The history of Madrid calls for a nine, a great nine. In a football that has lost a good part of the liturgy of the numbers, once synonymous with very specific roles, the nine retains its weight as a reserve for the great scorers. The white club have never lacked, they have even doubled them with other numbers worn by great area players who wore the number nine in their souls, whether they were Puskas, Butragueño, Raúl or Cristiano, who only wore it in his first year. On the back it belonged to Di Stéfano, Santillana, Hugo Sánchez, Ronaldo or Benzema. The march of the latter to the new 'Treasure Island' of football, in Arabia, leaves the number orphan that Joselu prudently will not wear. Whether or not it is reserved for Mbappé, we will know, but, meanwhile, Madrid will feel incomplete if they look in the mirror of their history.

For the moment, the French star has stated that he will remain at PSG until 2024 and Madrid slips that he will not make any more contracts. Both things can form part of the negotiating dynamic, but if these positions do not change, Florentino Pérez's club could open next season without a 'starting' nine in their eleven, since Joselu, on loan from relegated Espanyol, initially arrives to fulfill the role that Mariano did not know how to play, even though he has become the fetish scorer for Luis de la Fuente's team.

43 goals between Benzema and Asensio

If in the end that nine does not arrive, Joselu will be, at 33 years old, before the opportunity to change his story. However, it seems like an excessive risk, since Madrid has to recover 43 goals, which are the ones scored by Benzema (31) and Asensio (12), one more than those achieved in the same period by the Vinicius couple (23 )-Rodrygo (19). We are not, furthermore, facing just any season for Madrid, since the new Bernabéu should be inaugurated in December, a milestone to which the tailwind of success, of goal, is appropriate.

The alternatives would go through offering more titles than expected to Joselu or opting to play with Rodrygo as a false nine, something that he has already done circumstantially. The Brazilian is a footballer who arrives in the box, not who lives in it, and, given his height (1.74), he would generally be at a disadvantage when it comes to aerial balls.

On the other hand, Madrid tends to feel more comfortable with clear references that favor their direct game, of vertigo, and exuberant punch. Despite the fondness of some coaches for the false nine, he never competes with a nine if he is of great world hierarchy. The proof is that even the most alchemist coaches, like Guardiola, do not hesitate to sign Ibrahimovic, Villa or Haaland. Ancelotti's teams have always had it.

a hierarchical number

The nine in Madrid has always been associated with the goal, but not necessarily with the position of center forward, but with the hierarchy. Di Stéfano wore it, a scorer, of course, but what today we would call a box to box player, and Cristiano wore it for a season, starting from the left to explode in the area. Although his conditions allowed him any attacking position, as his speed decreased, he became a purer nine, even though he played with the 'seven', like Butragueño or Raúl.

Di Stéfano commanded the Madrid initiator of the reign in Europe with the nine behind his back and an offensive role in the teams greater than in subsequent years, in which the weight of tactics and defensive systems increased. Neither the Argentine nor Rial nor Kopa, great scorers, responded purely to that role. Puskas, nicknamed Cañoncito pum, was the exemplification of the punch, but with the 10 on his back.

The next Madrid that won the European Cup, in 1966, already had a new nine. It was Grosso, who was succeeded by Santillana, predecessor of Quinta del Buitre and Hugo Sánchez, who in the 1989-90 season scored 38 one-touch goals. There are few better examples of that role in its purest form.. The Mexican is the seventh absolute goalscorer in the club's history. Of the first five, three always carried the nine (Benzema, 354; Di Stéfano, 308 and Santillana, 290), another one year (Cristiano, 451) and another (Raúl, 323) played as if it were. To open the new stadium without one is to tempt history.

Nice invention, huh. Almost a decade ago some Nike engineers came up with the idea of placing a carbon fiber plate in the middle of a pair of shoes and they revolutionized something as natural, so human, as simple as running.. Suddenly everyone was running faster. Specifically, according to the first studies and the first announcements, 4% faster. Marathon records plummeted, popular races were filled with fans wearing those shoes, brands rushed to create their carbon fiber plate models, and running was changed forever.. Today it is impossible to see a race, from the Berlin marathon to the San Esteban de Litera Popular Race -one of the many that are held this June in Spain-, where you do not see those very high mattresses so fashionable. Nice invention, huh. But… What if it wasn't so wonderful?

After the first analyses, promoted by the brands -especially Nike-, various groups are studying the 'magic' shoes and their effects are no longer so clear. Or if. It's hard to come to a single conclusion.. “Right now there is a lot of fuss, the scientific literature is in constant review. There are articles that indicate that the benefit of these shoes can reach 12%, but there are others that indicate that runners can lose performance with them. There are also other factors that are not at all clear, such as the long-term effect of this shoe on the runner”, says Borja Muñiz, a researcher at the University of Zaragoza and a member of the Sub2hrs group, one of the most prolific in the world in the study of invention of the century in athletics.

In one such analysis, they invited top runners and popular runners to wear the shoes and measured their benefits.. The results were so bizarre that they were forced to repeat the experiment.. “These types of shoes are quite unstable, they need adaptation and perhaps that's where the failure came from, but we have also verified that the variability is still very large. The pioneering studies were very clear about it, they said that the improvement was 4%, but that is not the case.. Its not that easy. There are runners who benefit a lot, perhaps more than that 4% and others who do not benefit at all. What we want to study now is why this happens.. We do not know if it is due to the type of footprint of the runner, because of their weight or due to many other variables.. That is very relevant information for the future,” says Muñiz, stressing that, in any case, “normal” is for a runner to benefit in some way from these shoes.

possible injuries

Another thing is that you can do damage with them. Beyond the instability due to its height – let's say it's like walking in heels – a recent study published in Sports Medicine by researchers from the universities of Harvard, Palo Alto and Hamburg warned of the dangers of its 'magic'. Due to the 'rebound effect' they cause, shoes with a carbon fiber plate reduce muscle crushing and help recovery, but they also soften. If they are used in all training sessions, the stride changes, the muscles and tendons lose strength and all of this ends up affecting the bones.. In their study, these researchers presented several cases of stress fractures of the scaphoid of the foot – a very difficult injury to heal – that they related to the prolonged use of 'magic slippers'. In their conclusions they accepted that there is not enough evidence to indicate them as a risk, but they called for more studies on their relationship with certain pains.

“I haven't seen these shoes directly cause injury, but they do change the stride. If you go from not using them to doing it every day there may be problems. There are elite athletes who already limit their training with a carbon fiber plate so that their soleus muscles and Achilles tendons are not weakened,” analyzes Muñiz, who does not believe that the recently discovered defects in the 'springs' are going to make them runners stop using them. Neither the professionals nor the amateurs.

“Although there is a lot of variability in their effect on performance and although their long-term effects have to be studied, for the most part these shoes reduce oxygen consumption for those who wear them and that means they can run faster and recover better. Either way They continue to be a help for the runner”, he concludes. Nice invention, huh.

After the stammering start against Arthur Rinderknech, Carlos Alcaraz has not stopped taking steps forward at Queen's. He beat Jiri Lehecka convincingly and began to believe in his chances of taking the title. It is only his third competition on grass, after playing the last two editions of Wimbledon. In the quarterfinals he beat Grigor Dimitrov, 26th in the world, coming from the previous phase for delaying his registration, 6-4 and 6-4 and this Saturday (around 4:00 p.m., Movistar) he will seek the final against Sebastian Korda of the tournament. Holger Rune and Alex de Miñaur will meet in the other semifinal.

Dimitrov, champion of the tournament in 2014, already knew first-hand how his rival spends them, having defeated him in their two matches, the most recent in the past Masters in Madrid. The grass was supposed to equalize the forces a bit, but Alcaraz broke in the opening game, taking advantage of two double faults and two other unforced errors from the Bulgarian.

Dimitrov's natural conditions make it easier for him to function freely on this surface. Good server, with flat impacts, finesse for sliced blows and skill at the net, the one who was a Wimbledon semifinalist, also in 2014, maintains, at 32, at least the ways that led him to go through number three in the world and win the ATP Finals.

fast learning

Alcaraz observes and learns with the speed that characterizes him. He knows the revaluation of each point, of each detail, in a field that penalizes more than any other. Hence the importance of closing the door on his opponent in the seventh game, when he tried to balance the score with three break options.. Very successful with the service and sensible in all his behavior, he made the only break good to take the first set.

Unlike the Murcian, Dimitrov was not able to manage the advantage acquired in the second set. He escaped 3-0, but his arm trembled and he saw the gap he had opened thanks to one of those irrepressible outpourings of aggressiveness and talent sutured. He made the rubber and hinted at the possibility of renewing his threat. It didn't matter that Alcaraz gave up his service; he conceded ad nauseam next.

A little over a week before the start of Wimbledon, the Spaniard appears in his first semifinal on grass and is two victories away from recovering the number 1 lost at Roland Garros after losing in the semifinals against Novak Djokovic. He has beaten Korda in two of his three matches, none of which took place on grass. “Dimitrov is a great player on any surface, but even more so on grass, where he feels the ball very well. I played well from the first to the last ball. The previous two games have helped me,” said the Spaniard at the foot of the court.

Already when he was training in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre, the height of his talent was evident to all. On target: 2.24 meters. Agile and elegant in their movements. Victor Wembanyama (Chesnay, Yvelines, 2004) grew up with a ball in his hands and now, at the age of 19, he is the most promising star in French basketball, having managed to be number one in the NBA draft.

He is considered the best of his generation. He himself has recognized that, already in primary school, he was a head above many of his teachers. His father, of Congolese origin, was two meters tall and a jumper. His sister, Eve, is a professional player and his mother was a basketball coach. His promising story combines genetics and upbringing, but he needed the third element to get where he's at: talent.

“Although it was something expected… When you are going to have a child, you have known it for nine months, but you are excited anyway. This is similar. It's something mythical, legendary (…) It's something I've always dreamed of,” he said after learning that he will play with the San Antonio Spurs.

Wemby, his nickname, started basketball at the age of seven, after having practiced judo and soccer. He always stood out and shone above the average and soon caught the attention of international clubs. At the age of 10 he entered the Nanterre youth academy. He was almost 1.90. At 14, Barcelona is already courting him, but his parents preferred that he continue training in Nanterre.

“He has always been very well surrounded, with parents who are very present but not overbearing, who have been there to help him and protect him, especially from the media attention he generates,” commentator George Eddy, who often plays at French newspaper Liberation, explains. basketball with his father

other passions

Since the season began, it has had more than fifty requests for interviews from the American media. All denied. His coaches assure that he has a high emotional intelligence. “I have never seen an 18-year-old athlete so eloquent in front of the microphones,” Bryan George, one of his coaches in Nanterre, told the aforementioned outlet.. He also says that Wemby likes to draw, make legos and read.

It's been a while since he's been driving the sports media crazy and they're pooling with the fortune he's going to generate. According to Le Parisien, the player, who already earned 20,000 euros a month in France, could reach 55 million dollars in four years.. He could bring the Texan franchise $500 million.

Champion of France and star of the U19 World Cup, he is also the flag for the Paris 2024 Games, although he has always had his focus on the NBA. Last year he changed ASVEL, the Euroleague team he was in, for Metropolitans 92, the best of the clubs that does not play in European competition and is led by the France coach, Vincent Collet, which allowed him to be better warded. Also, play fewer games and prepare better for your goal.

“I try to start at the same pace and then improve, working as if I were a player of average size.. Since I was 10 years old I have tried to do everything on the pitch,” he said recently in an interview with L'Equipe.

praised by all

He has been called 'the alien' or 'the gifted'. The French coach admitted to having seen many “tall players who shoot with their feet on the ground”, “but he is capable of moving and shooting and that is something unique.”. “He is a winner, a competitor, of the breed of champions. We have been a stage for him, but the beautiful thing is that he has lived it to the fullest”, he said after his last game with this team.

Wemby will be able to measure himself with Tony Parker, the French legend of the NBA. “You make us dream,” French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated him on Twitter. “Wemby, the adventure begins now,” another French sports star, footballer Kylian Mbappé, told the same network.

UEFA has communicated this Friday to the Osasuna board of directors that its inspectors have recommended the expulsion of the Navarrese team from the next edition of the Conference League. This decision has been taken as a sanction for match-fixing in 2013.

The inspectors consider that the ruling of the Supreme Court that condemns several former directors of the rojilla entity is sufficient reason to exclude Osasuna, nine years after the events, from European competitions.

The Navarrese club, which argued before UEFA that it appeared as a private accusation against the managers accused of match-fixing, now has the possibility of presenting new allegations before the Appeals Committee before a final resolution is produced.

“Strong with the weak, weak with the strong”

The Navarrese club has stated, through a statement, that it does not share UEFA's criteria, so it will appeal to the Appeals Committee. The entity has also announced that it will fight legally, “until the last consequences, to defend its rights”, understanding that it is being denied “the right to participate in European competitions that has been fairly earned in the field”.

Osasuna considers that UEFA is “strong with the weak and weak with the strong”, and has added in its letter that “the courts of UEFA have not wanted to take into account that it was the Spanish courts themselves who have declared, literally, that Osasuna has been the victim of the diversion of money carried out by some of its former directors behind the back of the highest governing body of the entity, the Assembly, and of the control mechanisms of the club itself.

In addition, the rojillo team has indicated that the highest body in European football intends to “punish Osasuna again in the figure of its current managers, who are precisely the ones who filed a complaint in court, beginning the judicial procedure.”

“Perhaps we are facing the only known case in the recent history of European football in which a club legally persecutes some of its former managers, who are currently pending prison terms,” explained the Navarrese club.

Responsibilities to the RFEF

After highlighting that “the damage to the entity's image is very serious”, Osasuna regretted that this damage has also occurred “with the silence of the main Spanish football organizations, including the RFEF”. He has also denounced “continuous self-interested leaks, on a national level, to certain media outlets and journalists to build a story that sacrifices the weak to favor the strong.”

“We are prepared for the worst, but not to set aside the motto that has accompanied us in the reconstruction of the club for the last nine years: Osasuna never gives up,” said the Navarrese club, which announces that it will defend their rights and of his hobby. “With the same zeal with which they encourage us every weekend, with the same effort with which our players and coaching staff have deservedly earned their place in the next edition of the Conference League”, he underlined.

The entity concluded its statement stating: “We believe so much in what we do, and in how we do it, that we cannot allow Club Atlético Osasuna to be used, with the acquiescence of those who in 2014 looked the other way, to solve the problems of others”.

UEFA has communicated this Friday to the Osasuna board of directors that its inspectors have recommended the expulsion of the Navarrese team from the next edition of the Conference League. This decision has been taken as a sanction for match-fixing in 2013.

The inspectors consider that the ruling of the Supreme Court that condemns several former directors of the rojilla entity is sufficient reason to exclude Osasuna, nine years after the events, from European competitions.

The Navarrese club, which argued before UEFA that it appeared as a private accusation against the managers accused of match-fixing, now has the possibility of presenting new allegations before the Appeals Committee before a final resolution is produced.

“Strong with the weak, weak with the strong”

The Navarrese club has stated, through a statement, that it does not share UEFA's criteria, so it will appeal to the Appeals Committee. The entity has also announced that it will fight legally, “until the last consequences, to defend its rights”, understanding that it is being denied “the right to participate in European competitions that has been fairly earned in the field”.

Osasuna considers that UEFA is “strong with the weak and weak with the strong”, and has added in its letter that “the courts of UEFA have not wanted to take into account that it was the Spanish courts themselves who have declared, literally, that Osasuna has been the victim of the diversion of money carried out by some of its former directors behind the back of the highest governing body of the entity, the Assembly, and of the control mechanisms of the club itself.

In addition, the rojillo team has indicated that the highest body in European football intends to “punish Osasuna again in the figure of its current managers, who are precisely the ones who filed a complaint in court, beginning the judicial procedure.”

“Perhaps we are facing the only known case in the recent history of European football in which a club legally persecutes some of its former managers, who are currently pending prison terms,” explained the Navarrese club.

Responsibilities to the RFEF

After highlighting that “the damage to the entity's image is very serious”, Osasuna regretted that this damage has also occurred “with the silence of the main Spanish football organizations, including the RFEF”. He has also denounced “continuous self-interested leaks, on a national level, to certain media outlets and journalists to build a story that sacrifices the weak to favor the strong.”

“We are prepared for the worst, but not to set aside the motto that has accompanied us in the reconstruction of the club for the last nine years: Osasuna never gives up,” said the Navarrese club, which announces that it will defend their rights and of his hobby. “With the same zeal with which they encourage us every weekend, with the same effort with which our players and coaching staff have deservedly earned their place in the next edition of the Conference League”, he underlined.

The entity concluded its statement stating: “We believe so much in what we do, and in how we do it, that we cannot allow Club Atlético Osasuna to be used, with the acquiescence of those who in 2014 looked the other way, to solve the problems of others”.