Ancelotti Expects Benzema, Modric, Kroos to Extend Stay at Real

Real Madrid's Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti addresses a press conference following a training session at the Ciudad Real Madrid training complex in Valdebebas, outskirts of Madrid, on April 7, 2023. (AFP)
Real Madrid's Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti addresses a press conference following a training session at the Ciudad Real Madrid training complex in Valdebebas, outskirts of Madrid, on April 7, 2023. (AFP)
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Ancelotti Expects Benzema, Modric, Kroos to Extend Stay at Real

Real Madrid's Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti addresses a press conference following a training session at the Ciudad Real Madrid training complex in Valdebebas, outskirts of Madrid, on April 7, 2023. (AFP)
Real Madrid's Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti addresses a press conference following a training session at the Ciudad Real Madrid training complex in Valdebebas, outskirts of Madrid, on April 7, 2023. (AFP)

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti expects the trio of Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos to extend their stay at the LaLiga club with new deals after their current contracts expire at the end of this season.

Ballon d'Or winner Benzema, 35, and 37-year-old Croatia midfielder Modric have helped Real win five Champions League titles, while ex-Germany international Kroos, 33, has won four.

Though Modric and fellow midfielder Kroos have played slightly less this season, former France forward Benzema is Real's top scorer with 25 goals in all competitions.

Ancelotti said the club are in talks with the players about new deals.

"I think (they) will stay," Ancelotti said on Friday. "We have to evaluate the players not by their age but by what they do.

"You can think the three don't have the physical profile or energy of the younger players, but what these three have in terms of game management is unique, you can't buy it on any market in the world.

"This is born with experience - age takes something from you, but it gives you something back as well."

Real are second in LaLiga on 59 points, 12 behind rivals and leaders Barcelona. They host Villarreal later on Saturday.



Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv Plays Soccer Game Without Incident in Hungary

28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa
28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa
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Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv Plays Soccer Game Without Incident in Hungary

28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa
28 November 2024, Berlin: Maccabi Tel Aviv fans wave Israeli flags in the stands during the EuroLeague Basketball match between Alba Berlin and Maccabi Tel Aviv at Uber Arena. Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa

Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv's game against Besiktas in the Europa League was played without incident before empty stands in Hungary on Thursday, with the stadium closed to fans over security concerns following attacks on Israeli supporters in Amsterdam this month.
Maccabi won the game 3-1 on a cold and rainy evening in Debrecen, Hungary's second-largest city. Groups of police patrolled outside the stadium but security levels did not appear overwhelming in the city of around 200,000 residents, The Associated Press reported.
After the match, Maccabi coach Zarko Lazetic said playing in front of an empty stadium without fans is always a struggle for the team.
“We play football because of the fans, to give them some pleasure, some excite(ment) and to be together,” he said.
Israel’s soccer teams play domestic games at home despite the Israel-Hamas war. But European soccer body UEFA has ruled that the war in Gaza means Israel cannot host international games.
The Thursday match was Maccabi’s first in Europe since its fans were assaulted in the Netherlands on Nov. 7 in attacks that were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Israel and across Europe.
Before that match in Amsterdam, a large crowd of Israeli fans chanted anti-Arab slogans, and later, youths on scooters and on foot crisscrossed the city in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them, according to the city's mayor.
Five people were treated in hospitals and police detained dozens of people.
Even before the Amsterdam attacks, the European soccer body UEFA announced that Thursday’s Europa League match, originally scheduled to take place in Istanbul, would be moved to a neutral venue “following a decision by the Turkish authorities.”
Hungary, which has hosted several home games for Israel’s national team since the war in Gaza began, agreed to host the game.