A nice perk to being part of the sports team at The National is getting the opportunity to write a story related to my favourite football club, Real Madrid.

I have always wanted to write anything related to Real Madrid, as I have had a blog in the past that heavily relied on Madrid news, where I get my information from so many sources, such as Marca, As, BeIN Sports and other media platforms, even Twitter.

So this opportunity to write a piece on the Primera Liga side this week, which was published both in print and online, was one I was eager to accept when it was suggested to me.

I wanted to focus on Sergio Ramos, the Madrid defender, and speculation over whether he will stay at the club or join another side such as Manchester United.

The sports department knows that I am a big Madrid fan and they were happy for me to write about Madrid, trusting me to write a balanced piece.

I felt I did that, and even though I was writing my opinion, which is that Ramos is important to Madrid and should stay with the club, given ehat he has done for them in the past.

I have taken on board advice from my editors on how to write an opinion story and support points I make, with one thing I have struggled with in the past is giving a brief background about a football player, as I am always remind me that, not to assume that the readers know everything.

The thing I am learning to aim for is to try to make my stories accessible to not only people familiar with the sports, but also to people not so familiar with it, hence the need for detail and explaining who people are.

I really enjoyed the chance to write about a passion of mine and I hope that I did a good enough job that my editors will allow me another chance in the future.

malshamsi@thenational.ae