Gist Coven

Time for Zidane to choose a third way? "Real Madrid's players needed a match like that" As criticism has rained down on Real Madrid from all sides, Zinedine Zidane has elected to defend his players for months; perhaps Sunday's 7-1 victory against Deportivo La Coruna has proven the French coach right all along. With Barcelona so far ahead in LaLiga it's obvious that defending their domestic crown is an impossible task for the Madrid club, however the victory against the Galicians has proven just what the team is capable of when most of their big players are available. Gareth Bale has missed much of the campaign, since Christmas he has been able to build his fitness gradually and now is capable of playing successive matches; his brace on Sunday highlighted just what he can do when healthy and confidence. Zidane has been criticised from his approach to the transfer market, all January long he has repeated his belief that the club don't need to sign ...

Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele has been ruled out for “three to four weeks” in a new blow for the French forward, his club announced on Monday. Dembele hurt himself after coming off the bench in the second half of Sunday’s 4-2 win away to Real Sociedad in La Liga. The injury is different to the hamstring tear that ruled him out for three and half months. “After the game against Real Sociedad, Dembele had a problem with his left thigh and tests have confirmed that the player has suffered a hamstring injury of the semitendinosus muscle that does not affect the area operated on earlier in the season,” Barcelona said in a statement published on their website. “The injury will mean he will be out for a period of around three to four weeks.” He now faces a race against time to be ready for the first leg of Barca’s Champions League tie against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on February 20. Dembele only returned at the start of this month after tearing his hamstring in September. The...

Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane, has been left fighting for his job in the second half of the LaLiga season, after his team were shocked 1-0 at home by Villarreal on Saturday. If their rivals and table toppers Barcelona beat Real Sociedad on Sunday, they could open a 19-point gap, although Zidane’s men have one outstanding game. There is also no guarantee that the champions will finish in the top four either as things stand, given Villarreal are now just one point behind them in fifth. Zidane’s side have now failed to beat Valencia, Levante, Betis, Tottenham, Fuenlabrada, Barcelona and Numancia at home this campaign. Despite winning back-to-back Champions League trophies and a first league title since 2012, Zidane could still be sacked by the notoriously impatient president, Florentino Perez. Already, names like Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho, have been linked with a return to the Santiago Bernabeu. Zidane will be looking to put Real’s campaign back on track this...