Sports

BARCELONA, Spain — Real Madrid were set to place an even greater emphasis on winning the Spanish league title after ending their quest for an elusive 10th European Cup last season.

For 12 straight years, Madrid’s coaches and players had been tasked with winning another Champions League title, a mission that had grown into an obsession that overshadowed winning the domestic crown.

Now Madrid can turn their full attention to winning the title, which they have raised just once in the last six season.

“Above all it takes away the pressure,” said Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas on having won the European title. “I hope that having won it we have opened an escape valve to reduce some of the anxiety and anguish.”

Ronaldo’s rebound

Seemingly insatiable when it comes to basking in the spotlight, Cristiano Ronaldo should be eager to rebound from a disappointing World Cup with Portugal as he tries to repeat being voted the FIFA World Player of the Year.

Hampered by nagging injuries, Ronaldo couldn’t help Portugal make it out of the group stage at this summer’s World Cup. Instead, he had to watch as Barcelona rival Lionel Messi guided Argentina to the final before succumbing to Germany.

Last year, the 29-year-old Ronaldo ended Messi’s four-year run as the world best player en route to scoring a record-setting 17 goals to help Madrid to the Champions League title as well as leading the Spanish league with 31 goals.

Ronaldo has started the season in fine form by scoring twice to give Madrid the European Super Cup title over Sevilla.

“I had problems at the end of last season and at the World Cup, but that is over,” said Ronaldo. “I am back.”

Who is in goal?

The main drama in Madrid will be between the goal posts as Iker Casillas competes with new signing Keylor Navas for the starting job.

Casillas is beloved by a large segment of Madrid fans, but the team captain hasn’t been Madrid’s starter in league play since former coach Jose Mourinho demoted him two seasons ago.

Casillas’ disastrous showing for Spain in the World Cup was followed by Madrid acquiring Navas after his outstanding play with Costa Rica.

So despite Diego Lopez’s exit for AC Milan the debate will rage on over who should be Madrid’s No. 1 goalkeeper.

“What happened in the World Cup has been forgotten,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. “This is a new season for [Casillas] and for us. We all believe in him.”

Bigger Bale

Gareth Bale scored two of Real Madrid’s most important goals in his first season after a world record €100 million ($132 million) transfer from Tottenham.

First came his electrifying sprint to net the winner the Copa del Rey final over Barcelona in April. A month later his header proved to be the decisive goal in the Champions League final and 4-1 victory over Atletico Madrid.

Bale scored 22 goals in all competitions for Madrid last season, but with a year in Spain under his belt an even bigger season could be in store for the speedy Welshman.

“Everyone comes to Real Madrid to win trophies,” said Bale. “So we will be looking to win everything that is up for grabs this season.”

Too much talent?

Teams dream of having the problem facing Real Madrid this season: a glut of many talented players.

Club president Florentino Perez rarely lets a summer go by without making a splash in the transfer market, and this year was no exception.

Madrid spent around €115 million ($154 million) to add the World Cup’s leading scorer, Colombia’s James Rodriguez, new world champion Toni Kroos of Germany and Costa Rica goalkeeper Navas to its team.

With Ronaldo, Bale and Karim Benzema fixtures in attack, that leaves a surplus of midfielders to vie for playing time.

Besides Rodriguez and Kroos, coach Carlo Ancelotti will have to divvy up minutes among Angel Di Maria, Luka Modric, Isco, Sami Khedira, Xabi Alonso and Asier Illarramendi.

“To be competitive we will need to rotate our staring line-up,” Ancelotti said.

Cool Carlo

Carlo Ancelotti enters his second season at Real Madrid with the complete backing of the club, its fans and the Madrid sports press after conquering the Champions League last spring.

Ancelotti’s relaxed, hands-off approach — the exact opposite of Jose Mourinho’s us-against-the-world mentality — has proven to be just what Madrid’s star-studded squad needed to finally fulfil its promise in Europe.

The Italian manager now has a different goal: restore Madrid’s rule of the Spanish league that it has failed to consolidate in a decade dominated by Barcelona.

MANCHESTER — Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini remains wary of avoiding another “disaster” the season after winning a Premier League title, despite the comfortable nature of Sunday’s opening 2-0 victory at Newcastle United.

Three years ago, City claimed their first top-flight title in 44 years under Italian Roberto Mancini but were off the pace during their defence the following season, finishing well behind local rivals Manchester United in second spot.

Last season brought another league crown to the Etihad Stadium in Pellegrini’s first campaign at the club, and he said they could not afford to rest on their laurels if they hoped to avoid another letdown.

“This team won the title two years ago and the next season was a disaster, it wasn’t a useful year for anyone,” the Chilean told the BBC.

“Last season, Manchester United had a disaster [finished seventh] after winning the title.

“It’s important from the beginning that we understand we won the title last season and need to win again this year.”

City were not at their thrilling best at St James’ Park, with some players not up to full fitness and Newcastle showing some steel that was missing for much of last season.

However, their attacking riches proved the difference, Yaya Toure and Edin Dzeko combining to set up David Silva before halftime and Sergio Aguero adding a second late on.

Fernando, a 15 million euros ($20.08 million) arrival from Porto, was confident on his midfield debut and with Eliaquim Mangala, Bacary Sagna, Willy Caballero and Frank Lampard not featuring, Pellegrini was confident he had the squad depth to claim repeat Premier League titles for the first time.

“It’s very difficult to compare each year. Maybe last year a lot of people doubted we could win the title because it was my first season here in the Premier League,” Pellegrini said.

“Today, we have one year more working with the players and we have a strong squad.

“You have five or six teams that can win the title, so we need the same attitude, the hunger with which we have started the season and the same humility in every game.

“I am sure this squad can fight, and we will see at the end of the season which titles we will win.”

Pellegrini said Bosnia striker Dzeko was set to commit his long-term future to the club, joining Samir Nasri, Vincent Kompany, Aleksandar Kolarov and Aguero in penning new deals.

Dzeko scored 16 league goals last season, and while he did not open his account on Sunday, his clever backheel to set up Silva was the highlight of a strong performance.

ZURICH — Napoli’s first game of the season could also be one of their most difficult and important as they host Spain’s Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of their Champions League playoff tie on Tuesday.

Arsenal, who visit Besiktas, will be aiming to reach the lucrative group stage for the 17th consecutive season while, at the other extreme Slovan Bratislava, Ludogorets Razgrad and Malmo are all trying to qualify for the first time.

Millions of euros are at stake for the clubs involved in this week’s 10 matches thanks to the huge appearance fees, performance bonuses and television money handed out by UEFA to those who reached the group stage.

Last season, UEFA awarded each of the 32 teams 8.6 million euros just for taking part in the group stage, with more thrown in for wins and draws.

Napoli’s participation last season brought them 38.6 million euros, including 4 million in the so-called performance bonuses and 26 million euros their share of the television market pool.

Failure to beat Athletic, Europa League runners-up in 2012, could put immediate pressure on Napoli coach Rafael Benitez, whose debut season last season was regarded as only satisfactory.

A third place Serie A finish and the Coppa Italia title were the bare minimum expected from the Spaniard at Italy’s biggest-spending club who performed only in fits and starts last term, repeatedly dropping precious Serie A points against lower-placed opposition.

“Those two matches can shape a season because it’s true that the Champions League provides a different dimension to the club, the city and to us players,” said Napoli forward Marek Hamsik.

“Among the five possible opponents, with Athletic we have been landed with the most difficult,” warned Benitez. “They’re a team who play good football and, at home, the 50,000 at San Mames give them a big push. It will be a very good, and very intense game.”

Former champions

Arsenal will have played one Premier League match before they visit Besiktas in Istanbul on Tuesday, although last season’s 5-0 aggregate win over Fenerbahce suggests they should be able to cope with the Turks.

Slovan Bratislava host Belarus champions BATE Borisov on Wednesday as they attempt to emulate MSK Zilina, MFK Kosice and Petrzalke by representing Slovakia in the group stage.

Ludogorets Razgrad begin their attempt to become only the second Bulgarian side to qualify when they visit former European champions Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday.

Malmo, runners-up in the old European Cup, visit Austrian champions Salzburg on Tuesday, hoping to become the first Swedish team to qualify for 14 years.

Salzburg themselves have not qualified since the takeover by the Red Bull energy drinks manufacturers in 2005 although they did qualify in 1994-95, back in the old days when they still played in violet and white.

Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel will return to his old club with Zenit St. Petersburg when the Russians, led by Portuguese coach Andre Villas-Boas, visit Standard Liege on Wednesday.

Ambitious Zenit, whose new signings included Argentina World Cup defender Ezequiel Garay, have made a flying start to the Russian Premier League, winning their first four games and beating Torpedo Moscow 8-1 in the process.

Group stage regulars Porto, the club where Villas-Boas made his name, have a tough trip to Lille while Celtic, who like Porto are former European champions, visit Slovenian champions Maribor, provided the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) does not intervene.

Celtic were thrashed 6-1 on aggregate by Legia Warsaw in the previous round, only for the Poles to forfeit the second leg after fielding an ineligible player in the last few minutes.

UEFA turned Legia’s 2-0 win at Murrayfield into a 3-0 win for Celtic, which sent the Scottish champions through on away goals.

Legia have appealed to CAS who are due to announce on Monday whether they will grant “provisional measures” which would allow the Polish champions back into the draw.

Denmark has a chance to have two teams in the group stage for the first time as FC Copenhagen hosts Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday with Aarborg at home to APOEL, surprise quarter-finalists two seasons ago, on Wednesday.

The second legs will be played on August 26 and 27 with the draw for the group stage taking place in Monaco on August 28.

MADRID — European champions Real Madrid could be without the world’s most expensive player Welshman Gareth Bale and Portuguese defender Pepe when they meet city rivals and domestic champions Atletico Madrid in Tuesday’s first leg of the Spanish Super Cup.

Both players were unable to train on Friday when they nursed injuries ahead of Real’s final friendly fixture against Fiorentina in Warsaw on Saturday, a game they were treating as a key warm-up for their reunion with Atletico.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti, rotating his squad before meeting Atletico again for the first time since they beat them 4-1 in the all-Spanish Champions League final in Lisbon in May, made nine changes to the team that started Tuesday’s UEFA Super Cup final against Sevilla in Cardiff, which Madrid won 2-0.

Only Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored both goals, and newly-arrived Colombia playmaker James Rodriguez were retained as Madrid, the King’s Cup winners, finalised their preparations. Ronaldo scored an early goal but Real lost 2-1 to Fiore.

Bale, whose solo winning goal in the King’s Cup final against Barcelona in April secured Real’s place in the Super Cup, trained on his own while Pepe did only some light stretching. Both, however, were on the bench in Warsaw.

French defender Raphael Varane is likely to replace Pepe while Spanish midfielder Isco is tipped to step in for Bale, if he is unfit for the clash at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The return leg is at the Vicente Calderon on Friday, three days before the Spanish champions start the defence of their La Liga title at Rayo Vallecano. Real open their league campaign the same evening against Cordoba.

Ronaldo issued a warning to Atletico and all their rivals after Real’s win in Cardiff that the European champions are aiming for a clean sweep of all six trophies available to them — including the Spanish Super Cup and their local rivals’ La Liga crown.

“We are going to try to win all the trophies,” he said. “It’s good to win this trophy [the European Super Cup] to give confidence to the team and let’s see next week against Atletico what we are going to do.”

Classy trio

Boosted by the combined 120 million euros ($160.76 million) arrival of three World Cup stand-out players in Rodriguez, from AS Monaco, Germany midfielder Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich and Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas from Levante, they hope to retain the King’s Cup and the Champions League.

No club has successfully defended the European Cup in the Champions League era, nor since 1990, when current Real Madrid coach Ancelotti was in midfield for Arrigo Sacchi’s masterful AC Milan team, European champions in 1989 and 1990.

According to Ronaldo, they hope also to win the Club World Cup, but acknowledge, before any of that, they will face determined, if much-changed, opponents in Atletico on Tuesday.

Since their disappointment in Lisbon on May 24, Atletico have sold Spain striker Diego Costa and Brazilian left back Filipe Luis to Chelsea, who have also recalled Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois from his loan at the Calderon.

In a period of almost-customary upheaval, they have also lost important squad players including former Spain striker David Villa as they balanced the books.

In their place, Argentine coach Diego Simeone has spent about 95 million euros to sign highly-rated forwards Mexican Raul Jimenez and Frenchman Antoine Griezmann, from America and Real Sociedad respectively, and Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak from Benfica to compete with Miguel Angel Moya from Getafe.

He also signed Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic from Bayern Munich, among others, as he rebuilt the team in the same durable image of last season’s successful side in which defensive strength and organisation was a priority.

“Our strong defence is one of our characteristics,” keeper Moya told the club’s website. “Other than the strength, there are practically no cracks in the team. We will give our rivals few chances.

“The idea for this team is well set and the backbone is still here.”

NANJING, China — Australian triathlete Brittany Dutton won the first gold of the Youth Olympics as competition kicked-off on Sunday without Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria, who withdrew because of the Ebola outbreak in Africa.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday they had banned three West African athletes from competing in combat sports and pool events in China as a precaution after the world’s worst outbreak of Ebola which has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people in the region.

IOC President Thomas Bach said on Saturday that following the move, taken after discussion with the World Health Organisation, the governments of Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone had opted against allowing their athletes to compete in the 13-day multisport event.

“Two NOCs [Sierra Leone and Liberia] decided together with their government to not come here. We have to respect the decision of the government in such a difficult moment for their country,” the German was quoted as saying by China’s Xinhua news agency.

“We also have been informed that the team of Nigeria wants to go home. Obviously the Nigerian government has decided to send them home.

“We feel sad for the athletes as it will be extremely difficult for them. They already felt the excitement of living in the Village and now they have to leave — that’s a very difficult task.”

Xinhua also quoted an unnamed official of the Youth Olympics Organising Committee, saying they were “appreciative of and grateful” that the trio withdrew.

“On behalf of other delegations and their athletes, I hereby extend to them the heart-felt respect,” the report said.

Organisers of the second Youth Olympics were also concerned about adverse weather in eastern China over the fortnight disrupting competition for the athletes, who are aged between 14 and 18.

“There is the possibility the city could face frequent rainy days, electrical storms and occasional occurrences of haze and possibly typhoons,” the Nanjing 2014 Meteorological Services Command Centre said.

Dutton escaped the weather and haze concerns early on Sunday morning as the 16-year-old rode a brilliant bike leg to force American Stephanie Jenks in to second on her 17th birthday.

Dutton celebrated her win by taking a selfie with former fencer Bach, who had called on athletes to snap pictures of themselves throughout the Games to promote friendship in competition.

Jordan’s Eman Al Adayleh lost 5-2 to Britain’s Abigail Stones in -44kg women’s taekwondo quarter-final 3 action. Yazan Abandeh came in 34th overall with a score of 49.050 in artistic gymnastics.

Swimmer Khader Baqleh is scehduled to compete in the men’s 200m freestyle on Monday.

GENEVA — Risk-taking and counterattacks are the new fashion in football, according to a FIFA study of World Cup teams’ tactics.

“The trend is for teams to play positively and do everything to win a game rather than merely ‘not lose’,” FIFA’s panel of coaching experts working in Brazil reported Friday.

The best teams were rewarded for being “not afraid of losing their shape for brief moments”, the 284-page document noted.

“Outstanding fast transitions and counterattacking tactics,” were praised as the most effective strategy at a World Cup which equalled the tournament record for most goals and was widely praised as the best in a generation.

It was a different story four years ago.

Then, the football was so poor in South Africa that FIFA President Sepp Blatter asked a task force to suggest ways of making football more entertaining.

Though that panel achieved little, in Brazil the teams, coaches and players rose to their challenge.

“The tempo of the game was impressive — Brazil 2014 was one of, if not the fastest World Cups ever played,” the FIFA technical report said.

Other successful trends in Brazil included playing with at least two strikers, three central defenders and only one defensive midfielder.

Controversial incidents — including Uruguay forward Luis Suarez biting an opponent, and players continuing despite apparent head injuries — are not mentioned in the document.

Teams are also rarely criticised, though Brazil is not spared after being outplayed by eventual winner Germany and the Netherlands.

“An incomprehensibly poor performance against Germany,” the report said of the host nation’s semifinal humbling, adding that 7-1 was “a fair reflection of the strengths of the two teams”.

FIFA’s coaches noted Brazil’s “attacking game not quite clicking into gear and some coordination problems obvious in defence”.

Tactically, the FIFA report says top teams no longer use two holding midfielders, which was effective in South Africa. A lone striker is also out of fashion.

“Most teams played with two strikers [if not three], and the few teams that played with one lone attacker left the competition early,” the report said.

Goalkeepers like Germany’s Manuel Neuer now function as an extra outfield player, and specialised coaching should reflect that, the report said.

The report suggests playing with three central defenders is “on the rise again” thanks to the third-place Netherlands, surprise quarter-finalist Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay.

Four years after Spain rode its tiki-taka passing to win the World Cup, the report notes effective use of the ball is now more important than simply having it.

In Brazil, 21 of 64 matches were won by the counterattacking team having less possession.

“Possession play must be efficient,” the report noted, adding that 34 of 171 goals came from “quick transition play”.

“Counter-attacking tactics were once a tool in a team’s armoury, but now some teams base their entire play around such tactics,” the report said.

More goals than expected came from corner kicks and “remarkable” high-quality crosses, and early leads were often overturned.

“Teams that scored the first goal were at times too confident and too sure of themselves,” the report said.

BURNLEY, England — Burnley, the smallest club to have won the English league, return to the top flight for just the second season in 38 years knowing they will need to overcome the odds in almost every area if they are to survive in the Premier League.

The Clarets, who kick off their campaign against Chelsea on Monday, returned to the elite four years ago but lasted just a solitary season and most pundits are predicting a repeat this time around.

But the East Lancashire club showed with their promotion success last season, which was earned despite a small squad and limited budget, that they are capable of upsetting wealthier rivals.

Manager Sean Dyche’s motivational ability, combined with a highly effective pressing game, turned a team made up of budget buys into one which earned their place in the top flight with some ease.

While other clubs have been spending big in the transfer market during the close-season, Dyche has been focused on keeping hold of his best talent and unlike some of his counterparts, he does not want to make an issue of his lack of spending power.

“There will be a vast gap in resources available but that’s the reality of it — we have to look at what we have not what we don’t have. There is no point in keep moaning about that — it just isn’t there,” he said.

While he makes no secret of his limited options in the market, the 43-year-old Dyche is quick to remind sceptics that his team made fools of the experts last season.

“Last year we had nowhere near the resources of the clubs that were supposedly going to be in the top six — nowhere near it. And there are probably eight Championship clubs right now that have a better resource base, higher wage level than we have.

“My point is — with all those factors we got promoted. It is about finding a way, it is not easy but it is about finding a way of operating that takes you where you want,” he says.

Prolific strikers

The way Dyche found last year was to create a relentless pressing game that, with the help of his team’s outstanding fitness, wore teams out. With the ball Burnley were positive with their possession and willing to mix in some direct play to their prolific strikers Sam Vokes and Danny Ings who scored 41 goals between them.

Welsh international Vokes will miss the opening few months of the season with new signing Lukas Jutkiewicz taking his place in attack.

Former West Ham midfielder Matt Taylor will bring some experience to the midfield but otherwise Dyche will start the campaign with the team which finished second behind Leicester in the Championship last term and he intends to stick with the main methods which worked in the second tier.

“You can tinker too much. It is about being flexible enough to know that there may be changes needed during the season — tactics etc., playing away from home, things like that. But if we radically change how the team has been operating for a year, I think that would be detrimental,” he said.

Dyche hopes that closer to the end of the transfer window there may be some opportunities to strengthen his squad, despite believing that the “market has run away with itself” this year with some of the fees being demanded for players in the second tier.

In the former textile town of 87,000 there is no shortage of passion for the team but expectations are generally realistic for a club that was one game away from disappearing from professional football in 1987.

But come Monday, under the lights at a packed Turf Moor, the multimillion-pound Chelsea team will face a Burnley side that Dyche will have instilled with the belief that they can compete — even against one of the title favourites.

“Who do you get in the Premier League who you thinks going to be an easy one? I don’t think there is such a thing,” said Dyche. “We’ve got to play them all at some point. For sure it’s a tough challenge — fantastic manager, fantastic club, fantastic team, and amazing power in the market.

“But there are no guarantees for anyone.”

LONDON — The return of the Premier League this weekend cannot come quickly enough for English fans still lamenting their national team’s worst-ever World Cup showing. With the league’s riches, global reach and non-stop drama, it remains England’s projection of footballing power.

But as the waning impact of English sides in Europe last season demonstrated, the Premier League’s allure remains under threat from Spain. Gareth Bale left Tottenham for Real Madrid last year, and the new season begins with Luis Suarez at Barcelona rather than Liverpool.

Liverpool cashed in around $130 million for the Uruguay striker, who is banned from football until the end of October for biting an opponent at the World Cup in Brazil. But Liverpool is now without the player who led the club to a rapid return to the elite, and the Premier League marketing machine is without one of its most recognisable names.

Replenishing the Liverpool squad with a trio of players from eighth-place Southampton at a cost of $80 million doesn’t seem the obvious way of turning last season’s second-place finish behind Manchester City into a first championship since 1990. The 27-year-old Suarez, whose 31 goals earned him the player of the year titles, has been replaced by 32-year-old Southampton striker Rickie Lambert, who played just three minutes for England at the World Cup.

“[Suarez] left Liverpool after his time as a world-class talent,” Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said. “But we will move forward.”

Manchester United seems more likely to make a big jump forward than Liverpool. Louis van Gaal has replaced David Moyes, who took over from Alex Ferguson as manager last season but wilted in the Old Trafford spotlight as the team fell from champions to seventh place.

Moyes arrived a year ago without a trophy to his name, but Van Gaal already has an aura of authority gained from years at Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. He also led the Netherlands to a third-place finish at the World Cup last month. With United out of the Champions League for the first time since 1995 — and out of Europe completely — the 63-year-old Dutchman can focus on returning United to the top four.

“He’ll find the competition in this league will be different to any other league that he’s worked in,” Rodgers said. “This is a league where the top team plays the bottom team and on any given day you can lose.”

Van Gaal has set about repairing a squad he described as imbalanced and “broken” in a summer that has seen veteran defenders Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic leave and Ryan Giggs retire.

United spent about $90 million on signing Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao and teenager defender Luke Shaw from Southampton, which has seen an exodus of players to rival clubs and manager Mauricio Pochettino leave to take over at Tottenham.

Dithering in last summer’s transfer window contributed to United’s unexpected fall. The unwillingness of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to spend early in previous off-seasons has contributed to title challenges collapsing since 2004. Jolted by the failure to claim the trophy last season — finishing fourth after spending more time at the top than any rivals — Wenger seized the chance in July to take Chile striker Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona for $60 million.

Wenger opens the season without the burden of failure, having ended a nine-year trophy drought in May by winning the FA Cup. Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski went on to become World Cup winners with Germany, but must now swiftly return to the Arsenal fold.

“It always makes it difficult mentally to be sharp and hungry straightaway again,” Wenger said.

It is a challenge Manchester City must also confront in trying to defend its second title in three years. By winning the Premier League and League Cup, City enjoyed its most successful season since 1970, but only sustained success will confirm the Abu Dhabi-bankrolled team as England’s new force.

While City hasn’t made any headline-grabbing additions, goalkeeper Willy Caballero, midfielder Fernando and defender Bacary Sagna should add depth to make a greater impact in the Champions League.

Few managers have been as shrewd as Jose Mourinho over the summer. He has generated $115 million for Chelsea by offloading out-of favour defender David Luiz to Paris Saint-Germain and striker Romelu Lukaku to Everton. Raising cash to reinvest in the squad was vital after Mourinho ended his first season back at Stamford Bridge empty-handed, unable to replicate the glory years of 2004-07.

Midfielder Cesc Fabregas was enticed to join Chelsea from Barcelona rather than returning to Arsenal, striker Diego Costa and defender Filipe Luis were bought from Atletico Madrid, and 36-year-old Champions League winner Didier Drogba is making a crowd-pleasing return to the Blues.

“Why I like the Premier League so much is that at this moment, nobody knows who is going to win the title,” Mourinho said.

The favourites to be relegated are the newly-promoted trio. Leicester is back after a decade away, Burnley returns after a five-year absence and Queens Park Rangers won promotion after one season out of the top flight. The three will earn $100 million-plus from the league even for finishing at the bottom, a windfall that highlights the Premier League’s status as the world’s richest football competition.

PARIS — A wonder goal and a bizarre TV appearance wearing flip flops are the two lasting images Franck Ribery leaves behind following his retirement from international football.

The 31-year-old winger burst into the limelight as a carefree player when he scored a lightning quick goal against Spain in the 2006 World Cup.

Four years later the once golden boy of French football appeared to have turned into a playground tyrant.

At the 2010 World Cup, Ribery was at the forefront of the French players’ mutiny in support of striker Nicolas Anelka, who had been kicked out of the squad for insulting then coach Raymond Domenech.

His schoolboy humour had been replaced by a bullying mentality and his reputation suffered badly as France were knocked out in the first round and Ribery was handed a three-match ban for his role in the Knysna controversy.

That incident capped his annus horribilis as shortly before the World Cup in South Africa, he was questioned as part of an investigation into a prostitution ring in Paris.

After the tournament, Ribery and others were charged with having sex with an underage prostitute, only for the charges to be dropped in January this year.

The scandal, however, got Ribery’s World Cup off on the wrong foot and the infamous players’ strike did not do much to change his badly tarnished image, especially after he gatecrashed France’s biggest TV show wearing a pair of shorts and flip flops.

“Since Euro 2008 I have been suffering in this France team, every time we join the squad there are problems,” Ribery said.

On his Stade de France comeback after his ban, Ribery was booed by sections of the crowd while others chanted his name, illustrating his capacity to stir mixed emotions.

At Euro 2012, Ribery was the best player in an average team, but it was only when Didier Deschamps took over as coach from Laurent Blanc that he rediscovered the carefree attitude of the man who once dumped a bucket of water over Bayern great Oliver Kahn for fun.

“Coach Deschamps gave me back my desire and my freshness,” Ribery told daily Le Figaro last year. “I can play freely. Sometimes I have the carefreeness I had in 2006. Something clicked with Deschamps.”

Ribery’s attitude demonstrates how he has flourished on and off the pitch and he inspired Bayern Munich to a Bundesliga-German Cup-Champions League treble in 2012-13.

He was voted UEFA’s Best Player in Europe for 2013 but it was not enough to clinch FIFA’s Ballon d’Or trophy as the world’s best player, a disappointment he quickly put behind him after finishing third behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

A top-notch display at this year’s World Cup in Brazil could have helped him claim the award.

Instead, Ribery, who scored 16 goals in 81 appearances with Les Bleus, never fulfilled his huge potential on the international stage after missing the tournament due to injury.

France overcame his loss to achieve a decent run at the World Cup, reaching the quarter-finals playing fine football before losing to eventual champions Germany.

Ribery’s exit at last saves Deschamps from having to choose between the mercurial winger’s individual qualities and the French team’s collective attacking strength without their most talented player.

CARDIFF — Real Madrid ended a 12-year wait for a 10th European Cup win in May but it would be no surprise if their next title arrives just 12 months later based on their performance in the 2-0 victory over Sevilla in the European Super Cup on Tuesday.

Carlo Ancelotti’s expensively assembled team dominated the lively annual European club season curtain-raiser against the Europa League winners in Cardiff and could easily have won by more than the two excellent goals scored by Cristiano Ronaldo.

With the Spanish League season starting on the weekend of
August 23-24, Ancelotti’s players have more than a week to hone their fitness and skill levels, to pose even more of a threat to both their domestic and European rivals.

Real go into the new season with an even stronger squad than the one that finished the last campaign when they won the Champions League and King’s Cup but finished third behind Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga.

The squad has been bolstered by the arrivals of Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich, James Rodriguez from AS Monaco and goalkeeper Kayler Navas from Levante, an exciting trio of players who all shone at the World Cup.

In total, Ancelotti has around $840 million worth of talent at his disposal and perhaps one of his main tasks this coming season, as well as winning as many matches as possible, is to keep such an array of star players happy.

Ancelotti, however, seems totally at ease with the kind of problem that would cause plenty of headaches for most managers.

“It will be impossible for anyone to play in the 65 matches ahead of us,” the Italian said.

“It doesn’t work like that. Xabi Alonso, for example, suspended from tonight’s match, is a very important player for us and he will play his matches, even though we have Toni Kroos in midfield and all the others.

“We are capable of playing at a very high level this season, every player has a role to play.”

Among those with a key role is Gareth Bale, who along with Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Rodriguez formed part of a front four against Sevilla that cost around $453 million — the most expensive attacking quartet ever assembled.

Returning son

Bale had a night to remember by playing his first club match in his home city since October 2006 when he was in a Southampton side that lost 1-0 to Cardiff City at the now-demolished Ninian Park in a Championship match.

Since then, as well as becoming the world’s most expensive player, Bale has also won the Champions League with Real, scoring the vital second goal in their 4-1 extra-time victory over Atletico in Lisbon in May.

“It was a really special night being back in my home town,” Bale told reporters. “It was great to be part of the team that won the Super Cup, it was quite surreal being back in Cardiff with Real, but the Welsh fans were brilliant, we played well and we deserved to win.”

Bale also provided a truly stupendous cross-field pass for Ronaldo’s opening goal after 30 minutes, and came close to scoring himself with almost the last kick of the game when Sevilla keeper Beto did well to save his powerful angled shot.

Ronaldo found the net for a second time four minutes into the second half with a left-footed strike that his Portugese international teammate got a hand to, but could not stop.

Bale said before the match he was pleased to no longer be “the new kid on the block” at Real following the arrival of Kroos, Rodriguez and Navas.

The goalkeeper sat out the game but Ancelotti was delighted with the way Kroos and Rodriguez played on their official debuts for the side.

“It is still early days but Kroos played very well tonight, it was tougher for James but he played his part too.”