Carlo Ancelotti is, as always, under pressure to deliver trophies at Real Madrid. Between his team’s collapse in the league, their embarrassing display at home against Schalke and their Copa del Rey defeat, he’s going to need to pull off some huge results to stay in his job for another year. Even delivering La Decima doesn’t make Real Madrid’s president and fans less demanding.
Backheel Breakfast: All eyes on Real Madrid
Between this weekend’s Clásico and the Champions League draw, Carlo Ancelotti has a tough six weeks ahead of him.
El Clásico is this weekend, and Madrid need to avoid defeat to stay within one game of Barcelona in La Liga. A loss in that match will be devastating, and things don’t get any easier from there. On Friday, the Champions League quarterfinal draw was made, and it pits Los Merengues against cross-town rivals Atlético Madrid.
Between Atléti’s Copa del Rey triumph and their 4-0 league win over Real, it’s clear they’re a matchup nightmare for the holders of the Champions League. Real Madrid might have the most talented squad in the world, but it’s looking increasingly likely that they could be out of all competitions before May. And if that’s the case, Zinedine Zidane could be interim boss before the end of the season.
In the news
Parma have been declared bankrupt. (Guardian)
Germany will pass England in the UEFA coefficients next year. (Kicker)
Dick Advocaat refuses to rule out Adam Johnson for this weekend’s match. (BBC)
Arsene Wenger, in characteristic form, has called for the scrapping of the away goals rule after it hurt his team. (Guardian)
Roma’s fans ‘protested’ their terrible performance in Europa League. (ESPN FC)
The Bundesliga’s president is pretty annoyed about the 2022 World Cup. (Bundesliga)
Club Leon goalkeeper William Yarbrough, who is eligible for Mexico and the United States, says he’s accepted a USMNT call-up. (MLS)
Falcao’s old agent says they talk and cry together about his downward career trajectory. (AS)
Tim Sherwood won’t shut up about how he was the only person at Spurs that knew Harry Kane was good. (Telegraph)
David De Gea isn’t currently interested in contract extension talks. (Mirror)
You should be reading
Iain McIntosh on Manchester City potentially pausing for a year to wait for Pep Guardiola. (ESPN FC)
Manuel Veth on Yevhen Konoplyanka’s future. (Futbolgrad)
Luca Hodges-Ramon on Livorno’s ultras. (Beyond The Field Of Play)
Fun with transfer rumors
The section in which nothing should be taken seriously.
Chelsea might do a Felipe Luis-plus-cash swap with Atlético Madrid for Koke. (London Evening Standard)
Add Barcelona to the list of teams chasing Inter’s Mateo Kovacic. (Football Italia)
Theo Walcott might go to Liverpool as Raheem Sterling goes to Man City. (Express)
Thursday’s games
There were a lot of very fun games in the Europa League. (SB Nation)
Watch highlights of Tuesday's Copa Libertadores games here. (FootballManiaChannel)
What to watch on Friday (click for listings, all times ET)
HSV vs. Hertha Berlin (3:30 p.m.) - A very important game, but probably not a good one.
PSG vs. Lorient (3:30 p.m.) - Let’s see if the referees continue to be f---ing a-holes in a s--t country that doesn’t even deserve PSG.
Elche vs. Valencia (3:45 p.m.) - All Valencia games are watchable.
Union vs. FC Dallas (7 p.m.) - Don’t hit SAP. Try to learn Spanish!
Queretaro vs. Atlas (9:30 p.m.) - Is Ronaldinho healthy? Does he feel like playing? It’s anyone’s guess!
Veracruz vs. America (10:30 p.m.) - Veracruz are surprisingly great this season.
Santos vs. Tigres (11:30 p.m.) - An important match in the race for Liguilla places.
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