Real Madrid News
Real Madrid duo downplay reports of bust-up between Belgium stars: “A lot of nonsense”
Over the past 24 hours or so, a lot of reports emerged claiming that several players in the Belgium World Cup squad were involved in a major dressing room bust-up following their defeat to Morocco.
The Belgian Red Devils fell to a shock 2-0 defeat to the African nation this past weekend, which came after some interesting comments made by Kevin De Bruyne, with the Manchester City star stating the defenders in the national team were too old.
Jan Vertonghen seemed to have been upset by the comments made by the midfielder and appeared to take a dig at De Bruyne in his post-match interview.
Following that reports from Belgium emerged that Real Madrid winger and Belgium captain Eden Hazard, De Bruyne and Vertonghen were involved in a bust-up in the dressing room.
It was stated that Hazard had a go at the Belgium defence for being too slow, and his remarks did not sit well with Vertonghen. The reports suggested that Romelu Lukaku, currently recovering from an injury, had to intervene and stop the players involved.
However, Hazard has come out and dismissed those claims, stating that all the reports of a spat were total nonsense.
“Nothing happened after the game against Morocco. The rumours? A lot of nonsense. We had a good meeting yesterday with all the players,” Hazard said (h/t Walfoot.be).
“There were no discussions with Vertonghen in the dressing room. I did not fight with him. I’m not stupid. He’s bigger than me (laughs).”
About the remarks about the defenders being slow, Hazard explained: “No, the guys know my character. Jan came to talk to me about it and I told him that it was true, he is not fast ( smile), and he agreed. I laugh a lot, but when it’s time to be serious, I am.”
Talking about what De Bruyne had said in his interview, Hazard elaborated: “Sometimes, in interviews, you say things without thinking about the consequences. Yes, we are older than we were 4 years ago, it’s true, I am, Kevin is, Thibaut is.
“That’s the way it is. But Kevin has confidence in us, otherwise, he wouldn’t be here.”
On whether he is considering international retirement and the upcoming match against Croatia could be his last, Hazard said: “I will not approach this match by saying that it is my last because, in my head, we will still go far.”
Courtois also downplayed the rumours of the bust-up, stating that no such thing happened, saying: (h/t HLN):
“There is no problem within the group. Of course, you are not happy when you lose. These outside stories bring us closer together. It will be a difficult game on Thursday. We will give everything.”
About the comments made by Hazard and De Bruyne of players being old, Courtois insisted that age is not an issue, citing examples of his Real Madrid teammates Karim Benzema and Luka Modric.
“That has all been cleared up. Sometimes it is also taken over differently. Age is not important either, just look at Benzema and Modric. We are not too nice to each other either. Yesterday, everything was cleared up. Everyone expressed their opinions openly. Now we have to take action on the pitch,” he said.
Belgium will face Croatia on December 1 and will need to grab all three points in order to progress to the knockout stages.
Real Madrid News
Mourinho talks Carlos Espi, Diomande, Guler, Tchouameni, Atletico Madrid after Elche 2-3 Real Madrid
Real Madrid found another way to win, but Jose Mourinho was hardly celebrating the manner of it.
Carlos Espi’s injury-time strike completed a 3-2 comeback against Elche, rescuing Madrid after they had surrendered control of a game that appeared to be in their hands.
For Mourinho, the result was welcome, but the performance raised a familiar concern.
“When everything seems easy and you let things slide, it’s dangerous. Then the team reacts and wins, but it’s not pleasant.
“The other good thing is that nobody gets bored with these matches. They’re fun,” he began saying.
Mourinho knows what is going wrong
The Portuguese coach was particularly frustrated by another drop in intensity after the interval.
Real Madrid had opportunities to put the game beyond Elche before allowing their advantage to disappear. Mourinho believes that pattern is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
“It seems obvious to me. It’s easy to understand. These are games that are all but over, where we have chances to seal the deal but don’t. After failing to do so, we go from having it easy to losing control.
“If we play poorly from the first minute to the 90th, the concern is huge.
“If we have periods where we’re at our best and others where we’re not proactive, just waiting, lacking intensity… Of course it’s a concern. But we won.”
The win keeps Madrid moving, but Mourinho’s concern is less about the points than the way his team is repeatedly making matches unnecessarily complicated.
Carlos Espi again provided the decisive moment from the bench, although Mourinho knows breaking into the starting XI will be difficult with Mbappé ahead of him.
“He’s a guy who works hard and is very motivated,” Mourinho said.
He then added, “He’s up against a player who’s in a league of his own (Mbappe), and we’re well aware of that.”
Madrid derby comes at a delicate moment
Next up is Atletico Madrid, and Mourinho’s attention is already turning towards the derby.
Rather than focusing on the opposition, he remains concerned about his own side’s ability to manage matches.
“The only explanation I can find is that we can’t keep going like this. We misjudged the opportunities we had, and once they score a goal, everything changes,” explained the Real Madrid coach.
Meanwhile, there were positives to take from individual performances, as Mourinho praised Yan Diomande’s development after another energetic outing.
“He’s improving. Physically, you can tell he has more minutes under his belt. He has a great work ethic and intelligence—he’s done a great job.”
Mourinho refuses to call Guler indispensable
Arda Guler’s importance was also questioned after another fantastic performance, but Mourinho rejected the idea that any player is beyond replacement.
“No, no one is indispensable. We were losing control when I made the substitutions; Vini did a great job on defence, but he was very tired.
“And Arda, who was playing in the number 10 position, was also losing intensity.
“I brought in a fresh Jude and Brahim when we were down 0-2, but I could sense we were losing control. That’s how it goes for us. And then, we brought in the heavy artillery and turned it around.”
Mourinho was also pleased with Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde during Madrid’s strongest spells.
“When the team was playing well, he and Valverde were playing well. They broke through the pressure easily, with skill.
“But the game had two phases—or rather three: one until it was 0–2, another until it was 2–2, and another until the end. They did a good job,” he concluded.
Source: AS
