Raissa's Blog - Best of Sports, Culture, and Entertainment

Cristiano Ronaldo's future has made the headlines since Juve's shock round of 16 Champions League elimination. Among the rumors about his future are stories of a possible return to Real Madrid. Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane may just have given more backing to the rumor after hinting that Real Madrid will try and re-sign Cristiano from Juventus this summer - with the Italian giants being tipped to cash in on the 36-year-old before he becomes a free agent in 2022. Ahead of Real Madrid's Champions League clash with Atalanta on Tuesday, Zinedine Zidane told Sky Italia: "It could happen. We know him and I've had the good fortune to coach him. "He's an impressive forward, we'll see what happens in the future. He's a Juventus player right now." It's worth noting that Cristiano Ronaldo is Real Madrid’s all-time highest goalscorer - with 450 goals in 438 games.

Barcelona played Real Sociedad at home and won 1-0 thanks to a Lionel Messi penalty. Barcelona were granted the penalty after a VAR review showed Robin Le Normand's handball from an Arturo Vidal cross. The Barcelona all-time top scorer kept his nerve and chipped the ball into the 81st minute to earn Barcelona the winner. It was another unconvincing display from Barcelona, and Messi picked up a yellow card for the third consecutive game, which has never happened before in his career. Ansu Fati scored a second goal for Barcelona in the last minute, from a Messi cross, but the goal was ruled offside by VAR. Barcelona are back to the top of La Liga ranking with 58 points and Real Madrid second with 56.  Messi has now scored 438 league goals, one more than Cristiano Ronaldo, making him the all-time top scorer in the five major leagues. Messi is also La Liga's Most Valuable Player for February. Messi's drop in performance may be due to a thigh injury he's had since...

Lionel Messi and Barcelona had a night to forget at the Bernabeu yesterday defeated by Real Madrid in "El clasico" 2-0. Brazil youngster Vinicius Jr. however marked his name in the record books. His goal for Real Madrid in the 71st minute of play saw him break a record held by Messi - that of the youngest Clasico goalscorer. He was 19 years and 233 days old yesterday when he achieved that feat, that's 26 days younger than Lionel Messi when he scored his maiden Clasico goal in March 2007. For the first time in over 5 years, Real Madrid got to beat Barcelona in La Liga at the Bernabeu stadium. Barcelona had the uperhand in the first half with Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibault Courtois having to produce two smart saves to keep out goals from Arthur and Messi. Real Madrid picked up the tempo in the second half with Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stergen denying Isco twice with brilliant stops. But there was only so much Ter Stergen could do singlehandedly, with th...

French prodigy Kylian Mbappe has once more reiterated his preference for Cristiano Ronaldo over Lionel Messi. He says he's inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo's career and not Messi's. He however explained his preference for Ronaldo's career. He said he believes it's too late for him to be a one-club man like Lionel Messi. As such, he thinks it's better to copy Cristiano Ronaldo instead. The PSG young star told La Gazzetta dello Sport, "It's already late for me to have a career like Messi. "Otherwise I should have stayed at Monaco. So, logically and without wanting to take anything away from Messi, I have to be inspired by Ronaldo's career." Ronaldo started his career at Sporting Lisbon where he spent just a season before being signed by Manchester United in 2003. He went on to Real Madrid in 2009 at a world record transfer fee of $103 million. In 2018, he made another transfer to Juventus, and is curently in his second season with th...

Portugal football legend Cristiano Ronaldo has hit another historic milestone in his illustrious career. He has become one of a few group of players to reach four figures in senior appearances. Ronaldo started for Juventus against SPAL in Serie on Saturday in his 1,000th appearance for club and country and scored in his 11th consecutive Serie A game. By doing so, he equaled a Serie A record currently held by Gabriel Bautista and Fabio Quagliarella. Cristiano began his career at Sporting CP in his home country Portugal, then moved to the Premier League in 2003, joining Manchester United. He won three Premier League titles and one Champions League title in 2008. For the five years he spent at Manchester United, he made 292 appearances. From the Premier League, Ronaldo moved onto La Liga in 2009 where he spent the most part of his professional career. He made 438 competitive appearances in Real Madrid colors, and became the club's highest-ever scorer in just 9 years, with 4...

According to Sksports.com, Cristiano Ronaldo has told several former Real Madrid teammates that he regrets leaving Real Madrid for Juventus and believes he would have won the 2018 and 2019 Ballon d'Or trophies had he still been at the Bernabeu. Los Blancos were paid a fee of €112million for the 34-year-old forward. Back then, Ronaldo said moving to Italy was a "new challenge" he was looking forward to. In 2018, Ronaldo was not happy that Real Madrid weren't paying him what Barcelona were paying Lionel Messi or PSG, Neymar. He made his wishes known to his agent Jorge Mendes in February 2018. Mendes reportedly wasn't in favor of a move but Ronaldo insisted. Real Madrid insisted they were paying Ronaldo the most they could. Alas, Ronaldo signed for Juventus in the summer of 2018. Ronaldo was Juventus' top-scorer in the 2018-19 season, scoring 28 goals and providing 10 assists across all competitions. So far this season, Ronaldo has scored only 8 goals an...

Messi's masterclass display and hat-trick vs Celta Vigo have seen Barcelona return to the top of the La Liga table. Both Barcelona and Real Madrid are on 25 points but Barcelona are back to the top of La Liga thanks to a +2 superior goal difference over Real Madrid. With just nine points so far, Celta remain in the relegation zone. Messi scored from the penalty spot then scored two impeccable freekicks. Messi's first goal was scored in the 23rd minute. Lucas Olaza equalized for Celta Vigo via free kick 42 minutes into play. Messi's second goal came in just before the break, in the 46th minute of the encounter. He went on to score his third three minutes after half-time Sergio Busquets scored Barcelona's fourth goal in the 85th minute of play to close up Barcelona's comprehensive win.  Messi has scored two freekicks in one match in his career three times altogether. The first time was against Sevilla in the 2015/2016 UEFA Super Cup, and the second time was...

Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid are missing something in common - Cristiano's scoring prowess at Real Madrid. In his first year at Juventus, Cristiano scored 27 goals in 42 games, his worst record since the 2008/09 campaign, when he left Manchester United for Real Madrid. Cristiano's 27 goals last season weren't enough to land him the Capocannoniere - the prize given to Serie A's top scorer. It seems he may face the same challenges this season as well. As of now, the Juve No. 7 has scored five goals in nine league games, way less than Ciro Immobile's 13 in 11 and Romelu Lukaku's 9 in 11.  Atlanta's Luis Muriel has scored eight goals in nine games, Sassuolo's Domenico Berardi has seven in nine, and Atalanta's Duvan Zapata, six in seven. Arkadiusz Milik is on five goals like Cristiano but has achieved the feat in six games - three less than Cristiano. Last season, Cristiano only managed 83 shots on target, but at Real Madrid, he never drop...

One can confidently say Lionel Messi is one of Cristiano Ronaldo's favorite discussion themes given that Ronaldo has regularly spoken about the Barcelona talisman and their fierce rivalry throughout his career. He's either claiming to be the better of the pair, praising him or requesting he follows him to Italy. Messi on the other hand being a very private person rarely speaks about Ronaldo. In March, he however admitted to missing he and Ronaldo's battles in La Liga.  Ronaldo recently claimed the difference between Messi and himself is that he has won the Champions League with different clubs. Herewith a compilation of all of Ronaldo's comments about Messi. May 2009 | ‘I’m still No.1’ Prior to the 2009 Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona, Ronaldo claimed he would remain the world's best player regardless of the outcome of the final. Ronaldo went on to be crowned World Player of the Year for 2008 ahead of Messi. “It made me p...

Former Chelsea star and new Real Madrid ace Eden Hazard has gained a little weight after securing his dream move to Real Madrid, but Real Madrid fans are unhappy about his current physical state. A bigger than usual Hazard was photographed arriving at Madrid's training ground. Chelsea fans have been mocking at his looks, and Real Madrid fans, their displeasure. Both camps took to social media to share their thoughts. "Pretty sure he's [Gonzalo] Higuain," said a Chelsea fan. "Needs to lose that weight..." another replied. "Fatzard," joked a supporter. "Typical Eden returning with that fat off season belly," added another. A displeased Real Madrid fan tweeted, "We really paid 100 mill for a fat Hazard". However, Hazard will be able to get back in shape as he begins training with Real Madrid ahead of the upcoming La Liga campaign. The Real Madrid Galactico was unveiled in June, and made it clear he was in Spa...

Messi and Ramos head-on-head One of the key moments of Saturday's El Clasico was the clash between Lionel Messi and Real Madrid captain, Sergio Ramos, towards the end of the first half. Ramos caught Lionel Messi flush in the face with his arm as they tussled for the ball. Messi was still on the ground when the referee called time on the first half of play. Barcelona players rushed to the referee who took no action despite Messi approaching him to show him his bloodied lip. The referee chose not to punish Ramos through a VAR review.  Ramos explained himself after the game, saying: "Messi took a bad knock but it was totally involuntary." “There was nothing bad between us and it just happened.” Real Madrid are losing the race to the league title as they sit 12 points behind chart leaders Barcelona.  “It’s a pity that the league’s getting away from us but even so we will fight to the end because in football everything is possible,” said Ramos, while refuting the...

Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez have now scored more goals than the entire Real Madrid squad. The mercurial Barcelona captain has found the back of the net on 16 occasions, while his Uruguayan counterpart has netted 12 times. The Real Madrid squad have scored just 26 goals since the start of the 2018/2019 La Liga season. The winning Latin American duo have scored more goals than the Atletico Madrid squad who like Real Madrid, have netted just 26 times. In the current La Liga Campaign, only Celta Vigo, Sevilla and Levante have equaled or surpassed Messi and Suarez's 28 goal tally. Celta Vigo has a goal tally of 28, while only Sevilla and Levante have scored more goals than the prolific Barcelona duo. 

Real Madrid defender and captain Sergio Ramos, was targeted by Abu Dhabi fans during Saturday's Club World Cup final, for his role in Mohamed Salah's injury and exit during last season's Champions League final. Real Madrid had a comfortable 4-1 win over locals, Al Ain. Real Madrid's prolific midfielder Luka Modric, opened scoring early in the first half, then Marcos Lorente, Sergio Ramos and Yahia Nader sealed Madrid's victory. A late goal from Al Ain left-back Tsukaa Shiotani could not see the locals through. Real Madrid's victory comes as their third consecutive triumph at the Club World Cup final. Ramos' robust tackle on Salah during the last Champions League final caused Salah a dislocated shoulder but Ramos has severally denied hurting Salah on purpose. Nonetheless, he has suffered from hate and has been painted a pantomime villain since then. When reporters asked him if he was aware of the jeers, he said, "I got that. "The whist...

Lopetegui has just paid the price for his ambition and hubris - fired after a 139-day spell of humiliation at Real Madrid, right after being fired from the Spain national team. He cost Spain a World Cup as he risked everything in a bid to fulfill his 15-year old dream of coaching Real Madrid. Lopetegui was controversially hired by Real Madrid just before the start of the World Cup, without Lopetegui conferring with his then employer - the Spanish Football Federation. He was fired as Spain's national team manager at the eve of the World Cup in Russia. Alas, Julen Lopetegui was sacked on Monday as Real Madrid issued an abrupt statement confirming Lopetegui's long-anticipated dismissal following Los Blancos' 5-1 humiliation by Barcelona on Sunday - during the first Clasico of the season.  The statement released by Real Madrid on Monday night read:  “The Board of Directors of Real Madrid CF, meeting today October 29, 2018, has agreed to terminate the contract that ...

The highly speculated transfer of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid takes a dramatic twist as Chelsea have placed a £200million tag on Hazard. Real is willing to pay £150million for the Belgian ace but Chelsea want more than Neymar's world record £198million that Paris Saint-Germain paid Barcelona for the Brazilian forward. Following the turn of events, Real are reportedly ready to cool off their interest in Hazard. Hazard has two years left on his contract with Chelsea but hasn't renewed with the club despite Chelsea offering him a £300,000/week deal. The Blues boss Maurizio Sarri is ready to hand Hazard captaincy of the team to keep him happy. Hazard had hinted at the 2018 World Cup finals that he was ready to move to his dream club Real Madrid if he were made an offer.  Jose Mourinho has shown great interest in Chelsea's Willian while  Real Madrid pursue their hunt for Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois. New Chelsea boss Sarri is doing his best to retai...

Eden Hazard and his team - Belgium - couldn't be happier. They beat England 2-0 on Saturday to finish third at World Cup. After the game, Hazard gave reporters hints he could be leaving Chelsea for Real Madrid. The Chelsea forward told Belgian outlet HLN  “After six wonderful years at Chelsea it might be time to discover something different.” “Certainly after this World Cup. I can decide if I want to stay or go, but Chelsea will make the final decision - if they want to let me go. You know my preferred destination.” Hazard has always been a Real Madrid admirer, and Los Blancos are on a hunt for Cristiano Ronaldo's replacement. Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois isn't ruling out a transfer to Real Madrid either as he said:  “Wherever I go, Hazard must come along. We will not let each other go. We'll see. Now first vacation. And agree with my entourage in between.” The 26-year-old also alluded to the possibility of staying at Chelsea once he speaks with the n...

Ronaldo has just recently been transferred from Madrid to Juventus and the internet is breaking lose! The announcement was made on July 10, 2018 with Real Madrid confirming that they had agreed to sell Ronaldo. An announcement was later made by Juventus of the four-year contract signed by Ronaldo with the club. "He's called Cristiano Ronaldo and he's now officially a Bianconero," read the prime announcement on Juventus' website.  Ronaldo's departure from Real Madrid has reportedly been fueled by strained relations with the club's president (Florentino Perez). Many thought that Ronaldo would return to Manchester United if he were ever to leave Real, making his Juventus transfer a big surprise. In his nine years at Real, Ronaldo has had four UEFA Champions League wins, two La Liga trophies, three FIFA Club World Cups, two Copas del Rey, two UEFA Super Cups and two Spanish Super Cups. The cost of his transfer - with taxes and player wages ...