Ronaldo’s ‘little knee problem’
Madrid
Real Sociedad meet Real Madrid today with the chance to reassert their stirring start to the season and press home their case as genuine contenders for La Liga’s top four.
They head to the Santiago Bernabeu sitting two points behind Madrid and as the league’s surviving surprise package after Granada’s fairytale opening has dissipated following three consecutive defeats.
Real Sociedad have so far avoided a similar reality check, even if their latest three games before the international break showed some signs of strain.
They were held by Leganes, who are rooted to the bottom of the table, two weeks after losing at home to struggling Levante, who had then sat 13th.
“I went into the dressing room and it looked like a funeral,” said coach Imanol Alguacil after the draw against Leganes.
Around those slips were narrow wins over Celta Vigo and Granada, each achieved with goals in the last 10 minutes, which could be seen as evidence of a ruthless streak or a double stroke of luck.
Yet their lofty position is well-deserved. Real Sociedad have arguably been the most fluid, free-flowing side in the division so far, more entertaining to watch than Barcelona and with fewer goals conceded too.
They have frightened opponents with their pace and bullied them with their intensity.
In Martin Odegaard, they boast perhaps the most impressive creative midfielder of the season and while the 20-year-old is on loan from Real Madrid, he will be allowed to face his parent club, presumably with a point to prove. “When you see him in training and when he plays, you realise he is a special player,” said Nacho Monreal this week, signed from Arsenal last summer. “He has found the right place to play and we work around him.”
Mikel Oyarzabal’s touch, craft and dazzling feet makes it easy to see why he continues to be linked with Europe’s elite clubs even if the freedom he enjoys also owes a debt to the energy of Mikel Merino and Zubeldia behind him.
Oyarzabal has four goals, along with Portu, while Willian Jose has five.
They face a Madrid side that was finding their rhythm before the international break, after playing five games without conceding a single goal and winning four of them while scoring 16.
Since October 5, Gareth Bale has not played for his club once but represented his country four times and, if selected, it remains to be seen how the Madrid fans react after the way he celebrated Wales’ qualification for Euro 2020. –
– Cristiano Ronaldo (above) conceded he is not ‘100 percent’ despite his goal spree for Portugal but always ready to play as injury-hit Juventus head to Atalanta today looking to extend their unbeaten run this season to stay top of Serie A.
Juventus visit fifth-placed Atalanta before hosting Atletico Madrid in the Champions League next week.
Maurizio Sarri’s side are just one point ahead of Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan after 12 matches, with Lazio and Cagliari eight points adrift of the leaders in joint third.
Atalanta have gone three league games without a win and will be eager to get back into the Champions League berths, as they sit two points off fourth place, before next week’s trip to Shakhtar Donetsk.
Atalanta’s fortunes have slipped following the thigh injury suffered to Colombian star Duvan Zapata, who scored six goals in six Serie A matches before being sidelined for their last five league games.
As Atalanta sweat on Zapata’s return, Juventus will be without full-back Alex Sandro, who picked up a thigh problem playing for Brazil, with Blaise Matuidi recovering from a rib injury.
Ronaldo had said he was not at his best physically, with Sarri saying the Portuguese star has a “little knee problem”.
But the 34-year-old wants to make amends after storming off when he was substituted in Juventus’s last game against AC Milan.
“In the last three weeks, I have played at a slightly reduced capacity,” Ronaldo conceded after his goal spree for Portugal.
“I don’t like to be replaced, no one does,” added Ronaldo. “I tried to help Juve even when injured.”
Full-back Danilo, who scored his first goal for Brazil during the international break, warned: “The games after the international break are never easy, let alone against Atalanta, a team who are doing well.
“We can’t make mistakes or underestimate them.”
Inter will be looking to make it a perfect seven league games on the road this season as they travel to Torino, before their European trip to Slavia Prague.
Conte’s side face a tough task against the Andrea Belotti-powered Torino, who ended their six-match winless run against Brescia last time out, Serie A runners-up Napoli are in crisis, having slipped to seventh, and desperately need a result at struggling AC Milan (14th place), –
Milan