“The football season in Spain still has over a week to go before it finally gets going, but everything is already a touch topsy-turvy with la Liga’s supreme beings, Barcelona and Real Madrid. The narrative in recent years reads that the president of the Camp Nou likes to humour his managers by affording them a certain freedom in the hiring and firing of players. The coach’s job at Real Madrid tends to be given as much importance as the poor soul responsible for oiling up Cristiano Ronaldo’s pre-match pecks. Come to think of it, the latter still had more say at the club than Manuel Pellegrini did during his one and only year under Florentino Pérez.” (Football365)

Özil’s latest dream comes true
“If the front cover of Marca is to be believed – which it never should be, really – Real Madrid have landed themselves an absolute charmer of a footballer in Mesut Özil. According to Wednesday’s edition, the German told his former club, Werder Bremen, that “either you sell me or I won’t play” ahead of their Champions League clash with Sampdoria on Wednesday night.” (FourFourTwo)