Karanka: no divisions at Real Madrid
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Xinhua, September 27, 2011
Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka was giving few secrets away ahead of his side' s Champions League clash at home to Ajax on Tuesday night.
Karanka gave the pre-match press conference instead of Jose Mourinho, who is suspended for the match after his sending off in the semi-final of last season' s Champions League against FC Barcelona and post match declarations in which he insinuated that UEFA, the governing body of European football, were helping Barcelona.
Real Madrid, have included summer signing Hamit Altintop in their squad for the fist time this season, after the Turk underwent a back operation over the summer.
"It is too early for us to think he could start the game, although we will have to wait until tomorrow (Tuesday)," he said.
"Altintop has been working well and he deserves to be in the team and train with the squad, which is positive for him," added Karanka, who added that Ricardo Carvalho was also included after missing Saturday' s win over Rayo Vallecano as a result of a concussion suffered during the previous week.
"He has trained normally and has recovered," said the coach, who admitted he expected a complicated match against Ajax, who Madrid defeated twice in the Champions League last season.
Karanka ruled out any rumors of divisions in the club or disagreements over Jose Mourinho' s criticism of referees.
"We are all united, but we have not been united since yesterday. We have all been pulling in the same direction for a long time. We have always said that, we are going to work to achieve our aims and the more united we are, the easier it will be," he concluded.
