Antoine Griezmann was the headline inclusion in Atletico Madrid's starting XI for the derby with Real Madrid on Sunday.

Griezmann has scored three goals for Atleti this term, but all of his seven appearances had come from the substitutes bench.

Diego Simeone suggested this has in part been a financial decision, with Atleti set to owe Barcelona a fee for the on-loan forward should he play over half of the available minutes.

Yet he got the nod ahead of Alvaro Morata for the match at the Civitas Metropolitano, starting alongside Joao Felix.

Griezmann's introduction was one of five changes made by Simeone, whose team lost 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, made two alterations to the Madrid team that started in Wednesday's win over RB Leipzig.

Ferland Mendy and Toni Kroos came in for Nacho Fernandez and Eduardo Camavinga respectively.

With Karim Benzema out injured, Rodrygo – who has scored in his last two LaLiga appearances – was selected to lead Madrid's line along with Federico Valverde and Vinicius Junior.

Ancelotti has lost four of his six meetings as a manager with Simeone in LaLiga (W1 D1), while Atleti have the chance to win consecutive games against Madrid in Spain's top flight for the first time since February 2015

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has pledged his support to Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior ahead of the blockbuster derby at Wanda Metropolitano.

The Brazil international was subjected to comments with apparent racist connotations by Spanish football agent Pedro Bravo.

Commenting on Vinicius' dancing goal celebrations, Bravo told El Chiringuito: "You have to respect your opponents. When you score a goal, if you want to dance Samba, you should go to [the] Sambadrome in Brazil. You have to respect your mates and stop playing the monkey."

The remark subsequently drew widespread criticism, with compatriots Pele and Neymar leaping to Vinicius' defence, while Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes suggested Bravo should be arrested.

Speaking ahead of the Madrid derby, Los Rojiblancos president Cerezo has also offered his support to the 22-year-old, while urging a collective show of "respect". 

"I'm going to ask Vinicius to teach me how to dance samba for when I have to go to Brazil in the next festivals in Rio!" he joked to Marca.

"What we have to do is make sure that if Vinicius does score any goal today and if he wants to celebrate it, he celebrates it in a correct way and with respect for all the public in front of him.

"The players manifest themselves as they want, the only thing there has to be is respect for the people who are on a field that is not theirs."

Los Blancos will bid to maintain their perfect start to the 2022-23 season, having won all eight of their matches across all competitions so far.

Meanwhile, Atletico are aiming to bounce back after their 2-0 defeat by Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Gabriel Jesus dedicated his celebration for Arsenal against Brentford to Vinicius Junior after the Real Madrid winger was subject to a comment with apparent racist undertones from a Spanish football agent.

Pedro Bravo has drawn much criticism after comments on El Chiringuito with apparent racist connotations, telling Vinicius to stop dancing "to respect your mates and stop playing the monkey".

Numerous Brazil stars defended the Madrid attacker, with Pele, Neymar, Bruno Guimaraes and Jesus leaping to Vinicius' defence – the Newcastle United midfielder saying Bravo should be "jailed".

Jesus paid his own tribute to Vinicius after scoring in the 3-0 win over Brentford on Sunday, running to the corner flag and opting to dance instead of his usual 'phone rings' celebration.

The Brazil forward confirmed to Sky Sports after victory at the Brentford Community Stadium that his celebration was for his international team-mate.

"The celebration was for my guy Vinicius Junior, it needs to stop and it was for him," he said.

Jesus has now been involved in seven Premier League goals this season (4G, 3A), with only Manchester City's Erling Haaland (12) boasting more in the competition.

Indeed, no Arsenal player has ever had more combined goals and assists through their first seven Premier League appearances (level with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang), and Jesus hailed the performance.

"From the start we showed what we want to do in the game, create chances and score. That is what I believe we did," he added.

"[Granit Xhaka] found me for the goal and I am so happy to play with him, he is an intelligent and quality player."

Arsenal returned to the Premier League summit with the triumph over their London rivals, one point clear of Manchester City and Tottenham, and Xhaka believes his side are a different team this season.

"We have a different mentality this season. We kept going and are training like we play and have class with the players that can make a difference," Xhaka said.

"You have the class in the front and they make the difference. I am more than happy we are in a good way but we have a long way to go."

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior insisted he "will not stop dancing" after comments with apparent racist connotations from Spanish football agent Pedro Bravo.

Bravo commented on Vinicius' dancing goal celebrations this week, telling El Chiringuito: "You have to respect your opponents. When you score a goal, if you want to dance Samba, you should go to [the] Sambadrome in Brazil. You have to respect your mates and stop playing the monkey."

The remark drew much criticism, with fellow Brazil internationals Neymar and Bruno Guimaraes leaping to Vinicius' defence, the latter saying Bravo should be "jailed".

Legendary forward Pele also denounced Bravo's comments, writing on Instagram: "Football is joy. It's a dance. It's more than that. It's a real party.

"Although, unfortunately, racism still exists, we will not allow that to stop us from continuing to smile. And we will continue to fight racism every day in this way: fighting for our right to be happy and respected."

Bravo later apologised on Twitter, saying he had "misused" the word.

Vinicius has now spoken out himself on the statement, saying in a video posted to his Instagram: "As long as the colour of the skin is more important than the brightness of the eyes, there will be war.

"They say that happiness bothers. The happiness of a victorious black Brazilian in Europe bothers much more. But my desire to win, my smile and the sparkle in my eyes are much bigger than that.

"I was a victim of xenophobia and racism in a single statement. They are dances to celebrate the cultural diversity of the world. Accept it, respect it. I'm not going to stop.

"I always try to be a professional and an exemplary citizen. But that doesn't click, it's not trending on the internet, nor does it motivate cowards to talk aggressively about people they don't even know.

"The script always ends with an apology and 'I've been misunderstood.' But I repeat it for you, racist: I will not stop dancing. Whether at the Sambadrome, at the Bernabeu or wherever."

Karim Benzema will have to sit out Sunday's derby, Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti has announced.

The France international came off with a knee injury in Madrid's Champions League win at Celtic earlier this month and has not featured since.

Ancelotti previously said Benzema could be fit for the derby with Atletico Madrid this weekend, but also noted caution at the time by saying if he did not recover, he would also not be available for the upcoming international break.

With Benzema absent from Didier Deschamps' squad announcement for Les Bleus this week, it seemed unlikely he would feature at the Wanda Metropolitano, which Ancelotti confirmed at his press conference on Saturday, saying: "I'm not saying [who will play up front], Benzema won't be there.

"He has started working individually and will be ready after the [international] break."

Ancelotti also spoke about the recent controversial comments from Pedro Bravo, a senior agent in Spain, on Vinicius Junior.

Bravo appeared on television show El Chiringuito earlier this week, saying Vinicius had to stop dancing when he celebrated a goal, accusing the Brazilian of "playing the monkey".

Bravo has apologised and said he used the wrong expression, insisting he was sorry for causing offence.

"It's something that we don't touch on in the locker room, these are issues that are not normally discussed in the locker room, we usually talk about football," the Madrid boss said.

"Racism is one thing and what happens in football is another thing. We have not touched on this issue of racism because the player has responded very well."

When asked if he had spoken to the player about it, Ancelotti said: "No, because I'm not his father, nor am I his brother. I'm his coach.

"Nothing is wrong with him. He is playing with joy. Vini is joy, happiness."

Madrid have won all eight of their games in all competitions this season and will come up against an Atletico side who suffered a Champions League defeat at Bayer Leverkusen in midweek.

Ancelotti is not underestimating Madrid's local rivals, though.

"It will be a competitive match. They don't expect anything new and it will be a very competitive duel, a good football match, because there are very good players on both teams," Ancelotti said. "The match is open, but there is nothing definitive."

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone says the clash with rivals Real Madrid is "a new movie", insisting that form is irrelevant heading into Sunday's eagerly anticipated derby.

The two LaLiga giants boast contrasting fortunes as they prepare to lock horns in a blockbuster showdown at Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday.

Los Rojiblancos are aiming to bounce back from their midweek Champions League defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, while Carlo Ancelotti's Los Blancos have won each of their eight matches across all competitions this season.

But Simeone, who confirmed goalkeeper Jan Oblak will be fit to start after recovering from a knock, insists that kick-off will represent a fresh start for both teams.

"I always think that in the big games and in the derbies, it's important how you get there," he told reporters at Saturday's press conference. "I would have liked to come with a win and always looking from the positive side.

"But the moment the game starts, it's a new story. Everything is very good until the referee starts; it's a new movie that we don't know the end of, that's why this game is so fun."

Simeone also praised the Spanish and European champions, noting their "habit" of winning.

"The rival has an extraordinary team with young players who are making the transition from those who performed at a high level in these years," he added.

"It's a great team that has a habit of always being close to winning. We have to take the game to where we are most interested."

Who doesn't love seeing an exciting youth product coming through to the first team?

In Spain, they seem to produce them en masse, with technically proficient youngsters emerging regularly.

The most famous production line is surely La Masia, with Barcelona cultivating the likes of Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and, more recently, Gavi.

It understandably therefore gets overlooked just how many players come through the academy of Real Madrid, their fierce rivals.

La Fabrica – 'The Factory' – has produced some fine players down the years, including Emilio Butragueno, Raul and Iker Casillas.

Perhaps one of the reasons Madrid do not get the same credit as Barca for bringing through youngsters is because, quite often, their best graduates go on to spend their careers at other clubs.

And when Los Blancos make the short trip across the Spanish capital to face Atletico Madrid on Sunday, they will come up against some familiar faces.

Atleti head coach Diego Simeone has at his disposal five players who came through the youth system at Madrid.

Saul Niguez, Marcos Llorente, Mario Hermoso, Sergio Reguilon and Alvaro Morata were all La Fabrica players, although Saul actually moved to Atletico before making the step up to senior football.

In the Madrid squad, meanwhile, only four academy graduates players have made an appearance for Carlo Ancelotti's first team in Dani Carvajal, Nacho, Lucas Vazquez and Mariano Diaz.

This could be seen as a problem, but every player has to come through an academy somewhere, and even if Madrid do not always get the benefits of the talent they prepare, these youngers are often sold on for good money, allowing the club to spend big – a reputation that is far more widely acknowledged.

Madrid are not quite as flamboyant in the transfer market as in the peak years of the 'Galactico' era, but they still invest heavily in players ready to pull on the famous white shirt.

Rather than turn to their Castilla team in recent seasons, Madrid have splashed out on players of a similar age in young French midfield pair Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni, yet La Fabrica has played a key role in raising the funds to make those signings.

 

In 2020, for example, Madrid sold Achraf Hakimi, Reguilon, Oscar Rodriguez, Miguel Baeza, Javi Sanchez and Dani Gomez for combined fees in excess of €90million.

In the transfer window just gone, they moved on Borja Mayoral, Mario Gila, Miguel Gutierrez and Victor Chust for more than €20m.

In the case of Hakimi, he has gone on to thrive, having a tremendous year at Inter before making an even bigger move to Paris Saint-Germain, where he is now considered one of the best full-backs in the game.

Reguilon did not enjoy quite the same success at Tottenham, finding himself out of favour under Antonio Conte before being loaned to Atletico.

One might wonder if Hakimi could have instead been given a chance at the Santiago Bernabeu. He would have competed with or surpassed Carvajal by now.

Reguilon, while less of a sure thing, departed only after Madrid had spent around €50m on Ferland Mendy, leaving no clear path to succeed Marcelo at left-back.

Perhaps it is Madrid's loss, but these two players brought in significant fees, and their willingness to allow potential first-team stars to move on in search of regular football is almost admirable. Other clubs could be accused of hoarding players, allowing them only to leave on loan year after year while still never giving them a chance to make their mark at their parent clubs.

Of Madrid's current crop, Bruno Iglesias, Sergio Arribas, Peter Federico and the wonderfully named centre-back Marvel – write the superhero pun headlines now – appear the ones to watch.

Whether they ever turn out for the first team, or they end up moving on to career paths elsewhere, their education at La Fabrica should at least set them up for success wherever they land.

Who knows? They may even be likelier to be wearing a red and white shirt than a solid white one if they ever make an appearance in a Madrid derby.

Real Madrid have joined the race to land Inter centre-back Milan Skriniar, with the 27-year-old's contract set to expire at the end of this season.

Skriniar has been one of the most in-demand defenders in the world this year, with numerous bids coming during the last transfer window from Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Tottenham.

While Inter are keen to fend off the outside interest and lock him into a new contract, the fact that he will be able to leave on a free transfer at the conclusion of the campaign could force their hand.

 

TOP STORY – REAL MADRID HOPE TO SECURE SKRINIAR ON FREE TRANSFER

Madrid took advantage of the free agent market this past window, signing Antonio Rudiger when his Chelsea contract finished, and Football Insider claim they have similar plans for Skriniar.

Inter reportedly turned down bids worth in the €60million range from PSG with the hope an upgraded contract could keep Skriniar in Italy long-term, but with time running out, Tuttosport is reporting the French giants will return with a bid of €30m in January.

The Football Insider report also stresses how important Tottenham's Antonio Conte views the big Slovakian, having started 31 out of 38 league games for Conte when he was with Inter for their Serie A title in 2020-21.

 

ROUND-UP

– 90min is reporting Arsenal are considering a move for 27-year-old free agent midfielder Xeka after his contract with Lille recently expired.

– According to The Mirror, Liverpool are leaning towards terminating the loan of Juventus' Arthur Melo just weeks after the 26-year-old midfielder arrived at Anfield.

– After an impressive loan stint at Fiorentina last season, Real Madrid right-back Alvaro Odriozola has caught the eye of another Italian club, with Juventus said to be interested in a January move in the range of €15m.

– Leicester City centre-back Caglar Soyuncu has decided to sign with Atletico Madrid when his contract finishes at the end of the season, per Mundo Deportivo.

– The Independent is reporting Everton are preparing a new contract offer for Anthony Gordon that will pay him six times his current salary.

Pele has joined Neymar in offering his support to Vinicius Junior, who was the subject of a comment with apparent racist undertones from a Spanish football agent.

Pedro Bravo, a chief agent in Spain, appeared on El Chiringuito this week, and said Real Madrid forward Vinicius had to stop dancing when he celebrated a goal.

Bravo said: "You have to respect your opponents. When you score a goal, if you want to dance Samba, you should go to [the] Sambadrome in Brazil. You have to respect your mates and stop playing the monkey."

This comment has led to outrage from Vinicius' international team-mate Bruno Guimaraes, with the Newcastle United midfielder calling for Bravo to be "jailed".

Guimaraes tweeted on Friday: "This MORON needs to get out of there already arrested! There is no excuse! If the guy says that on live TV, imagine what he doesn't say when he's not. Incomprehensible if this guy is not jailed."

Neymar subsequently tagged Vinicius in his Instagram story, along with a photo of the Madrid star celebration and a caption that read: "Dribble, dance and be you! Happy just the way you are. Go for it my boy, next goal we dance!"

Vinicius replied with a photo of him dancing alongside Neymar and Guimaraes while playing for Brazil.

Pele then joined Neymar in offering support, with the legendary striker writing on Instagram: "Football is joy. It's a dance. It's more than that. It's a real party.

"Although, unfortunately, racism still exists, we will not allow that to stop us from continuing to smile. And we will continue to fight racism every day in this way: fighting for our right to be happy and respected."

Carlo Ancelotti saluted the impact of substitute Marco Asensio following his goal in Real Madrid's 2-0 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

The reigning champions made it six points from six in Group F after netting twice in the final 10 minutes to battle past their spirited opponents at Santiago Bernabeu.

After Federico Valverde opened the scoring, Asensio sealed the victory by sweeping a wonderful first-time effort into the top corner from Toni Kroos' lay-off for his eighth Champions League goal as a substitute - now the most of any player in the history of the competition.

The winger, who replaced Eduardo Camavinga in the 64th minute, was repeatedly linked with a move away from Madrid during the transfer window, and entered the contest having played just 17 minutes for Los Blancos across all competitions this season.

His frustration at the lack of playing time boiled over when he was overlooked by Ancelotti during Sunday's 4-1 win over Mallorca; throwing his bib to the ground while kicking a water bottle. But the Italian was pleased by Asensio's response.

"[I am] happy, he has had minutes and has delivered. I think he needed this goal," said Ancelotti, who became only the second coach to record 100 Champions League wins after Alex Ferguson (102). 

"At first, he hesitated whether to leave or stay, but he has stayed, and we were all happy. [It was a] good game, although we suffered a bit in the first half.

"The most important thing was to prevent them from having space behind the defenders, and that's why we wanted a slow pace. At half-time, we decided to put more energy into the game."

Madrid have now recorded clean sheets in each of their last three matches in the competition; doing so for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

And goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois highlighted the significance of making a strong start in Group F, with a double-header against Shakhtar Donetsk to come.

"It was important to start our defence with two straight wins," he said. "Now, if we can win our two against Shakhtar, we'll be nearly through to the next round.

"Maybe when we played better, we still didn't make huge danger [today], but the key was that we took our chances. 

"We applied much better pressure in the second half. We marked our men, played the ball simply when we had it. Our general play needs to improve - too many times, we failed to make our passes."

Real Madrid scored twice in the closing stages as they battled to a 2-0 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

The reigning European champions had endured a frustrating day at the Santiago Bernabeu until Federico Valverde broke the deadlock with 10 minutes to play.

Substitute Marco Asensio then wrapped up the points in stoppage time to move Los Blancos to the top of Group F and give Carlo Ancelotti his 100th win in Europe's premier club competition.

Despite a spirited display – at odds with their below-par showing against Shakhtar Donetsk – Leipzig remain pointless after a second consecutive defeat.

There was no shortage of thrills and spills on matchday one of the Champions League, and Wednesday's action promises more of the same as one of the world's most in-form strikers faces his former club.

Erling Haaland has made a spectacular start to his Manchester City career, hitting 12 goals in all competitions since his move from Borussia Dortmund, but how will he fare when his old team visit the Etihad Stadium? 

Elsewhere, Graham Potter will hope to have an immediate impact in his first game as Chelsea's head coach as they bid to bounce back from last week's 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb.

Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, are among the favourites to be crowned European champions, and will both be hopeful of making it two wins from two outings.

Ahead of another intriguing set of European ties, Stats Perform trawls through the Opta data to highlight the most noteworthy facts for each game.

Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund

City striker Haaland netted 15 times in 13 Champions League appearances for Dortmund, and few would bet against the Norwegian haunting his former team on Wednesday.

Haaland helped himself to a brace at Sevilla last time out, bringing him to 25 Champions League goals in just 20 appearances – the highest tally managed by any player in their first 20 games in Europe's premier club competition. 

The visit of BVB will represent a landmark outing for City boss Pep Guardiola, taking him to 150 Champions League games. Only five other coaches have reached that tally, while only two have earned more victories than Guardiola's 94 – Alex Ferguson (102) and Carlo Ancelotti (99).

The omens are certainly good for the Premier League champions, who are unbeaten in their last 20 Champions League home games, winning 18 and drawing two. That represents the longest such sequence by an English side since Chelsea's run of 21 without defeat between September 2006 and December 2009.

Dortmund, meanwhile, have not won at an English side in the competition since beating Arsenal 2-1 in October 2013.

Chelsea v Salzburg

Defeat to Dinamo Zagreb spelled the end of Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea reign last week, and Potter is the man entrusted to ensure they avoid back-to-back continental defeats when Salzburg visit.

Chelsea have never previously lost their opening two games of a Champions League campaign, and last lost consecutive games in the competition in 2019-20, when they were beaten by Bayern Munich in both legs of a last-16 tie.

This will be the first meeting between Chelsea and Salzburg, with the Blues only losing one of their previous four European ties against Austrian teams (W1 D2). Salzburg, meanwhile, have never beaten an English side in European competition in six attempts (D1 L5).

But the Blues will have to be wary of Matthias Jaissle's young guns at Stamford Bridge, and may need to keep a particularly close eye on Noah Okafor. 

The 22-year-old has four goals in his last five Champions League outings for Salzburg – only Haaland (eight) has ever scored more for the club in the competition.

Real Madrid v RB Leipzig

Holders Madrid are looking to secure consecutive wins when they host RB Leipzig at the Santiago Bernabeu, and are unbeaten in their last 11 Champions League games against German opponents, scoring at least two goals in all of those matches (27 in total).

Leipzig, however, are unbeaten in their three European clashes with Spanish sides (W2 D1) and will be looking for a result comparable to their 2-1 quarter-final win over Atletico Madrid in 2019-20.

Los Blancos possess a remarkable amount of experience at the highest level; should Luka Modric feature, he will become the first 37-year-old outfield player to play a European Cup/Champions League game for Madrid since Ferenc Puskas in November 1965 against Kilmarnock.

Coach Ancelotti, meanwhile, is on the brink of his 100th win in the Champions League, and could become just the second boss to bring up such a century in the competition (after Alex Ferguson with 102).

Maccabi Haifa v Paris Saint-Germain

Kylian Mbappe scored a terrific brace to get PSG's European campaign off to a flying start against Juventus, and a trip to Maccabi Haifa gives him the opportunity to make club history.

The striker has scored 29 goals in 45 Champions League outings with PSG, scoring against 14 of the 17 opponents he's faced with the French champions. One more goal will see him level Edinson Cavani's record of 30 goals in the competition for the Ligue 1 side.

He could be aided by the in-form Neymar, who has provided eight assists for Mbappe in the Champions League, more than any player has assisted another in the competition since the start of 2017-18.

The final member of their revered forward trio, Lionel Messi, also has his eyes on making history.

Messi has scored against 38 different teams in the Champions League, the same amount as his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo, and will be keen to claim the record outright when he faces Maccabi for the first time on Wednesday.

Other fixtures:

Rangers v Napoli

1 – Wednesday's rearranged match will be the first competitive meeting between Rangers and Napoli. The Serie A side have only faced a Scottish team in European competition once before, exiting to Hibernian in the Fairs Cup in November 1967.

3 – Piotr Zielinski was directly involved in three of Napoli's four goals as they thrashed Liverpool last week (two goals, one assist). This is already his best campaign for goal contributions in the competition since joining Napoli.  

Milan vs Dinamo Zagreb

6 - Milan have failed to win any of their last six home games in the Champions League (D3 L3), their longest run without a home victory in the competition.

31.8 – Dinamo Zagreb had just 31.8 per cent possession against Chelsea on matchday one, the lowest of any team who managed to avoid defeat in their opening game.

Shakhtar Donetsk v Celtic

3 – Shakhtar's Mykhailo Mudryk was one of three players to be directly involved in three goals on matchday one (one goal, two assists), along with Robert Lewandowski and Zielinski.

1/13 - Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart has only kept one clean sheet in his last 13 away Champions League games, with his last coming at Roma in December 2014 (for Manchester City).

Copenhagen v Sevilla

8 - Spanish sides are unbeaten in all eight of their Champions League games against Danish clubs (W6 D2) – only against sides from the Czech Republic (13) have Spanish teams appeared more often without defeat.

3/4 - Sevilla have lost three of their last four Champions League group-stage games (W1), as many as they lost in their previous 22 such matches (W10 D9).

Juventus v Benfica

2 - Juventus have lost their last two Champions League games. Only once in the history of the European Cup/Champions League have they lost three in a row, doing so between May 1968 and September 1972.

4 – Benfica's Alejandro Grimaldo has been involved in four goals in his last four Champions League games (one goal, three assists), more than he was in his first 27 games in the competition (two goals, one assist).

Karim Benzema is progressing well in his recovery but the Real Madrid striker will only play in Saturday's derby with Atletico Madrid if there is no risk of injury.

Benzema missed Madrid's 4-1 win over Real Mallorca last weekend because of a knee injury.

It will also keep him out of Wednesday's Champions League clash with RB Leipzig, with the fixture against city rivals Atletico seen as a potential return date.

But head coach Carlo Ancelotti is unwilling to take any chances with his star striker.

He said ahead of the Leipzig clash: "He [Benzema] is progressing well, there are options. But he will only play if there is no risk of injury."

The win over Mallorca featured a clash between Vinicius Junior and visiting coach Javier Aguirre and a furious response from Marco Asensio after Ancelotti elected not to send the midfielder on from the bench.

Asked about the latter incident, Ancelotti replied: "[Asensio] cannot be considered a young man or a veteran. He is doing well and since his anger, he is training very well.

"It is what has to happen when someone gets angry, because you can train better or lower your arms. And he has opted for the first one. He has options to win tomorrow."

On Vinicius, he added: "He's fine, lively, in a good dynamic. Fully recovered from the Mallorca game. We don't talk about this, it's not something we need to talk about."

While Madrid coasted to victory over Celtic in their opening Group F game, Leipzig started their Champions League campaign with a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk.

Ancelotti, though, is wary of the threat posed by Leipzig, referencing their 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday as evidence of their quality.

"It's an important game, against a team that had problems at the beginning of the season, but a great game came together against Dortmund," said Ancelotti.

"They have quality, especially up front, technical and fast. We'll have to play a good game to try to win.

"Leipzig's attack is very dangerous, with Werner, Nkunku, Szobozslai, Forsberg - we're talking about a very dangerous team if you give them the chance to show their quality.

"I think the defensive aspect will be as important as the offensive."

Cristiano Ronaldo's future at Manchester United was a major source of speculation during the transfer window.

The 37-year-old Portuguese forward reportedly wanted to leave United in order to fulfil his desire to play Champions League football and challenge for trophies in the top leagues.

However, Ronaldo was unable to secure a move, with the likes of Napoli, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid publicly distancing themselves from him following links, which may have led to another option being considered down the line.

TOP STORY – RONALDO TO RE-VISIT SAUDI OFFER IN JANUARY

Cristiano Ronaldo is reconsidering a lucrative offer from an unnamed Saudi Arabian club and could move in January, according to The Mirror.

Ronaldo had a stunning £211million Saudi offer during the transfer window but declined the move as he remained focused on playing in Europe.

But he will re-visit that in January after failing to secure a move, as he comes to the realisation his desire to play Champions League football and win trophies in top leagues may be fading.

Ronaldo has also struggled for game time this season at United under new boss Erik ten Hag, starting just one out of six Premier League games so far.

ROUND-UP

– L'Equipe claims that Kylian Mbappe's Paris Saint-Germain contract expires in 2024 and not 2025, as that final year is at the sole discretion of the player. Mbappe was close to joining Real Madrid last term before signing a lucrative extension with PSG.

Inter are eager to work on a contract extension for defender Milan Skriniar who is out of contract at the end of this season, reports L'Interista. The Slovakian defender was pursued by PSG during the last transfer window, while Tottenham were also credited with an interest.

Arsenal will look to loan out 19-year-old Brazilian winger Marquinhos in order to gain first-team experience and game time, reports FourFourTwo. As a result, the Gunners will aim to bring in a short-term replacement in January.

N'Golo Kante has declined a new two-year deal with Chelsea and is out of contract in 2023, claims The Athletic.

– UOL says  Brighton and Hove Albion are interested in hiring Palmeiras boss Abel Ferreira to replace Graham Potter, who exited for Chelsea last week.

Mallorca head coach Javier Aguirre has hit out at LaLiga's scheduling as he considered the decision to play in the afternoon heat against Real Madrid "a crime".

Los Blancos maintained their 100 per cent start to the new season with a 4-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu, played under 32-degree heat after kicking off at 2:00pm local time.

The kick-off time left Mexican boss Aguirre furious as he detailed the problems his players had in such temperatures.

"You can't play at this hour, it's a crime. You can see how the players end up after going after the ball," he said in his post-match press conference.

"We are all exhausted, so are the fans. It is very difficult to play at this time, [Vedat] Muriqi with cramps, [Rodrigo] Battaglia with discomfort, Dani [Rodriguez], too.

"I had to change the whole midfield, and we have another one on Saturday at the same time and we have come from another. Let's see if we have better luck in the future."

Carlo Ancelotti also discussed the conditions after the game but came to a different conclusion, understanding the schedule is necessary due to the upcoming World Cup.

"That's the way the calendar is – like today we had to play at 2pm," Ancelotti said. "Fortunately, it wasn't too hot."

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