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Real in turmoil Roberto Carlos hits out; Raul misses training
MADRID (Reuters) -- Real Madrid's preparations for Sunday's clash with Barcelona were thrown off course on the eve of the game as Roberto Carlos hit out at being omitted from the squad and Raul missed training due to illness. Real, which is six points behind its rival going into Sunday's game at the Bernabeu, expects to have Raul in its starting lineup after the player said he did not train only as a precaution. The club was hit by a potentially damaging row Saturday afternoon, however, when Brazilian international Roberto Carlos responded to the decision to leave him out of the squad because of a knee injury. "It's not that I'm a hundred percent fit to play -- I'm 110 percent fit," Roberto Carlos told Radio Marca on Saturday. "I'm not injured. I'm in perfect condition to play against Barcelona. "The doctors wouldn't let me train and I don't know why. They told me they had orders from someone not to let me." The situation regarding Roberto Carlos has dominated the front pages of the Spanish sports press in the build-up to the first Real-Barca clash of the season. Neither Roberto Carlos nor his fellow Brazilian Rivaldo were expected to be available for the game, as they had been due to fly out on Saturday for their country's two final World Cup qualifiers on November 7 and 14. Real announced Tuesday that Roberto Carlos had a knee injury needing 10 to 15 days' rest and should not play for his country. The situation changed on Thursday when FIFA announced that European-based South American internationals could play for their clubs this weekend after all. That freed Rivaldo for the game, giving the Catalan club a huge psychological boost, and the Spanish press started to speculate on Saturday that Roberto Carlos may recover in time to play as well. Valdano response The attacking full-back was left out of Vicente del Bosque's squad when it was announced on Saturday, leading to his outburst on Radio Marca. That met with an immediate response from Real's sporting director Jorge Valdano, who said the club did not want to risk the injury becoming any worse. "No one can seriously believe that we don't want Roberto Carlos to play," Valdano told the radio station. "The medical problem he has is perfectly demonstrated by the results of a scan. We have to follow strictly what our medical chief says. There's no mystery about this. "If Roberto Carlos doesn't play it's because we're looking after him. He's much more important than one match against Barcelona." Sunday's match gives Real the chance to cut Barcelona's advantage to three points but their build up to the game has been far from ideal. On Tuesday, Real Madrid players suffered a scare following their Champions League match against Lokomotiv Moscow, when their plane was forced to turn back after one of the engines suffered an impact during take-off. The players reported sparks, a flare and a strong smell of smoke from the engine and many were shaken by the incident, which was thought to have been caused by hitting a bird. The only good news for Real on Saturday was Raul's insistence that he would be fit to play. "I had a bad night, with pains in my stomach," Raul told a packed news conference Saturday. "It would have to be really bad to stop me playing, though. It would have to be so bad that I couldn't get out of bed."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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