“It looked like a Champions League game,” Xavi Hernández complained after losing the first friendly of the preseason against Arsenal. He complained about the excessive intensity of the English in a friendly. A painful defeat more for the number of goals (5-3) than for anything else. As if the preseason games were used for something more than making cash and getting the new signings to join.
Xavi can say that last year, when his Barcelona beat Real Madrid in another summer festival, they ended up winning the League. “For Barcelona there are no friendlies,” the Barça coach said very solemnly at the time. And Real Madrid can answer that, after suffering a “dramatic” win against Atlético de Madrid (7-3) in the summer of 2019, they were league champions that same season.
Ancelotti, for the moment, is focused on the fact that the new system works with Bellingham behind the two forwards and that Joselu has not lost his aim. He only needs to know if Arda Güler is what is expected of him. The Turk has not yet been able to debut due to muscular discomfort and is not expected against Barcelona either. In Real Madrid’s training sessions in Dallas, he has dedicated himself to making a continuous run alone and without touching the ball.
But what he has been able to see in training before the injury has impressed some of his teammates. «My first impression of Arda is that he is a great talent, he has a very fine left foot. He has a great left-footed shot and is technically outstanding,” Toni Kroos acknowledged on the podcast he does with his brother.
But what the German liked most about his new partner is that he wants to learn more than he knows. “Ask, how did you do that?” says the Real Madrid midfielder. «He wants advice; there are a lot of 18 year olds who think they are too good and don’t need them. But he has the mentality to learn », he adds.
It seems that it will be necessary to wait to see if the praises of the German become reality in the field. Something similar is happening at Barcelona with Iñigo Martínez, who suffered a foot injury and was unable to make his debut against Arsenal either. “It’s a good test despite the result,” Xavi said then.
Now, against Real Madrid, in addition to fighting for the emotional advantage of winning the first clásico in summer, the interests of the two clubs may cross. While Real Madrid awaits the resolution of the “Mbappé case”, although without opening their mouths, Barcelona fears that PSG will look for a replacement for the Frenchman in their team. Dembélé is one of the options that the Parisian team can consider in case Mbappé’s departure materializes.
Dembélé’s clause has been reduced this season to an unappealing amount for Barcelona. According to RMC Sport, PSG is willing to pay the 50 million that the Frenchman’s freedom costs, of which only 25 would go to fill Barcelona’s accounts. The other 25 would go directly to the player.
2023-07-28 19:09:51
#summer #Real #Madrid #Barcelona #Arda #Güler #Dembélé
