UPDATE: Raulista, a reader of the blog, just let me know in the comments that Pepe is gonna be out for three weeks. Turns out to be true - official confirmation is here.

Alright, I'm sick - I have caught a cold and with what we are going through, life sucks for me. Certainly, the same goes for all Madridistas over there, but we should always stay calm and positive.

There was some good news yesterday as it was reported that Higuain, Cannavaro, Robben and Diarra had done some jogging and stuff and they all look to be fit to play against Sevilla. However, the bad news came today as doctors have revealed that Sneijder will be sidelined for approximately two weeks which means that he could make it before the Clasico:

"Wesley Sneijder abandoned Saturday's match agianst Getafe only 18 minutes after the ball was put into play. An MRI showed that the midfielder has a Grade I right femoral biceps injury, for which he is expected to miss approximately two weeks of playing time.", The club's official site revealed this morning

So it seems that whenever we recover a player another gets injured. I think if this continues to happen, we won't ever have a full squad this season.

The one we need most is certainly Robben to provide width and crosses from the two flanks. Real should already be looking for a replacement though, because we can't rely on him and Drenthe. If it was possible, I'd make a clone of Arjen, but yeah.

Sneijder is Back!

Real Madrid vs Espanyol | La Liga | 05-10-2008  21:00 CET | Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

Following their Champions League win against FC Zenit, Los Blancos take on Espanyol tomorrow night at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium and they are fit and ready to take another three points.

Sources say that Wesley Sneijder, Guti and Gago will all make the squad. Nothing official has been released yet, but it is unlikely that either of those will start. They may get a few minutes in the second half,...

Marca claims that Real Madrid's midfielder, Wesley Sneijder has recovered from his injury and started training with the team "normally". However, according to the same paper, Sneijder won't be a starter against Espanyol but he might make the squad.

This is certainly good news for us as we really need him to cover the left wing. I just don't want Schuster to rush him immediately and rather wait and...

IL Capitano, Rau'l has spoken out today. He talked about many things most importantly about his future and the rumors that have been floating around.

On David Villa's signing he said:

“Villa is one of the best strikers in Europe today. And it is not true that I prevented his move. I do not decide these things."

“I only have an opinion, which I must give as a player and the captain of this team,”

Some papers, apparently, have suggested that Rau'l is more than a player or captain at Real Madrid, he actually interferes with management issues and decides on matters that are not of his business.

They also go on and claim that he blocked Villa's move mainly because he would lose his place in the starting eleven. More ever, because Villa replaced him in Spain's squad.

If...

Whats up gang?

I have been quite busy the last couple of days ... but I have been also keeping an eye on the quite, scary atmosphere in Madrid. Today, I have a good news for you all, you have probably heard about this, but here it goes:

Wesley Sneijder has been improving quickly that doctors are confident he will be fit to play again in October. Sneijder got injured against Arsenal in the Emirates Cup and we were told that he would be sidelined for three months but it looks that he will be back soon. Thank God for that, we really need him now that Robinho is working on hookers in England.

Dutch teammate Robben was reported to have been injured during training. My source says it was a little injury and it was not reported by...

Van Der Vaart and his family arrive in Madrid

Morning Madridistas,

Yesterday was a busy day, huh? Lots of news, good and bad, but today is a bit calmer. 

Our new boy has arrived. He will be officially presented as a Real Madrid player today at 13:00 CET in the Presidential Balcony of the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

I have been covering his signing process for weeks, and I'm happy to finally see him here. He actually got on time, we need him so much right now as Sneijder will be out of service for three months.

Welcome aboard, Rafeal.

In the meantime, the Italian press suggest that Van Der Vaart's arrival means that

Another good news folks. The first one was the signing of Rafel Van Der Vaart and here is another one which is that Wesely Sneijder who picked up a nasty injury against Arsenal yesterday will only be sidelined for three months which means he will be able to play with us this season.

Initial tests in London assumed that he would be out for six months but this

Wesley Sneijder has been injured seriously in the game which Real Madrid lost 1-0 to Arsenal. The Dutchman was injured after a vicious tackle by Abou Diaby. First tests show that Wesley has hurt  his knee ligaments and will go further examination including an MRI to assess the Injury. Reports from the Spanish Capitol state that he will be unavailable for six months missing most of this season. We will post any update on this sorry event as soon as possible .

Hamdi Al-Haddad

UPDATE: Sneijder's injury means that Van Der Vaart is coming and Robinho is definitely staying this season.

Morning,

Yesterday It was hot here in Rome so I went to the beach. I looked for a place to watch the game and I didn't find any, so I came back and checked the Internet and found out that we first, lost to Arsenal and, Sneijder...

It seems thought that I and Wesely Sneijder both share the same opinion on Cristiano Ronaldo and his move to Real Madrid. The Dutch midfielder says that it would be unfair if Ronaldo gets a high salary while players like Robinho and Robben who are equal to him would have lowers ones.

"It would be bad for the dressing room if he gets a much higher salary than the rest of the squad. It's not important to me but I know other team-mates would not like that at all. Here we have footballers like him, for example Arjen Robben or Robinho. It's obvious that I want to play with Cristiano but you also have to maintain the equilibrium in the dressing room."

I have always said that Ronaldo is not extreamly...