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Catalan press writes about "Barcelona" club's preparations for the match with "Racing", Ronaldinho's contract, Silvio Berlusconi's dream, possible newcomers to "Barcelona", Juan Roman Riquelme's successor in the Argentine national team, Fabio Capello's search for culprits, Frank Rijkaard's future, David Trezeguet's problems, David Garcia's injury and Lionel Scaloni's future.
Castilian press writes about David Beckham's desire to return to the national team, Fabio Capello's opinion about Raul, "Villarreal" plans, Sevilla derby and "Real Sociedad" player's opinion about Fabio Capello.
Sport
Frank Rijkaard continues rotation and did not include defenders Juliano Belletti and Lilian Thuram, and goalkeeper Thiago Motta in the squad. They were replaced by defenders Rafael Marquez and Sylvinho and forward Santiago Ezquerro.
Frank Rijkaard stated that the players understand his rotation method very well and no one complains about not being included in the squad. Asked about the upcoming opponent "Racing" club from Santander, he stated that the most dangerous player for his team will be the 202 cm tall Serbian Nikola Zigic.
Barcelona's sports director Txiki Begiristain and coach Frank Rijkaard once again confirmed that Eric Abidal would be a great fit for the Barcelona club and confirmed that he will be the main summer transfer. They liked his performance in the match against "Real" team in the Champions League match on Wednesday. "Lyon" paid 8.5 million euros to "Lille" club for him. His contract is valid until 2009, but Barcelona will try to buy him for 15 million euros.
Argentine national team's defender Juan Roman Riquelme's announcement of his retirement from the national team sparked discussions about who will take his place in the national team. In a survey conducted by "La Nacion" newspaper, the most votes were received by Pablo Aimar (32%), Lionel Messi (17%), Daniel Montenegro (15%), Federico Insua (14%), and Juan Sebastian Veron (7%).
Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello is searching for culprits for the defeat to "Lyon" club, but he himself was the most at fault for the defeat, as it was evident that the team lacked physical fitness, for which the coach is responsible, and in the first half, the team appeared very tired.
Not among the culprits were Fabio Capello's favorites Fabio Cannavaro, Emerson, and Mahamadou Diarra, who will start in the match against "Real Sociedad" tomorrow. Among those punished are Cicinho, David Beckham, and Antonio Cassano, who will likely start on the bench tomorrow. Most likely, Raul Gonzalez will also start on the bench in tomorrow's match. Also, there is no guarantee of starting spots for Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, and Roberto Carlos. Guti and Jose Antonio Reyes are likely to replace Antonio Cassano and David Beckham.
Frank Rijkaard will remain as Barcelona's coach until June 30, 2009, and will not change the coaching position to "Milan".
AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi stated that his dream is to see Ronaldinho at AC Milan, but Barcelona will not let him leave.
Ronaldinho's brother and agent Roberto de Assis have started negotiations with Joan Laporta regarding Ronaldinho's contract extension until 2014.
Juventus striker David Trezeguet complained that Juventus did not allow him to leave the club, although he really wanted to. Now he believes it will be difficult for him to enter the French national football team.
Deportivo requests the Spanish Football Federation to revoke Lionel Scaloni's player license and prevent him from playing for "Racing" club until January.
El Mundo Deportivo
Lilian Thuram, Thiago Motta, and Juliano Belletti are staying in Barcelona and will not travel to the match in Santander.
Andres Iniesta warns that "Racing" will not want to lose 3 games in a row and will try to resist Barcelona.
Barcelona has reached an agreement with 18-year-old Brazilian defender Anderson Luis de Abreu Oliveira (Anderson) for a contract and now needs to agree with his club Porto on the transfer fee. It is expected that he will be loaned to Porto for a season or two.
Espanyol defender David Garcia will miss 3 months due to an injury.
As
Real Madrid defender David Beckham stated that he wants to return to the England national team.
New Atletico Madrid defender Portuguese Maniche has been included in the squad for the first time.
Raul Gonzalez could be replaced by Robinho in the starting lineup tomorrow, and there are only 5 players certain of their spots in the starting lineup: Sergio Ramos, Fabio Cannavaro, Roberto Carlos, Mahamadou Diarra, and Emerson. Robinho impressed Fabio Capello in the matches against Levante and Lyon, and he is considered the most likely candidate to replace Raul. Fabio Capello is very unhappy with Raul's form and performance.
In the final training session before the match against Real Sociedad, Michel Salgado did not participate, while Ronaldo participated in his third training session.
Marca
Ronaldinho is negotiating a new contract with Barcelona and is asking for an annual salary of 12 million euros.
Fabio Capello stated that Raul remains an important player in the team and works excellently, but he will start on the bench in the match against Real Sociedad. Fabio Capello also hopes that Ronaldo will regain his best form in the next three weeks.
Colo Colo's coach Claudio Borghi stated that his team's defender, Argentine Matias Fernandez, should move to Villarreal club in the near future. Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini knows the player well and is very interested in him.
Sevilla coach Juande Ramos stated that winning the Seville derby is very important. He also mentioned that Betis weakened by losing Ricardo Oliveira and Joaquin, as these players were replaced by newcomers.
Betis coach Javier Irureta believes that Sevilla is very well prepared for this season and is the favorite in the Seville derby, but his team also has the potential to win. He identified Daniel Alves and Jesus Navas as Sevilla's most dangerous weapons.
Real Sociedad striker Darko Kovacevic supports Fabio Capello's project and stated that Fabio Capello's teams always win titles. He noted that they focused a lot on defense, but it brought them victories.
