Carlo Ancelotti insists his Real Madrid players are not playing in fear of injuries before the World Cup, as Luka Modric and Karim Benzema were ruled out of their Champions League trip to RB Leipzig.
Having established a four-point lead over Leipzig at the summit of Group F, Madrid can secure top spot with a game to spare by avoiding defeat against the Bundesliga outfit on Tuesday.
However, Madrid s efforts to do so could be hampered by the absences of Modric and Benzema, while in-form midfielder Federico Valverde has joined the duo on the sidelines after suffering a knock in Saturday s win over Sevilla.
All three players are set to feature when the World Cup begins in less than a month s time, but Ancelotti does not feel the tournament is impacting players thou…
Mauro Icardi would welcome an extended stay at Paris Saint-Germain.
The on-loan Inter striker plundered a hat-trick as Thomas Tuchel s side thumped Saint-Etienne 6-1 in the Coupe de la Ligue on Wednesday, taking his tally to 17 goals in 19 appearances across all competitions for PSG.
Icardi s agent and wife Wanda Nara sparked a fresh wave of speculation over the player s future by telling Eurosport nothing is certain in terms of whether the Ligue 1 champions will exercise an option to purchase, reported to be in the region of €70million, at the end of the campaign.
We haven t talked about it with the club yet, but for sure I m very well here, Icardi said after his hat-trick heroics, as quoted by Corriere dello Sport.
There are still four to five mon…