Ronaldo remains King of Europe

HUGO CEREZO 12/04/2013

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Despite having missed the last two and a half games, Cristiano is not looking over his shoulder in the race to be crowned this season's top scorer in European football.

No one can challenge his 25 goals in 18 games. Not even his injury has allowed the most prolific scorers from the continent's other teams to close the gap significantly.

Diego Costa is second in the goalscoring rankings. The Spain team will benefit from the only striker who has managed to get anywhere near to keeping up with CR7. Atlético's spirited Spanish-Brazilian has netted 18 goals. Just behind him is the Greek striker Mitroglou. The Olympiacos player has burst onto the scene with a spree of goals which has put him firmly in the spotlight. He will take part in the World Cup, unlike Ibra, who has also netted a 17-goal haul.

Europe's other big strikers – making allowances for Messi, who has managed to score on 14 occasions between his injury problems – are a long way behind the Madrid player. Agüero has scored 16 and Lewandowski 14, whilst Van Persie, Rooney and Higuaín have bagged 10.

Cristiano Ronaldo, with his 25 goals, leads the ten Real Madrid players who have found the back of the net. The 'BBC' counts 44 goals – nine by Bale and ten by Benzema. The trident accounts for 71% of Real Madrid's goals. Isco features in fourth place with seven goals, Di María has four and Morata two

Only Guardiola can outdo Real

HUGO CEREZO 12/04/2013

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Only one team in Europe has bettered Real Madrid's current run of results. Bayern Munich has tasted nothing but victory in its last seven games, going seven for seven (five in the Bundesliga and two in the Champions League).

Real Madrid has managed six wins and a draw, the latter against Juventus. Incidentally, the Italian team has also racked up an identical set of results.

Real Madrid averages 3.1 goals per game. Nobody else in Europe has surpassed the three-goal mark. Atlético stands on 2.65. The same applies in England, despite the teams having played two games less. Manchester City has scored 2.88, whilst Arsenal and Chelsea have not even managed 2, standing on 1.94.

Guardiola's Bayern side wins games, but cannot live up to the goalscoring prowess of Ancelotti's Real Madrid. It averages 2.47 goals a game thanks to its 47 goals – 32 in the Bundesliga and 15 in the Champions League. Another side with a fearsome attacking record is Borussia Dortmund with a total of 44 (35 + 9).

Wenger's Arsenal is enjoying a fine run of form and has produced six victories and one defeat, as have Benfica and Olympiacos. Barça had managed five wins in a row, but lost its last two games. A step ahead with five wins and two draws are PSG and Simeone's Atlético – whose brilliant season puts them amongst those with the best statistics.

Zidane: Galactico on a mere mortal's wage

RAMÓN FUENTES 12/05/2013

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Zinedine Zidane is extremely grateful to Real Madrid. He has always felt at home there, whether during his playing career or in any of the several other jobs he has held at the club, and now as Carlo Ancelotti's assistant coach.

Zidane's constant kind gestures towards Real Madrid are tokens of the Frenchman's appreciation for the club, particularly to its president, Florentino Pérez. During his time as a player, he relinquished the final year of his contract at Real. Now, as its assistant coach, he is very sure what his priorities are for the future.

Zizou is studying an accelerated Masters degree at the best footballing school in the world before attempting to reach his main objective, which is none other than becoming a first-team coach. What could be better than doing that at Real Madrid?

The Frenchman is enjoying himself and learning on a daily basis from his new experiences alongside Carlo Ancelotti.

That is why his wages are anything but those of a Galactico. In fact, they are the complete opposite. His salary at the club is around €600,000 a year before tax, or a net amount which is half that, about €300,000.

In contrast to the players, the coaching staff’s earnings are paid monthly. If we do the maths, Zidane's monthly pay is around €24,000. That is because Zidane's aim is to become Real Madrid's first-team coach in the not too distant future

The terror of Europe

HUGO CEREZO · MADRID 12/04/2013

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Real Madrid is turning Europe into a 'Los Blancos' empire. The offensive power of Carlo Ancelotti's men has conquered the continent. No other team in Europe has notched up as many goals as Real Madrid, counting both national and continental competitions. There are none that even come close to the 62 goals scored by 'BBC' (Bale, Benzema, Cristiano) and company, in the Spanish League (44) and Champions League (18).

'Los Blancos' have scored nine goals more than their closest contender in this race, 'Cholo's' amazing Atlético, which has collected 53 goals in the two competitions. The top three is completed by another Spanish side, Barça, with 52.

After the 'Azulgranas' comes Pellegrini's Manchester City, the top scorer in the Premiership, with (37). Despite the feeling that the English tournament is more spectacular and eye-catching, that quality does not translate into goals.

Arsenal, one of the sensations of the season, has only managed 35 goals, 27 in its home championship, eight in the Champions League. It falls far short of Real Madrid - even though Real has played two games less -, as does the Chelsea side under former Madrid coach José Mourinho, having scored the same number of goals as Arsenal in 18 games, to Madrid's 20.

Fourth in line behind the Spaniards is Paris Saint Germain. That is not surprising, given the quality of its impressive line-up of forwards featuring Ibrahimovic, Cavani, Lavezzi, Pastore and Menez.

Madrid scores an average of 3.1 goals per game. No-one else in Europe gets to three. Atlético is on 2.65, City 2.88, with Arsenal and Chelsea on 1.94.

I would prefer to avoid Spain, Brazil and Germany"

S. FERNÁNDEZ 12/05/2013

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Cristiano Ronaldo is the Portuguese national team’s undisputed leader, but as well as thinking and behaving like its captain, he is its all-time top goalscorer and the most important footballer ever to come out of his country, without taking anything away from Eusebio.

Portugal sealed its place at the World Cup at the very last minute. They were outstanding against Sweden, but they cannot hide that they needed the play-offs to secure qualification. He feels they have achieved their goal, but warns that anything could happen now: they’re a team that has been playing together for a long time and is capable of hurting any side.

Despite this, CR7 plays down Portugal’s chances of lifting the title: "Brazil, Spain and Germany are favourites to win the World Cup. Maybe it isn’t a great time to play against them, but we aren’t thinking about that just yet. We’re confident, playing well and we achieved our goal of reaching Brazil. Hopefully we won’t draw one of those stronger teams early on."

This will be the 28-year-old’s third World Cup. He is in the best form of his career, both emotionally and on the pitch, plus he is surrounded by an outstanding group of players. Will Brazil be his World Cup?: "It could be, although it depends on many things, like how the season pans out or if I’m fully fit. I feel great right now. What I want is to continue like this until the end of the league campaign and then have a good World Cup," Ronaldo told MARCA.

Suarez vindicated for staying at Liverpool, says Rodgers

The Northern Irishman feels that his star forward is now "up there with the top players in the world", after putting his attempts to secure a summer transfer behind him

Brendan Rodgers believes that Luis Suarez's decision to stay at Liverpool has been vindicated following the forward's exceptional start to the season.

The Uruguayan expressed a desire to leave Anfield for a Champions League club in the summer but ultimately stayed after the Reds rejected the advances of Premier League rivals Arsenal.

Suarez has since put the events of the transfer window behind him, displaying blistering form with 13 goals in nine outings in England's top flight.

After the 26-year-old scored four in a 5-1 demolition of Norwich City on Wednesday, Reds boss Rodgers told reporters: "Luis is extremely happy at Liverpool.

"We don't want to regurgitate things from the past. It was a difficult summer, he understood where we were at and that we want to keep our best players here.

"He is absolutely loving life at Liverpool here at the moment; he's certainly up there with the top players in the world at this moment.

"He certainly feels vindicated for wanting to stay here. Hopefully in the coming years he can achieve what he wants to achieve and play at the top level of the game [with Liverpool]."

Bayern rocked by Robben injury

The Dutchman faces a six-week spell on the sidelines due to a knee problem and will not feature again before the winter break

Bayern Munich will have to make do without the services of Arjen Robben for the remainder of the year after the winger suffered a knee injury.

The Netherlands international scored the opening goal in Bayern's 2-0 DFB Pokal win over Augsburg on Wednesday evening but was forced to leave the pitch after only 16 minutes of play following a reckless challenge from Marwin Hitz.

The Bundesliga champions were initially hopeful that the attacker had merely sustained a flesh wound, but Robben's father - and agent - has now made it clear that the 29-year-old will not feature again in 2013 as he has also suffered ligament damage.

"He will not play again before the winter break," Hans Robben told NOS.

Robben - who has scored 13 goals in 20 appearances for Bayern this term - was understably frustrated with his injury, but was adamant that he will be back to his usual best after the winter break.

"Of course, I am very disappointed. I was in great form and was looking forward to each game and now this happens. I will be back, though and we want to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves," the winger said.

Bayern have confirmed on their official website that the attacker will be out of action for six weeks.