It’s not enough to just have talent at Atletico Madrid. At other clubs it is, but we can’t sign superstars and have to look for players with a good work ethic.
In Madrid, the conditions are always better for me. It suits my game: fast clay, high altitude, the balls fly really well.
I do not think my career is over after being at Real Madrid.
It is all right having Atletico Madrid and Barca at the top, but what about teams like Tenerife who play on such bad pitches? These little things need to improve, but media-wise, Spanish women’s football is a lot further along than in England.
All I dreamed of when I became a footballer was to play for a club as big as Real Madrid. It’s maybe the most famous and best club in the history of football.
In 2000, with Tardelli at the helm, I really thought about leaving Inter. I had an agreement with Real Madrid and everything was ready for me to move to Spain.
Schalke, for me, is a great adventure, and I wanted to experience new sensations away from Real Madrid.
Winning the Europa League with Atletico Madrid and then reaching a semi-final of the World Cup is great.
When I arrived, I defended Real Madrid tooth and nail.
I want to win all the titles, be a reference for the team and for the fans, and I want to live my story at Real Madrid.
The problem is that they are all stars at Madrid. You need someone to carry the water to the well.
Dortmund is a fantastic club, critical for my career. But my Spanish grandfather on my mother’s side always wished that I play in Spain. And if, then at Real Madrid.
From the moment I left Sao Paulo and Brazil, I was fixed on staying here, playing for the first team and succeeding at Real Madrid. That was always my dream. But it was an advantage to be able to join Castilla first.
I experienced the heat when I was playing for Madrid. If we went to places like Sevilla early on in the season it was unbearable. Usually you can feel it on pre-season tours in places like Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta. The humidity levels are unreal, but this is different, the first game of the World Cup.
Both Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic are classy players, top midfielders. They play for Real Madrid and Barcelona. That tells you everything.
What Cristiano has been doing is huge, but Madrid have a great team with players who can still offer more. The important things is that they keep working as a unit.
I am much more grateful and linked to Real Madrid than to Barcelona.
I was born in Havana, Cuba and raised in Madrid, Spain. Then I moved to New Jersey.
I’ve always dreamed of managing Real Madrid.
I’ve liked Real Madrid since the days when Zidane, the Brazilian Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, and Fernando Hierro were around. I’ve been following them religiously since then.
I have no dream. I shall no longer speak of Madrid. They don’t want me. This is not a problem. I move forward; I am well in Dortmund.
Cristiano is happy at Real Madrid and focused on helping the team.
Would Neymar fit at Real Madrid? He would fit, for sure. It would be great if he came to Real Madrid. In my opinion the great players have to play at this club.
We take our international responsibilities very seriously and will not withdraw our troops from Iraq… Otherwise, the victims of terror in Madrid will have died in vain.
If Milan agrees to let me go, and if there’s an agreement between the clubs, I would love to play for Madrid.
Any player wants to be at Real Madrid.
I am aware of importance of the No.7 shirt. Cristiano Ronaldo had spoken to me at Real Madrid and told me how important it was.
I said yes to Real Madrid while keeping my responsibility to the national team. I was completely honest.
At the October 1933 proceedings of the League of Nations in Madrid, Lemkin mounted a valiant effort to persuade the gathered ambassadors to define and agree to punish the crime of what we now call genocide. He failed.
At Real Madrid, I did heading drills with Cristiano Ronaldo. You see him go up for headers, that spring and power – he is a real beast. At Juventus, I saw Fernando Llorente, how he finds space and directs his headers.
Ancelotti speaks a lot with his players, creates a very close-knit atmosphere, and the Real Madrid dressing room was very sad when he left.
When there is a Brazilian who is lighting things up, he is at Real Madrid before you know it!
I had one-and-a-half years of joy in Manchester, despite the city being a lot colder than Madrid!
I had the good luck to have the experience of training with fantastic football players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Ozil, Modric, and I also played for Real Madrid B. That was a fantastic experience because it was my first international experience as a football player and taught me a lot as a football player.
I had a dream to play in the Champions League, so every time I play for Real Madrid, and in the Champions League, I try to enjoy it as much as possible because it’s the realisation of a dream.
Barcelona and Real Madrid wingers, these are the big players at the big clubs and you have to watch them. They are at a top level. I’m not going to say they inspire me, but I take things from them.
If I receive a phone call from Real Madrid, I won’t answer.
Madrid is not as big as London, but it is true when you are coming from a big city like Madrid, nothing is going to surprise you, and I am very happy to move to a city like London. It is a big city, and you can do everything you want with the respect that the English people always have.
Obviously I have to respect Chelsea, who made a huge effort to sign me, and I’m very happy here. But Madrid will always be Madrid for me.
I have played for Real Madrid, which is such a big club and where the pressure is so huge because you have to go and, really, win absolutely every game. There is no game where people don’t expect you to win. So, having played there for three years, pressure is nothing that would scare me.
It is very challenging to adapt to life at a big club like Madrid, but I’m not the kind of person to make excuses.
Players when they’re linked with Real Madrid, their eyes light up.
People think I don’t have experience in the second division, but we were promoted with Tenerife and Extremadura,and I was the coach of the reserve team with Real Madrid in the second division. I know what it means to go from this level to another level. I realise how difficult it is.
I never wanted to leave Real Madrid.
I am happy at Madrid.
It was an honor to be invited to visit Real Madrid’s training ground and meet Raul, Ronaldo, Kaka, and all the other footballers that play for such a successful team.
When I signed for Real Madrid, I knew it was a big club, but only when you’re inside do you realise the magnitude of this team.
I always said that I would like to finish my career in Madrid if it’s possible.
This is Real Madrid, and I understand there is great pressure for new signings to succeed here.
I fought all my life to be at Real Madrid, to try to be in the starting XI.
It was difficult at Atletico Madrid. It was my first experience in Europe when I went there and La Liga was hard.
For any footballer who plays for Real Madrid in the modern era, the prospect of leaving the club must feel like a step down no matter where they go – but it does not have to be like that.
If you want to keep up with the changes, then you have to watch as much football as you can. Live is the best way but also on television. All the best teams: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and now City. What are they doing? If possible, go and see them training. You can always learn.
I give my body and soul to defend this club and for all the fans who come to see us. I have never thought about leaving. I really like being at Madrid, the fans like me and I like them.
I’m a very explosive player and need everything to be right. I started working with an osteopath the last year I was in Madrid and have stayed with him.
I am a follower of the Spain team. I think I did things correct, with the greatest honesty, always under the premise that I would say yes to Real Madrid.
Following Real Madrid, I support Porto.
It’s typical at Real Madrid that we often seem to be going through a revolution.
When I signed for Real Madrid, it was like a dream.
Madrid is Madrid. There’s nothing more to say. It’s the biggest team in the world.
I understand that some people might think differently, but my duty is to take confidence from playing well. And I’m convinced that with my attitude and ability, everything will go back to being the way it was before. That’s what we all want. The Madrid fans and me.
I don’t think Madrid would be Madrid without Barcelona and vice versa.
I want Robinho to stay with Madrid because I think that he is almost the same as Cristiano Ronaldo.
It obviously bothers people when Real Madrid win. It makes them jealous. There isn’t a level playing field.
I’m going to play in the first team of Real Madrid.
After Madrid, we intensified our investigative efforts once again, and we are in the process of bringing about expansions in security laws and creating an index file system.
I adore Madrid. It’s my city. If I ever move, it will only be for work. Whenever I travel, I always want to get back home.
