ensured Barcelona will have to wait a few more days before sealing the La Liga title as they beat nine-man Malaga 6-2 in a wildly open game at the Santiago Bernabeu.
With any form of Madrid slip up mathematically handing Barcelona the title, Pepe’s name was the big absence from Jose Mourinho’s starting line-up as despite an injury to Sergio Ramos, the Portuguese international was not even named on the bench after his outspoken comments that Mourinho ought to have more respect for captain Iker Casillas.
Cristiano Ronaldo made it 199 goals for Real Madrid in less than four seasons as two towering headers helped earn an entertaining win over Real Valladolid.
The hosts bounced back from their Champions League elimination at the hands of Borussia Dortmund to keep the Primera Division title race alive for one more weekend at least.
The build-up to the match was dominated by the future of coach Jose Mourinho and his expected departure to Chelsea, but, should he leave, Ronaldo is one player he would certainly miss.
He helped the hosts recover from conceding an early goal to Oscar, making it 2-1 after Angel Di Maria had levelled.
Borussia Dortmund qualified for only their second ever UEFA Champions League final despite losing 2-0 to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu as they prevailed 4-3 on aggregate.
Needing a huge turnaround from the first leg last week Real seemed to have run out of steam after Gonzalo Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil had passed up early opportunities However, after Robert Lewandowski had smashed the underside of the bar and Diego Lopez prevented Ilkay Gundogan with an incredible save from close range, Madrid were given a lifeline in the 83rd minute when substitute Karim Benzema swept home Ozil’s low cross.
Real Madrid came from behind to beat local rivals Atletico Madrid 2-1 and maintain their hegemony over Los Rojiblancos in the 21st century.
Jose Mourinho’s depleted side produced an uninspiring performance and struggled for large parts of the game, but they made the most of their chances. Radamel Falcao gave the hosts an early lead, but an own goal by Juanfran levelled things up a few minutes later and Angel Di Maria hit the winning goal midway through the second half.
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho believes his side can overcome a three-goal deficit to book their place in the Champions League final after they were beaten 4-1 by Borussia Dortmund..
Mourinho, who is now facing the task of re-motivating his team for the semi-final return leg at the Bernabeu in six days’ time, thinks it is possible if the entire side raise their game.
“I think they were the best team by far and won every individual battle on the pitch and were stronger than us, more aggressive physically and tougher mentally so they deserved it,” Mourinho told Sky Sports 1.
It was like a scene from Groundhog Day. For the second day in a row, a top-ranked Spanish team went to Germany and got thumped. On Tuesday Bayern hammered Barcelona 4-0 and tonight Borussia Dortmund beat Real Madrid 4-1.
Both Champions League semi-finals head back to Spain next week for the second leg, but unless we see some record breaking comebacks, it will be Bayern Munich v Real Madrid at Wembley next month in the final.
Tonight Real Madrid had no answer for Robert Lewandowski or Dortmund. Lewandowski scored all four Dortmund goals in a romp as they totally outplayed and outfought Real.
