Spanish Football News Blog

Los Blancos will warm up for one final time before competitive football begins...
In their final test of the pre-season, Real Madrid prepare for the Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu, a historic cup contested this year between Los Blancos and Norwegian side Rosenborg.

With the Madrid squad almost completely finalised, save a few Dutch players that may yet see the exit (namely Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder — the latter whom is still greatly liked by a number of Madridistas according to Marca and AS polls), and the new Galactico signings beginning to understand one another on the pitch, the ‘Floren Team’ prepares for one more warm-up match before La Liga kicks off next weekend against Deportivo La Coruna at the Santiago Bernabeu.

With all tickets sold, even in a stagnating Spanish economy, the Bernabeu is on schedule to be filled to the brim for Monday’s match, as Madridistas will be eager to assess the state of Los Blancos’ play.

With Barcelona claiming their first title of the year in the form of the Spanish Supercopa on Sunday, Madrid fans will be eager to see their team exhibit their football.

And since Los Blancos will not be facing Milan, as was initially planned for the cup tie, the Bernabeu will be demanding a goal scoring clinic against the relatively small, albeit still still-historic, Rosenborg.

Out of hospital Mahamadou Diarra and Ruud van Nistelrooy are the notable additions to the squad list for the match. After suffering grave injuries that kept them out for eight and ten months respectively, the players return to the Madrid ranks for their first taste of football in nearly a year. Both will be likely to enjoy minutes, as Manuel Pellegrini will look to determine the players’ roles in the new Madrid squad.

Pellegrini will be unable to field his preferred central defence of Raul Albiol and Christoph Metzelder, who are likely to be the starting centre-backs against Depor this upcoming weekend because of Pepe’s extended suspension. The German has picked up a knock and had to be discounted from the squad list. Similarly, Sergio Ramos and Miguel Torres are out with minor injuries, while Wesley Sneijder and Rafa van der Vaart have been dropped from the squad as the Madrid front offices attempt to determine whether either player will still be playing at the Spanish capital this season.

Homage to Michel

Somewhat unceremoniously dropped from the team this summer as Los Blancos decided to opt out of the last year of the defender’s contract, Michel Salgado will give his formal goodbye to the fans in the preamble of this match.

In a gesture attempting to honour the former Madrid great, the fans will have their opportunity to give the Galician a much-deserved ovation after the player, who now plays for Premier League side Blackburn Rovers, will be recognised for ten years of service to Los Merengues, helping them win four Liga titles, two Champions League trophies, three Spanish Supercopas and two UEFA Super Cups along the way.

A bittersweet ending to a brilliant career, but one that will be quickly forgotten if Pellegrini’s Madrid manages to rack up goals early and often.

Source: goal.com