Berlin, Jan. 31: Franck Ribery will have to wait to win his Bayern Munich place back with rising German star Thomas Mueller and Dutch play-maker Arjen Robben bossing the midfield, coach Louis van Gaal said on Sunday.
The French star came off the bench in both of Bayern’s last two wins over Bremen and Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Mainz having recovered from his troublesome knee injury which saw him miss most of last autumn.But with Mueller being called into the Germany squad and Robben hitting his second goal in consecutive Bundesliga matches against Mainz, Ribery’s rivals are playing very well. — AFP***Benzema seals Real winBarcelona, Jan. 31: A delightful back-heel from Jose Maria Gutierrez set up Karim Benzema for the first of a brace as Real Madrid, without suspended Cristiano Ronaldo, beat Deportivo La Coruna 3-1.The win kept Real five points behind Barcelona who had earlier defeated Sporting Gijon 1-0 to stay top of La Liga in a game which also saw the champions reach the 50-goal mark for the league season.Esteban Granero headed Real ahead after 13 minutes with the game played out in the home side’s half at the Riazor where the Madrid giants had not won for almost 20 years. Raul Gonzalez had the chance to add to the lead. Through on goal instead of shooting on his weaker right foot, he back-heeled the ball into the path of Benzema to slot home.Deportivo had their chances in the second half as Real took their foot off the gas and in a late rally Ivan Riki scored a penalty. The last word though was from Benzema who wrapped up the scoring in injury time. — AFP