Jose Mourinho has included 19 men in his squad list ready for tomorrows match against Osasuna. The list includes 18 men from the first team and Castilla keeper Tomás Mejías.

In the squad for Tomorrow’s away match at Reyno de Navarra at 20.00 o’clock is Angel Di Maria, who returns after an injury.

Instead Sami Khedira, Ricardo Carvalho and Lass is ruled out because of injuries.

The squad list is as followed:

Goalkeepers: Casillas, Adan, Tomas Mejias

Defenders:Varane, Arbeloa, Marcelo, Ramos, Albiol, Coentrao

Midfielders: Altintop, Sahin, Ozil, Granero, Kaka, Xabi Alonso, Di Maria

Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Higuain, Benzema

The Germany international has disclosed that he had the chance to move to the Serie A outfit, but is pleased to have joined los Blancos.

Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Özil has revealed that he had the chance to join Inter after the 2010 World Cup, but opted to move to the Santiago Bernabeu instead. Now settled in the Spanish capital, he has claimed he would like to stay with Los Blancos until his retirement.

Sport-Bild reports that former Inter coach Jose Mourinho first attempted to lure Özil to Serie A in 2009, but a transfer never materialized. The Nerazzurri again made a move for the former Werder Bremen star one year later and were willing to pay 25 million euros for the attacking midfielder.

However, Özil had set his sights on a switch to Madrid and he completed the transfer for a fee in the region of 15 million euros to join up with Mourinho in the Spanish capital.

“It is true that in 2010 I had offers from some top European clubs. This included Inter. But the decision to go to Real was absolutely right. It’s the best club in the world, and I would like to end my career here,” Özil told Sport-Bild. “I am only 23 years old, I will not reach my peak for a long time. I’ll become even better. I am concentrating fully on Madrid and the national team, because we can make history this year.

“We [Real] can win La Liga and the Champions League, and in the summer the European Championship with Germany.”

The Madrid star then went on to discuss the performances of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, and had nothing but praise for the Argentine.

“It was impressive to see how Messi played against Leverkusen. Of course he is top class, as are many other players from Barcelona,” he said. “But we have grown together as a team, which can be seen in La Liga. We are leading the table.”

Madrid currently holds a six-point lead over Barcelona in the Liga table.

Goal.com

Mesut assist behind Benzema’s second goal, as Real Madrid beat APOEL Nicosia 0-3 last night in Cyprus.
If you haven’t seen the goal or the assist, here’s a video with highlights.

APOEL stood their ground for 73 minutes against Real Madrid, never having a chance to score and always playing in their half of the pitch. The Whites resolved the situation in the final 15 minutes of the encounter with a brace by Benzema and a further strike from Kaka.

Sahin was the new face on the starting lineup to replace the suspended Xabi Alonso, and Benzema and Higuain also played together in attack. APOEL pressurised in the opening minutes and tried to put danger over Casillas’ goal as they were spurred by their fans. Real Madrid were calm and withstood this as they gradually started to control the match.

Chiotis saved a Benzema shot on the 8-minute mark and Özil had a phenomenal chance three minutes later with a strong strike that was also cleared by the keeper. Cristiano Ronaldo also shot on target in the 27th minute, but Chiotis again saved the day.

Benzema missed the target practically on the goal-line after receiving it from Sahin (33′), and a Ronaldo crossed shot missed the target by inches ten minutes later.

Real Madrid kept possession after half-time and tried to accelerate their game in order to break the organised local defence. Benzema sent the ball over the crossbar in the team’s first chance in the second half (47′).

Kaka and Marcelo came on for Higuain and Coentrao (63′) looking to speed things up and create more danger. A double Özil and Ramos chance three minutes later was cleared by a defender and Benzema grazed one of the posts on the 69-minute mark.

Kaka managed to break the local barrier by sending the ball to the box, where it was headed in by Benzema (73′). The strike shattered local organisation and Mourinho’s men used this to pursue more goals. Chiotis cleared a Ronaldo shot on the 75-minute mark. A few minutes later, Marcelo entered the box after a magnificent individual effort and served a great pass for Kaka to score the second. Granero came on for Sahin in the 84th minute and five minutes later Benzema sealed the match in an empty goal (89′).

RealMadrid.com

Jose Mourinho has included 19 men on his squad list for the Champions League quaterfinal against APOEL Nicosia, Tuesday night in Cyprus. Mesut & Pepe were both suspended in last night’s La Liga win vs Real Sociedad, but are both back in the squad. Xabi Alonso is suspended for the quaterfinal and Angel Di Maria, Jose Callejon, Ricardo Carvalho and Lassana Diarra are all out with injuries.

Goalkeepers: Casillas, Adán and Tomás Mejías.
Defenders: Varane, Arbeloa, Marcelo, Ramos, Albiol, Coentrão and Pepe.
Midfielders: Altintop, Sahin, Khedira, Özil, Granero and Kaká.
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Higuaín and Benzema.