Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has dismissed criticisms of the club’s pre-season form, especially the 7-3 drubbing Los Blancos suffered at the hand of city rivals Atletico Madrid.
Benzema was a hat-trick hero on Wednesday when Real Madrid recorded 5-3 victory over Turkish club Fenerbahce.
“I’m going to say one thing, this is called pre-season,” Benzema told reporters after the match, as cited by Marca.
“The pre-season is all about building up to having a high level when La Liga starts. We are working hard both physically and tactically.
“I feel very good, but I need more minutes and more workouts, but these will come.
“Our critics? They are normal after losing the derby by seven goals, but that has already happened and we have to keep working.
“My message to the fans? I ask you to trust us because we need you and after what happened last year. My feelings for this year are good and we are working hard to have a good level.”
Former Liverpool striker Ronny Rosenthal was threatened at knife-point after six masked robbers broke into his £4million north London home while his family were sleeping.
Rosenthal, who played for Tottenham and Liverpool, was attacked by the raiders who were looking to steal designer watches from his £4m property, report the Mirror.
It is believed the thugs broke into his home in Cricklewood, which he shares with his wife, at 1am and the he was subjected to a terrifying ordeal.
A neighbour of the former footballer told the Standard: “He told me that they were physically abused and threatened with machetes and horrible stuff like that.
“The raiders were in and out in five minutes … these people know what they’re doing. The family are fine now, they are a strong family but it wasn’t pleasant.
“All you can do is look at your security and be alert but you just never know. If they get in just give them what they want and let them go.
“We have private security who are brilliant for just £20 a week. There are just too many pressures on the police.”
Rosenthal, who was nicknamed ‘Rocket Ronny’, joined Liverpool in 1990 after making his name in Israel and helped the club to the First Division title.
He is known for his infamous miss against Aston Villa during the very first Premier League season.
Rosenthal, who also won 60 caps for Israel, joined Tottenham in 1994 and spent three seasons with the club before signing for Watford.
This latest incident comes after Arsenal full-back Sead Kolasinac fought off two men wielding knives after he and team-mate Mesut Ozil were attacked in north London last week.
Of this latest incident, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Police are investigating an aggravated burglary in Cricklewood that took place on May 11.
“Officers were called to a residential property at 1.14am to a report of multiple armed intruders forcing their way inside. Various items were stolen before the suspect left the scene. No arrests. Enquiries continue.”
Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane appeared unconcerned about Gareth Bale being pictured playing golf in Madrid when his club were engaging Premier League in a pre-season match.
Bale has been linked with an exit from Madrid for months with England and China rumoured to be two possible destinations.
The Welsh star’s move to Chinese club Jiangsu Suning was called off at the last minute by Los Blancos board after they discovered the team won’t be strong enough with the injury of Marco Asensio.
Marca cite a report in El Confidencial which claims the forward spent time playing the sport, which is a well-reported hobby of his, while his team fell to defeat in the pre-season Audi Cup tournament against Tottenham on Tuesday.
“I don’t know … You’re telling me something that has surely happened,” Zidane told reporters, with Marca adding that he nearly laughed at the question.
“I hope he trained there. We’ll see when we come back (to Spain), I’m not going to forbid him to do anything.
“We’ll see what he has done in Madrid. He stayed in Madrid to train and I think he has.”
The Welsh wizard celebrated his 30th birthday last week and is said not to be part of Zinedine Zidane’s plans at the Bernabeu, while the Madrid fans have turned on him, report Football Espana.
Burnemouth are set to sign Arnaut Danjuma after the Club Brugge winger passed a medical ahead of his move to the south-coast side.
According to Sky Sports, the 22-year-old will cost Eddie Howe’s side £13.7 million.
Danjuma is a Nigerian-born Netherlands international who came through the ranks at PSV Eindhoven before joining NEC Nijmegen in 2016.
He moved to Club Brugge last year and impressed in his inaugural season in the Jupiler League.
Danjuma scored six goals and contributed four assists in 24 games across all competitions, helping Brugge finish second in the league last term and reach the third qualifying round of this season’s Champions League.
The versatile forward is set to become Bournemouth’s fourth signing this summer following the arrivals of Lloyd Kelly, Jack Stacey and Philip Billing.
Arsenal boss Unai Emery’s last-minute move to sign Moise Kean has failed as the Juventus striker rejected the Gunners for a move to Everton.
Kean is on his way to Everton in a deal worth around €30m plus bonuses, with Juve only retaining right of first refusal.
The youngster is reportedly keen to sign for the Toffees because of the their desire to build their team around him.
However, Italian journalist Alvise Cagnazzo – writing for the Daily Mail – claims the 19-year-old also received an offer from Arsenal.
Nonetheless, he would have rejected the move because the Gunners ‘could not promise him a starting spot’, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette their first-choice pairing, report Football Italia.
Cagnazzo adds ‘there is belief’ among Toffees officials that the young Italian could possibly emulate Romelu Lukaku’s impact at Goodison Park.
