SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/REAL Real Madrid prepare for their opening Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk
Record ID:
139924
SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/REAL Real Madrid prepare for their opening Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk
- Title: SOCCER-CHAMPIONS/REAL Real Madrid prepare for their opening Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk
- Date: 14th September 2015
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (SEPTEMBER 14, 2015) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF REAL MADRID TRAINING PITCH GROUP OF PLAYERS INCLUDING CRISTIANO RONALDO, KARIM BENZEMA AND OTHERS ENGAGING IN PASSING GAME PLAYERS INCLUDING SERGIO RAMOS AND DANI CARVAJAL TAKING PART IN BALL WORK CLOSE UP OF GARETH BALE, KARIM BENZEMA AND OTHERS GENERAL VIEW OF PLAYERS INCLUDING DANI CARVAJAL AND SERGIO RAMOS ENGAGING IN BALL WORK CLOSE UP OF GOALKEEPER KEYLOR NAVAS AND OTHERS INCLUDING GARETH BALE GENERAL VIEW OF PLAYERS TRAINING CLOSE UP OF CRISTIANO RONALDO AND OTHERS CLOSE UP OF CRISTIANO RONALDO, KARIM BENZEMA AND OTHERS GENERAL VIEW OF PLAYERS INCLUDING DANI CARVAJAL AND SERGIO RAMOS CLOSE UP OF TEAM RUNNING IN TWO LINES WITH COACH RAFA BENITEZ SQUAD AT PRACTICE PLAYERS DOING DRILLS CLOSE UP OF PLAYERS INCLUDING DANI CARVAJAL AND SERGIO RAMOS PAN OF SQUAD START OF NEWS CONFERENCE WITH COACH RAFAEL BENITEZ ENTERING FIRST FOLLOWED BY DEFENDER DANI CARVAJAL BENITEZ AND CARVAJAL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RAFAEL BENITEZ, REAL MADRID COACH, SAYING: "It's a great team, with a coach who has a lot of experience and always gets the best out of new players who join the squad. He changes two or three players every season and they end up being better than those who left, which says a lot in favour of the coach. "They are players of great ability, quality players and fast players. They're going to be a complicated team if we're not concentrated and don't give them the merit they deserve." NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) RAFAEL BENITEZ, REAL MADRID COACH, SAYING: "We can rotate players if it's necessary but it's not that I will do it every time with every player, it depends on the positions. We've been doing it at the moment and it's going well but it's a long season so we will do it for sure during the season, but it depends on the players and the positions." NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DANI CARVAJAL, REAL MADRID DEFENDER, SAYING: "We've started off pretty well. The blip on the first day was a bit unfair because we had a lot of shots on goal so that draw was not enough. We're going in to this on a high and we're constantly growing, the team is getting better. We hope to play a great match and enjoy the first three points in the Champions League with the home crowd." BENITEZ AND CARVAJAL LEAVING THE NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 29th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Spain
- Country: Spain
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA3F31WJM437QVOC2Q7X72SLTYG
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Real Madrid were back training on Monday (September 14) at Valdebebas ahead of their Champions League opener against Shakhtar Donetsk at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Tuesday.
Real are going into the clash against the Ukrainians on the back of an impressive 6-0 win over Espanyol in La Liga over the weekend, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring five.
Central defender Sergio Ramos joined the rest of his team mates after training alone in the club gym on Sunday. Ramos appears to be back in form after being sidelined as a precaution following the match against Espanyol.
Both James Rodriguez and Danilo remain injured and were the only players from the team unable to take to the training pitch.
Speaking after the training session Benitez said he expected a tough match against Shakhtar.
"It's a great team, with a coach who has a lot of experience and always gets the best out of new players who join the squad. He changes two or three players every season and they end up being better than those who left, which says a lot in favour of the coach," he said.
"They are players of great ability, quality players and fast players. They're going to be a complicated team if we're not concentrated and don't give them the merit they deserve."
Benitez, known for rotating his players, gave little away about his starting eleven.
"We can rotate players if it's necessary but it's not that I will do it every time with every player, it depends on the positions. We've been doing it at the moment and it's going well but it's a long season so we will do it for sure during the season, but it depends on the players and the positions," he said.
Defender Dani Carvajal expressed his confidence in the team after two impressive back-to-back results in La Liga.
"We've started off pretty well. The blip on the first day was a bit unfair because we had a lot of shots on goal so that draw was not enough. We're going in to this on a high and we're constantly growing, the team is getting better. We hope to play a great match and enjoy the first three points in the Champions League with the home crowd," he said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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