Their fans are calling them “The BBC”. That is, Bale, Benzema and Cristiano, for those who pay no heed to Real Madrid.
Carlo Ancelotti seems to have settled on this glorious attacking front three and they are not letting him down. Since their inglorious clasico defeat at Camp Nou last month at the hands of rivals Barcelona, Real Madrid have scored 15 goals in three league games, including seven against Sevilla.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored eight of them, Karim Benzema five and Gareth Bale two.
The mood is shifting in favour of Benzema, who was a scapegoat for the Bernabeu crowd only a month ago for being a non-scoring striker.
Not without reason, cynics said he kept his place in the team because he was a favourite of the club president.
Now Benzema cannot stop finding the net, while Bale is also showing quality after his anonymous clasico display.
Saturday’s hat-trick against Real Sociedad means Ronaldo has 16 league goals this season, overtaking Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa at the top of the league’s scoring charts.
He has also notched up twice as many goals as rival Lionel Messi, who will be on the sidelines for two months for Barcelona with another hamstring injury, his fourth in 2013.
Madrid are still third in the league, but they have played the some of the best football in Europe in recent weeks, and their 2-2 draw at Juventus in the Uefa Champions League last week enthralled.
They are still getting stronger while league leaders Barcelona have not gone without some criticism from their own supporters for their workmanlike style under their new manager, Gerardo Martino.
With the benchmark the magic of Pep Guardiola’s side, Martino has an uphill task.
Madrid have a new coach, too, in Ancelotti, but Ronaldo’s relationship with Jose Mourinho could be fractious.
He is much happier under Ancelotti, and he has embraced rather than envied the arrival of Bale.
Ronaldo has scored 62 goals during the calendar year, and Madrid fans are in no doubt that he is the man who will supersede Messi for the Ballon d’Or trophy, for which voting closes on Friday.
Ronaldo is the best player in the world right now, but unlike Messi and Frank Ribery, his main two rivals for the award that he is desperate to win, he did not inspire his team to a single trophy in 2013.
It is an individual award for a team game. Or is it?
sports@thenational.ae
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360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
Size: 21 employees
Funding: $7 million
Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
Austrian Grand Prix race timings
Weekend schedule for Austrian Grand Prix - all timings UAE
Friday
Noon-1.30pm First practice
4-5.30pm Second practice
Saturday
1-2pm Final practice
4pm Qualifying
Sunday
4pm Austrian Grand Prix (71 laps)
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8
Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Price: from Dh850,000
On sale: now
Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
Studying addiction
This month, Dubai Medical College launched the Middle East’s first master's programme in addiction science.
Together with the Erada Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation, the college offers a two-year master’s course as well as a one-year diploma in the same subject.
The move was announced earlier this year and is part of a new drive to combat drug abuse and increase the region’s capacity for treating drug addiction.
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Book%20Details
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The Breadwinner
Director: Nora Twomey
Starring: Saara Chaudry, Soma Chhaya, Laara Sadiq
Three stars
