<p>Real Madrid captain Nacho is officially moving on after 23 years at the club. The veteran defender previously joined the Spanish side’s youth setup at the age of 10. He subsequently made 364 total appearances for Los Blancos after making his senior debut in 2012. In total, Nacho helped the team collect 26 trophies in his time at the club. This figure includes four <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/la-liga-tv-schedule/">LaLiga</a> titles and six <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/champions-league-tv-schedule/">UEFA Champions League</a> triumphs.</p>



<p>The most recent trophy for Nacho came just last month, as the club topped <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/borussia-dortmund-tv-schedule/">Borussia Dortmund</a> for the European crown. Despite his age, Nacho played a full 90 minutes against the German giants on the night. Manager Carlo Ancelotti selected the veteran in 11 of his 13 Champions League starting lineups in the 2023/24 season.</p>



<p><a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/real-madrid-tv-schedule/">Real</a> president Florentino Perez touched on Nacho’s impressive legacy at the club in a statement released on Tuesday. “Since he arrived at our youth academy as a child, Nacho has been an example to everyone and has earned the affection, recognition and admiration of everyone at Real Madrid,” <a href="https://www.realmadrid.com/en-US/news/football/first-team/personalities/comunicado-24-06-2024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">proclaimed</a> Perez. “Real Madrid is and always will be his home.”</p>



<h2>Real Madrid likely to sign new center-back this summer to replace Nacho</h2>



<p>Nacho was widely expected to depart the club following the most recent campaign. After all, he was set to be out of contract this summer and there were no indications that the two sides would agree on an extension. Nevertheless, the veteran is set to be missed and club brass will have to potentially bring in a replacement for the aging star.</p>



<p>Nacho managed to appear in 45 total games during the 2023/24 season. Only one other defender, fellow center-back Antonio Rudiger, was able to feature in more matches throughout the campaign. While the veteran may not be the same player he was a decade ago, he was still an important piece of the puzzle for Ancelotti.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1200" height="670" src="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https://images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/full/WST_20240625_WST_513205_Nacho-Real-Madrid-1200x670_262837aa.webp&amp;width=1200&amp;height=670" alt="" class="wp-image-513222" srcset="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/06/Nacho-Real-Madrid-1200x670.jpg 1200w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/06/Nacho-Real-Madrid-300x168.jpg 300w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/06/Nacho-Real-Madrid-768x429.jpg 768w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/06/Nacho-Real-Madrid.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px"></figure></figure>



<p>One defender who has been linked with Real for months now is Alphonso Davies. The left-back’s future at <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/bayern-munich-tv-schedule/">Bayern Munich</a> has been up in the air for quite some time now due to contract demands. Davies reportedly wants a raise and his current deal is set to expire next summer. As a result, Bayern brass needs to either re-sign the star or risk watching him depart for free in 2025.</p>



<p>Davies, however, does not necessarily play the same position as Nacho. The former Real captain can play on the left, but he typically plays as a central defender. The LaLiga champions currently have Eder Militao, David Alaba, and the aforementioned Rudiger at the position. Nevertheless, Real Madrid needs another center-back to replace Nacho.</p>



<h2>Joselu also departing Real for Middle Eastern team</h2>



<p>Nacho is currently at <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/uefa-european-championship-tv-schedule/">Euro 2024</a> with <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/nations/spain-national-team-tv-schedule/">Spain</a>. The defender started his team’s first match of the tournament but has not featured since. He will join Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah shortly. Nacho is not the only Real star moving to the Middle East. According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5586516/2024/06/24/joselu-real-madrid-al-gharafa-transfer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reports</a>, Joselu is also nearing a switch to Qatari club Al Gharafa.</p>



<p>The center forward was going to remain with Real for the 2024/25 season. However, the fellow 34-year-old player now looks certain to join the Middle Eastern club potentially in the coming weeks. Joselu impressed on loan at Real during the most recent season after scoring 17 goals, including a pair against Bayern in the Champions League semifinals.</p>



<p>Real, however, may not necessarily need to replace the striker during the summer transfer window. The club is already bringing in superstar Kylian Mbappe to play alongside Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham.</p>



<p><em>PHOTOS: IMAGO</em>.</p>

Real Madrid needs to replace captain after defender departs club

Real Madrid has officially announced that 34-year-old club captain Nacho is leaving after 23 years with the team.


<p>Spain earned a spot in the UEFA Nations League Final with a late 2-1 win over Italy. It was a rematch of the 2021 Nations League semifinal between the two. In that game, where Italy was the host, Spain prevailed by the same scoreline. The result sets Spain up with a chance at redemption. After losing in the Final in 2021 to France, Spain faces Croatia, which is seeking a first-ever international trophy. </p>



<p>The game started with a flourish of goals, but not exactly ones that were pleasing to the eye. It took Spain less than three minutes to get on the board, courtesy of some misplay at the back from the Italians. </p>



<p>Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma played a pass into center-back Leonardo Bonucci. However, three Spanish attackers converged on the Juventus defender. The ball eventually squirmed free to Yeremy Pino, who played the final tackle on Bonucci. Practically one-on-one with Donnarumma, the <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1669417859062087691">Spaniard placed the shot</a> into his lower right-hand corner, and there was no chance for Donnarumma. </p>



<p>However, Spain was not exactly clinical in defending, either. Six minutes after Spain’s opener, an Italian shot struck the wayward hand of Spain’s Robin Le Normand. Although it was certainly not intentional, there was no arguing that the Real Sociedad defender’s <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1669419362908815383" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arm was away from his body</a>. Ciro Immobile, who missed out on the 2021 Nations League semifinal with injury, <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1669420603554648072" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tucked away the penalty</a>.</p>



<h2>Spain dominant en route to Nations League Final</h2>



<p>Even though the game was level on the scoreline after 10 minutes, almost all the chances went to Spain. By the end of the game, Spain amassed almost a third of the possession while over doubling Italy’s shots and shot attempts. It would be one thing to fire balls at will. Spain was creating quality chances throughout the 90.</p>



<p>Some of the highlights of that included a fantastic save from Mikel Merino before Alvaro Morata pushed the rebound narrowly wide. Morata actually had several chances. On each attempt, Donnarumma was equal or the shot went wide. </p>



<p>Before all that, Italy came the closest to scoring. For reference, it was millimeters from scoring or at least counting. A run from Davide Frettesi led to the ball in the back of the net. However, semi-automated offside technology quickly flagged the goal for an offside check. In one of the closest decisions you’ll see, Frettesi was offside, the game remained level.</p>



<h5>Another narrow offside decision decides game</h5>



<p>In live viewing, Frettesi looked onside. Upon review, the SAOT was correct, much to the happiness of the Spanish. In the 87th minute, Spain would be the beneficiary of another close call.</p>



<p>After some nice play from Spain, the ball bounced free to Rodri in a similar spot to where he scored the Champions-League-winning goal on Saturday. His shot took two deflections off Italians before Joselu, behind the entire Italian back line, dinked it in. For live viewers, Joselu was clearly offside. Even his Spanish teammates turned back to prepare to defend. Joselu, making his third appearance with Spain, knew he was onside, though. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SPAIN RECLAIMS THE LEAD 🇪🇸 <a href="https://t.co/iIxqgRUWJa">pic.twitter.com/iIxqgRUWJa</a></p>— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1669442927955791900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2023</a></blockquote></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>That goal would prove to be the winning goal in this contest. It was Joselu’s third in three appearances with La Roja. The other two came against Norway in Euro 2024 qualifying in March. That goal-to-game ratio is likely part of the reason Real Madrid is targeting the Spaniard to replace the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/karim-benzema-bids-farewell-to-real-madrid-after-14-years-20230604-WST-436009.html">outgoing Karim Benzema</a>. </p>



<p>Spain will hope he can provide the same against Croatia in the Nations League Final. Regardless, the winner of the game will be the third different winner in the three seasons the Nations League has existed.</p>



<p><em>PHOTO: IMAGO / Gribaudi/ImagePhoto</em></p>


Spain earned a spot in the UEFA Nations League Final with a late 2-1 win over Italy. It was a rematch of the 2021 Nations League semifinal.

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Real Madrid needs to replace captain after defender departs club

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Late Spain goal sends La Roja through to Nations League Final