Open Thread: February 14, 2021

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.

Saturday was the final day of training prior to the Valencia match

Who wins these at Real Madrid?

A 15 minute chunk of the practice out in the sun:

Zidane’s latest press conference in full

There are 48 points left to play for and we’re going to fight and play good football to try and win the games. We can only control what we do out on the pitch and we’re going to give our all until the end of the season.

I’m the Real Madrid coach and I’m going to make the most of each moment and every day I have here. There’s no talk of the future and we won’t be talking about it. It’s all about the present and what we’re doing now and the future will take care of itself. You never know. I’m focused on the day to day. Being a Madrid fan and having been here for nearly 20 years, the club has given me the opportunity to coach this great team and I make the most of it every day. It’s something I enjoy and that I’m passionate about. Nobody knows what the future holds.

InfiniteMadrid (via Marca) reports that the deal with Alaba is nearly complete.

Guardiola lined City up in a 2-3-5 against Mourinho’s Tottenham

(Via M.A.J)

Reminiscent of his time at Bayern. That’s one way to approach a side that concedes possession and sets up in a low block.