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Guillem Balague assesses situations at Barcelona, Real and Atletico

Image: Neymar: victory over Sevilla was "his" game

After the international break, let's catch up with Real Madrid and Barcelona.

REAL OPTIONS
Hi Guillem. There is no doubt that Bale is a great acquisition for Madrid, but I have two questions for you about that particular transfer. At Spurs, Bale was sometimes employed as a number 10 playing just in front of the striker and in a more central role. With Ozil leaving do you believe this will be his role for Madrid or will he be played wide? Also as Ronaldo likes to drift in from his wing (similar to Bale) do you think these two will crowd each other's spaces or will they complement each other? Box-fan92 GUILLEM SAYS: It all depends on Cristiano Ronaldo - it has to. He has been played as a No9 but he doesn't like it so Karim Benzema will be the No9 and Ronaldo will roam freely up front. Bale will have to adapt to that, which means running wide a lot and without the ball a lot. We have to be modern in the way we think about positioning. There is a lot of dynamism up front and everyone will perform the different roles. You can see Benzema behind Ronaldo sometimes and Bale behind Ronaldo sometimes - that is how modern football works.

KEEPING HIS PLACE
Hi Guillem, I wanted to know your thoughts on Iker Casillas' position in the team. What do you think is going on in Ancelotti's head that makes him not to start the captain? Alireza GUILLEM SAYS: Casillas will play in the Champions League to keep everyone happy. If you think about it, as a coach, if you have two top goalkeepers - and by the way Diego Lopez deserves to play in the Champions League because he is in outstanding form - the best thing is to tell both they need to train hard to be called up. So that is what Ancelotti is trying to do as well as keeping everyone happy.

HERRERA TO GO?
Hola Guillem, I follow Athletic. Now that Ander Herrera is aware Man Utd are after him do you think he will be fully committed this season or push for a transfer in January? David GUILLEM SAYS: He will not push for a transfer. Athletic Bilbao were convinced that Manchester United were going to meet the buy-out clause as United even asked for the details to pay. Herrera did not push for the transfer; it was Manchester United who wanted the player. I am sure they will continue to monitor him because 36m euros is not cheap but will, in my eyes, be seen as a good acquisition in a few years if they go back for him. Nobody knows if they will do that.

LONE STRIKER
Hi Guillem. With Real Madrid selling Callejon, Kaka, Ozil and Higuain are Real Madrid not low in numbers in attack? They only have Benzema and Morata up front so if Benzema gets injured or is in poor form then they would not have enough options to rotate. Dominic GUILLEM SAYS: You're right. Benzema wanted to play regularly and, because he had the backing of the President, the club felt it was a good idea to have him as the only No9. But you're right, they are short of numbers and an injury will affect them tremendously.

Guillem answers your questions...

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