Open Thread: January 8, 2021.

Hola Madridistas!

The Open Thread/Daily Merengue is a place where you can discuss anything and everything related to football. Feel free to discuss the topics presented here, or start your very own discussions! The Open thread will be posted every day by one of the mods: Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, YoSnail or Oscnar.

Friday Training for Los Blancos

The intensity is visible, but it’s looking quite frigid for the reigning La Liga champs as they prepare for the match against Osasuna at El Sadar tomorrow (9pm CET, 3PM EST).

Photo by Helios de la Rubia/Real Madrid via Getty Images

The Santiago Bernabeu is Covered in White

Make sure to watch the video from RealMadrid.com of our historic stadium with a thin coating of snow.

The Copa del Rey Draw

The Copa del Rey Round of 32 draw takes place today at 1PM CET. Real Madrid may be paired up either with Córdoba, Ibiza, Navalcarnero and Cornellà, the latter of whom recently knocked out Atleti from the competition.

Zidane has tested negative for Covid-19

Marca reports, however, that because he came into contact with someone who was or is infected, he must self-isolate.

Zinedine Zidane is self-isolating at home after being in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

The Real Madrid boss was absent from training at Valdebebas on Thursday and underwent tests, testing negative in both an antigen and PCR test.

From there, Zidane will have to follow the protocol laid out by the Spanish government and local authorities, as well as LaLiga’s rules.

If the contact that Zidane had with the positive case was considered to be close, he will have to undergo two weeks of self-isolation, which could reduce to 10 days with a negative PCR test result.

This would mean that Zidane would not only miss the tie against Osasuna on Saturday but also Thursday’s Supercopa de Espana semi-final against Athletic Club.

Our Lucas Navarrete has more here.

“Real Madrid’s key objectives for 2021”

Marco Ruiz at AS gives a good summary of what may be the aims of Real Madrid in terms of signings for the new year.

Four Years Ago Today CR7 Presented His 4th Ballon d’Or to the Bernabeu

From InfiniteMadrid: