Casillas again preferred to new boy Navas

Andy West 06:53 19/08/2014
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  • Super Cup nod: Iker Casillas.

    Iker Casillas will start for Real Madrid in tonight’s Super Cup first leg against Atletico, with summer signing Keylor Navas forced to con­tinue his wait for a debut.

    Other than the arrival of Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez, the ongoing goalkeeping debate has oc­cupied the majority of the summer headlines in Madrid.

    Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti opted for a job-sharing strategy last season, selecting Casillas for cup games whilst Diego Lopez was pre­ferred in La Liga.

    The picture has been complicat­ed by the signing of Costa Rica star Navas from Levante, with Lopez being scantly rewarded for his ex­cellent season by being sold to AC Milan.

    A shaky World Cup and pre-season for Casillas saw a further erosion in the level of support for the club legend, who restated his case with a solid performance and a clean sheet in last week’s UEFA Super Cup victory over Sevilla.

    And veteran Casillas will have another chance to strengthen his position as starting keeper against Atletico tonight, with Ancelotti revealing: “Iker will play.”

    However, the Italian boss did lit­tle to quell the debate by admitting he may prefer Navas for the second leg later in the week, adding: “There could be changes for the game on Friday, but at the moment I am not thinking about Friday.”

    Ancelotti, meanwhile, refused to answer questions about the future of Angel Di Maria, who has been expected to leave Madrid ever since the big-money capture of James Rodriguez. Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United have been linked with the Argentine, but Ancelotti said: “I’m not entering into that topic because I don’t want to lose focus on tonight’s game.” 

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