UEFA Team of the Year 2010 nominees

Casillas, Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ozil, Khedira, Higuain, Di Maria and Mourinho make the shortlist

Realmadrid.com / Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell

Seven Madridistas have been nominated to make the 2010 UEFA Team of the Year: Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Gonzalo Higuain and Angel di Maria. Jose Mourinho is one of the nominees for the coaching position.

Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos made it to past UEFA Teams of the Year; the goalkeeper won in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and Ramos in the latter date as well.

Besides Mourinho, other candidates for the coaching position are Vicente del Bosque, Quique Sanchez Flores, Dutch national coach Bert van Marwijk and Bayern Munich's Louis van Gaal.

The UEFA Team of the Year and Coach of the Year are chosen by uefa.com users.

UEFA reduce Madrid punishments

UEFA have reduced some of the sanctions handed out to Real Madrid relating to the red cards of Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos against Ajax.

They softened their stance on the Spanish side following an appeal by Madrid.

Madrid were last week found guilty of improper conduct after Alonso and Ramos seemed to deliberately incur second bookings for time-wasting late on in the 4-0 win over Ajax in Amsterdam a fortnight ago.

Those dismissals would therefore wipe out previous cautions ahead of the Champions League knockout stage, with the players only missing this week's clash with Auxerre, which is a dead rubber for already-qualified Madrid.

The nine-times European champions appealed against the initial ruling, which saw coach Jose Mourinho and players Alonso, Ramos, Iker Casillas and Jerzy Dudek receive varying penalties, and UEFA today announced reductions for some of the initial sanctions.

A UEFA announcement read: "Real Madrid are now fined 100,000 euros instead of 120,000.

"Coach Jose Mourinho is now fined 30,000 euros instead of 40,000 euros.

"Jose Mourinho is now suspended for one match - Wednesday's Group G fixture between Madrid and Auxerre - instead of the initial suspension of one game with a second game deferred for a probationary period of three years.

"The fines handed down by the UEFA control and disciplinary body to the Madrid players Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos (20,000 euros each), Iker Casillas (10,000 euros) and Jerzy Dudek (5,000 euros) remain the same.

"The one-match suspensions handed down to Alonso and Ramos also stand."

Real Zaragoza 1-3 Real Madrid

Real Madrid continued their post-Nou Camp recovery with a deserved 3-1 victory over rock-bottom Real Zaragoza.

Mesut Ozil`s early strike and a brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick put Madrid 2-0 up at half-time and Angel Di Maria lobbed home a third goal just after the break, making Gabi`s 54th-minute penalty for Zaragoza nothing more than a consolation.

The triumph means Madrid have now rattled up three successive victories since losing 5-0 to Barcelona at the Nou Camp a fortnight ago, beating Valencia, Auxerre and now Zaragoza.

Madrid, for whom Jose Mourinho was back on the bench after missing the 4-0 Champions League win over Auxerre due to a touchline ban, survived an early let-off when Angel Lafita slid a low shot just wide of Iker Casillas` far post.

However, the visitors put themselves in charge in the 15th minute when Ozil stroked in their first.

A superb pass from Marcelo picked out Ozil on the right and the German international progressed into the area before sliding a shot through Leo Franco`s legs.

Karim Benzema, who netted a hat-trick against Auxerre, almost made it 2-0 soon after but he found himself crowded out by the Zaragoza defence, but there was nothing the hosts could do as Ronaldo did double Madrid`s advantage in the 44th minute.

Having been awarded a free-kick 25 yards out in the centre of the pitch, Ronaldo stepped up and thumped an unstoppable shot into Leo Franco`s top right-hand corner with the former Atletico Madrid custodian rooted to the spot.

That was Ronaldo`s 17th league goal of the season, leaving him two ahead of Lionel Messi at the top of the Primera Division scoring charts - although Messi will get the chance to reduce that gap when Barca play Real Sociedad later this evening.

Ronaldo`s strike was the perfect way for Madrid to end the first half, and they enjoyed a similarly successful start to the second period as well with Di Maria putting them 3-0 up in the 47th minute.

The livewire Argentinian, who has been a fine asset for Madrid since his summer move from Benfica, raced onto Xabi Alonso`s through-ball and lobbed his shot over the outcoming Leo Franco and into the net.

Zaragoza gave themselves a glimmer of hope when they pulled a goal back from the spot, Gabi sending Casillas the wrong way after Ricardo Carvalho had brought down Nicolas Bertolo, but they rarely threatened a second goal in the remainder of the match.

Indeed, it was only Madrid who looked like adding to the scoreline and Benzema was denied by Leo Franco following a rapid breakaway that left three visiting forwards against one Zaragoza defender.

Lassana Diarra then came close to adding a fourth in the 80th minute but, after powering his way to the edge of the area and playing a good one-two with Di Maria, he saw his shot saved at the second attempt by Leo Franco.

DISQUS

Mourinho: "Cristiano is a tremendous professional and he scored one of the best goals of his collection"

Realmadrid.com

Jose Mourinho had nothing but kind words for his team following the 1-3 victory at Zaragoza.

"We played a great match, although out opponent had the mental strength to answer back after trailing."

"Whether you play with cats dogs, it's the tactics that matter, not the players. The dog is the usual system with two forwards and that has made us strong and aggressive. The cat is an alternate system with three central midfielders. I thought people were smarter and knew what I was talking about."

"The fact that Marcelo and Alonso were booked and will have to sit out the next match is something that happens in football. It is very easy to book Real Madrid players and not so easy with others. We have several injured players and these two are now suspended. Khedira will return. This is something normal to deal with, especially at the end of the year."

"The fact that players at other clubs can protests and we can't bothers me. The same goes for coaches who can step out of the coaching area while others can't. If you watch games on television and see that others are teams are not booked, well it happens."

"Cristiano Ronaldo is a phenomenal player difficult to understand because La Liga has many talented player. When such a talent like he is is treated badly, it leads me to believe that he is not protected enough. He belongs to La Liga and to Spanish fans who watch him on television or in the stands. I don't even protect him. He always plays. He puts on a show in every stadium he visits. Cristiano is a tremendous professional and he scored one of the best goals of his collection."

"People might think that we will drop points against Sevilla because we have so many players out, but we shall see. We will put eleven players on the pitch and the crowd will support them. We want to head into the Christmas break with a win. We must be strong heading into these last two matches. We also hope Kaka returns as of January."

he wasn't pleased with Benzema game yesterday.

Mourinho won't get Tevez at Real?

Jose Mourinho's request to buy Carlos Tevez could be rejected by Real Madrid, despite his pleadings.

The Portuguese has made constant entreaties to the Real hierarchy to sign another striker, but has been ignored twice, despite the fact that Gonzalo Higuain's injuries leave the club with only one main striker in their first-team squad.

According to reports in the Guardian, Mourinho's requests for Tevez were rejected both during the summer and recently, following the Argentine's recent breaking of ties with the Manchester City hierarchy.

Real have told the manager that they do not have the cash to splash on the player, for either his transfer fees or his current wages, and have also told Mourinho that, following a spending spree of almost €80m (£68m), the Portuguese would have to make do with what he had in the squad.

Mourinho has admitted that his side are on a tight rope, with only Karim Benzema as their established and fit striker. "We have to pray that Karim Benzema and Higuaín do not get injured," he said.

There are also suspicions that he is not really a fan of either Benzema nor Higuain, saying: "A perfect centre forward would be a combination of Benzema and Higuain".

However, what could pose a real stumbling block is the fact that the club's president is reportedly not a fan of buying players in January, and has insisted that both Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo can play as strikers if need be.

Luda

When I was 13, I had my first love,

There was nobody that compared to my baby,

And nobody came between us or could ever come above

She had me goin' crazy,

Oh I was starstruck,

She woke me up daily,

Don't need no Starbucks.

She made my heart pound,

And skip a beat when I see her in the street and,

At school on the playground,

But I really wanna see her on the weekend,

She know she got me gazin',

Cuz she was so amazin',

And now my heart is breakin',

But I just keep on sayin'...

a pic

what?

Ancelotti to replace Mourinho at Real?

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has emerged as a shock candidate to replace a troubled Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid.

According to an article from English broadsheet the Daily Mirror, reports have suggested that the "Special One" is finding it increasingly difficult to communicate and work with Real president Florentino Perez and director general Jorge Valdano in the aftermath of their humiliating 5-0 El Clasico thrashing by arch rivals Barcelona.

Should things go pear-shaped for the Portuguese manager, Madrid will be eyeing developments at Chelsea where Ancelotti himself is under the cosh from Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

The Blues oligarch will then turn his attentions to drafting in Barcelona chief Pep Guardiola- who is also on the shortlist at Manchester United- as Chelsea's new honcho at Stamford Bridge.

Reports on Wednesday have also claimed that Chelsea's playing staff are concerned that their popular Italian manager will depart the club with an unnamed player quoted as saying: "The atmosphere isn't good at the moment. Everyone is convinced Carlo has had enough."

Should the move do go through though, it could well epitomize as one of the biggest merry-go-round managerial appointments in recent times.

Real Madrid await next UCL rival

Inter Milan, Roma, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique Marseille, Arsenal and Kobenhavn are all possible opponents

Realmadrid.com

Real Madrid will learn the name of their next Champions League opponent on Friday at 12:00 CET, when the draw will be held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon. The Whites can face one of six possible teams including Inter Milan, Roma, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique Marseille, Arsenal and Kobenhavn.

INTER MILAN

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD VS INTER IN UCL

P W D L GF GA

9 3 1 5 8 11

OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD VS LYON IN UCL

P W D L GF GA

6 0 3 3 4 10

ROMA

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD VS ROMA IN UCL

P W D L GF GA

8 4 1 3 15 9

ARSENAL

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD VS ARSENAL IN UCL

P W D L GF GA

2 0 1 1 0 1

OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD VS MARSEILLE IN UCL

P W D L GF GA

4 4 0 0 12 4

KOBENHAVN

Real Madrid and Kobenhavn have never met in the European Cup/Champions League

Real eye Dortmund's Barrios

Real Madrid are reportedly looking to sign Borussia Dortmund striker Lucas Barrios in the January transfer window.

Barrios has been a key player in Dortmund's stunning season in the Bundesliga - scoring eight goals.

Dortmund have lost only one of their 16 games in the league so far - drawing one and winning the rest in their march to the top of the table.

They are currently an astonishing 11 points ahead of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen and 17 points clear of defending champions Bayern Munich.

Real are known to be interested in signing a striker to make up for the injury to Gonzalo Higuain as well as the patchy form of Karim Benzema.

Spanish publication Marca reports that Jose Mourinho has turned his attention to the Paraguayan after being thwarted in attempts to sign Wolfsburg's Edi Dzeko and Werder Bremen's Hugo Almeida.

Diarra hints on Real Madrid exit

Real Madrid's Lassana Diarra has hinted on a possible move out of the club with Manchester United and Tottenham put on alert.

The French international has seen limited first team action under manager Jose Mourinho at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Despite recently enjoying a run of games, the midfielder understands that his days with the Spanish giants are numbered.

The former Portsmouth, Arsenal and Chelsea player has now issued a 'come and get me' plea to the Premier League as he seeks to revive his career.

He was quoted as saying in talkSPORT: "I'm playing and we will have to see what happens with my future. I am focused on the next game, what happens next, God will tell.

"I'm at Real Madrid, I have a contract with Real Madrid and I hope to play for Real Madrid, but I am a football player, everyone knows me, the directors ... I can talk to anyone."

And according to the report, United and Tottenham are keen acquiring his services.

Sir Alex Ferguson is looking strengthen his midfield at Old Trafford while Spurs manager Harry Redknapp wants to reinforce his squad for both the Premier League and Champions League campaign.

Madrid has drawn Olympique Lyon in the round of 16 of the Champions League. The first leg will be away on Feb. 16 and the second is at the Bernabéu on March 10.

Preparations for Sevilla nearing an end

Real Madrid trained behind closed doors with one more session left prior to Sunday's match

Realmadrid.com

Real Madrid held their second-to-last workout of the week on Friday with this weekend's match against Sevilla fast approaching.