Real Madrid round-up: Zidane, Llorente, Champions League

BBQ for early pace-setters

Following their impressive win on Saturday afternoon, manager Zinedine Zidane organised a barbecue for the squad on Sunday. As the city of Madrid continues to enjoy the hot summer into September it was a perfect way for the feel good atmosphere in the camp to be continued and the families of the players were invited along too. It didn’t take some long before they donned fancy dress too - including Cristiano and his son.

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Squad satisfaction

Although it was an extremely quiet summer in terms of transfer activity for Los Blancos, Zidane has shown his faith in the squad that he has at his disposal. Already – after just three games – he has used 21 of the 24 members with only Keylor Navas and Fabio Coentrao (both injured) as well as third choice goalkeeper, Rubén Yáñez, missing out. Time will tell how this develops over the coming months especially as the Champions League gets underway.

Impressing on-loan

Marcos Llorente is 21-years of age and along with a selection of Madrid’s young players, was sent out on loan ahead of this season to gain experience while having more pitch time in competitive games. The clear idea of this policy is to help Madrid in the future with the stars returning to play for the club if their potential is fulfilled. Llorente, however, has already managed to help his parent club by helping Alavés beat reigning league champions Barcelona on Saturday evening at the Camp Nou.

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Sporting come to town

Madrid kick off their Champions League defence at home against Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday. The Portiguese side - that impressed in their 3-0 league win at the weekend - are due to fly into the Spanish capital this afternoon. Zidane will be working on the training ground with his squad, looking at the key combinations needed for his starting XI, from 11:00 this morning.

The hidden influence

A key player in the current Real Madrid wider squad often goes unseen but his involvement in Saturday’s game against Osasuna proved very influential. Goalkeeping coach, Luis Llopis, spends all of his working time preparing the three stoppers for their potential ninety minutes on the field but in the last match had a direct impact. It was his specific advice that allowed Kiko Casilla to make the penalty save in the second half and although the game was close to being won by then, the goalkeepers will be hoping to gain valuable tips from their support team as the season continues.

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