AS claims that Pedja Mijatovic has lost faith in Rafael Van der Vaart and has decided to put him up for sale.

Van der Vaart made a fantastic start with Real Madrid as he scored four goals in his first three league matches, however he completely disappeared and his form dropped dramatically.

This is what AS claims. But I personally find this irritating, subjective and stupid. The reason Van der Vaart hasn't started in many matches because Schuster didn't want him to start. He always opted for the incredibly ineffective Drenthe or for Rau'l.

AS also claims that Juande Ramos doesn't also want him on the squad and the proof is when he opted for Palanca when Sneijder had to be replaced in the match against Barcelona.

Rafael came in this summer and if this is true then those folks must be crazy and stupid. How come they are still patient with players like Drenthe, Gago, Salgado...etc and not with Van der Vaart? There are other teams who wish they could have Van Der Vaart, he is a quality midfielder and selling him would be a HUGE HUGE mistake that will certainly put an end to Calderon's presidency and Mijatovic's life as a human being.

Also, I don't see anything wrong with Van der Vaart. He needs to start and he needs to play in his natural position. Again, it would be unfair if they put him for sale.

UPDATE: Van der vaart says that he doesn't know anything about this and the club hasn't talked to him about his performances.

I don't know anything about that (him being put up for sale) besides what I've read in the press. I guess I would be the first to find out. The Club would have talked to me about it. I've only been here five months and it is still too soon to reach such conclusions. No one has said anything to me about it.

Diarra got injured while playing with his national team, Mali. Club doctors said he'd be sidelined for 48-72 hours:

An MRI on Monday revealed that Diarra is suffering from a parameniscal cyst formation and synovitis in his right knee, which is expected to keep the Mali international sidelined for 48-72 hours.

This means he is likely to miss the game against Atletico Madrid. However, Bernd Schuster will have both Gago and Guti ready & fit to play in midfield.

Diarra has been in impressive form this season. Even during the holy month of Ramadan he did an amazing job. He...

Morning,

Bernd Schuster has given a press conference in which he answered a lot of questions, and hot questions too. He has recently complained that he was the last one to know in the club and that Calderon and Mijatovic should always keep him informed.

Here is a recap:

The President has said that Real Madrid doesn’t need a ‘9’.
I am happy that the President has come to speak to me and to tell me what the situation is. We discussed some ideas a while ago and they were pretty clear. It will be good to know if there are any...