UPDATE: Bernd Schuster has been given a vote of confidence by Real Madrid.

Mijatovic said,

"We have one of the best squads in the world and I am convinced that we can finish the year with a title,".

"We have only played 11 games in the league and we are close to the top. We have total faith in our coach. We are all very happy with him. In recent games we have done as we have wished. Not only us, but him as well. We want to transmit calm and confidence to the fans." 

EARLIER TODAY:

Pedja Mijatovic, Real Madrid's sporting director, is going to have a press conference at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium tonight at 19:00 CET in which he'll talk about current issues at the club and many newspapers in Spain have speculated that he might announce a possible sacking of coach Bernd Schuster.

Real haven't provided any details on their official website so it would be interesting to see what this is all about.

What do you think?

Schuster: Who Could Save My Ass?

There are many names mentioned in the press and new ones pop up everyday. I'm only going to talk about those who could move to a club like Real Madrid and not about those who dream and wish they could move to Real Madrid, those including Vanger Love and Amr Zaki (no offense though).

Alright, so lets start with Carlos Teves. He plays for Manchester United but since ever they signed Barbatov he hasn't played that much. He is fast, he has good dribbling skills, good ball control, but what I don't like about him is that he is inconsistent and his attitude on and off the pitch isn't that good.

Additionally, we are looking for one who should be as good as Ruud, someone who could play a similar role and in this case, Tevez isn't the ideal candidate.

Karim Benzema, on the other hand, can to some point do Ruud's job. He can play as a stand-alone striker, he is physically strong, talented and young so he could be used for short-term and long-term purposes, however, there is one problem and that is his club, Lyon.

Their president is a smart person who knows how to negotiate well. Benzema's buy-out-clause is approximately 50m euros and with competition from the likes of Barcelona, AC Milan and Chelsea, it would be pretty hard to sign him.

During the match, my little 8 year-old brother said "I hope Real Madrid sack Bernd Schuster, he is a cold fish" and yes indeed, he is.

However, I feel sorry for him. He doesn't know how to handle the team when it is going through such a bad time and he doesn't REALLY realize what is wrong, and tonight, we lost 1-0 and the reason? Yeah as usual, the defense.

The German started with Casillas in goal, Ramos, Cannavaro, Heinze and Marcelo in defense while Gago, Guti and Javi Garcia all started in midfield with VDV and Higuain on the wings and captain Rau'l upfront.

I was surprised to see Javi Garcia in the starting lineup. I didn't know what he would add to the team and as I expected, he was totally absent.

Both of Gago and Guti were active, the later trying to build up games and feed the strikers, but we were overwhelmed by a better Valladolid side.

I thought it was wrong to play Higuain on the right because he is more comfortable playing as a striker and he always does well in that role. VDV looked shaky and was out-form. Sneijder who was sent in in the second half did a better job but unfortunately all of his shots were either blocked by their goalkeeper or went wide.

Real Valladolid vs Real Madrid - La Liga | 15/08/2008 - 20:00 CET | Nuevo Estadio José Zorrilla

Ruud is gone, and it is not gonna be fun.

This match is not only important to the team, but also to Bernd Schuster who is not sleeping at night. It could be his last match, and it could give him another chance, but one thing is certain, the German will do whatever he can to win it.

However, with many key players in the sickbay, his job won't be easy. Ruud out for the season, Robben for two months, De La Red still being rested, Torres, Pepe, Cannavaro and Metzelder still recovering, things are a bit complicated and no one at this moment wants to be in the trainer's shoes.

Lineup

So Schuster will have to wait until tomorrow to know if he can't count on Cannavaro, Pepe or Metzelder. As for Ramos, he'll be able to play after he used the Copa Del Rey game to serve his suspension.

In addition to the out-of-form Heinze, Schuster will have Javi Garcia, Salgado and Marcelo. However, the problem is, whoever is gonna play, the defense will still be weak. I don't know whats wrong, but it seems there is no harmony and connection between the back four. And honestly, Heinze' recent mistakes have cost us a lot so I hope he won't play.

AS reveals that Andrei Arshavin could possibly move to Real Madrid in January on a six-month loan deal if his club, Zenit St Petersburg, agrees to negotiate and put him down at a reasonable price.

"How could I not want to go to Real Madrid, it's a great team, one of the best," Arshavin told the AS sports newspaper published on Wednesday.

"The only thing that I have said is that I want to leave Zenit next year at all costs" and "I think by the start of 2009 I will definitely be with another team.

"I have not come out in favor of another club. The most important thing now is not whether Real Madrid wants me or not, but rather if Zenit will let me leave,"

Real Madrid along with Barcelona and Tottenham tried to sign the striker last summer but Zenit's asking price was ridiculously high.

It would be really strange that someone would pay 25 million euros ($31 million) for me. The main thing is to put me down at a reasonable price," Arshavin continued.

So it looks like that we are REALLY on the skids now as I have just found out that we got kicked out from Copa Del Rey. Yes, you heard me. A third division team kicked the world's most prestigious club from the Copa Del Rey on aggregate.

I didn't watch the match and I'm glad I didn't. I don't care that Rau'l scored a hat-trick or Bueno played and scored. What I want to do now is to go to bed because I'm so f^^%kin tired and frustrated at the same time .... and Schuster will never admit he sucks - just wait for the press conference. He'll piss you off.....

Get it off your chest.... below..

UPDATE: Match Report and Schuster's crappy comments.

Realmadrid.com

Round 1: repeat performance
Real Madrid needed one goal to win the tie on aggregate and move through to the Last 16, but they weren't the first to strike on their home turf. Real Union quickly proved they were in it for the long haul. Manu tested Dudek three minutes in and saw his shot cleared to corner by the diving keeper. Extremely organized in defense, the visitors stuck to their original gameplan: comfortable and enjoying every minute of the match, contrasting drastically to Real Madrid, who had trouble penetrating the final third.

(photo credit to DailyMail - Thanks to realfreak for finding it)

Spanish newspaper Marca reports that Real Madrid has signed 16-year-old Brazilian winger, Alipio Duarte Brandano, from Portuguese club Rio Ave.

The player's agent, Helder Daniel, who also happens to be Cristiano Ronaldo's agent, has said that his client will arrive in Madrid this week to meet with Real Madrid scouts Juan Castro and Manu Sianz and then to start training with the Castilla team who by the way are still unbeaten in the third division

Chelsea was also interested in "little Ronaldo" as the Portuguese press dubs him, but he preferred to move to Spain as to avoid major shifts in his lifestyle.

His former club, Rio Ave, will receive around 550.000 euros (699.925 dollars) from this deal.

From the Champions League to La Liga and now to Copa Del Rey, Real Madrid hope to revive again and beat Real Union when they come to the Santiago Bernabeu this Tuesday.

Real Union beat us 3-2 in the first leg. Schuster played most of the bench folks and the defense was very bad as it was against Malaga last nigh, and now they couldn't come at a worst time because Diarra has joined the sickbay which already hosts Van Nistelrooy, Pepe, Robben and Torres.

The Mali international got injured after the match against Malaga and he is set to be out for ten days. As for the other players, I haven't heard any updates yet, but it is certain that Van Nistelrooy and Robben won't play because they need more than a month or two to recover.

Real Union

So they give a hell of a fight in the first leg. I didn't watch the match but from the highlights and reports I understood that they were dangerous. They will be coming for a win, they are well-motivated as we are still in a tough position.

However, playing in the Bernabeu is never easy. The fact that Juventus beat us in our stadium doesn't mean that can be achieved by another team - Juventus were not any team and Del Piero was not any player and I bet they say if they would face us again they would find it very difficult to beat us.

Lineup

I'm not sure but I think Ramos' red card also extends to Copa Del Rey. If so, Salgado will play as a right-back.

Schuster will probably start Dudek in goal. Cannavaro and Metzelder in central defense if the German trainer realizes that Heinze ruins our game and makes a lot of mistakes, while Marcelo will play as a left-back.

If there is one thing I realized tonight then it was that our defense needs a "clean up". Yeah, you heard me, I don't give a damn if that means selling Heinze, Metzelder or even Ramos, we just need to stop making these stupid defensive mistakes.

We made a lot of mistakes tonight and costly mistakes. Both of Heinze and Marcelo were responsible for the first goal. How come an average player like Eliseu could beat both of them? That is beyond me.

And the second goal, oh Heinze again. I mean does this guy watch his matches? He is just constantly making mistakes. And then came Ramos who really pissed me off. He was deservedly sent-off. It was fair no question about that. Stepping on other player's chest is outrageous. I hope that the Spanish Federation will ban him for more than one match and even take more disciplinary action, I know that won't be good for us, but as I a soccer fan, I can't tolerate such a behavior.

Anyway, as for the lineup, well, Schuster started with Casillas in goal, Ramos, Cannavaro, Heinze and Marcelo in defense, Guti, Gago, Sneijder, Van Der Vaart and Drenthe in midfield, while Higuain in attack.

Frankly, I was surprised to see Rau'l on the bench. I thought that Schuster would still stick with him, but it seems that the German trainer had read one of my articles and understood that Rau'l should be benched.

Real Madrid vs Malaga | La Liga | 08/11/2008 - 20:00 CET | Santiago Bernabeu

We have lost three of our last five matches and Bernd Schuster thinks we are not on skid. Not only that but he also thinks that we played very well against Juventus but we lost because we were unlucky. He also said he wouldn't look at the score but rather at the performance in order to evaluate his team.

Frankly, he pisses me off. His news conferences are always boring and he says the same crap all the time.

I cannot judge a match on score alone. If I take a look at those matches without noticing the score,  I don't think we've hit any bumps in the road. I see mistakes, but we have played well. I know the final result is what matters, but I can take other positive elements from each. We've made mistakes in important matches; small mistakes that cost us dearly. Take Almeria for example. We had the game well under control, but we let it slip though our fingers.

So how come you think our performance was good and we made mistakes at the same time? A good performance is the one in which you play good football, make one, two or no mistakes and win. We didn't play good football, we made more than two mistakes and we didn't win - so where is that good performance, huh?