Red U.K. Rundown (02.07.09)

– There seems no end to Real Madrid’s spending power. The Spanish giants have already splashed out over £180 million on Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, Raúl Albiol and Karim Benzema. Real’s next target is either Franck Ribéry or David Silva, which would push their spending to over £200 million. Try competing with that!

– Carlos Tévez claims Manchester United would have beaten Barcelona in the Champions League final had he not been left on the bench. The Manchester City-bound striker must have forgotten the sitters he missed against Chelsea, which almost cost United the 2008 final. Sir Alex Ferguson clearly hadn’t.

– Newcastle United’s players returned for pre-season training this week. With no new owners in place and no major transfer deals completed, the club is in a state of complete limbo. Which hardly bodes well for its chances of a quick return to the Premier League. Magpies fans must fear their club will be the next Southampton.

– Women tennis players are often accused of putting glamour ahead of sporting success. But the tears of Ana Ivanovic suggested otherwise, as injury forced the Serb to withdraw from her fourth-round Wimbledon clash with Venus Williams.

– In what other sport does a man who is caught on TV poking an opponent’s eyes get a paltry eight-week ban? That was the pathetic punishment meted out to South Africa’s Schalk Burger for eye-gouging Lions winger Luke Fitzgerald. Maybe someone needs to be blinded for such offences to be taken seriously. Madness.

– Steve Harmison claims Australia are not “as brash and confident as they normally are” ahead of the Ashes series, which starts next Wednesday. Mind you, the 1989 tourists were described as “the worst Aussie team in history”. And they won 4-0.

– “Rather than dining out on 2005 or dwelling on 2006-07, it is all about what happens in the next six weeks,” says Andrew Flintoff. He’s right. England must move on after winning just five of their 14 series since the 2005 Ashes. Perhaps they need to be more disciplined. Eh, Freddie?

–Rob Wightman, Red U.K. Senior Sports Writer