Photo by ISIphotos.com
Fiorentino Perez said he was bringing in a new group of 'Galacticos'.
He was not kidding.
Real Madrid has added Karim Benzema to Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Real Madrud summer haul, and now Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery wants to be next.
Real Madrid is adding Benzema for €35 million euros ($48.77 million), who joins a stable that has now surpassed $200 million in value. With Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema and defender Raul Albiol already in the field, and Franck Ribery reportedly ready to join, Real Madrid is looking like the team to beat in Spain and the Champions League, though defending champions Barcelona will still have something to say about that.
So what does the new Real Madrid look like? Here is how the starting lineup could look:
2009 Real Madrid starting lineup
—————-Benzema————-Raul———————
—–Kaka—————-Ribery—————Ronaldo——-
————————–Diarra——————————–
Heinze———Pepe———–Albiol—————–Ramos
———————–Casillas——————————–
Yes, you can say it. WOW.
What do you think of Benzema joining REal Madrid? If Ribery signs, will Real Madrid become the new favorite to win all hardware in Europe next season? Still have questions about Real Madrid's defense? Still like Barcelona to repeat in the league and in Europe?
Share your thoughts below.
Liverpool need Arbeloa. But if he did go to Madrid, he’d be fit. Though isnt world class? Are Madrid just adding world class attacking players and having pretty decent defenders?
This won’t work. Who in the RM side is taking the ball away from Xavi and Iniesta? Who is defending Messi, Henry, and Eto’o (or Villa depending)? I think Ramos is still trying to figure out where Clint Dempsey might be. Ronaldo is a ball hog and Kaka isn’t but he “works” best when he is running with the ball himself, so how does RM solve that conflict, not to mention their polar opposite personality issues. Is Benzema really that much better than Higuain? They will sell a lot of shirts, still finish second, and won’t make the semis of the CL.
Raul leaving Madrid for whom? man city?
Can’t wait to see them Aug. 9 against DC. I’m sure Olsen and Namoff will stop them in their tracks!!!
It’ll be fun wathcing them…and rooting against them.
I would think kaka would play in the middle has he did for AC Milan with Ribery play on the left where he did for Bayern and Higuain would def start over Raul.
They need Gooch to shore up the backline!
Seriously, why not?
I seem to remember a similar stacked line-up like this in Real’s past that failed to produce the crown. Like the Yankees, money cant buy championships.
Amazing offense. All joking aside, I think GOoch could certainly fit in at CB
As a Spanish Real Madrid fan that has been following the team for over 20 years I can tell you the following (some of you have it a little wrong):
1) First they are not done buying. It looks that at least they will buy one central midfielder to play along side Lass (Xabi Alonso is the chose one and will be bought in the next few days), one left back (Heinze will most certainly be sold… the chose one is Arbeloa from Liverpool), and either Ribery or Silva one of these will happen later in the off season.
2) This team might very well have a lot of stars but it has nothing to do with the first incarnation and why that one failed at the end. The first time around Florentino and his team forget to have balance in the team. The minute they sold Makalele and brought in Beckham playing him out of place (remember that Figo was taking his natural spot) the team went down a hill. Before those two moves the team was awesome even with several stars (Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Raul, Roberto Carlos, and Casillas). So its not about the players but rather about the balance.
3) This time around they are making sure that they have players that fit the system, that play in their real spots, and that will complement each other. As for egos that doesn’t worry me at all.
4) This is the team that you should expect to take the field the first day of La Liga tournament 09/10.
——————Benzema—————
Silva or Ribery—-Kaka——–C. Ronaldo
——–Xabi Alondo—–Lass————-
Arbeloa—–Albiol——Pepe———Ramos
——————Casillas—————
Expect the following players to be sold:
Van der Vaart
VNR or Negredo
Sneijder
Gago or Diarra
Heinze
Metzelder or Garay
maybe Salgado
Best team in futbol!
——-casillas——-
–ramos–albiol–pepe–marcelo
——diarra–diarra—–
–ronny–kaka—ribery—
——-benzema—–
Madrid’s lineup is looking a little crowded. Higuain, VanNistelrooy, Huntelaar and Robben are all very talented players. Some of their attacking stars won’t be happy sitting on the bench. Madrid is going to have to clean house a bit. Will Raul end up on the bench or be traded?
That midfield would have arguably the best 3 players in the World. That is amazing. I don’t care how many games they win it will be entertaining to watch.
why would ribery n to do fight ffor a postion if they don’t even play the same postion lmao. Dude do u even watch soccer? Lmao can’t blv u wrote that. Made my day
Raul and Higuain were both great last year, Benzema is a stupid move. Even the backup forwards (Huntelaar and Horseface) are better than Benzema They dont need anyone but a new CB and an LB.
Is it just me or does anyone else like the fact that the EPL is getting snubbed by the highest echelon of football. For years all you kept hearing how England was stealing the best, but it seems like the best want to play more technical.
—–Benzema——–Higuain——-
————–Kaka—————Ribery——————-Ronaldo—-
———–LassDiarra————–
Heinze—-Pepe—–Albiol—-Ramos
————-Casillas————
Raul will have to Ride the bench for Higauin .
Thank you Real. I knew you’d buy a team I could root for….though I’m still not really a big fan of Cristiano Ronaldo
All out attack! Wow is right. Liverpool should grab Higuain since he doesnt want to ride the bench all season..he would fit perfectly with Torres
There really is nothing funnier than Man United fans whining. Makes me smile.
Typical starry-eyed stupidity from Real fans. Teams full of stars are teams full of egos, that don’t gel and don’t win. Just ask the last group of Galacticos.
The reason Man Utd is generally an exception is that 1) they have iron hand of sir alex at the helm and 2) they bring up some of their best from the youth ranks, identifying them younger and bleeding some of the ego out of them.
Buying the top players in the world will simply guarantee an expensive loser.
Doesn’t Real Madrid new manager, Pellegrini, play a strict 4-4-2?
I can certainly see why Real Madrid would need to completely rebuild. Wasn’t their old team awful? Seriously, this has disaster written all over it. Are they trying to copy Manchester City and their success from mega spending?
Benzema? I had that once and it was very unpleasant!
First off, Ribery does not play in the middle.
Second, and more importantly, Galacticos 1.0 showed that a field full of egos will under-achieve because nobody wants to do the blue-collar work. Galacticos 2.0 will win a fair share of games, but they’re not going to run away with every trophy out there.
The more important stat will be how many sports psychologists does the team hire to manage the abundance of ego????
cbr great call haha.
raul needs to be dumped in place of higuain, but that will never happen.
Wouldn’t higuain start over raul with benzema?
wow that is a hell of a strike force!
as pretty as Ramos is to look at he is not much help at all in the back. i imagine as many goals for as goals against.
as for United, here’s hoping Kun Aguero comes through.
They need to shore up the defense by signing Gooch.
It takes years to build a team not just 1 summer, they will be no where near ready to compete in La Liga or Europe next season. They have good players but you cannot just throw them on the pitch and expect them to gell straight away. It didn’t work like that at Barca or Man Utd, they have both been building their current squads for many years, only adding 1 or 2 players a season
Good lineup Ives. I’d switch up Kaka and Ribery.
Raul is staying and will be starting. He’s been recapturing his excellent form over the last 2 seasons. Real Madrid is packing so much attacking power, will any of these guys actually see the field? Ribery won’t play 2nd fiddle to Ronaldo who will want 100% control of the team.
Ronaldo tracks back more than some people give him credit, but that right side would end up a freeway on both ends of the pitch between him and Ramos.
I can’t imagine they could play that starting XI in anything like a ‘big’ match, though. Then again, Perez is back.
I would love to watch these guys on european nights, but freaking FSC took away the Champions League.
At least ESPN picked up La Liga in the clutch…
RAUL? They are dropping him bc CR7 wants to be CR7.
I hope Dempsey stays at Fulham. He is a solid starter there and the fans love him. Everton doesn’t really need him and he would have a hard time cracking a midfield already littered with talent (Arteta, Cahill, Pienaar, Osman, Fellaini). Since Everton is my No. 2 EPL team I hope they can keep hold of Lescott and crack the top 4 next season.
They still gotta shell out a pretty penny to pry Ribery away from my boys at Bayern Munchen. Where they getting all this cash from anyway!?
Off topic, but with the rumors of at least a potential dozen teams, has Gooch suddenly become the most wanted American player in the history of football?
Dempsey is probably the most well known in Europe, but Gooch just might change that.
this is going to RUIN Fifa10 online mode. You wont be able to beat these guys
Robben is usually injured but when healthy he’s a force to be reckoned with. Why did they grab Benzema? He has a bright future but he sure isn’t “world class” in the likes of Ibrahimovic, Villa, Eto’o. Benzema is rated like say Luca Toni or Mario Gomez or even Negredo. Pretty good, but not at that LEVEL.
How about the fact that that puts Robben and Guti on the bench, two men who should never see the pine.
Wonder where Platini stands on non-english teams spending money like drunken sailors. Real Madrid is dumb. I thought there problem was shipping goals not scoring them. Its as if they went to a doctor complaining of a broken arm and the doctor gave them a 3rd arm and didnt fix the original problem. Im sure nobody would notice that
If they can actually learn to play together…
You’re right, who can root for them, that said, who isn’t excited to see them play on ESPN HD this fall?!
Man Utd would love to take Higuain too!!
Sucks for Higuain
As a Bayern fan I say go ahead Ribery. Real better hope their ain’t too many cooks in their kitchen. How can anyone root for that team?
Those front 5 better score a bunch of goals, because those back 5 sure as sh*t aren’t going to stop many.
I say if people don’t want to come to/stay at Man Utd then f**k em.
United need to be focusing on a RB (Maicon) and CM de Rossi)and I would be more than happy to take the now “extra” Dutchies off Real’s hands. Welcome to Old Trafford Klass Huntelaar and Sneijder!!!
RVN to MLS!!