Bale Rescues Ronaldo-less Real Madrid At Rayo

Real Madrid C.F. was without Cristiano Ronaldo but Gareth Bale stepped up and delivered after Madrid had gone 2-0 down to Rayo Vallecano. He struck twice to inspire a Real Madrid fightback from two goals down to win 3-2 at Rayo Vallecano and move top of La Liga on Saturday.

Real Madrid Coach Zinedine Zidane  Immidiately after the match confirmed Ronaldo will travel for the Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester City.

Bale inspired Real Madrid to come from two goals down to win 3-2 at Rayo Vallecano in a testing workout ahead of the UEFA Champions League clash with Manchester City. Without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, Real’s title hopes looked in tatters when early goals from Adrian Embarba and Miku put Rayo 2-0 in front.

"Cristiano wanted to play tomorrow but I told him that he needs to rest." - Zidane

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane says the Portuguese will miss Saturday's game against Rayo Vallecano and wants him to be careful ahead of Tuesday's Champions League encounter

Zidane accepted that Cristiano Ronaldo's desire to play every game can be an issue and says he will be monitored "day-to-day" before they will know if he can play against Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The Portuguese  international will miss Saturday's La Liga encounter at Rayo Vallecano due to a thigh problem, but the prolific attacker would have played had the decision been up to him.

Zidane: "Cristiano always wants to play but he knows he can't play tomorrow. If it were a final he still couldn't play."

— Real Madrid Info (@RMadridInfo) April 22, 2016

Zidane: "We did the scans and Cristiano has nothing serious, but he can't play tomorrow. We'll see what happens before City's match."

— Real Madrid Info (@RMadridInfo) April 22, 2016

C. Ronaldo’s Injury Is Not Serious – Zidane

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane played down injury fears over superstar Cristiano Ronaldo following Wednesday’s 3-0 La Liga win over Villarreal at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

After Barcelona and Atletico Madrid had also won earlier in the evening, goals from Karim Benzema, Lucas Vazquez and Luka Modric saw Zidane’s side remain just one point behind the joint-leaders with four games of the season still to play.

What seemed a straightforward night for Madrid turned darker in injury time. Ronaldo had been set to continue his record of being the only outfield player in La Liga to play every single minute so far this season, but the Portuguese picked up an apparent thigh muscle problem and left the pitch in added time.

Madrid finished the match with 10 men because Zidane had already used his three substitutes.

Real Madrid: We will work until the last minute of the season - Zidane

Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane has had a great impact since replacing Rafael Benitez in January, but with both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid ahead of them in the title race, the Frenchman has called for calm.

"We have not won anything, but we are in a good situation," he said.

"There is so much talk that we will win everything, but you can say whatever you want.

Zidane who is unsure whether Gareth Bale will be fit to face Manchester City in the Champions League next week after the Real Madrid boss confirmed the forward will miss Wednesday's clash against Villarreal with a muscle injury.

"We know we have not won anything and the players think the same as me; they are focused on what we have to do.
"We will work until the last minute of the season."

Arsenal Can Still Win Title As Long As They Remain Focused - Fabregas

Since leaving the Emirates in 2011 Fabregas has certainly learned a thing or two about winning trophies. While playing for Barcelona, the Spaniard was able to enjoy succeeding in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.

In his 8 years spent playing for Arsenal, the 25 year old midfielder only managed to win two trophies which is one of the reasons for his departure.

As Metro report, Fabregas is still a Gunner despite moving to his home country to play for Barcelona. Arsenal’s former captain recently admitted to watching every game in which the North London club is involved. He also looked keen on sharing some of his recently acquired insight on how to succeed in any competition.

Fabregas thinks Wenger’s side have all it takes to make it this year as long as they stay focused. Despite their crushing loss to Liverpool, they are sitting a point ahead of City and only a point behind Chelsea so all the Gunners need to do is concentrate on each and every game and continue doing what they have been doing up until now.

Hopefully glory will return to the Emirates Stadium this season. Arsenal have been in a rut for almost a decade now which is pretty unacceptable for a club as successful as the North London team.