Lights go out on Ronaldo and Real

Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid played in Tirana last night (GETTY IMAGES)

When Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid last summer he probably envisaged glittering nights playing for the nine times European Cup winners. What he would not have had in mind was an evening in downtown Tirana waiting for over an hour for the floodlights to be fixed so a friendly against mighty Gramozi could go ahead.

The downside of Ronaldo's world record £80m transfer fee is that Real are in the market to recoup that enormous sum, so could not turn down oil millionaire Rezart Taci's offer of €2m to play against his club Gramozi, who have recently been promoted to the First Division in Albania. Thus, a full team of galacticos, including Ronaldo, Kaka and Raul, pitched up at the Tirana stadium last night after a 10-hour journey from Spain.

However, easily the proudest occasion in Gramozi's history turned sour when the ground was plunged into darkness at the start of the second half. Ronaldo et al had to wait for an hour and 20 minutes for the electricity to be restored, angry fans shouted and threw lighters on to the pitch and according to unconfirmed reports the stadium manager was sacked on the spot.

Karim Benzema clinched a 2-1 win for Real once the lights went back on, but only Raul, the captain, stayed on the pitch for the trophy presentation, the rest of the visiting side no doubt ringing their agents at the earliest opportunity in an attempt to avoid being forced to play in any more meaningless friendlies.

Elsewhere in Spain, the Barcelona president Joan Laporta has confirmed that coach Pep Guardiola is set to extend his contract with the Spanish and European champions by one year to the end of next season.

"Pep Guardiola will be the coach of Barça for another year. It is very good news for everyone associated with Barcelona because we all wanted him to continue." Laporta said. Guardiola, will not sign his new contract until after the presidential elections have been held in the summer.