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Real Madrid are forced back to the drawing board in manager hunt

Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has moved quickly to play down rumours that he will succeed Juande Ramos at Real Madrid this summer.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, and our GCSE-standard knowledge of the Italian language, Mourinho said:

“I’m 99.9% certain that I will stay at Inter but whoever manages Real next year will be a very lucky man.”

With Arsene Wenger likely to stay at Arsenal and Carlo Ancelotti seemingly heading to Chelsea, Florentino Perez is running short on options as he looks for a big-name boss to boost his election campaign. Who should he go for?

Madrid coach takes advantage of some alone time on the pitch

[click picture to enlarge]

Thanks to brilliantly-named Spoiler reader Jesús for the submission.

Laurent Blanc is a shock contender to succeed Juande Ramos

The Spanish press are reporting that Laurent Blanc has emerged as a frontrunner for the Real Madrid job after Zinedine Zidane recommended him to Florentino Perez, the favourite to be elected president at the Bernabeu.

The Frenchman, once of Barcelona, guided Bordeaux to second in Ligue 1 last season and they are only two points off the top spot in this campaign.

However, The Spoiler believes it would still be too much of a gamble hiring someone who has only managed for two seasons and, unlike Pep Guardiola at Barca, has no prior experience at the club. It would also be very harsh on Juande Ramos - whose league record is P16 W14 D1 L1.

Spanish striker says the atmosphere won’t affect Real Madrid

When Juande Ramos claimed that the massively overhyped “famous Anfield roar” would have no effect on Real Madrid, it was widely considered to be a petty mind-game but his opinion has been backed up by Fernando Torres.

The Real Madrid boss said that visiting Liverpool would be no more special than experiencing the Bernabeu, Nou Camp or San Siro and his compatriot Torres has agreed that the home crowd won’t have much of an impact. He said:

“Anfield is special, but they won’t fear the scenery. The players of Madrid have played in the better stadiums, in the better competitions and it’s not going to impress them.”

[Metro]

Liverpool/Real Madrid, Champions League, 7.45pm, ITV1

Juande Ramos has promised that the “famous Anfield roar” holds no fear for his side and who can blame him when it hasn’t intimidated teams like Stoke and Hull this season. The Sun today reported that 91% of teams who win the away leg 1-0 progress, bringing into question ITV’s decision to again give Liverpool prominence over Chelsea.

While the Reds should still qualify, here are five reasons why they won’t win tonight, courtesy of chickendinner:

1. Liverpool haven’t won consecutive home games since October. They have played twelve times at Anfield since their 1-0 win over Portsmouth over four months ago but have won just five of them.

2. Rafael Benitez’s side have won both the home and away legs of a Champions League knockout tie on just two of their last nine attempts.

3. Real Madrid have won four consecutive away games

Madrid manager taunts Liverpool ahead of big game

Liverpool - who have lost only one of their last sixteen Champions League games - entertain Real Madrid at Anfield tonight, knowing they simply have to keep the visitors from scoring to progress in the competition.

As underdogs of sorts, Los Blancos must do everything in their power to gain an advantage. With his comments diminishing Liverpool and their historic stadium, Juande Ramos appears to have delivered a big blow in the pre-match mind games:

“I’ve got absolutely no fear of what lies ahead. With all the respect in the world for Liverpool and Rafa Benitez, I’ve been a coach at some of the great stadiums in the world, either in charge of the home side or with the opposition team.

“Coincidentally I never took Spurs to Anfield so it will be my first time on the bench there. But Anfield just isn’t a bigger deal than the Bernabeu, the San Siro or the Camp Nou - and I’ve seen all those before.”

Some very assumptuous words from a man who has never actually managed a team at Anfield before.

Meanwhile, feisty Argentinean Javier Mascherano has hit back at the Spaniards with some extremely unsubtle

West Ham reject is shocked he can’t get into the Real Madrid team

Julien Faubert has only been with Real Madrid for five minutes but he is already complaining to the French press that Juande Ramos is not playing him enough. The Spoiler can only assume that despite not being able to break into the West Ham team, the Frenchman expected to walk straight into the Spanish champions’ starting eleven.

The winger had previously complained to his native media that he was “suffering mentally” in his final days at West Ham and it appears that his “suffering” has continued in Madrid, with Faubert suggesting to L’Equipe that Ramos doesn’t like him.

The former Spurs boss responded by claiming that Faubert has spent ten days out injured. That suggestion has been greeted with scepticism though because no mention of this “injury” had been made before and there is no confirmation in Real Madrid’s medical records.