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Rafael Benitez is confident that Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo will be fit for their Liga opener later this month. The Portugal international did not travel with Real to Munich to play in the Audi Cup this week, and is also absent from a 23-man squad for Sunday's friendly against Valerenga in Norway.
Atletico Madrid continued their La Liga preparations with a comfortable 2-0 friendly win over Real Sociedad in Alicante. Diego Simeone's men took a first-half lead in utterly bizarre fashion when, after two failed headed clearances from Sociedad's defence, Markel Bergara nodded into his own net.
Mohamed Salah scored on his debut in a thrilling 3-1 Roma victory over Valencia at the Mestalla, winning the Naranja Trophy. It was the perfect start for Roma and their new signing Salah, as he scored within nine minutes at the Mestalla. Gervinho did most of the work, springing the offside trap on a divine Francesco Totti pass, his shot coming off the post, the second effort hitting the other upright and the rebound turned in from a yard by the Egyptian.
PPLive (PPTV) recently signed an exclusive broadcasting-rights contract to cover the first division of the Liga Nacional de Futbol Profesional (LFP), commonly known as La Liga, during 2015-2020 for the region of China, Taiwan and Macau, becoming the first Chinese internet firm to have won the right to broadcast the world-class football games and marking an important step for PPLive to become a sports-focused company, reports the web portal of Shanghai-based China Business News.
Cerezo Osaka midfielder Hotaru Yamaguchi has revealed he hopes to be the next Japan international to make an impact in Europe, with La Liga his dream destination. Yamaguchi was in the Japan squad for last summer’s World Cup in Brazil and is now playing in the EAFF East Asian Cup in China, scoring the equalising goal in the 1-1 draw against South Korea on Wednesday.