The Glasgow Rangers won a friendly against Real Madrid on Sunday, 2-1, handing Real its first defeat under new Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Madrid took the lead early in the game thanks to Rodygo, but couldn’t keep their advantage in the second half. Goals from Fashion Sakala and Cedric Itten put the Scottish champions in front. The defeat in Glasgow comes in Ancelotti’s third game in charge after two behind-closed-doors tests against Fuenlabrada and Rayo Vallecano.
At Ibrox in Glasgow, Rodrygo scored after eight minutes, finishing a Martin Odegaard orchestrated counterattack. The Rangers were the superior squad throughout the match, with Ryan Kent being the best player on the pitch. He also hit the crossbar from a few meters out when he should have punished Rangers’ glamorous visitors. Real Madrid was happy to counter, but Rangers stayed in control of the whole affair. For Real Madrid’s fans, that was more worrying than the result itself.
Ancelotti still has three weeks to prepare for Real’s first official game of the season; they kick-off their La Liga campaign on Aug. 14 in an away match against Alaves. On Aug. 8, Real will play a high-profile friendly against AC Milan in Austria.
Varane on the go
Raphael Varane trained with Real Madrid on Monday, but is expected to complete a move to Manchester United in the following days. The English giants are willing to pay up to $55 million to seal the transfer for the 28-year-old world champion.
Varane made his intentions clear to Real Madrid, telling the club’s hierarchy that he needs a change of air this summer after 10 years in the Spanish capital. Varane played 360 games at Real, scoring 17 goals. He won four Champions League trophies, four Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, and three Spanish championships with the Madrid giants. In 2018, he won the World Cup with France.
He’s agreed to terms with United and is awaiting Real’s approval so he can travel to England to finalize the move.
Varane is the second superstar who’s set to leave Madrid this summer after captain Sergio Ramos signed with Paris Saint Germain. Florentino Perez told the board at Real he expects no signings to happen before the transfer window closes at midnight on Sept. 2. The La Liga runners-up only managed to snap up David Alaba (29) from Bayern. There was no transfer fee involved as Alaba was a free agent starting on July 1. Chances for a much-anticipated Kylian Mbappe (22) transfer to take place in 2021 are shrinking by the day.
