Snow White, the 3 dwarves, and lots of quotation marks

photo: realmadrid.com

The strongest snowfall in the capital for 30 years prevented the Blancos training on Friday morning. A number of the players didn't even make it to Valdebebas. Those who did managed to get to the training ground just played in the snow. AS say that Miguel Palanca, Miguel Torres and Wesley Sneijder went out to throw snow balls at each other. Marca say that Miguel Palanca, Miguel Torres and Royston Drenthe went out to throw snow balls at each other. Someone is telling porkpies, or needs a trip to the opticians.

Whichever trio happened to step out, the web is awash with tales, photos, comments and articles about the white blanket that covered the Spanish capital. You can already imagine what Tomas Rocero will write in AS tomorrow. Perhaps Roberto Gomez will complain about not being to go his favourite restaurant.

Whatever happens in tomorrow's football papers, whatever similes, metaphors or juxtapositions that hacks choose to use, they'll be too late, because The Real Liga was already there. This post is about Snow White and the three dwarves.

While the snow snowed down, the rumours came flooding in. Carlos Tevez (1.69m) said he'd be keen to join Real Madrid. He is pretty much pricing himself out of a deal at Manchester United, saying he wants as much money as Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. Meanwhile, his agent is pretty much pricing his client out of a deal, demanding £32 million for his services. Tevez is on loan at Manchester United, don't forget. Whatever happens, Higuaín, who isn't fussed about the arrival of more competition up front (or so he says), believes the club 'would do well to sign Tevez.'

Fellow shorty, Bayern Munich's Franck Ribéry (1.70m) has once again provided journos with one of those statements that requires quoting him on one word at a time to actually get any material from, because the winger tried as hard as possible not to give anything away. As a result, Ribéry is 'open' to the 'idea' of going to 'the biggest club in the world' Real Madrid, which he has 'admired' since 'he' was a 'young' boy. 

If the idea of a short striker doesn't do it for you, nor that of a pacey winger with a low centre of gravity, then here's another one for you. The only thing about Rafael Van der Vaart that has got fans going is his girlfriend, so the Dutchman could be offloaded as part of a deal to bring Brazilian playmaker Diego (1.74m) to the Bernabeu. 

Sticking, very tenuously, to the theme, is whiter than white Iker (1.85m), who is widely considered to be a 'short' keeper. He is, however, also the 'best' keeper in the world, according to the IFHHS. He blew his closest rival, Gianluigi Buffon, out of the water, with 249 to 170 'points'. It turns out, however, that the 'points' are in fact votes - votes, as the IFHHS website says, from 'selected editorial staff and experts from 85 countries across all continents.' The 'selected' bit is open to querying. This is the same institution that says the Argentine league is better than the Spanish league, but there you have it. Don't believe everything you read, or see.