REAL MADRID HAVE issued a statement correcting a claim made by Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino ahead of next week’s Champions League final in the Spanish capital.
In an interview with El Partidazo de Cope, the Spurs boss claimed that Madrid had denied Spurs’ request to sleep at the club’s training base at Valdebebas ahead of the final on 1 June, which is taking place at the Wanda Metropolitano home of Atletico Madrid.
Pochettino made the claim in dismissing the notion he harbours an ambition to coach Real in the future.
“Real Madrid? I have no other goals if I am not training Tottenham; football takes you where you deserve. Ahead of the final, we will train at Valdebebas and sleep in a nearby hotel.
“I asked Florentino to let us sleep in the sports centre, but he told me that I can only sleep there when I become the coach of Real Madrid.”
The club have now been moved to release a statement on their website, condemning Pochettino’s comments as “outright false.”
“Real Madrid CF is surprised by the comments made by the coach of Tottenham Hotspur, Mauricio Pochettino, about a supposed request made to our club so that his team could stay in the residence of the Real Madrid City on the occasion of the final of the Champions League”, read the statement.
“Real Madrid CF wants to make it clear that it is outright false that this request was made. Our club has always shown its absolute availability to meet all the requests made by Uefa, the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Club Atlético de Madrid, Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur.
All requests submitted to Real Madrid have referred only and exclusively to the use of the training camps of the Ciudad Real Madrid and its changing rooms. And all of them have been granted by our club. Thus, Liverpool plan to train at our facilities on Saturday, 1 June in the morning. Tottenham, for its part, will do so on Thursday, 30 May and Friday, 31 May.
“Real Madrid CF also wants to emphasise that the accommodation of the finalist teams of the Champions League are assigned by Uefa following criteria of organisation and security. And that at no time has our club been requested that these teams could be accommodated in the facilities of Ciudad Real Madrid.”
Gavan Casey is joined by Ryan Bailey and Andy Dunne to look ahead to Saturday’s Pro14 final, look at whether Joey Carbery’s move has paid off and Jack Conan talks about how his body is holding up.:
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