Report: Real Madrid will launch bid for Manchester United star Rooney

Full View But should Madrid win nothing at all after spending �250m in the summer, he will turn to Jose Mourinho, breaking the habit of never spending big money on a coach's wage that could be spent on a player. Rafa Benitez has already also been mentioned by Marca who had the 'Adios Champions League, Adios Pellegrini' headlines ready long before the final whistle in Madrid. Mourinho is favoured for his history of run-ins with Barcelona and for his connection to Ronaldo. The pair's agent Jorge Mendes will enjoy another lucrative summer if Barca pip Real to the league to push Pellegrini over the edge. Cesc Fabregas is another who will have been moved higher up the Perez wish list after this latest European humiliation. Without the suspended Xabi Alonso, Real were overrun in midfield....  

Full View Last night the finger of blame was being pointed both at coach Manuel Pellegrini and at his players. With seven goals in his six Champions League games, Ronaldo is largely exempt from criticism - although when both midfielder Guti and his manager agreed that Madrid had suffered because they had played as individuals and not as a team, Ronaldo's first-half miss, with fellow forward Gonzalo Higuain in a far better position, immediately came to mind. Such is the media pressure on the expensive summer signings to justify their price tags, each man at times appears to be playing his own game. No one has buckled under the weight of that expectation more than Kaka, who was whistled off on Wednesday by supporters who have lost patience with the �56m acquisition from AC Milan....  

Full View Struggle: An angry Kaka was whistled off by Madrid fans when he was substituted His uncharacteristic tantrum as he was replaced by Raul will make his acceptance at the Bernabeu even more difficult, as will his director of communications Diogo Kotscho's decision to openly criticize coach Pellegrini on Twitter calling him: 'A coward of a coach who always picks on a star player to deflect criticism from himself.' Such is the life of a Madrid manager - slated on a social networking website by one of your own player's press team. How long Pellegrini stays in charge will depend on whether he wins the league. President Perez is aware that the football world laughs at Real's ridiculous turnover of coaches and is determined to finish the season with the coach who started it....  

Full View Down and out: Ronaldo's goal couldn�t stop Real Madrid crashing out again Real Madrid are now trying to pick up the pieces after once again failing to match their monetary muscle with any footballing credibility on Europe's big stage. This time, as hosts of the final, the feeling is even worse - they will be responsible for providing the beer and sandwiches on May 22 but not for the players on the pitch. The immediate cost of failure stands at �18million in lost prize money but could run up to �55m taking into account lost advertising revenues. It will be much harder to squeeze more money out of their major sponsors after once again being excluded from the business end of the competition. The bankers were in the stands on Wednesday night....  

Full View Kaká has been heavily criticised for his performances since joining Real Madrid in the summer. Photograph: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images The dream has become a nightmare. The Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, will preside over the European Cup final at the Bernabéu on 22 May but his team, the most expensively assembled in history, will not be there. As if to make matters worse, Barcelona still might be. Talk about rubbing it in. Someone else's success would become the image of Madrid's season, Pérez's first since returning unopposed as the saviour....  

Full View Depite their astonishing outlay, Real Madrid have failed again in Europe (Photo: Getty Images)...