Real Madrid warms up for Dortmund with win over Betis

BARCELONA: Mesut Oezil scored twice in Real Madrid’s 3-1 win over Real Betis yesterday as the Spanish side warmed up for its Champions League semifinal against Borussia Dortmund.
Karim Benzema passed for Oezil to net Madrid’s opener in the 45th minute before the France striker polished off a counterattack in the 57th.
Oezil struck again in stoppage time after Betis substitute Jorge Molina pulled one back with a penalty kick in the 72nd following defender Nacho Fernandez’s foul of Ruben Castro in the area.
Madrid’s Spanish league victory came at a cost, however, with Marcelo and Luka Modric both needing to be substituted for injuries. Madrid visits Dortmund on Wednesday for the first leg of their tie.
Earlier, Granada outplayed Valladolid but had to settle for a 1-1 draw as the Andalusian side edged one point clear of the relegation zone. Granada played with the urgency befitting a team fighting to avoid the drop.
The hosts were only kept from scoring early and often by Valladolid goalkeeper Jaime Jimenez, who started his series of saves by pushing Youssef El Arabi’s header over the bar five minutes in.
Valladolid forward Patrick Ebert scored against the flow of play in the 58th when he curled a free kick over the bar.
After Granada’s Nyom Allan had hit the post, Granada coach Lucas Alcaraz sent on playmaker Diego Buonanotte and the Argentine served a long pass for El Arabi to finally beat Jimenez with a bouncing header in the 73rd.
15 want Mourinho out
Up to 15 Real Madrid players, including five senior members of the squad, do not want Jose Mourinho to continue as manager next season, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported yesterday.
The Portuguese has a contract with the Spanish champions until 2016, but has consistently been linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the season.
Mourinho admitted on Friday to saying he “didn’t think he would be here next season” to the president of CD Canillas, a club in the north of Madrid where Mourinho’s son plays in a youth team.
However, he claimed that his relationship with president Florentino Perez was a good one and that they would decide his future together at the end of the season.
“My relationship with the president and Jose Angel Sanchez (the sporting director) is very good,” he said.
“This allows us to sit down and analyze things calmly whatever happens in the games.” The report in El Pais claims though that an informal poll carried out by Perez among the squad found the majority would not be in favor of Mourinho staying on.
Moreover, the five senior players that were against his continuation as boss claimed they already had offers from other sides and would look for a move at the end of the season should there not be a change of coach.
The former Chelsea boss has had very public disagreements with Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos this season, with Casillas currently being overlooked in favor of Diego Lopez in goal.
Meanwhile Xabi Alonso is stalling on the offer of a new contract by the club with his current deal set to expire in 2014.