THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — Don’t count Laurent Blanc among those who believe free-spending Real Madrid has already clinched the Champions League or La Liga with its high-priced acquisitions of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
Blanc, the coach of French champion Bordeaux, says the Spanish giant shouldn’t be considered the favourite for either title in 2009-10.
"Even if you have incredible financial means at your disposal, football is a collective game and you must never forget that," Blanc said in a conference call Friday ahead of two matches his team will play in Montreal later this month.
"You can think you have the best team but that’s not always the case. So I think Real Madrid, despite the excellent players it has picked up, has a lot of work to do.
"What interests Real Madrid is finishing above Barcelona. At the moment, Barcelona is the best team in Europe because, not only do they have good players, they also have a good collective approach and good team play. So it will be difficult for Real Madrid despite its acquisition of very, very good players."
Real’s spending spree, especially the arrival of Ronaldo from Manchester United and Kaka from AC Milan, has dominated soccer talk this summer, with many fans wondering whether the pieces will mesh at the Bernabeu.
Blanc led Bordeaux to the French title last year, its first since 1998-99, ending Lyon’s seven-year reign as champion.
But the man who was a mainstay of the great French team that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 doesn’t believe Bordeaux, Marseille or Lyon stands much chance of succeeding Barcelona as Champions League winner next spring.
"We can stand out, for sure," he said. "The first objective is to get through the group stage and make the last 16.
"But a French team winning the Champions League strikes me as utopian."
Bordeaux will play French Cup winner Guingamp at the Olympic Stadium on July 25 in the Trophee des champions. Ticket sales had reached 22,000 as of Friday.
Matches between a country’s league champion and cup winner from the previous year are the traditional curtain-raiser to the new soccer season in many European countries.
Blanc said he is taking the match very seriously, noting that Bordeaux’s victory over Lyon in the corresponding match last summer gave the club a major psychological boost heading into the league campaign.
"This will be our first official match of the season," he said. "It’s a final, a trophy, so we want to win it, just like Guingamp."
Guingamp is a surprising opponent as it became only the second team from outside the top flight of French football to win the Coupe de France when it defeated Rennes.
Bordeaux will also play a friendly against the Montreal Impact on July 28 before returning home to begin its title defence against Lens on the weekend of Aug. 8-9.
.Blanc was asked about the French national team, which is currently struggling in its World Cup qualifying group. France is eight points behind Serbia, although it does have two games in hand.
"We hoped the French team would be closer to the top of the group," he said. "There have been a few disappointments along the way but I think there are enough matches left for us to hope we can finish first.
"But Serbia is the favourite."
France travels to Serbia on Sept. 9, knowing victory will be crucial.
Group winners in Europe qualify automatically for the World Cup, while eight of the nine best second-place finishers fight it out for the four remaining European spots.