Russia’s national team manager Fabio Capello has said that his former club – Real Madrid – can win the Champions league this season. The club appointed Carlo Ancelotti, who has been managed by Capello in the past, as the club’s new manager to replace Jose Mourinho. Real Madrid are chasing the elusive 10th European cup for more than a decade. They already hold the record for winning the most number of European titles, but they are pressing keen on winning the 10th trophy. Capello is no stranger to success in Madrid after having won the league title during his one year at the club.

Currently the manager of the Russian national team, Capello has spoken about his former team’s chances of winning the Champions League. He believes that Real Madrid have one of the strongest teams in terms of balance, while they have an experienced coach in the form of Ancelotti. The Italian is one of the few to have won the title as a player and as a manager. Barcelona have been regarded as favourites for the Champions League up until now, but Capello says that the arrival of a new manager in the form of Gerardo Martino reduces their chances since they are going through a transitional period.

“Real is favourite to win La Liga and a tenth European Cup. The squad is extraordinary. The change of coach at Barcelona has brought something different. The team plays faster, attacking football and scores lots of goals, but it is still developing,” said Capello, who is focused now switches back to the national team. Having been grouped alongside Belgium, South Korea, and Algeria, Russia have a good chance of progressing to the knockout stage of the World Cup 2014.

Russia failed to qualify for the South African edition in 2010, which led to the appointment of Capello.

Fabio Capello has been in charge of the Russian national team since and he has so far done a stellar job. He has managed to qualify for the World Cup 2014 automatically ahead of favourite Portugal. This seems to have increased his stock within the national team Federation, who are ready to offer him a new contract according to the sports minister Vitaly Mutko. He has revealed that Capello will be signing a new contract as early as in the next few weeks. Capello was criticised for his spell with the England national team, as he was unable to take them past to the quarter-final stage of major tournaments.

It is expected that the Italian will sign a new four-year contract, which will take them beyond the Euro 2016 in France. This was the first time that Russia have managed to sustain their expectations after Guus Hiddink took them to the Euro 2008 semifinals. The 67-year-old is one of the experienced coaches in the world after having overseen some of the biggest clubs in the world like Real Madrid and Juventus. However, this is only his second job in international football.

“I can say that an agreement in principle between the coach and the RFU has been reached. As far as I know, his lawyer will come to Moscow on November 21-22 and everything should be settled. There are several options for the date of the signing of the new agreement but probably everything will be officially formalised after the draw for the World Cup finals,” Mutko said. Russia are undefeated in all competitions since their 1-0 loss against Northern Ireland back in August of this year.

Russia are not expected to win the World Cup, but a place in the quarter-finals or even in the semifinals will be a great achievement.

Former AC Milan and Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello has revealed that he will not be continuing his career as a manager after his role as the Russian national team manager comes to an end. The Italian is a major favourite to take over from Cesare Prandelli after the end of the World Cup. Prandelli is widely expected to step down from the national team manager’s role after the end of this competition. Capello is regarded as one of the best Italian coaches alongside greats like Marcelo Lippi. As a result, he has been linked with taking over from Prandelli.

Despite his vast experience with club teams, Capello has only recently entered into international management. He has managed England before taking on Russia recently. Capello has said in a recent interview that his career as a manager will come to an end with the Russian national team job. The likes of Alberto Zaccheroni and Massimiliano Allegri have also been linked with the job. Prandelli, though, has dismissed speculation for now by saying that he will remain in charge even after the World Cup.

Italy recently secured qualification for the World Cup automatically after managing to win the group. Russia also expected to qualify automatically, as they lead group right now.

“I will not be leading the Italian national team after Prandelli. My career will end after the experience with Russia,” said Capello in a recent interview. The RFU is interested in further continuing its mutual cooperation with Fabio Capello. Work in this direction will be held in an atmosphere of mutual understanding, and a constructive and professional approach will be taken in addressing all the issues involved,” said Russian Football Federation president Nikolai Tolstykh in response to those comments.

Russia recently managed two consecutive victories in the latest round of World Cup qualifying matches.

The former England manager Fabio Capello has said that he expects the Chelsea defender Ashley Cole to be named as the player of the year when the winner is announced later in the evening. Capello has backed the 32-year-old to win this award after an outstanding year, which has seen him lift the Champions League for the first time in his career. He has also become the first player to win more than seven FA Cup medals. He has won three FA Cup titles with Arsenal, while managing four with his current club Chelsea. Regarded to be one of the best left back in the world, Fabio Capello got the best out of him during his reign as the England manager.

Capello is currently with the Russian national team. Ashley Cole will be picking up his 100th cap in England take on Brazil in the friendly match. He will become only the second player to achieve this feat. Capello noted that Cole was given this award back in 2010 when he was the manager of the national team. Capello has praised the energy, strength, and great experience of Cole as one of the main reasons for trusting him in any situation. Capello has also praised the attitude of the player, who gives everything according to him.

“Ashley Cole for me would be the England Player of 2012. In my time as England Manager he won this same award for his performances in 2010, and he is always consistent in his output. He has fantastic energy, incredible experience and you can rely on him in any situation, he is world class. His attitude matches his ability, he gives everything for the team and he was a very important player during last year. Ashley is my choice,” said the Russian national team manager Capello.

The Russian national team manager Fabio Capello has said that the Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has been in decline for quite a while now and he does not expect Chelsea to get past Juventus in the Champions League. The £ 50 million striker has been criticised for not scoring as many goals as he has been for Liverpool during the four seasons he spent at Anfield. He has managed just more than 20 goals in more than 80 appearances for Chelsea, as he comes closer to spending two years with the club. He was extremely poor in the weekend’s defeat against West Brom.

As a result, the Chelsea manager Roberto di Matteo has suggested that he will consider dropping the striker for the match against Juventus. This is an extremely crucial match for the team, as they have to at least draw it in order to progress to the next round of the cup. They are in danger of becoming the first Champions League title holders to miss out on the next stages of the competition at the group stages itself. The Russian manager Capello has said that Torres has been in a slow decline even when Benitez was the Liverpool manager. He has suggested that Juventus should be focusing on the three attacking midfielders for Chelsea in order to get the result.

“Fernando Torres is slowly losing it. I don’t know what is happening because he was very good when Rafael Benitez was the Liverpool manager. But he has not found inspiration [at Chelsea] and scored the goals that used to distinguish him. Before, he was unpredictable with Liverpool but now defences manage to beat him for speed and this is worrying,” said Fabio Capello. Capello has seen Russia gone defeated in the last five matches in all competitions.