Food For Thought: Is The Real Madrid Exodus Gaining Momentum?

Is Real Madrid's Sell-out Picking Up Pace?

Director-general Jorge Valdano insists that Real Madrid would now have to sell in order to buy and the sell-out has already began.

Defensive disaster Gabriel Heinze has already left for Marseille in France and would probably get his testimonial there, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is certainly not staying back in Spain, Javi Garcia didn't and went to Portugal, Royston Drenthe could leave if Madrid get the right price and now Dutch duo Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart are seriously pondering enhancing their career outside the Spanish capital.

Van der Vaart claims that he wants to leave Madrid in search of more playing time so that he maintains his place in the Dutch national side for the 2010 World Cup finals. Sneijder, his compatriot and international teammate, too must be thinking along the same lines.

Who's Next In Line?

Van der Vaart has never really looked at home in the Spanish capital and as this columnist noted at the time of his signing - which was about a year ago - Van der Vaart was one too many in the Madrid midfield signed only because then president Ramon Calderon failed to land Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United. Now with Kaka and Ronaldo in the side, the 26-year-old might find it difficult even to claim a place on the Madrid bench.

As for Sneijder, he could do himself a favour by joining Inter Milan as the Italian champions desperately need a playmaker, and in Sneijder they could get their Messiah in the creative department.

Can The Cornella-El Prat Usher A New Dawn For Espanyol?

At one point last season there was a genuine fear that Espanyol's brand new Cornella-El Prat could welcome the likes of Real Union, Elche and Castellon and not the Real Madrids or the FC Barcelonas. Because the Periquitos were plummeting towards the bottom of the table and eventually only something miraculously divine helped them survive. On the penultimate week of the season.

Their new 40,000-seater Cornella-El Prat survived the scary prospect of becoming the best stadium in the Spanish Segunda Division - also known as "hell" - and when it was inaugurated against Liverpool on Sunday there were genuine hopes that things could get better for Mauricio Pochettino's side.

Espanyol Fans Finally Have A Home

Espanyol might be a Barcelona side but for the majority of the Catalans they don’t even exist, but a new stadium gives them a new belief and things can get better for them from now on.

Of course, there couldn't have been a better start than thrashing Premier League 'giants' Liverpool 3-0. Liverpool are one of Europe's elite while Espanyol weren't sure of their top flight status in Spain until the penultimate week of last season.

Although Sunday's match was 'only' a pre-season game and nothing more - but even then some weirdly see Espanyol's victory over Liverpool as a sign of La Liga's superiority to the Premier League, willingly forgetting Atletico Madrid's defeat to Arsenal a few days back - the Periquitos's buoyant performance must have been encouraging to their supporters, who now finally have a 'home': the Cornella-El Prat.

On A Lighter Note.....

Maybe these are not the entire quotes or maybe Silvio Berlusconi's point was lost in translation but the AC Milan supremo claiming that his team "still are the number one team in the world" and "are in a strong position at the moment, with a new coach and a good mix of players" is nothing short of a joke.

Old But Not Gold Anymore

On paper Milan do have a decent squad, maybe even a good one, with some big names such as Ronaldinho, Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Nesta and Gianluca Zambrotta, but on the pitch they are a mess with Pirlo set to leave and the likes of Ronaldinho and Clarence Seedorf underperforming.

Subhankar Mondal