Spanish La Liga champions Real Madrid has unveiled an all-blue away kit for the upcoming season of Spanish football.
Manufactured by Adidas, the blue shirt features a lighter shade of blue (sky blue) on the collar along with two contour lines along the body. The club's sponsor and the three stripes of adidas are finished in white.
As with the new home kit, Adidas' ClimaCool technology has been implemented to the design and fabrics of the kit to enhance player performance by keeping the body at optimal temperature under all conditions.
Anatomically designed to optimise the fit and comfort of each player, other technologies includes 3D engineered patterns allowing ultimate player performance through increased ventilation and moisture management and greater durability.
Reigning La Liga champions Real Madrid has unveiled their new kit for the 2008/09 season of Spanish football.
Looking near identical to the 2005 home kit, the new home kit is classic all-white with black inserts (the purple used in the previous season's kit has been discarded) while the collar with black trim makes a welcome return.
Manufactured by Adidas, the kit features ClimaCool with flow mapping technology which enhances player performance by keeping the body at optimal temperature.
The kit has also been anatomically designed to optimise the fit and comfort of each player and includes 3D engineered patterns allowing ultimate player performance through increased ventilation and moisture management.
The new Real Madrid kit is sure to be a hit with fans.
As if winning the league with three matches to spare were not enough for Spanish giants Real Madrid, they went two steps further overnight by humiliating arch-rivals Barcelona 4-1 at the Bernabeu and depriving them of an automatic place in next season's Champions League in the process.
Real showed no signs of a celebratory hangover after clinching the title on Sunday and seemed to determined to celebrate their second successive title triumph at home in style and they did just that with goals from talismanic captain Raul, Arjen Robben, a classy strike from Gonzalo Higuain and a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty.
Barcelona's Thierry Henry scored a late consolation goal for the humiliated Catalans who were forced to clap Real on to the pitch at the start of the game in the traditional tribute to the league champions.
With two successive La Liga titles in the bag - the first under the reign of Bernd Schuster - Real will look to build on their success at home and turn their sights on dominating European football again starting with next season's Champions League.
Real Madrid will enter the post-Galacticos era with a new home shirt for the upcoming season.
With the departures of Ronaldo (Jan 07'), Roberto Carlos and David Beckham formally ending the reign of the Galacticos in Madrid, a new home kit complete with new sponsors BWin.com will be fitted on the players led by a new coach in Bernd Schuster.
The new home kit is in traditional white with a dash of purple on the famous three stripes of sportswear giants Adidas and also along the contours of the strip.
Eagle-eyed fans will notice that the new home kit is in fact the same shirt that was presented to the players after securing the La Liga trophy last month. At the time, the shirt was thought to be a one-off to commemorate Real Madrid's 30th title anniversary.
Despite guiding Spanish giants Real Madrid to their first La Liga title in four arduous years, Fabio Capello has been "boned" (sacked) with two more years left to run on his contract.
Real Madrid's sporting director Predrag Mijatovic thanked Capello for his hard work but added that the sacking for inevitable given that the board did not feel he was the right man to lead "The Whites" into the future.
"We have taken the decision not to continue with Fabio Capello next season,' said Real Madrid sporting director Predrag Mijatovic.
'It was a difficult decision, but it was a unanimous decision based on an exhaustive report I made to the board.
'We don't think Fabio Capello is the right person to lead Real Madrid into the future given what we want this club to achieve.'
'Now we have time to think over who will be the next coach of the club."
The Italian football manager is widely regarded as one of the best coaches in professional football with the distinction of winning the domestic league title with every team he has managed, including two with Real Madrid - the first trophy coming during his first tenure at the club in 1997.
Although he managed to restore discipline in a side brimming with egos thus delivering their first league trophy in four years, he incurred the wrath of the ever-demanding Madrid fans by deploying conservative tactics that suffocated the style of attacking play the fans were accustomed to.
Beckham was unceremoniously dumped by Capello after signing for LA Galaxy
He also came under-fire for refusing to play ex-England skipper David Beckham after the midfielder signed a lucrative contract to play in MLS soccer in the US. He was later forced to make an embarrassing U-turn on this decision and it paid dividends for the club as a resurgent Beckham helped inspire his team-mates to a historic 30th La Liga triumph.
Former Real Madrid player Bernd Schuster is favourite to take over the reigns at the club. Also rumoured to interest the Spanish giants is Arsenal's French manager Arsene Wenger.
The 2006-07 La Liga season ended in a thrilling climax with Real Madrid coming back from a goal down to beat Real Mallorca 3-1 thus sealing the Spanish title for the 30th time in the club's illustrious history.
The gong gave departing players David Beckham and Roberto Carlos a fitting farewell to their tenure at the Bernabeu.
David Beckham and co. celebrates (BBC Sport)
For the first hour, Madrid was on the back-foot after going a goal down on the 17th minute courtesy of Mallorca defender Fernando Varela but the introduction of on-loan Arsenal winger Jose Reyes Antonio for the injured David Beckham proved to be a masterstroke from Real's Italian manager Fabio Capello.
The Spanish winger equalised for Madrid after just two minutes but that wasn't enough as Barcelona were well in command of their game against relegated Nastic.
Twelve minutes later, Real were ahead when Mahamadou Diarra's powerful header deflected off Mallorca midfielder Angelos Basinas and Reyes made sure of victory with his second goal on the 83rd minute - a brilliant curling shot from just outside the box.
The fans at the Bernabeu were in delirium after that as were the players and management staff after the final whistle.
The Spanish giants showed great determination and motivation to clinch their first La Liga title in four years. Having endured a barren few years with their last trophy won back in 2003, the "Whites" looked far from ending that drought in the first half of the season.
A turn of fortunes in the second half of the season, the recall of David Beckham and a string of gutsy performances saw Madrid mount a full-blooded assault on the Spanish title culminating in the thrilling climax which saw Madrid and arch-rivals Barcelona finishing level on points - Real clinched the title by virtue of a better head-to-head record.
David Beckham and Roberto Carlos both played their last games for the club - they will be moving to MLS side LA Galaxy and Turkish giants Fenerbache respectively.
The former England captain said: “It was amazing to have my family here. They have been with me for four years in Spain and been through the ups and downs.
“It meant the world to have everyone here that supported me through my career.
"I couldn’t have dreamt it any better. It’s been about winning the title for the last six months and we’ve deserved it.
“It has been an incredible experience. All I remember now is the great things. Winning this puts everything else to bed.
“It feels just as good as winning the Premiership. The titles just keep getting better and better.
“Words can’t describe how great I feel. I just want to say thank you for all the support. This is the perfect ending and I will miss the Bernabeu.”
Real Madrid club president Ramon Calderon said on Tuesday that the club will try to sign Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo and AC Milan's Brazilian midfielder Kaka for next season.
'I would love to see both Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo play for Real Madrid next season, but it won't be easy. Any big club would have this sort of objective and Real Madrid is a big club.'
However, Ronaldo is currently under contract talks to extend his stay with the Red Devils and a move appears unlikely, not to mention the rumoured 80 million euros "buy-out" clause attached to his existing contract.
A move for Brazilian midfielder Kaka seems more likely, but Calderon's hot pursuit of the talented player since last year's presidential election campaign has yet to bear fruit.
Spanish arch-rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid shared the spoils in a thrilling three-all draw at the Camp Nou over the weekend.
The Spanish giants put their disappointing exits from the Champion's League in midweek to stage a wonderful spectacle for fans with Barca's hat-trick hero, Argentine Lionel Messi, shining brightly.
Real took the lead three times in the match but Messi was on hand on each occasion to produce some magic to save his team from defeat.
Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy bagged a double (one penalty) for the Whites in the first half before Sergio Ramos put them 3-2 up with a header midway through the second half.
With the match seemingly won, Messi thought otherwise and equalised with a sublime goal in the last minute of the game to earn his side a draw.
Real, missing a host of first-team regulars including David Beckham, Fabio Cannavaro etc. will feel unlucky for not winning a match they dominated for the most part but both teams will feel a boost in morale as we approach the business end of the domestic season.
David Beckham's return to the Real Madrid first-team has been cut short by a knee ligament injury that will rule him out for 4-6 weeks.
The former England captain has been in fine form since his return to the Madrid line-up and was on the verge of an England recall for the upcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers.
The 31-year-old midfielder was hurt playing for Real Madrid against Getafe in the Spanish League on Sunday. Beckham hurt his right knee after mis-hitting a cross and running into advertising hoardings behind the goal.
Not only will he miss the chance of a recall to the national team, he will also miss Wednesday's Champions League game against Bayern Munich, a crucial match against Barcelona next weekend and possibly a further three league games.
He will also miss an emotional return to Old Trafford on 13 March when he was set to play for a European All-Star XI against the current Manchester United side.
Beckham has said many times in the past that one of his biggest regrets was not being able to say goodbye to the United fans at Old Trafford after being sold to Real Madrid in the summer of 2003.
Reports coming out of Spain has said that Real Madrid boss Fabio Capello has handed in his resignation and will take charge of the Spanish giants for the last time in Wednesday's Champion's League clash with German rivals Bayern Munich.
Capello has come under fire following a series of poor results, which saw Madrid lose three out of four games either side of the La Liga winter break, before suffering an embarrassing home defeat to struggling Levante a fortnight ago.
He also vowed to banish David Beckham to the stands for the remainder of his time in Spain after the former England captain signed a lucrative deal to join US Major League Soccer outfit LA Galaxy next season.
Capello later softened his hard stance and recalled Beckham in a match against Real Sociedad where the Englishman duly delivered - scoring a trademark free-kick - and helped Real to their only win in the last four games.
Real Madrid board spokesman Miguel Angel Arroyo dismissed the report as a 'rumour' during a press conference at the Bernabeu stadium.
He said: 'It is a rumour. Fabio Capello has not presented his resignation either verbally, or in written form.'
Hardly the ideal preparation for a huge Champion's League fixture ahead then.
Beckham celebrates goal with Ruud Van Nistelrooy *Image taken from realmadrid.com*
Former England captain David Beckham made a triumphant return to the starting line-up for Real Madrid when he scored the first goal for his side with a trademark free-kick in his team's come from behind win against Real Sociedad.
Golden balls had been sidelined for a month by Real boss Fabio Capello following his announcement that he would join MLS side LA Galaxy at the end of the season, but was back in the team after a string of losses for the Spanish giants.
Eight minutes before halftime, Beckham cancelled out Sociedad's early lead with a trademark free kick before being mobbed by his ecstatic team-mates, many of which have championed his return after Capello had vowed to make Becks sit out the rest of the season before his switch to the US.
'A gift from Beckham to Capello,' was Spanish newspaper El Pais's description of the goal, while most papers were agreed that the victory had saved the manager Capello from the sack after a poor run of results.
Beck's former Manchester United team-mate Ruud Van Nistelrooy sealed the win for Real with a header in the second half.
What a way to return to the starting line-up and shut up a few critics along the way!
Real Madrid were embarrassingly knocked out of the Copa del Rey last night in a fiery clash with La Liga strugglers Real Betis on the away goals rule.
A young Madrid side lacking experience from the absence of David Beckham and Ronaldo due to 'technicalities" were made to pay for a number of wasted chances as Betis progressed through to the quarter-finals on the away goals rule.
The Whites started strongly and Brazilian forward Robinho punished some slack defending to put the home team ahead as early as the fifth minute but wasted chances came back to haunt them as Betis fashioned an equaliser in the 37th minute.
As a result, Real Madrid were dumped from the competition by virtue of the away goals rule.
With the controversy surrounding Beckham's move to the US and the imminent departure of Ronaldo, the last thing the Spanish giants needed was a humbling defeat against a side struggling in the Primera division of the Spanish League.
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