Casillas heads the change

Carlo Ancelotti knows that Real Madrid needs a change, and Iker Casillas will once again be first-choice goalkeeper at the ground which has now been his home for fifteen seasons. The Santiago Bernabéu stadium will once more be able to see Casillas defending his goal in the match against FC Copenhagen.


Casillas has recovered from his collision with Sergio Ramos in the Galatasaray match in the first round of Champions League games, and he will play.

The last time he started at the Santiago Bernabéu was on 15th January, in a Spanish Cup quarter-final match against Valencia. One week later he injured his left hand at the Mestalla, and lost his place to Diego López.

Bernabéu goal an open door

Real Madrid is in difficulty. No longer is the Santiago Bernabéu impregnable. The home defeat to Atlético de Madrid demonstrates that the team no longer has a fortress for a stadium, where the home side can rule supreme and where the home goal is reinforced for protection.

The opposition is right now enjoying more opportunities than ever before to score against Real Madrid at home, and Real Madrid has conceded at least one goal in each of the last eleven games played at the Santiago Bernabéu; and in all of these games the goalkeeper was Diego López, even though he played well.

It is the second-worst run of home games in Real Madrid's history. The only one any worse was when Madrid conceded a goal in 14 games in a row at home, between the 34th game of the 1998-99 season and the 22nd of the 1999-2000 season.

Until now this season, in spite of conceding goals, Real Madrid has managed to fight back and win or at the very least draw the matches, but now defeat to Atlético de Madrid has changed all that.

Simeone's boys at Atlético de Madrid were the first to walk away from the Santiago Bernabéu with three league points since Barcelona beat Mourinho's Real Madrid 3-1 in December 2011, since which time Real Madrid had gone 34 games without losing at home.

Real has conceded one goal per game played. And there is another problem which is that the conceded goal tends to be the first goal of the game, which makes the team have to chase after any victory. This has happened in four of the seven games played up to now.

Bale eager to repay Real Madrid support

Gareth Bale says he is eager to improve at Real Madrid in order to repay the support from the Blancos faithful following his home debut on Sunday.

The €100 million Welshman came on as a second-half substitute in his side's 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid, and while he acknowledges the "fantastic" reception he received, Bale is desperate to help his side get back to winning ways quickly.


"Playing at the Bernabeu was a fantastic experience, but the important thing would have been winning," he was quoted as saying by the club's official website.

"It was a difficult match because they were well organised defensively and after the goal it was tough because of how they play. In the second half we kept trying, without success.

"I went on in the second half and I felt good but I have to improve. It was a fantastic experience and I have to play better every day to pay back that affection.

"We try to win every match and now we don’t feel good, but we have to think about the next match that we have on Wednesday [against Copenhagen]. Personally, I will be looking to play well and keep improving. I will prepare in the right way and try to help the team get the three points."

Madrid's clash with the Danish champions kicks off at 20:45CET on Wednesday.