Mallorca vs. Real Madrid Recap

By El Maestro

After the defeat in the Champions League in mid week, Real Madrid responded by thrashing Mallorca 0-5. Despite criticism of Essien at left back after his bad performance against Dortmund, Mou came out with the same back line from Wednesday, as well as starting Modric in midfield for the injured Khedira, and Higuain at strker.

From the first whistle, Real Madrid pressured Mallorca in their half, and had a dream start when a defensive miscue allowed Higuain to blast his shot past Mallorca keeper Dudu Aouate for the 0-1 lead in the 7th minute. After that, it was complete one way traffic for Real Madrid. Mallorca was clearly no match Real Madrid, who blew throw the islanders like a hurricane. However, if Mallorca thought for a minute they still had a chance in this game, that would soon be diminished in the 22nd minute after another defensive mishap and great ball movement between Ozil, Di Maria, and Higuain, eventually was put away by “La Maquina” to make it 0-2. Ronaldo did have another opportunity to score when a good pass from Ozil put him in position to make it 0-3, but couldn’t control his shot and sent it over the bar.

The 2nd half was much of the same: Real Madrid dominating and Mallorca doing what they could to survive. After much control by the whites, Madrid would extend their lead in the 69th minute when  Ronaldo’s through ball found a wide open Higuain who slammed it home for his second goal of the game. “El Pipita” would return the favor just three minutes later, providing the decisive pass for Ronaldo who broke through to slide it past Aouate for the 0-4 score line. A goal that was quite savored by “La Maquina” who shut up the Iberostar Estadi after being taunted the entire game. That fourth goal gave Mou the opportunity to give the non-usual starters a chance to gets some minutes. Such as Callejon who came on for Di Maria seconds after Ronaldo’s goal. Then came in Alvaro Morata for Higuain just minutes after Callejon. Lastly, it would be Albiol to come on for Xabi, who left the game with an injury. Even with these changes, there was still one more goal for Madrid. In stoppage time, a good lob pass from Morata was centered by Ozil and taped in by Callejon to make it 0-5 and keep the eight point margin with Barcelona.

 

Borussia Dortmund vs. Real Madrid Recap

By El Maestro

After almost three years unbeaten, Real Madrid suffered their first group stage defeat to German opposition Borussia Dortmund. Madrid’s bad luck on German soil continues as they have not won in that country since beating Bayer Leverkusen in 2000.

Mou made no changes to the back line, keeping Ramos and Essien at right and left back, and Varane in the center. Returning to the lineup was Khedira, coming back from his injury, and Di Maria. Real Madrid looked good in the opening minutes and almost took the lead after a good run by Ronaldo was crossed to Ozil, but could not get a foot on the ball to put it away. Madrid was strong in attack, and it seemed that it was just a moment of time before Mou’s team open the scoring. However, things would change in the 20th minute when Khedira went down with the same injury and was taken off for Modric. Although Madrid gained more creativity, they lost that big defensive player in midfield. Also taking into consideration an inexperience left back and Ramos at right back meant that Madrid fans were in for quite a match. Dortmund began to take full advantage of those weaknesses and created some opportunities in which the defense and Casillas were called to take action. Unfortunately, Madrid would find themselves down in the 36th minute after a terrible give away by Pepe concluded with Levandowski putting Dortmund up 1-0.

However, Real Madrid would quickly respond two minutes later after a great pass from Ozil found Ronaldo who gently lifted the ball over the keeper to tie the match.

The 2nd half was much of the same with both doing what they could to win. Dortmund almost regained the lead in the early minutes of the second half when was Gotze, all alone in the middle, was presented with a great opportunity, but his shot was spectacularly stopped by Casillas. Real Madrid tried to get an attack going, but seemed to lack a little bit of that final touch. While Madrid struggled with those problems, Dortmund was making a field day of Madrid’s left flank and created opportunities that called for Casillas to act. However, just when Casillas was showing his worth for the first time in a long long time, he quickly became Pajillas again after not getting a good punch on a cross and leaving the ball for Schmelzer who shot it into the back of the net to make it 2-1.

For the second time, Real Madrid found themselves down and would need to dig deep to turn the game around. Madrid went all out to find the equalizer, but struggled to break through a strong Dortmund defense. With everything on the line, Mou tried to shake things up by putting in Higuain for Benzema. In other words, taking off Benzema’s flair for Higuain’s goal instinct, but it was no use.

 

With the win, Dortmund now sit in first with seven points while Madrid drop to second with six. This means the match in the Bernabeu is a must win if Real Madrid want to regain the first place position. By that time, Madrid will hope to have either Coentrao or Arbeloa recovered to play at left back. It was clear that Dortmund took full advantage of that left side and the key for the return game is to have an experienced defender in that position. Whether it’s Coentrao, Arbeloa or even Nacho, one of them must be in that position because Dortmund will no doubt go their again.

Real Madrid vs. Celta de Vigo Recap

By El Maestro

After a draw in the Clasico and a two week international break, Real Madrid were looking to continue their league form against Celta and apply some pressure on Barcelona who played later on Saturday. The international break, however, did not bring good news for Real Madrid as they lost Marcelo for three months, Coentrao for one month, and Arbeloa for a few weeks. In other words, we lost our two left backs and only right back, which means Mou would have to think of something to cover those positions in the mean time. After much speculation of who and what formation he would come out with, Mou started Ramos and Essien at right and left back, and Varane to partner Pepe in the center. He also came out with Modric, Kaka, and Ozil in midfield, and Higuain up top. Leaving Di Maria and Benzema on the bench.

Real Madrid came out strong in the early minutes and were determined to score quick. With eleven minutes gone by, Madrid would take the lead after Higuain made something out of nothing.

A simple cross that looked like was going no where, ended up in the top corner of the net for the 1-0 lead.

However, Madrid’s form began to drop after 20 minutes, which allowed Celta to get some ideas going. The Galician side would have one dangerous opportunity in the first half, but Iago Aspas’ shot was stopped by Casillas. On the other hand, Ronaldo had two chances of his own to extend Madrid’s lead, but couldn’t get a good header on his first opportunity and the second hit the top of the bar.

Before the start of the 2nd half, Mou tried to give Madrid more creativity and explosiveness by taking off Kaka for Di Maria. Real Madrid had a slight improvement in the 2nd half, but it was clear they were missing that final touch. Madrid would extend the lead midway into the 2nd half after Ozil was taken down in the box and rewarded a penalty. Up stepped Ronaldo who scored and got his 9th goal of the league campaign.

After the goal, the game provided very little.

Callejon came in and almost scored three seconds after coming on. Casillas almost had a costly bobble, which could have made for some nervy final minutes. Also, Casillas got yellow carded for the first time in who knows how long after miscalculating his dive and touching the ball outside the box.

Celta did have two opportunities in the final minutes to at lease cut a goal back, but they were both stopped again by Casillas. With that, the game came to an end and Real Madrid got the three points. It was not a pretty win, but it allows Madrid to stay within distance of Barcelona. Now Real Madrid will turn their attention to Wednesday’s Champions League match up against Borussia Dortmund. Where the question will be once again, what will Mou do at right and left back?

Barcelona vs. Real Madrid Recap

By El Maestro

Not the ideal result, but we’ll take it.

After 90 minutes of strong, attacking football, Real Madrid leave the Camp Nou with a 2-2 draw and remain eight points behind Barcelona. With both Pique and Puyol out due to injuries, Mou was determined to attack Barcelona from the start by coming out with his traditional 4-2-3-1 lineup.

 Casillas

Arbeloa Pepe Ramos Marcelo

Khedira Alonso

Di Maria Ozil Ronaldo

Benzema

From the start, Real Madrid pressured Barcelona in their own half and made things very difficult for them. While Barcelona was the team with the possesion, Madrid was the team actually trying to create chances, and had a great opportunity in the first ten minutes when Di Maria cross found a wide open Benzema, but his shot went well wide of the goal. However, after 23 minutes of play, Real Madrid would finally break the stalemate when great ball movement allowed Ronaldo to be open on the left hand side and blast his shot past Valdes for the 0-1 score line.

“Calma, que aquí estoy yo”

With the 0-1 lead, Real Madrid went all out to get that second goal and had another great opportunity just minutes later, but Benzema’s shot hit the post and Di Maria couldn’t put it away on the rebound. Unfortunately, that miss would prove costly in the 31st minute when a terrible mistake by Pepe allowed “el enano” to tie the game and enter halftime at 1-1.

In the 2nd half, Real Madrid continued attacking and could have been reward a penalty in the early minutes when it looked like Mascherano took down Ozil, but the referee waved it off.

Later, Barcelona had a complaint of their own when Iniesta went down after ‘supposedly’ being tripped by Pepe, but again the ref let play go on.

In 61st minute, Madrid’s hopes of turning La Liga around looked to be in jeperdy when Messi scored from a free kick to make it 2-1. It was a cheeky goal as video shows that Messi push the ball back a few feet while the referee wasn’t looking, but Madrid were now down in the match.

Despite the goal, Real Madrid did not panic and pushed forward for the equalizer. Then in the 66th minute, Madrid would strike back after a wonderful through ball by Ozil found Ronaldo, who broke the offside trap, and got it past Valdes make it 2-2.

After the goal, both teams had their fair share of chances to win it. Higuain, who had come in earlier for Benzema, had a shot that went wide, Montoya hit the post, and Pedro broke loose in stoppage time, but his shot missed the goal.

Although the draw does very little for Real Madrid in the league standings, they can take out a lot of positives from this game. Such as being in full control of the game in the 1st half and up until the 60th minute in the 2nd half, having Barcelona against the ropes, and approaching the game with the right kind of attitude that is needed to play these matches. However, Madrid also need to improve in certain areas: avoiding those defensive mishaps (like in the first goal) and FINISHING. Still, Madrid played a great game and it will no doubt give them a ton confidence as the season progresses.

In terms of La Liga, Madrid did miss a good opportunity to shorten the lead. Now Real Madrid are going to have to win all their games, and hope Barcelona drop at least five points before the next Clasico in March. The good thing is this was only the 7th game of the season and there are still many league games to be played. Not to mention Real Madrid have been finding their form in recent weeks and Barcelona still don’t look like the team of previous years. If there is one thing for sure, Real Madrid will fight until the end for the league title.

!Hala Madrid!

Ajax vs. Real Madrid Recap

By El Maestro

After Sunday’s thrashing of Deportivo, Real Madrid were looking to do the same in their second Champions League group match against Ajax. With the Clasico on Sunday, Mou decided to make some changes by starting Essien, Kaka and Callejon, and leaving Khedira, Modric, and Ozil on the bench.

It’s clear that the Champions League provides an extra motivation. Real Madrid dominated Ajax during the first 45 minutes and created numerous opportunities. Ronaldo had the first great chance in the 14th minute when he was one on one with the keeper, but couldn’t beat Vermeer. Then Kaka, who looked like the Kaka of old, had his own opportunity when he took on a few Ajax defenders and got his shot off only to be stopped again by Vermeer, who would then block Benzema’s shot on the rebound. Like in previous matches, Real Madrid were doing everything right except putting the ball into the back of the net against an Ajax side who had not shot once at goal in the 1st half. However, just when it looked like Ajax would enter the half 0-0, a great run by Benzema concluded with his cross being deflected and pounced on by Ronaldo who tapped it in for the 0-1 score line.

In the 2nd, Real Madrid continued to play the same, while Ajax looked to be a more open and attacking side. Despite Ajax’s change of mentality, Madrid would extend their lead just three minutes after the restart on what will be one of the best goals of the season.

A poor Ajax free kick is headed away by Arbeloa and cleared by Callejon. The ball is brought down by Benzema who leaves it for Marcelo. Marcelo then takes off and puts a good through ball for Kaka. Using his vision, Kaka makes a great pass to a wide open Benzema who bicycle kicks it into the back of the net.

With a 0-2 lead, it looked like the game was over until a terrible mistake by Casillas allowed Niklas Moisander to easily home a goal to make it 1-2. Madrid were now on their heals as Ajax began to go all out for the equalizer. With that, Mou tried to give the team more spark when he took off Callejon for Di Maria. Instantly, Di Maria would have a great chance to score when he beat his man inside and had a nice powerful shot on goal, but once against was blocked by Vermeer. Ajax would have a golden opportunity in the 68th minute when Ryan Babel’s cross was missed by De Jong, but dropped into the feet of Hoesen. With Casillas’ distraction, Hoesen had half a goal open to himself, but could not control his shot and sent it over the bar. Real Madrid would eventually regain their two goal lead after a great combination between Benzema and Ronaldo allowed “La Maquina” to beat Vermeer from long range with a well placed shot into the bottom right hand corner. Madrid would then ice the game just a minute later after a wonderful through ball by Khedira was beautifully chip into the goal by Ronaldo to give Mou’s men the victory and Ronaldo his first hat trick of the new Champions League season.

Real Madrid now sit alone in first place with 6 points. On match day 3, Madrid will travel to Germany to take Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund, who lie second in the group.

With the Champions League fixture out of the way, Real Madrid will now turn their full attention to Sunday’s decisive La Liga match against Barcelona.

!Hala Madrid! !A por los Cules!