Zinedine Zidane has dismissed speculation concerning Gareth Bale and Paul Pogba in the build-up to Real Madrid's penultimate La Liga game of the season at Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Zidane remained tight-lipped over the latest developments involving the Welshman, whom reports suggest will reject a move this summer despite being told he is no longer part of the club's plans.
And Zidane also shrugged off persistent suggestions his club are to launch a bid to prise French World Cup winner Pogba away from Manchester United.
Responding to a question regarding the reported comments made by Bale's agent, Zidane told a press conference: "I don't want to answer that because I'm the Real Madrid coach and he's just doing his job.
"I need to be thinking about tomorrow's game and us performing well. We've had a good week of preparations and what I'm concerned about is that we have a good game to be involved in."
On the situation regarding Pogba, Zidane replied: "Every coach and football lover likes good players. He's a Manchester United player and I'm not going to discuss signings with you."
Zidane, who expects to have Karim Benzema available after injury, also appeared to take a swipe at rivals Barcelona after their midweek Champions League capitulation to Liverpool.
Despite insisting rival manager Ernesto Valverde has done a "tremendous job" with Barca, Zidane stressed his own club's record of four titles in the competition in the last five seasons.
Zidane said: "Nobody can take away what we did in the Champions League in the last few years.
"The Champions League, as we've seen this year, is really tough. It's a competition where anything can happen. It was a real struggle to win it and that's why we place such value on these four Champions League crowns.
"He [Valverde] has done a tremendous job so far. I'm nobody to say whether it [the criticism] is justified or not. He knows how things work."
Zidane confirmed French striker Benzema has trained all week with the team and is expected to return to the starting line-up after missing recent matches due to injury.
Meanwhile, Real Sociedad manager Imanol Alguacil knows the importance of Sunday's fixture as his side look to leapfrog rivals Athletic Bilbao and put themselves in the frame for European qualification next season.
Alguacil said his side are relishing the opportunity of taking on Zidane's men after a frustrating campaign in which injuries to a number of key players have taken their toll.
Alguacil told a press conference: "For me as a coach, and certainly my players too, we love these kinds of matches because we are always talking about Real Madrid.
"We have had an irregular and complicated year to do injuries, but I wish every year we had the chance to fight for seventh place with only two matches left to go."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
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Copa del Rey
Barcelona v Real Madrid
Semi-final, first leg
Wednesday (midnight UAE)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Look north
BBC business reporters, like a new raft of government officials, are being removed from the national and international hub of London and surely the quality of their work must suffer.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani