Your Spanish football morning headlines for Thursday 24 December.
Burgess leaves Madrid
Paul Burgess has been groundsman at Real Madrid for the past 12 years but he has finally called time on his spell with the club.
The Englishman arrived in the Spanish capital from Arsenal in 2009 and has been conditioning the pitches at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and at Valdebebas for the last 12 seasons.
Great to end my career with a win and top of the table, Hala Madrid pic.twitter.com/eBLyspouUL
— Paul Burgess CSFM (@paul_pburgess) December 23, 2020
Barca beat Madrid and Atleti to Araujo
Barcelona secured the signing of Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo in 2017 from from Boston River, who are based in Uruguay’s capital Montevideo for a reported fee of €1.7m.
However, it has now emerged that Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid were both in the running for the central defender – who has grown into a regular starter at the Camp Nou.
In quotes carried by Marca, the player’s former coach Sergio Cabrera in Uruguay claimed Ramon Planes rushed the signing in order to beat competition from the club’s two rivals.
La Liga table set for Christmas
Real Madrid moved back level on points with Atletico Madrid at the top of the standings of La Liga at Christmas – but have played two games more – after beating Granada on Wednesday.
It is the first time since Sevilla in 2006 that a side other than Madrid or Barcelona has topped the standings at Christmas.
Real Betis and Alaves recorded home wins over Cadiz and Eibar respectively to finalise the table ahead of Christmas day.
Happy christ-mas in advance
Yess