Raul is destined to become Real Madrid's Guardiola, says Valdano

The Argentine is in no doubt that the Blancos icon has what it takes to coach the capital club, claiming that he can emulate what his former Spain team-mate did at Camp Nou

Former Real Madrid director Jorge Valdano believes that Raul is destined to return to the Santiago Bernabeu as head coach at some point in the future and become the club's very own Pep Guardiola.

Raul left los Blancos for Schalke in the summer of 2010, only to move on to Al Sadd two years later, but Valdano has little doubt that the 36-year-old will return to lead the club where he retains legendary status.

"Raul is destined to become the Guardiola of Real Madrid," the former Argentina international told reporters.

"But, obviously, in his own way and with his own style. He cannot be compared to Pep. 

"I have no doubts that he is readying himself for a return as coach and I can hardly wait for it. He would really add something to Madrid again."

Guardiola enjoyed a hugely successful spell in charge of Barcelona between 2008 and 2012, winning 14 major trophies with the Catalans before taking a one-year sabbatical from the game.

He returned to coaching last summer at Bayern Munich and has since guided the Bavarians to the European Supercup and the Club World Cup.

Wenger: Bayern Munich less dangerous than Real Madrid

The Arsenal manager believes the German giants were more formidable under Jupp Heynckes and insists Carlo Ancelotti's men "have the best balance" in Europe

Arsene Wenger has tipped Real Madrid as potential Champions League winners and believes that Bayern Munich are "less dangerous" this year.

Champions League holders Bayern beat Wenger's Arsenal side 2-0 last month in the first-leg of their last-16 tie at the Emirates Stadium.

Bavarian giants Bayern won an historic treble last season under Jupp Heynckes and are also sweeping all before them in the current campaign.

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The defending champions are 20 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, as well as having one foot in the quarter-finals of Europe's premier club competition and already being crowned FIFA Club World Cup champions.

But despite their ominous form, Wenger believes that Bayern carry less of a threat under Pep Guardiola than they did in the 2012-13 campaign - particularly with key men Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben having been troubled by injuries.

He told Eurosport: "Last year, Ribery and Robben were playing together and they were in great shape, so Bayern were really powerful going forward,

"This year they still have an awful lot of possession, but I think they're less dangerous - I think we saw that at Arsenal. Even though we were playing with 10 players (following the sending off of Wojciech Szczesny) they didn't really create an awful lot."

Real hammered Schalke 6-1 last week, are top of La Liga and in the Copa del Rey final in Carlo Ancelotti's first season at the Spanish club

And Wenger has seen enough of the Spanish side to think of them as contenders to win the Champions League trophy for the first time since 2002.

The Frenchman said: "Real Madrid right now are on a par with anything. For me, this is the team with the best balance."

Messi will become world's highest-paid player this summer, vows Barcelona president Bartomeu

The Argentina international will be rewarded with a pay rise at the end of the season, according to the Blaugrana supremo, who wants the 26-year-old to retire at Camp Nou

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed that Lionel Messi will sign a new and improved contract with the Catalans at the end of the season that will make him the best-paid player in the world.

The Blaugrana supremo recently already stated that the Liga champions are keen to reward the Argentina international for his sustained excellence and has now made it clear that the aim now is to persuade the 26-year-old attacker to commit himself to the club for the remainder of his career.

"We want him to be the world's best-paid player and during summer everything will be sorted," Bartomeu was quoted as saying by AS.

"We won't sell him. He's with us and hopefully he will retire at the Camp Nou."

The Barcelona president also had his say on Carles Puyol's announcement that he will leave the club at the end of the 2013-14 campaign.

"I don't know what he will do in the near future, but I'm convinced he will come back to the club because he still has so much to give," Bartomeu said of the veteran defender.

"He's been an example for all of us with his fighting spirit. What he's achieved at Barca is sensational."

Puyol has racked up nearly 400 La Liga appearances for the Blaugrana since making his first-team debut during the 1999-2000 season.

Robben: Wenger is a bad loser

The Netherlands international remains furious that the French coach suggested that he was guilty of playacting after being fouled by Wojciech Szczesny at the Emirates last month

Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben has accused Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger of being a bad loser.

The Dutch attacker remains upset that the French coach alleged that he had dived to win the penalty that resulted in Gunners goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny being dismissed in the first half of the Bavarians' Champions League victory at the Emirates last month.

Indeed, Robben has not only denied that he was guilty of playacting, he has also claimed that he was lucky to have avoided "serious injury".

"Shivers went down my spine when I saw footage of the foul again. Things could have gone horribly wrong. I have been quite lucky," the former Chelsea winger told De Telegraaf.

"Wenger's comments are typical for a losing coach. I don't care much about it, because it's not the first time he acts like this.

"It was a pretty scary moment for me. I picked up a serious injury in December after a similar foul from Augsburg's goalkeeper."

The second leg of the Champions League last-16 tie between Bayern and Arsenal is scheduled to take place at the Allianz Arena on March 12.

Barcelona skipper Puyol calls press conference amid exit rumours

Speculation is rife that the veteran is set to make a dramatic announcement about his future with either the Blaugrana or Spain

Carles Puyol has called a press conference for Tuesday afternoon 16:00CET amid rumours that he could leave Barcelona this summer.

A number of recent reports have claimed that the experienced defender is contemplating either retiring from professional football at the end of the season - or leaving for a MLS club come June.

Puyol has so far been reluctant to discuss his plans for the future, but he could now make an announcement on his long-term plans.

The 35-year-old has made nearly 600 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona since making his official first-team debut in 1999-200, but he has made only five La Liga appearances so far in 2013-14 because of a succession of injuries.

Meanwhile, other sources suggest that the centre-back could announce his retirement from international football in order to focus on Barcelona.

He has represented Spain 100 times at senior level and was part of the team that won the European title in 2008 before being crowned world champions in 201

Behind the Preplanned Oscar Selfie: Samsung's Ad Strategy

It's no accident that Ellen DeGeneres used a Samsung Galaxy Note. The WSJ's Min-Jeong Lee has the details. Photo: ABC

Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE -0.75% spent an estimated $20 million on ads to run during breaks in the Academy Awards broadcast on Sunday night. But Samsung may have got more promotional mileage from Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres during the show itself.

Ms. DeGeneres toyed with a white Samsung phone during the broadcast, including when she handed a Galaxy Note 3 to actor Bradley Cooper so he could take a "selfie" photo of himself and other stars including Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Lawrence surrounding the host.

While the stunt felt spontaneous, it wasn't entirely unplanned. As part of its sponsorship and ad pact for the Oscars with ABC, the TV network airing the show, Samsung and its media buying firm Starcom MediaVest negotiated to have its Galaxy smartphone integrated into the show, according to two people familiar with the matter. ABC is a unit of Walt Disney Co. DIS +2.67%

Samsung gave ABC smartphones to use during the broadcast and was promised its devices would get airtime, these people said. At least one of the product plugs was planned: during the "red carpet" preshow, ABC ran a clip of six aspiring young filmmakers touring Disney Studios. The group were seen in the video using Samsung devices.

The origin of the "selfie" shot was a little different. Ms. DeGeneres, in the days leading up to the broadcast, decided she wanted to take "selfies" during the show and ABC suggested she use a Samsung since it was a sponsor, another person familiar with the matter said.

During rehearsals Samsung executives trained Ms. DeGeneres on how to use the Samsung Galaxy, two people familiar with the matter said.

"It was a great plug for the Samsung brand," said Allen Adamson, managing director at Landor Associates, a branding firm owned by WPP PLC. "Ellen's selfie is going to be more impactful than their commercials. You can't buy that magic of going viral," he added.

Having products appear in a program—product placement—has been a part of the TV business since the early days of the medium.

But it has become a more popular marketing technique in recent years as ad-skipping via digital video recorders has prompted marketers to look for ways to break free of the confines of the commercial break.

Oscars host Ellen Degeneres set a record for most retweets during the Oscars telecast. Who else were the social-media winners and losers at the Oscars? David Neuman, social-media manager at Prime Visibility, joins digits. Photo: Twitter.com/TheEllenShow.

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Ad-skipping is far less common during an event like the Academy Awards, which most viewers are watching live. Even so, advertisers say, product placement combined with ad buys help viewers better remember the products being promoted.

At the same time, TV networks typically reserve such product placement for big spending advertisers, media buyers say. Samsung was one of the biggest sponsors of this year's Oscars broadcast, buying five minutes of commercial time.

While Samsung declined to comment on the financial details of its ad deal with ABC, ad tracker Kantar Media estimates that advertisers were paying roughly $1.8 million for 30 seconds worth of Oscar ad time this year.

That implies Samsung could have spent $18 million on ad time this year. By comparison, the company spent a total of $24 million advertising on the Oscars since 2009, according to Kantar.

Samsung paid big amounts to be an Oscars advertiser and appear on stage. But host Ellen DeGeneres also used an iPhone backstage. Getty Images

The cost of the product placement was included in Samsung's overall package, said one person familiar with the situation.

Helping reinforce the value of the plug was Ms. DeGeneres' tweeting of the selfie. It was retweeted nearly 3 million times as of Monday afternoon. While the tweet didn't mention Samsung, the fact it was taken by a Samsung phone was clear on the TV screen at the time.

At one point Samsung was getting about 900 mentions a minute on social media, according to Kontera, a company that tracks content on social media sites.

The Science Behind the Selfie

The president has done it, the pope has done it and let's be honest, we've taken selfies, too. What can selfies teach us about our culture and technology? Professor Lev Manovich from the Graduate Center at City University of New York joins Digits with a look.

Still, as the lines between entertainment and advertising continue to blur ad experts warn that these overly promotional gimmicks could turn off consumers.

So far, there has been few complaints about Samsung's Oscar plug. Kontera said that 23% of the online commentary around the "selfie" on social media has been positive and about 69% of the comments have been neutral. Only 8% of the comments were negative, the company added.

The Samsung stunt didn't come off without a hitch: many people were quick to note onTwitter TWTR +1.45% that the Oscar host was also tweeting during the evening with rival Apple's iPhone.

Samsung declined to comment about Ms. DeGeneres' iPhone usage.

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Samsung wasn't the only brand that got a big plug last night. Ms DeGeneres ordered pizza for some in the audience from Big Mama's and Papa's Pizzeria in Los Angeles.

The boxes carried a Coca-Cola logo, which didn't advertise during the program. Rival Pepsi was an Oscar advertiser.

"Big Mama's and Papa's Pizzeria getting a thank-you note tomorrow," read a tweet sent out last night from Wendy Clark, Coca-Cola's senior vice president of integrated marketing communications.

Row rages over safety of Japanese nuclear plant

Japan's nuclear regulators and an atomic energy company are locked in a battle over the safety of the Tsuruga plant. Environmentalists say it is a test case for the future of nuclear energy in the country. Twenty-six months after the disaster at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, virtually all of Japan's nuclear reactors remain off-line. Caused by a magnitude-9 earthquake that triggered a colossal tsunami, the crisis at Fukushima has shaken public faith in what was previously considered a safe and virtually limitless source of energy for Japan, and forced the government to reconsider the ability of other reactors to withstand another major natural disaster. But the 48 idle reactors are not earning any money for the power companies that built them when nuclear energy was seen as the remedy for a nation imported virtually all its energy. That is why the position of the Nuclear Regulation Agency (NRA) over the future of the Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture is so important, the environmental groups say.   Active fault identified After an extensive study, a panel of experts appointed by the NRA has concluded that an active fault line lies immediately beneath the No. 2 reactor at Tsuruga and that it should be decommissioned at the first opportunity. The study into the seismic resilience of the plant was only ordered by the government in the aftermath of Fukushima and the fault had not been detected before the 1,160 megawatt reactor went into operation in February 1987. The No. 1 reactor at the site was the oldest commercial reactor in Japan before it was shut down for a routine safety inspection in January 2011, but has never been given the green light to restart operations after the Fukushima disaster. Japan Atomic Power Co. (JAPC) also had plans to open two further reactors at the plant in the coming years, but both those projects are on hold. Announcing its recommendation for the No. 1 reactor, Kunihiko Shimazaki, the NRA commissioner, told DW, 'It is lucky there has been no accident at the reactor.' A spokesman for the organization insisted that the NRA had followed objective and scientific rules before reaching its decision and that it would stand by its findings - but he did admit that pressure was being applied to the agency. As soon as the NRA's decision was announced, Yasuo Hamada, the president of JAPC called a press conference in which he attacked the agency for not giving his company the chance to explain its position on the matter. Hamada also claimed that the panel's decision was not based on objective data and facts.   'Inappropriate action' The decision is 'really an inappropriate action taken by the regulator, which exercises public power,' he said. JAPC insists that the fault is not active and that it has hired its own experts to compile a report that will counter the NRA's findings and permit the company to restart the reactor. 'Our company has an opposite opinion and we hope that before the final decision is announced at the end of June, our position will be clear,' a spokesman for the company told DW. If the agency sticks to its guns and is backed up by the government, then JAPC will be obliged to permanently shut the facility down and take a huge financial hit. But the industry as a whole, as well as many politicians whose constituencies are home to nuclear plants and have built close relationships with those firms in return for permitting the construction of reactors are still fighting their corner. In March, dozens of members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party set up a group to demand the resumption of the nation's nuclear reactors on the grounds that ensuring a stable supply of energy is crucial to economic growth. The Yomiuri newspaper, in a May 16 editorial, also sided with the industry and questioned the expert panel's 'insufficient grounds' for determining that a fault exists beneath the reactor and criticised the panel chairman. 'We have to say Shimazaki has been chairing the panel with a lack of fairness and based on predetermined conclusions,' the editorial stated. 'When it comes to the fault beneath the No. 2 reactor, JAPC insists it is not an active fault, as it has been inactive for 120,000 to 130,000 years.' The editorial went on to say: 'The operator came to the conclusion based on an analysis of soil in the fault, and has been beefing up its efforts to conduct backup research. The NRA should not reach a hasty conclusion at a time when JAPC has been continuing its own research.'   Utilities' own research But that is exactly part of the problem that afflicted the nuclear energy industry before March 2011 and directly contributed to the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima plant, says Hajime Matsukubo, of The Citizens' Nuclear Information Center. 'In the past, the government allowed the utilities to carry out research to determine if one of their reactors was on a site with an active fault,' he said. 'Predictably, they never said there were any dangers and were giving permission to go ahead. Now, after Fukushima, we can see just how dangerous that policy was,' he said. 'The Japanese people do not agree that the nuclear reactors should be restarted and a recent opinion poll in the Asahi newspaper showed that 70 percent of people are opposed to nuclear energy.' The NRA is coming under 'huge pressure' for the company to be permitted to restart the Tsuruga reactor - from the company, politicians, media that support the government's position on nuclear power and - quietly - the ministries that oversee energy and trade and industry policies. 'All we want is for them to accept the scientific findings that there is an active and potentially dangerous fault beneath that reactor,' Matsukubo said.