Real Madrid vs. Ponferradina Recap

By El Maestro

5-1, goals scored by Callejon (2), Sahin, Varane & Joselu, and off to the next round. Yes the win came against a Second Division B team, but games like these can really boost a team’s moral. It was an overall great team performance by Real Madrid who had total control from the beginning and never hesitated. If Ponferradina believed they had a shock at pulling the miracle, that dream would soon be diminished in the 25^thh minute when a beautiful through ball by ball put Callejon one on one with the goalkeeper who calmly placed it into the back of the net. Then just before halftime, it would be Sahin from a corner kick to make it 2-0 and four minutes after the restart it would be Varane to make it 3-0 after a brilliant free kick by Granero was left by the goalkeeper. Ponferradina, with nothing but honor to play for, would not leave the Bernabeu empty handed and scored the goal they will never forget. The goal however did not change Mourinho’s way of thinking and decided to give some canteranos a chance to play. In the 78^th minute, Mourinho substituted Benzema for the 21-year-old German born striker Joselu who made it 4-1 just 50 seconds after coming on to the pitch. His second official goal in his second official game. Just two minutes from stoppage time, the same person who opened the scoring would be the one to end it when a beautiful pass by Sahin was gently brought down and controlled by Callejon who went through one defender to easily make it 5-1 and end Real Madrid’s 2011 campaign in style.

Memo to all Anti-Mourinistas

For the past few weeks, Mourinho has been taking heat for the controversial call up of Castilla defender Pedro Mendes. If we recall, Mendes was the canterano who came on for Arbeloa in the final game of the group stage against Ajax. Mendes, a 21-year-old Portuguese on loan from Sporting Lisbon, had only made three appearances for the B squad prior to his debut with the first team. “Experts” say this was a slap in the face to La Fabrica and indicated that Mourinho did not care at all about the la cantera. Many felt it was favoritism that led Mou to bring up Mendes who both are from the same country and share the same agent. What “experts” forgot to mention was Mendes became the 11^th canterano to debut under Mourinho. This action really demonstrated the very small margin of error Mou has with the press. In the year and a half Mourinho has been in charge, he has debuted in official game more canteranos than Pellegrini, Juande, Schuster, & Capello combined, and all the press wants to mention is Pedro Mendes. In fact, who is to say Mou wasn’t trying to protect the Castilla team from injuries. The players on the B team aren’t reserves who only play friendly games and wait for someone on the first team to get hurt to get their chance. They are professional athletes who play in Second Division B and right now are in 1^st place in their group in the hunt for promotion to Second Division. Maybe Mou didn’t call one of the usual starting defenders because he didn’t want to risk one of them getting hurt and ruining Castilla’s chances for promotion. Whenever Mou gets the opportunity, he never hesitates to stick in canteranos, and he proved that against Ponferradina playing Jese in the 1^st leg and Casado, Nacho, Joselu, and even the goalie Pacheco in the 2^nd leg.

Ponferradina vs. Real Madrid Recap

By El Maestro

For the first time in 18 years Real Madrid began the Copa del Rey as defending champions and were looking to start the defense of their title on a high. Real Madrid’s debut record in the last five years hasn’t been great as their last opening match victory came during the 05/06 campaign and had gone 0-3-2 in the time since (1-1 draws to Ejica & Alicante, 3-2 loss to Real Union, 4-0 loss to Alcorcon, 0-0 draw to Murcia). Not surprisingly, Ponferradina, with nothing to loose, came out from the start looking for the upset and almost took the lead in the first ten minutes when a corner kick found Brazilian striker Yuri who made a wonderful bicycle kick, but was stopped by Adan. With the return leg to be played in the Bernabeu next week, all Real Madrid needed was one goal that would tip the tie in their favor and that they would get in the 29^th minute when a great cross by Khedira found Callejon to make it 1-0. Ponferradina did not panic after the goal and continued pushing forward, but not even against a 10 men (Albiol red carded) Madrid side could they find the equalizing goal. Both teams went at it, but it would be Real Madrid who would prevail after a wonderful counter attack concluded with CR7 blasting the ball into the back of the net to make it 0-2, giving them more than a comfortable for the return leg.

Debut of Jese

This game also gave Mourinho the opportunity to give some canteranos a chance with the first team. When the squad list came out on Monday, all eyes were placed on 18 year old Spanish prospect Jese. Much has been said about this talented winger who has even drawn comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo. As the 75^th minute approached and with an 0-2 score line in favor, Mou decided it was the perfect time to put in the young Canary who coincidently came in for Cristiano Ronaldo. Jese did not disappoint in his fifteen minutes on the field going on runs, showing great speed, and technical skills. In fact, during the post game press conference, Mourinho announced that players, such as Kaka, Higuain, Marcelo, and many more will have an extra few days of vacation and will not be listed for the return leg. This means Mou will for sure bring out his A2 side, which could consist of Jese in the starting 11.

Sevilla vs. Real Madrid Recap

By El Maestro

After the debacle last week in the Clasico, Real Madrid traveled to one of the toughest stadiums in all of Spain in the Sanchez Pizjuan to take on Sevilla. Despite the midweek victory in Copa over Pnnferradina, which should have served as a moral booster, many were anxious to see how Madrid would respond and could they psychologically keep their act together. It was even said Sevilla could pull the shocker and make Madrid’s situation even worse. Well, that didn’t happen. In fact, if Madrid hadn’t wore red I would say the stations trick us and put on last years 2-6 hammering. Real Madrid came out biting from the start and in the 10^th minute it was the man most critized after the Clasico, Ronaoldo, who opened the floodgates after a marvelous pass by Di Maria. Sevilla did not panic after the goal and just two minute later had a great opportunity to score when Manu del Moral found himself right in front of Casillas’ goal with half of the goal to work with, but somehow San Iker managed to get a hand on it to make not just the save of 2011, but the 2^nd best save in history (1^st being the one he save coincidently in the Sanchez Pizjuan against Perotti in 2009).

Sevilla had controlled most of the 1^st half, but Casillas in goal and great defending kept the score line 0-1. When best Sevilla was playing, it was Real Madrid who would extend there with Di Maria being once again the improviser putting a ball into the middle of the box just being touch by Callejon, which gave it just enough lift to go past the keeper into the net. If Sevilla felt they still had a chance, that air would soon be let out a few minutes later CR7 blasted the ball from about 30 yards into the top right hand corner of goal to make it 0-3.

Real Madrid had more control in the 2^nd half and added another three goals from Di Maria, CR7 to complete his hat trick, and even Altintop would join the party right at the end of the game. A goal that would have the entire Madrid bench laughing.

Sevilla however were able to get two conciliation goals, but their missed opportunities condemned them to a repeat score line of last seasons game. Real Madrid now end 2011 on a bang with a 2-6 victory and in 1^st place with a three-point gap of Barcelona.

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona Recap

By El Maestro

A game that started with so promise when a bluff by Valdez allowed Real Madrid to go up in the first 22 seconds of the game ended in despair. Missed opportunities, certain players not stepping up, and Barcelona in front condemned Madrid to a crushing loss at home. When Benzema scored that early goal, there was a sense that something big was going to happen. Unfortunately, something big did happen, but on the contrary of what Madridistas had in mind. What was suppose to be a Real Madrid victory that would have widen the gap by nine points and put the La Liga title on ice, turned into a Real Madrid meltdown. Madrid controlled the first 25 minutes of the game, but pit-by-pit Barcelona began to come into play and tied the game in the 30^th minute. A goal that Mou was much critical about in the post-game press conference. Despite the goal, Madrid still had a chance to win the game, but a shot by Xavi in the first five minutes of the 2^nd half which deflected off Marcelo made it 1-2. After the game, Mou commented that luck was a defining factor in Barcelona’s victory. Something that most of the press would soon rebut, but it doesn’t take a Harvard degree to know that goal was pure luck Despite Madrid’s bad performance, they still had a chance to tie the game when a beautiful cross by Xabi found Ronaldo alone with Valdez, but somehow headed wide. A great man once said, “Goals you don’t score, they score on you”. That was proven a few minutes later when a Barcelona counter attack concluded with Dani Alves making a cross towards the middle to Cesc, who beat his marker Coentrao, to head it past Casillas to make it 1-3 and send the Catalans back to Barcelona happy.

Mourinho: Mourinho is without a doubt the best coach Real Madrid has had since Miguel Munoz. All Madridistas know that, but there were some things against Barcelona I just did not agree with. Starting with a 4-2-3-1 with Countrao at right back, Lass in the midfield, and Ozil in the starting 11.

Coentrao: I don’t agree with the critics who believe he is one of the biggest busts in Real Madrid history. He has down a great job at left back, a good job in the midfield and every other position he has been called to play at; including right back. With Arbeloa being out for the past few weeks, I can understand the reason to start Coentrao, but to put him in a position that he is not accustom to and against Barcelona was probably not the best solution. For sure when Guardiola saw Coentrao on his opposite side he knew in order to win he had to try to exploit that and when he noticed Alexis couldn’t get the job done, he changed the formation to get Cesc to attack that side, which proved costly.

Lass: Yes, he did do a great job containing Messi, but Real Madrid has never played well when he is paired up with Xabi. He is a destructor and when he is in the mid very few opponents go thorough. He also does have great technical skills, but he stills struggles in attack when he has to bring up the ball. Lass is a great solution if you want to disrupt Barcelona’s midfield, but if you expect the team to play well then you would need another solution.

Ozil: He is a phenomenal player and there is no doubt he could be a future Golden Ball winner, but this year he has been unnoticeable. In La Liga he has 0 goals and only 5 assists, and has not made much of a difference in the previous games. In fact, Kaka, who everyone thought was done, has done more in that same position than Ozil. Even Callejon who has played less than half the minutes has done more than Ozil. Is it a problem of character, a problem of pressure, a problem of maturity, or the responsibility of caring the number 10 jersey; not many people know. Either way, one of these reasons has caused Ozil to be off for most of the season. 

Ronaldo: We all know CR7 is one of the most hard working players in the world and he is technically better than Messi due to what he can bring to the table, but against Barcelona Ronaldo struggles to do what he usually tends to do. It’s not just he didn’t show up to play, it’s also the fact that he missed two clear opportunities that would have had an enormous outcome on the game. Whenever he plays against Barcelona, he puts added pressure on himself knowing he wants to prove he is the best in the world, he is better than Messi, and he can show up against los Cules. My advice would be to just relax, do not think in all that stuff and just focus on doing what he does best.

The Controversy

Although I don’t want to bring the referees in this discussion, I must say there were two plays in the game that had a big effect.

Messi’s foul on Xabi: Messi already was caring a yellow card and he commits a foul on Xabi that disrupt Madrid’s attack that could have resulted in a very dangerous counter attack. If Messi had been given the second yellow card, Barcelona would have been down 10 men and there is a difference between playing with 10 and playing with 11. The better question is if it had been a Real Madrid player committing that exact foul with a yellow card on him, would the referee be as forgiving.

Xavi’s 2^nd goal: Strangely not many journalists have touched on this matter, but before the ball reaches Xavi, it is deflected away by Pepe who cut off a pass to Cesc who is offside. Although Cesc does not make contact with the ball, he does participate in the play, which means the play should have been called offside. Also, another thing people have not noticed is when Cesc receives the pass, he is not inches offside, but a great distance offside. A distance that not even the worst professional linesman can miss.

 

Sporting de Gijon vs. Real Madrid Recap

By El Maestro

One of the most underrated games of the year. Although Sporting is not a big name opponent nor a contender for the La Liga title, playing against Manolo Preciado’s men is never an easy task and especially not in El Molinon that turns into a hostile environment when Real Madrid comes into town (then again what stadium doesn’t turn hostile when Madrid arrives).

Any average soccer fan knows what to expect when their team visits Gijon: defensive, aggressive, hard nose, counter attacking soccer. Sort of like the English style only without the long ball attack. & if there is any team who knows about this it’s Real Madrid who last season watched as Sporting Gijon practically killed their chances of winning the league title with the 0-1 victory in the Santiago Bernabeu that also saw Mourinho’s nine year home winning streak come to an end.

Real Madrid entered the game with a slight edge of concern after the trans currents of the pass  week. Farsa defender, Gerald Pique, not being suspended an extra game for intentionally forcing a yellow in Tuesday’s game against Rayo (which would have suspended him for the Clasico) and Vasco referee, Iturralde Gonzalez, being named to call the Sporting vs. Real Madrid game worried Madridistas of a possible Villarato. At the beginning it sure looked liked it when Iturralde kicked out assistant Rui Faria in the first 13 minutes of play and yellow carded Callejon from the bench; both for arguing. Luckily, not all was against Real Madrid as he yellow carded Sporting substitute Bilic for the same reason just a few minutes later, but then things just got out of hand. In fact, out of the eight yellow cards he gave, four were for arguing and, as I commented before, two went to players on the bench. It was clear Iturralde was in no mood to take orders from anyone and made clear he was in charge.

But anyway, off to the game recap. The first half an hour was very intense with Sporting playing, as I said before, hard nose soccer and trying to disrupt the flow of the game. With Sporting’s style, it looked like only a mistake was going to break the Gijon defense and a mistake it was in the 33^rd minutes when a badly controlled ball by Damian Suarez was stolen by Di Maria who then took the opportunity to score a magnificent goal by curving it through Juan Pablo’s first post.

The goal gave Real Madrid breathing space and allowed them to play with more ease and control. The 2^nd was more of the same with both teams grinding it out, but it would be Madrid who would pull through after a beautiful through ball by “el Gremlin” (Di Maria) found CR7 who rounded the keeper to make it 0-2. The second goal took the air out of Sporting and just when everyone thought it was going to end that way, it was Marcelo who put the finishing touches to give Real Madrid a hard fought win. Three points that maintain the distance with Barcelona (3 points with a game less) and with the Clasico next weekend.

Key Players

 

Marcelo: Great goal, very effective on the left side.

 

Di Maria: Outstanding performance, man of the match. A goal and an assist.

 

CR7: Iron Man! Suffered a sprained foot against Atletico and still played.

 

Lass & Khedira: Handled the midfield really well despite Xabi’s absence.

 

 

Real Madrid 4 – Patetico de Madrid 1 : Se Busca Rival Digno Para Un Derbi Decente

By von Doom and El Maestro

So this entry is a little late, as the vagaries of life, the inordinately long food coma, and the long Thanksgiving Holiday kept your intrepid chroniclers of all things Madridista from filing this long overdue report.

In any case, and most unfortunately, there was very little to report from this latest edition of what was once a proud derbi, but has since become a mere tramite on the calendar.   El Derbi, outside of El Clasico, was at one time one of the premier matchups of the La Liga calendar – a duel that promised action, hard-nosed defensive play, copious amounts of smack-talking before (and after the game) and a fair bit of drama on the pitch (and in the stands).

However, ever since the death of the Don Corleone-like Atletico president Jesus Gil y Gil in 2004, (and Atletico’s spell in Segunda Division in the 2001 and 2002 season), Atletico’s persistent ineptitude has effectively destroyed any drama that once enveloped the rivalry.   The gulf between the two teams has grown ever larger as the years roll on, and what was once a “rivalry” is now woefully one-sided.  The numbers, as we will show you paint a grim picture.

“10 years without winning a derby…” The nightmare continues…

• Iker Casillas has never lost a game to Atletico Madrid as a starter.
• Atletico Madrid has not beaten Real Madrid since October 30, 1999, when Los Colchoneros beat Los Merengues 1-3 at the Bernabeu.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (!?!) was the striker last time el Patetico beat el Madrid.. wow.

• There have been 26 meetings between the two sides since that game, with Atletico compiling an astounding 0-6-20 record.

So we ask ourselves – what has accounted for this?  The answer is simple – you have one of the most rabid, loyal fanbases in world football – perhaps matched  in Europe only by Liverpool, Manchester United or Athletic Bilbao coupled with a management structure that promotes mismanagement and incompetence.   To make things worse, it is a weird masochistic and self-perpetuating cycle as the very fans who complain so much about the team and their (relative lack of success) continue to support (via their attendance at matches and merchandise sales) the very people they claim to hate so much and constantly accuse of killing their team.

This disfunction is one of the many reasons Madridistas openly mock their cross town cousins as el Patetico – because in essence they really are.   The disfunction that is endemic to el Patetico would never be tolerated by los Madridistas – in Chamartin clowns like the Gils and President Enrique Cerezo would have been tossed on their incompetent asses long ago.  In Chamartin, footballing cracks like Forlan and Aguero would have been treated with some respect by a grateful fanbase for winning a Europa League and a European SuperCopa. Instead, they were ushered out the back door in a classless manner, the club acting like the unprofessional douchebags they display themselves to be time and time again.   In short,  Atletico is a self-perpetuating mess.  Their fanbase take some sick satisfaction in being losers – it seems, to me at least, that they would not even know what to do with success, and in some weird psychological phenomenon would figure out ways to sabotage that success by reverting to form.  I think the way they summarily gutted their 2010 Europa League winning team in 6 months after the World Cup is testament to that phenomenon.   And so it goes.. and goes… what a shame and what a waste.

“We seek a worthy rival for a decent derby” .. if you are a Patetico fan.. this should embarass you.

So at this point we are asking ourselves.. is it really a rivalry if one side always wins?   A rivalry, by its very definition implies some type of competition... right?

In any case, on to the game highlights..

El Patetico, as promised by the trainer Manzano, came out with guns blazing and played a very physical tough-nose matchup.  Spanish U-21 international and former Deportivista Adrian did a nice move on a one-to-one and beat Iker on to go ahead 0-1.

Adrian slots it past Iker…

Real Madrid generally played a bad game, they lacked the crispness of weeks past, but the difference from seasons past is that this Madrid is able to retain control of these games with much greater facility than they did in seasons past.   However, Manzano’s strategy began to backfire on him on an incursion by Benze-CRACK into the area where he was promptly tackled by the Belgian international goalie Courtois, leaving el Patetico a man down after 30′ .  Former Atletico promesa Sergio Asenjo came in relief at goal with Brazilian midfield stud Diego Costa inexplicably coming out of the game.  CR7 converted the penalty to equalize the game at 1-1, and so it went with that scoreline until the half.

Courtois tackling Benzema for the Roja Directa

Once Real Madrid went up a man the game quickly degenerated into a slugfest, with scarcely any football to speak of.   El Patetico lived up to its mocking nickname as they played with no class, no ideas, and even less futbol.   A rocket golazo by Di Maria at the beginning of the second half, a sick juke move by Pipita against Asenjo and a later second penalty by CR7 made it 4-1 to ice the game.

Air Pipita = Goal Machine

The tactical analysis after watching a crap game like this would be pointless.  Why?  There were no tactics, other than Patetico’s default strategy of beating the crap of Madrid’s strikers.

A bit late, but there you have it.  The winning streak continues to 13 games and followed by el Farsa’s later pinchazo against Getafe left el Madrid 6 points clear of the second place Farsistas… the Clasico matchup in the Bernabeu on the 10th looms ever larger.

!HALA MADRID!