3-0, goals by Di Maria and Callejon (2), and off to the next round. There is not much else I can say about this game. Mou only called 16 players for this game, and started four canteranos: Nacho, Jose Rodriguez, Denis Cheryshev, and Morata.
History was also made by Denis Cheryshev, who became the first Russian international to play an official game for Real Madrid.
The only bad news was that Albiol was forced to leave in the first minute after picking an injury and could be out for a period of time.
Game Summary:
Di Maria- 71 minute
Callejon- 89 minute
Callejon- 92 minute
Real Madrid now moves on to the round of 16, where they will face either Almeria or Celta.
Very nice, now time to focus on the Derbi against Atletico on Saturday.
Real Madrid’s hopes of trying to turn around this La Liga season might have taken a big hit this Saturday. Madrid left the Benito Villamarin with a 1-0 loss to Betis after a 17th minute strike by Beñat, which now leaves Mou’s team 11 points behind Barcelona with their 4-0 win over Levante.
Match Recap:
There are not very good things I could say about Real Madrid’s performance. In the 1st half, most of the team seemed to be on vacation. In the 2nd half, Madrid was more awake and attacked with more enthusiasm, but nothing came of it.
1st Half: After a very shaky start to the game, Real Madrid bit by bit began to get some ideas going, and created the first opportunity of the game through Ronaldo, but his shot was stopped by the keeper. However, things would start to go wrong in the 17th minute after a series of mistakes allowed Beñat to shoot from long range and place it into the bottom corner of the net. Down a goal, Real Madrid pushed forward for the equalizer, but lacked the creativity to beat Betis’ strong defense. Excluding Di Maria’s deflected shot, that just went over the the bar, and Benzema’s disallowed goal, Madrid did not create any chances to score.
2nd Half: Before the restart, Mou tried to give the team more creativity by taking off a struggling Khedira and Ozil, for Modric and Kaka. The changes had some effect on the team in the 2nd half, but Real Madrid still struggled to get past the side from Andalusia. Ten minutes into the 2nd half, Madrid thought they had tied the game when Benzema broke Betis’ offside trap and scored, but was called off due to an offside, when images clearly show Benzecrack was onside.
Even though Betis was making it hard for Real Madrid, they continued to attack and created some dangerous opportunities. First was Ronaldo’s shot in the 61th minutes that was slightly touched by the keeper and rolled loose in the 6 yard box for Benzema to put away, but it was cleared before the he could reach it. A minute later, Kaka tried his luck from long range with a dangerous shot, but it was stopped by Betis goalkeeper, Adrian.
Betis would have two opportunities of their own through Salva Sevilla and Ruben Castro, but they could not finish them.
In the 82nd minute, it would be “La Maquina” with another opportunity to score from a dangerous free kick, but his shot was stopped once again by Adrian. Then a minute later, Real Madrid would have their best opportunity of the game when Modric’s corner was headed by Pepe, and presented Benzema with a free header in the 6 yard box, but was incredibly stopped by Adrian. In the final minute, Madrid would appeal for a penalty after the ball clearly stuck Betis defender, Nosa, in the arm, but the referee did not call it.
1-0 lost, and Real Madrid now find themselves down 11 points to Barcelona in November.
On Friday November 9th, Del Bosque made his team call ups for Spain’s cross Atlantic match against Panama. Much to the surprise of many, “el Bigoton” left off many usual players such as Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Arbeloa, Pepe Reina, and “el paquete” Torres. Instead, he called up Athletic Bilbao midfielder, Markel Susaeta and Chelsea’s Juan Mata, who was left off the Spain matches against Belarus and France last month. However, there was one new face that has gone unnoticed by the press, but is causing a big controversy: Barcelona right back, Martin Montoya.
Montoya is an up and coming player, and could be the future right back for Barcelona. Nevertheless, my problem with this issue is that Montoya has only played 6 games this season, and a total of 13 with the first team.
So my question is why take Montoya when you have other experienced right backs?
Right now, Spain is the best national team in the world. Meaning we have the best players. Surely there are other top class Spanish right backs who have been starting for their club teams on a regular bases and are more deserving of a call up. Such as Iraola from Athletic Bilbao or Azpilicueta from Chelsea.
Why? Because Del Bosque is still continuing with his love affair with Barcelona and his resentfulness towards Real Madrid.
First of all, Del Bosque is not a world class or even top class manager like the press tries to sell him. He’s a decent coach whose been lucky to take charge of this Spain team that was already built by Luis Aragones. All he has to do is keep them happy and tell them to play the way they know. In fact, you could have put a monkey to coach Spain in the 2010 World Cup and in this summers Euro, and Spain would have won both tournaments the exact same way.
His love affair with Barcelona:
Del Bosque calls up almost every good Spanish product that comes from the Catalan side. He quickly called up Pique and Busquets just six months after making their first team debuts in the 2008-2009 season, neglecting players like Amorebieta and Arteta. However, the reason I’m writing this is not because of Pique, Busquets, or Pedro because they were starters and playing very well in those times, but bacause of Thiago and Montoya.
Before the 2011-2012 campaign Thiago had made a total of 17 appearances the season before, but had an outstanding 2011 Euro under-21 tournament that summer with Spain where he was named MVP. I guess that was enough for “el Bigoton” as he called him for the August 2011 match against Italy where he made his debut. After that, Del Bosque continued to call him a few more times that season and even made his official debut just a month later against Liechtenstein. Thiago is a young prospect and is another one for the future, but to bring him to the national team when he wasn’t a regular on Barcelona’s first team at the time was absurd and disrespectful to other midfielders who were starters in their teams.
What was Del Bosque’s most controversial call up was Martin Montoya. Another Barcelona product who had only made two appearances with the first team before the 2011-2012 season, but was also on the Spain under-21 team for the Euro. Yet when Del Bosque made his team call ups for two games in September 2011, one of the players included was Montoya. This season, after being a backup for Dani Alves and only playing 6 games (some starts, others off the bench), Del Bosque decided to give the young catalan another opportunity to represent the national team.
While the press is trying to sell “el Bigoton” as a world class and humble coach (all lies), no one wants to talk about that this is just another one of the disrespectful things Del Bosque has done since being the Spanish National team coach.
Disrespect, whatever do you mean?
– Calling center defenders like Botia, Alvaro Dominguez and Albiol, and starting Busquets at full back.
– Playing with a “falso nueve” when he had three strikers on the bench.
– Substituting Torres for Cesc in the 4-0 thrashing of Ireland when already up 3-0 and having Negredo and Llorente on the bench.
– Putting in Mata for the last few minutes in the final against Italy when he hadn’t played in the a minute in the previous matches.
– Calling Thiago and Montoya, who were not regulars on Barcelona, and neglecting other regular starting Spanish players on their respectful clubs.
Not just does Del Bosque have this love affair with Barcelona, he doesn’t seem to make any necessary changes to the squad and always brings in the same players. Even when he does make a necessary change, it takes him a long time to realize it.
For example, when Del Bosque first took charge in August of 2008, Dani Guiza had just signed for Turkish side Fenerbahce. Now, just playing in that league, Guiza should have never been called back to the national time, but Del Bosque included him in his first call ups, which was understanding at the time. However, he continued to call him for every Spain match going through the Confederations Cup, and it wasn’t until the final calling for the World Cup squad that he decided to leave Guiza out. If he had pure common sense, Del Bosque would have dropped him in November of 2008.
I’m not talking about slight changes, such as one player has had a small drop in form and should be left off. I mean obvious changes that even a drunk blind person would realize. Before the Euro, Torres had only scored a total of 12 goals in 18 months for Chelsea in all competitions, and yet Del Bosque still selected him. Albiol is not a regular starter at Real Madrid and he still goes with Spain. Villa is still trying to find his feet at Barcelona since his injury, and Del Bosque’s last three squad call ups (September, October and November) since the 2012 Euro have all included “El Guaje”. What’s funny is when asked about Villa, his comments were he needed to give Villa minutes.
The national team’s coaches responsibility is not to give injured players minutes, it’s to call up the best players in the country.
Even some of his Euro 2012 squad selections were ridiculous: Torres, Negredo and Pedro. Torres had done nothing at Chelsea and was even a backup during the Champions League final against Bayern. Negredo had a very sub par season at Sevilla, and the only good game Pedro played last season was the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao.
While he continues with his love affair with Barcelona and bringing in the usual group to the Spain matches, Del Bosque neglects a lot of more talented players that would be more beneficial for Spain.
Last season, Soldado scored 27 goals in all competitions for Valecia, more than Torres (11) and Negredo (14) combined. Adrian scored 19 goals for Atletico de Madrid and was a key player in their European success. Iker Muniain had a fantastic season with Bilbao and was crucial for Athletic in reaching two finals. While Albiol hasn’t been a regular starter, Amorebieta has been starting for Athletic for years and is one of the best center backs in La Liga.
Surely, they all would have been better options for Spain in the Euro. Out of all these players, the only one who is breaking bit by bit into the national team is Soldado. However, the rest seem to have a much more difficult chance, and even Amorebieta gave up that pursuit last year when he decided to play with Venezuela. Ironically, that decision came shortly after Del Bosque’s first call up of Montoya.
Del Bosque’s resentfulness towards Real Madrid:
Del Bosque is resentful towards Real Madrid. He doesn’t want anything to do with “the Whites” as long Florentino is the President. How do I know this?
From the comments he’s made in the past few years.
It’s been nine years since Del Bosque left Real Madrid and he still hasn’t gotten over the fact that Madrid didn’t renew his contract. YES, MADRID DIDN’T RENEW HIS CONTRACT!!!!!!
Florentino didn’t fire him after winning the 2002/2003 La Liga title and verbally tell him in a hall way like the Spanish media has been trying to sell us for years. His contract was up, and Real Madrid (led by Florentino and Valdano) decided not to renew it after Del Bosque initially rejected the first offer because he wanted more money (world class coach money). It also wasn’t Florentino who told him in a nonprofessional manner. It was Jorge ‘Mentiroso’ Valdano who told Del Bosque in a hall way he was no longer the coach of Real Madrid. Yes, the man ‘piperos’ defend as the ideal gentleman for Real Madrid, was the one who told Del Bosque in a hall way (real gentleman like).
Del Bosque is not the gentleman people think he is, and is a complete fraud as a coach.
Del Bosque the gentleman: After nine years, a real gentleman would have let problems like those go a long time ago and moved forward. A real gentleman would be much more respectful and caring towards the club that made him the person he is today. A real gentleman would have gone to receive the insignia offered by his former club as a token of his Madridismo and achivements at the club.
Del Bosque the coach: Del Bosque has been lucky in these last twelve years. He grabbed a Real Madrid team filled with stars like Raul, Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Makelele, and won 2 league and Champions League titles in four years. Once again, he got lucky in 2008 when he was named the Spanish national team coach that had just come off winning the 2008 Euro with Luis Aragones, and was a team completely built from keeper to strikers.
Del Bosque is the kind of person you bring to watch over something that has just been built. Nothing breaks, nothing changes, but that’s it. He’s not going to improve anything.
Del Bosque has never been a great coach. Besides a small few month coaching stint with Real Madrid in the mid 90s, his first real professional coaching experience began in the middle of the 1999/2000 season when he took over for John Toshack.
I’ll give him credit, he did turn that season around and managed to bring Real Madrid it’s eighth Champions League title.
Then came Florentino in 2000, “el Bigoton” stayed until 2003, went Turkey, choked, and did not have another coaching job until 2008. Del Bosque has been fortuned to have taken over two completely built teams where all he’s had to do was make the lineups. However, like in his experience in Turkey, when he has to built the team on his own, he doesn’t know what to do.
The press:
The reason ‘piperos’ don’t criticize “el Marquez” is because he’s a ‘gentleman’and obeys them. He fits the ‘unwritten’ protocol a coach managing in Spain must have. On camera, he doesn’t cause problems with anyone, he gives the press liberty to speak to him and the players, and is ‘respectful’ with everything.
This has caused Del Bosque to be highly protected by the Spanish press. In fact, a person who speaks ill of Del Bosque is frowned abound and ostracized. Which would explain why no one wants to talk about his no show to pick up the Real Madrid insignia or his controversial call ups.
Conclusion:
What is the real truth. Del Bosque is a fraud both as a person and coach. He’s resentful towards Real Madrid and is getting back at them by being more involved with Barcelona. He is not, has never, and will never be a world class coach.
Finally, I end this article with two questions to those ‘piperos’ who adore Del Bosque
1. If Del Bosque was really a pure ‘gentleman’, why didn’t he pick up the insignia Real Madrid offered him.
2. If Del Bosque was really a great coach, why didn’t he get any offers from World class clubs (Man U., Milan, Chelsea, Inter, etc.)in the fours years he was unemployed (2004-2008)?
See what happens when you don’t score, you get robbed………. AGAIN!!!!
After a brilliant start that saw Real Madrid take the lead in the 10th minute threw Benzema, Madrid left the the Etihad Stadium with a 1-1 draw through a very controversial penalty. In the 1st half, Real Madrid dominated City and should have finished the game after the half an hour mark when they created up to 4 dangerous opportunities (3 from Khedira and a 1-on-1 from Ronaldo), but could not finish them. For City, their only shot on target was a long range effort from ‘Kun’ Aguero that was tip over by Casillas.
The 2nd half was a completely different story. Facing elimination, City went all out and put Real Madrid against the ropes. City began to open up and created some chances. None more dangerous than in the 64th minute when Maicon’s deflected cross found a wide open Aguero in the six yard box for a simple tap in, but incredibly was kept out by Casillas. After 25 minutes, Real Madrid started to regain some control of the game and seemed to be more relax. Madrid should have been given a penalty in the 66th minute when Ronaldo was clearly bushed down by Javi Garcia, but instead the referee called the foul in favor of City.
You’d think that play would be the measuring stick to determine what is a penalty for the rest of the game.
Wrong!!!
Just minutes after that incident, Gianluck Rocchi decided to give City a hand by awarding them a penalty after Aguero was ‘taken down’ by Arbeloa. To add more insult, Real Madrid were left with 10 men as Arbeloa had already been caring a yellow and will be out for the final match of the group stage.
‘Kun’ accepted Rocchi’s gift and tied the game with 15 minutes left. Arbeloa’s red card forced Mou to sacrifice Benzema for Varane structure the back line, but now Madrid would have to approach the game from a more conservative point of view. Even though Real Madrid wanted the first place spot, the tie would guarantee their qualification to the next round and knock both City and Ajax (loss to Dortmund 1-4) out. Despite the disadvantage, Madrid still made a decent attempt to win the game. Of course, it seemed as if the referee had left his whistle in the dressing room, which would explain why he didn’t call the two clear fouls on Ronaldo. Fouls which would have given Real Madrid two dangerous free kicks to score from. To further enhance this controversy, Rocchi tried to keep City’s hopes alive by adding five minutes of extra time.
Something that did not get a good reactions from Mou.
Luckily, City did not score, and Real Madrid managed to escape with a draw, which qualifies them for the Round of 16. Although Real Madrid will find it difficult to finish first in the group, it is still possible if Madrid hammers Ajax and City beat Dortmund in Germany.
UEFArsa Strikes Again: Just when you think everything is nice and calm, UEFArsa comes back to bite you in the ass. As I mentioned, a clear a penalty and two dangerous free kicks not called on Ronaldo, but Rocchi had to nerve to call Arbeloa’s actions on Aguero a penalty, and leave Madrid with 10 men. Not to mention the 5 minutes of extra time added in stoppage time.
In the post match press conference, Mou, in a sense, was forced to bit his tough as he knew he had a sanction waiting for him from UEFA. Although he did recall his problems with Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi when he was at Inter, and reminded everyone the time Pepe ‘broke’ Dani Alves’ tibia.
What can you do? UEFA does not want Real Madrid to win the Champions League, everyone knows that. So do to this, Real Madrid must remember these moments and next time do one thing: when the opportunities are presented, score them and finish the game off.
Real Madrid blew through the Athletic Bilbao like a hurricane in 90 minutes of complete football. The week brought good news for Mourinho, as he was able to recovery both Benzema and Khedira from injury. For this game, Mou came out with a very attacking lineup that included a midfield partnership of Modric-Alonso, Ozil, “La Maquina” and Benzema. With a European match in midweek, “The Special One” decided not to risk it with Khedira and started him from the bench, as well as staring Callejon for Di Maria.
From the 1st whistle, Real Madrid dominated Athletic on all cylinders and proved way too much for Basque side. It would only take Madrid 10 minutes to open the scoring after a great ball by Modric was wonderfully brought down by Benzema, who tap it over the head of the keeper for the 1-0 lead.
Despite the quality, the goal would be declared an own goal after replay showed the ball last went off Aurtenetxe, although it wasn’t conclusive. Either way, Real Madrid was up.
After the goal, Real Madrid did not ease up on the gas peddle and continued to dominate Athletic Bilbao. That dominance would eventually lead to Madrid making it 2-0 in the 30th when Ozil’s free kick was beautifully taken and headed in by Sergio Ramos. Two minutes later, Benzecrack would score the goal of the game after bending his shot into the far corner of the net.
Unfortunately, Athletic would pull one back in the 42nd minute through Ibai, who was left unmarked and managed to slip it past Casillas.
In the 2nd, Bilbao tried to shake things up by putting Llorente, who had received an ovation from the Bernabeu. However, if Athletic thought they could somehow overturn the match, that would soon be diminished in the 56th minute after great ball movement between Ronaldo and Benzema allowed Ozil to break through and score. Khedira, who had come on earlier for Ozil, would round off the scoring night with a thunderous shot that blew past Gorka. The blowout did give Mou another great opportunity to put in the young Morata, who would come on for Benzema. Benzecrack would leave the game with a warm reception from the Bernabeu, and Morata would hear his name chanted throughout the stadium for his game winner the week before against Levante.
Real Madrid will now turn their attention to Wednesdays crucial Champions League match against Manchester City in the Etihad Stadium, where Madrid are going to need a victory in order to keep their hopes of finishing first alive.
After witnessing probably one of the most absurd matches in history and playing in one of the two first division stadiums Mou has not won in (Riazor being the other), Real Madrid managed to escape from the Cuidad de Valencia with all three points. It was a strange and peculiar encounter that in reality should have never been played. Due to the heavy rain fall in Valencia that afternoon, the field looked like a swimming pool, with huge puddles of water on every part of the pitch. From the time It was confirmed the match would go on, it was clear this game would be won not with talent, but with strength and power. In other words, we were in for a very aggressive and interesting game.
Right in the early minutes, Real Madrid would run into some problem when Ronaldo went down after being elbowed by David Navarro, and suffering a huge cut just above his eye.
Ronaldo would eventually return after being attended for more than five minutes, but it was clear he would have a hard time with his cut and playing on watery trenches. However, “La Maquina” would get revenge by giving Real Madrid the 0-1 lead in the 21st. After Xabi Alonso’s free kick was poorly headed away by Levante, the ball fell to a wide open Ronaldo, who calmly controlled it and smashed it past Munua.
Despite Ronaldo’s good performance, the injury did not get better during the break and was forced to be substituted at halftime. Surpisingly, Mou decided to put in Albiol to partner Essien and Alonso, and leaving Di Maria, Callejon and Ozil up top. In the early seconds of the 2nd half, Juanlu created Levante’s first real goal scoring opportunity of the night with a dangerous shot from outside the box that was heading to the top corner of the net, but Casillas managed to get a hand on it. On the opposite side, Madrid would created two chances of their own to extend the lead. First was Pepe’s unmarked header that hit the bar. Then came Sergio Ramos with his incredible miss.
From a corner, a loose ball found Ramos who had the goal completely open and only had to tap it in to score. Unbelievable, his back heal was slightly touched by a Levante defender that caused it to hit the bar and stay out.
Unfortunately, Real Madrid would pay for those misses in the 62nd minute when sloppy defending allowed Levante’s Angel Rodriguez to score the equalizer. Now the league was in jeopardy as a draw would increase their gap with Barcelona by 11 points, who had beaten Mallorca earlier in the day. There was plenty of time for Madrid to regain the lead, but it would not be easy with the horrific weather conditions effecting every inch of the game. Regardless, Real Madrid went all out for the victory and were presented a golden opportunity in the 71st minute when Callejon was taken down on the edge of the box and rewarded a penalty. With Ronaldo out, it would be Xabi Alonso to step up to the penalty spot.
Replay did show however that the contact occurred just outside the box, but it wouldn’t matter as Xabi would be stopped by Munua to keep the game tied. Real Madrid almost paid for that miss as well just five minutes when a bad clearance by Albiol gave Juanlu another opportunity to score and give Levante the lead, but his shot just went wide of the far post. With both Higuain and Benzema out, Mou turned to Morata to give the team more help in attack with less than 10 minutes remaining.
At the beginning, I thought we weren’t going to see much from the younger, but it turned out those final minutes were enough for him to shine.
Real Madrid would have a good opportunity to score with less than eight minutes left from an free kick. The person to step up to put in the crucial ball would be Xabi Alonso, who was looking to redeem himself after the penalty miss. Xabi would not disappoint and put in a beautiful ball that was headed on and scored to give Real Madrid the 1-2 lead. That player who got his head on the ball was none other than Alvaro Morata just two minutes after coming on.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!! It was like if it was written in the stars.
Now it was time to defend. The last five minutes, plus stoppage time, on the watery pitch felt like an eternity. Levante would create one last chance to equalize in the 87th minute when more sloppy defending allowed Martins to round Casillas, but could not control his shot and sent it well wide. With that the game came to an end and Real Madrid got the all important victory.
After two early wins in the Champions League, Real Madrid have dug themselves in a hole after their draw to Dortmund. With City and Ajax tying in their encounter as well, Madrid sit in second with 7 points. One point behind the German side, three ahead of Ajax, and five of City (who would need an absolute miracle to go through). Despite the differences, all four teams are still alive in the group and have possibilities of going through. However, Madrid’s draw keeps them behind Dortmund, with both games already played, and will need help if they want to finish first. This also adds more pressure to Real Madrid’s match against City on November 21st in Manchester.
With Khedria and Coentrao still out, Mou came out with the same back line from Saturday, except Varane for Albiol. “The Special One” also decided to give the team a more attacking presence by starting Modric in midfield with Xabi. Unfortunately, the Zaragoza game did not bring all good news as Benzema became another player to go on the injury list and was ruled out for the match, meaning that “El Pipita” Higuain would take his place.
From the get go, Real Madrid had a great start in the first 10 minutes and it looked as if they were going to blow Borussia out of the water. In spite of this early start, Dortmund started to relax and play their game, and created two dangerous opportunities that were saved by Casillas. The German side was dominating Madrid’s attacking midfield, and would take the lead int 27th minute. A great assist by Lewandowski was headed down to Reus, who broke away from Arbeloa, and blasted it past a weak handed Casillas for the 0-1 lead.
The lead would only last seven minutes as Real Madrid would equalize with a thunderous header from Pepe.
After the goal, it seemed as if Madrid was regaining their form and control of the game. Unfortunately, on the last play of the half, Dortmund would regain their lead through an exact replica of the first goal, but on the opposite side. A lob pass was headed down for Grobkreutz, left alone by Ramos, who past it to Gotze and finished it.
Images show that it was actually Arbeloa who got the last touch and was declared an own goal by UEFA. Either way, Real Madrid were down again.
To add more problems, another player went down with an injury; and out of all the positions, it had to be at striker. Higuain hurt his hamstring and was taken off.
Before the restart, Mou made two halftime substitutions. With no Morata on the bench, Callejon came on for the Argentine and Essien substituted Modric to give more defensive stability in midfield.
The changes had an immediate impact, and Callejon scored just one minute after the break, but was called off for offside.
Images show that Callejon was just off. In the post match press conference, Mou spoke of this issue and was not happy about it. What probably irritated him and fans (like me) was not that it was called, but that the lines referee waited three or four seconds to raise his flag. Callejon broke loose, the flag stayed down, he prepared to shoot, and then the flag went up.
Accident or Something Else (UEFArsa)?
Still, Real Madrid found themselves down and could not find a way to break through the strong Dortmund defense. Shots from outside, give-and-goes in the box, but nothing went in. Evidently, Mou went for it all by taking off Arbeloa for Kaka, and playing with three defenders in the back. Their best opportunity came minutes after the Brazilian came on when a great ground cross by Di Maria found a wide open Ronaldo, but could not get a good shot on it and was blocked by the keeper.
Then when it looked liked almost all hope was gone, a magisterial free kick by Ozil in the 89th minute just squeezed by the inside part of the post and beat the German keeper to make it 2-2 with an additional three minutes of extra time.
It was looking as if it was going to be a repeat of the City game with a late goal, but it never came and it ended 2-2.
Now in order to finish first, Real Madrid is going to need to win their remaining two group matches and hope Dortmund lose or draw one of their final two counters.
After the cup tie in midweek, Real Madrid looked to continue their winning ways in La Liga taking on Zaragoza. For this game, Mou finally recovered Arbeloa, after picking up an injury with Spain, and started him at left back, as well as coming out with Albiol to partner Pepe at center back.
From the start, Madrid came out very strong and created a good opportunity in the first 15 minutes when a lob pass by Di Maria found Ronaldo, but “La Maquina” couldn’t get a good header on it. Zaragoza would, however, have the first shot on goal after sloppy defending allowed Postiga to break through, but his shot was stopped by Casillas. Real Madrid would respond to that by taking the lead in the 21st minute when Modric’s corner was headed and not controlled by Zaragoza keeper, Roberto, and pounced on by Higuain who made it 1-0.
Everything was going well for Madrid. The defense had everything under control, Modric and Ozil were playing very well, and the ball movement was quick. This led to Madrid extending their lead just minutes later with a great run and finish by Di Maria. However, when everyone thought Madrid would sky rocket, their form began to go down. All of a sudden, the circulation of the ball dropped and Madrid seemed to think in their Champions League match on Tuesday.
The 2nd half was much of the same, Madrid winning baring the minimum. With Madrid’s relax performance, Zaragoza began to open up and created some chances, but failed to finish. Despite their bad 2nd half performance, Madrid would give the fans something to cheer about after a fantastic counter attack led to Essien putting away his first goal for the whites in the 89th minutes. Then in stoppage time, Modric would get his first Madrid goal with a great strike from outside the box that was well placed into the bottom corner of the net.
For the first game of the Copa del Rey, Real Madrid traveled to the southern part of Spain to take on 2nd Division B opponent Alcoyano. For the match, Mou only called 17 players, and left Casillas, Ramos, Pepe, Xabi Alonso, Ozil, and Ronaldo in the Spanish capital. Even with a reserve squad, the mission was simple: Go, beat this 2nd Division B side and leave. The starting 11 consisted of three canteranos.
Adan
Albiol Varane Carvalho Nacho (Canterano)
Essien Alex (Canterano)
Morata (Canterano) Kaka Callejon
Benzema
From the start, Alcoyano was not intimidated and attacked from the get go, but it was clear that even the Madrid reserves were way too much much for the Andalusian side. Even playing at 25%, Real Madrid took care of business without breaking a sweat. Benzema was the first to open the scoring in the 20th minute after a bad defensive clearance allowed Benzecrack to easily head it in for the 0-1 lead. A few minutes later, Morata was presented with a great opportunity and succeeded in scoring, but his goal was disallowed due to offside. However, Madrid would eventually extend the lead in the 34th after Kaka’s shot from just outside the box beat the keeper for the 0-2 lead.
Before the restart, Mou decided to change canterano for canterano, taking off Alex for 17 year old Jose Rodriguez. In the 2nd half, Alcoyano began to have more possession and created some chances, but could not get that final touch to score. Despite Alcoyano’s attempts, Real Madrid would make it 0-3 from a very unlikely source. After a great run by Benzema, the ball was left for Jose Rodriguez who one touched it into the top right hand corner of the net.
His first official match and his first official goal.
Alcoyano would have something to cheer about when Javi Lara beat Adan from a free kick to shorten the lead to 1-3. That goal seemed to rejuvenate the side from Alcoy who went all out to shorten the gap, but once again that final touch was failing them. Then two minutes from time, Benzema would finish the game off after a great give-and-go with Morata allowed him to be alone with the keeper and slip it past him for the 1-4 lead, and put the tie out of reach.
Canterano Grades:
Nacho, B+ : Solid at left back. Defended his side very well. Made it hard for opposing players to get through.
Alex, C+ : Completed his role, but nothing extraordinary.
Morata, C- : Assisted in Benzema’s fourth goal, and nothing else. Struggled against Alcoyano’s defense and at times seemed uncomfortable. Very disappointing from a player who is called to be “The Golden Boy” of the future.
Jose Rodriguez, A+ : For a 17 year old, he was not frighten of the task at hand. Came on at halftime and not just did his part, he exceeded. Always involved, was not afraid to bring the ball up, made nice passes and scored a wonderful goal. He is one for the future.
REAL MADRID SOCIAL CLUB 