Real Madrid’s training ground featured a number of familiar faces Thursday, as Marcelo and Luka Modric returned to practice.
The pair took part in regular training with their Real teammates for the first time since suffering knocks during a victory over Malaga on Jan. 21.
Modric has been dealing with a right abductor strain, as Marcelo works his way back from a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal managed to boost their recovery efforts by taking part in a reduced session for the first time since going down with hamstring and ankle injuries, respectively.
??? #RMCity ? @MarceloM12 and @lm19official have returned to group training! ? @GarethBale11 and @DaniCarvajal92 continue their recoveries. pic.twitter.com/5HKpriRXA3
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) February 2, 2017
The positive news comes two days after Pepe and James Rodriguez returned to training after calf knocks sidelined the two.
Real will look to maintain its four-point edge over Barcelona and Sevilla when Zinedine Zidane’s men take on Celta Vigo.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Thursday during an appearance on ESPN’s NFL Insiders that the organization probably will have to use the franchise tag on Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kawann Short.
Short is an unrestricted free agent after the Panthers couldn’t reach a long-term deal with him prior to the 2016 season.
Rivera said general manager Dave Gettleman already has had salary-cap meetings, and the best way to guarantee Short remains on the roster is with the tag.
“Obviously, we’ll probably have to tag him,” Rivera said. “But if we do, so be it. If not, I think they can get a deal done and I’m pretty optimistic about that because KK is a big part of what we do.
DT Kawann Short said after Carolina’s season finale that he would be all right with the franchise tag, though it is not his first choice. He also reiterated, “I want to be a Carolina Panther.” Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Photo
“Again, we believe up front is the most important part of your team. You’ve got to be able to stop the run, rush the passer, and I think KK is one of those guys who has that kind of ability.”
The estimated tag for a defensive tackle in 2017 is $13.5 million. Short, who led Carolina with 11 sacks in 2015, was believed to have been seeking a deal similar to the $17.1 million per year the Philadelphia Eagles gave Fletcher Cox last year.
Short, Carolina’s second-round pick in 2013, fell to six sacks this past season when the Panthers went 6-10.
Short said after the season finale that he would be all right with the franchise tag, although that is not his first choice.
“Everybody would like to avoid that,” he said. “If it happens, it happens. If it happens, I’m still going to be professional about the situation.”
Short said he doesn’t plan to follow in the footsteps of former Carolina cornerback Josh Norman, who didn’t sign the tag when Gettleman used it last season and didn’t participate in the start of offseason workouts.
Gettleman then rescinded the tag, and Norman signed with the Washington Redskins.
“Me and Josh are two different people,” Short said the day players cleaned out their lockers. “We walk two totally different sides of the street, at two totally different places, in two totally different directions.
“Me and Josh are not the same.”
Short reminded that Norman “could have stayed here if he wanted.”
He also reminded, when asked if he wanted to test free agency, that he wants to remain in Carolina.
“I want to be a Carolina Panther,” he said. “That’s it.”
Hakan Calhanoglu’s season is over after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a four-month ban issued by FIFA regarding his dispute with Turkish club Trabzonspor FC.
The Bayer Leverkusen player has also been ordered to pay €100,000 to Trabzonspor as part of his punishment for allegedly terminating his contract with the Turkish club “without just cause” in 2011 when he was a member of Karlsruhe SC.
At the time of the infringement, the 22-year-old had reached an agreement to join Trabzonspor from Karlsruhe SC. Instead, Calhanoglu decided against the transfer in favour of signing a new contract with Karlsruhe and went on to join Bundesliga outfit Hamburg in 2013.
Trabzonspor filed a complaint with FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber (FIFA DRC) in 2013. The arbitration and dispute deciding body sided with the Turkish team and issued a decision in Jan. 2016 to ban Calhanoglu.
Two months later, Calhanoglu, who joined Leverkusen in 2014, and Trabzonspor filed appeals, with the player asking to postpone the ban, while the team sought a payment of €100,000 – the amount issued to the winger when he agreed to join. Although Trabzonspor’s appeal was only partially upheld – with the exception of the team’s request to be compensated €1 million – Calhanoglu’s appeal was dismissed.
A statement from Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller read: “Of course, we regret this decision which is completely incomprehensible for us.
“It’s a heavy blow for Hakan but also for us. We’re also being heavily punished although Bayer 04 Leverkusen had nothing to do with the events in 2011. We are now missing a very important player in a crucial phase of the season.”
Calhanoglu has been a staple in the starting XI – starting 14 of 18 Bundesliga matches – at Leverkusen
The team’s attempt to finish in a Champions League spot in the table for a fifth consecutive season could now be in jeopardy, with Leverkusen CEO Michael Schade bemoaning the negative impact that the ruling will have on his team.
“In addition to the player, it also affects the club that played absolutely no part in the events of the time. Unfortunately we are left with no alternative but to accept the decision,” Schade said.
The ban will also force Calhanoglu to miss Turkey’s upcoming World Cup qualifier against Finland on March 24.
Covered Vikings for Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999-2008
Super Bowl LI has been dissected from nearly every angle. In the final days before the game, let us add one more: the role of officiating in determining the eventual champion.
Perhaps the least-discussed aspect of this matchup is the extent to which referee Carl Cheffers and his crew will allow defensive players on both sides to be physical with opposing receivers. It’s an especially pertinent topic given the New England Patriots’ long history of overcoming elite-level offenses in the playoffs, at times using a strategy that was so physical that it prompted the NFL to redouble its efforts to enforce defensive holding and illegal contact penalties in the mid-2000s.
It stands to reason that the Patriots will have more success against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and receiver Julio Jones if their cornerbacks can push the limits of what’s allowable under NFL rules. Will Cheffers and his crew permit it? Let’s make that issue the focus of our final officiating preview of the 2016 season.
As we’ve noted often, penalty frequency can vary dramatically among NFL officiating crews, similar to a strike zone that changes in baseball depending on who the home plate umpire is.
Tracking this tendency, as both the Patriots and Falcons surely have done, is complicated because Cheffers won’t have his usual regular-season crew.
The NFL assigns postseason games to its top-graded officials, regardless of crew assignment. In this case, Cheffers will have only one member of his 2016 crew with him: head linesman Kent Payne. Cheffers himself has little impact on penalty calls in the defensive backfield from his position behind the quarterback, other than setting the tone for the entire crew before the game.
So in this situation, we’ll utilize regular-season data for the crews of each official who will play a role in making such calls.
We’ll refer to “defensive coverage” penalties: the combined total of calls for defensive pass interference, illegal contact and defensive holding. As you’ll see below, most of the officials who’ll have the primary responsibility for those calls in Super Bowl LI — as spelled out on the NFL’s football operations site — hail from crews that call fewer such penalties on average.
Here’s one statistic to keep in mind from the top: Overall, penalties have dropped 29.7 percent in the 2016 playoffs compared to the regular season, from 15.8 per game (including declined/offsetting) to 11.1. Within that drop, however, calls for pass interference, illegal contact and defensive holding have remained steady: about 1.2 per game. It’s quite possible, of course, that the flag total has remained constant even as the level of physicality has increased, which leads to a net result of fewer uncalled fouls.
Carl Cheffers, who has been an NFL official since 2000, will be calling his first Super Bowl as a referee this weekend. James Kenney/AP Photo
2016 analysis: Spent the season on referee Pete Morelli’s crew, which called a total of 30 defensive coverage penalties, fourth fewest in the NFL.
Side judge Dyrol Prioleau
2016 analysis: Spent the season on referee Jeff Triplette’s crew, which called a total of 34 defensive coverage penalties, tied for seventh fewest in the NFL.
Back judge Todd Prukop
2016 analysis: Spent the season on referee Tony Corrente’s crew, which called a total of 34 defensive coverage penalties, tied for seventh fewest in the NFL.
There are 17 officiating crews in the NFL, and it’s worth noting the range of defensive coverage penalties between them. Referee Jerome Boger’s crew called 59, while Craig Wrolstad’s called 22. Three of the four crews represented in this analysis called fewer than the median total.
This isn’t all based on the officials’ tendencies, of course. The teams themselves, their strategies, and the skill with which their defenders use their hands play a role, too. During the regular season, the Patriots were called for 18 defensive coverage penalties, tied for the eighth fewest in the league. The Falcons were called for 19.
When two opponents have been penalized less than the median, and the majority of officials hail from conservative crews, there is reason to believe that defensive backs will be allowed a fair degree of physicality in Super Bowl LI. That would seem to favor the Patriots, especially in their efforts to slow down Ryan and Jones. But in the end, that’s why they play the game.
