Capello denies Real deal
Juventus coach Fabio Capello has dismissed a Spanish radio report which said he has agreed to join Real Madrid for next season as "fantasy football".
Juventus coach Fabio Capello has dismissed a Spanish radio report which said he has agreed to join Real Madrid for next season as "fantasy football".
"There is absolutely no truth in that story," he said bluntly after Juve's 1-0 home victory against Belgian side Bruges on Tuesday which sealed a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
"I don't know where it came from. It's fantasy football. I've said in the past I don't like these re-hashed stories. I'm only thinking about Juventus."
Capello has coached Real before, guiding them to the league title in 1997 in his first and only season in Spain.
Earlier in the day, Spanish radio station Cadena Cope said Capello had already shaken hands on a deal to replace Wanderley Luxemburgo whose position is said to be in jeopardy following Saturday's 3-0 defeat to arch rivals Barcelona.
"Fabio Capello has already reached agreement with Real Madrid to be their new coach next season," the radio station said. "The agreement came about several weeks ago."
Real Madrid's official website realmadrid.com made no mention of an impending change, saying only that Luxemburgo had met with vice-chairman Emilio Butragueno and sporting director Arrigo Sacchi on Tuesday.
Turning to matters on the pitch, Capello was relieved to have shaken off a stubborn Bruges side that Juve failed to break down until Alessandro Del Piero headed in Pavel Nedved's cross 10 minutes from time.
"It was a really tough match as Bruges didn't allow us much space," he said.
"And even though we dominated for long periods and created many chances, at 0-0 you can never relax."
A victory for the Italian champions left them level with Bayern Munich - 4-0 winners against Rapid Vienna - on 12 points at the top of Group A, six ahead of Bruges.
While Juve will now battle it out with Bayern for top spot, Bruges will go into the less prestigious UEFA Cup.
A bitterly cold night in Turin coupled with the fact that Juve needed just a draw to secure a place in the last 16 resulted in a crowd of less than 10,000 at the Delle Alpi stadium.