Another missed opportunity. After Barcelona’s 2-2 draw to Celta earlier in the day, Madrid let the chance to cut the league gap to 11 points slip through their hands (although it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference). Along with not playing well, Real Madrid could not capitalize on the opportunities presented throughout the game. Either way, it’s clear the team has its attention solely on the Champions League and Copa del Rey. To not waste anymore time, here’s a basic recap of the game.
1st Half:
6th minute: Zaragoza goes up 1-0 through Rodri.
8th minute: Marcelo’s great pass finds Ronaldo in great position, could not put it on target.
21st minute: Rodri almost makes it two from long range, but his attempt just went over the bar.
29th minute: Zaragoza’s poor clearance from a free kick is headed to goal by Pepe, but cleared off the line.
38th minute: Ronaldo beats Roberto to tie at 1-1.
41st minute: Essien’s great header is stopped by Roberto.
45 minute: Zaragoza’s counterattack presents Rodri with an opportunity to score, but goes straight into the hands of Diego Lopez.
2nd Half:
49th minute: Ronaldo beats the offside trap, but can’t get it past Roberto. On the rebound, Marcelo’s attempt hits the post. Finally, Essien’s shot goes wide.
59th minute: Triple change; Di Maria, Ozil and Khedira come on for Callejon, Kaka and Arbeloa.
78th minute: Montanes’ cross in headed in the six yard box by Postiga, but incredibly saved by Diego Lopez.
82 minute: Marcelo goes through Zaragoza’s defense, but his cross is not met by anyone.
84th minute: Postiga beats Ramos in the air, but his header is tipped over by Diego Lopez.
90th minute: Ronaldo’s shot goes straight into the hands of Roberto.
Final
Now it’s time to focus on the Champions League match on Wednesday against Galatasaray. With the 1st leg in the Bernabeu, it’s important to not just win, but get a good lead to take to Turkey. Galatasaray is a side that should not be disrespected by any means, but should also not be given too much respect. To make it simple, Real Madrid must do exactly what they did to Tottenham in the 2011 Champions League quarter finals: destroy Galatasaray at home and finish the job in Istanbul.
Much has been said about Iker’s return to the squad when he recovers from his injury. Since getting hurt back in January, Real Madrid went out and signed former canterano Diego Lopez who has done an exceptional job in goal. Despite his great performances, many have argued that Casillas should immediately be reinstated as first choice keeper once he is recuperated. However, many of the arguments haven’t exactly been footballistic.
Piperos:
“He’s done so much for Madrid”
“He’s played for Madrid since he was a youngster”
“He’s the symbol of Madridismo”
blah blah blah blah blah
My Arguments:
Who cares. First of all, I don’t care what Iker or any other player has done for Real Madrid in the past. What matters to me (and to other Madridistas) is what Iker can do now. Even before the injury, Casillas was not playing up to par this season and most of last season. This, along with a few internal issues, led to Mourinho benching him in a few occasions. In the time he’s been injured, Diego Lopez came in and has not just done a fabulous job, he’s been better in these last three months than Iker all season. Diego has made mistakes, but he’s really stable and has come up big when called to action.
Fergie and Manchester United would agree with this.
Now out of all the claims in defense of Casillas in the past weeks, the stupidest is the one that he cannot lose his position due to injury because he’s “San Iker” and untouchable. No Real Madrid player, for how big or great, is untouchable, even if he picks up an injury. Casillas unfortunately got hurt and Diego Lopez took full advantage of the opportunity. As I said earlier, football is not about what a player has done, but what can he do now. Casillas has no doubt done a lot for Real Madrid (I’ll give him that), but it’s Diego Lopez now with the hot hand. That’s just the nature of the game. Any player can lose his job to injury and if no one believes me, just ask César Sánchez what he thinks of that.
Diego Lopez is the starting keeper right now and is in great form. You don’t fix something that’s not broken, especially at this crucial time of the season. Mou only thinks about the present, and if he believes Diego puts Real Madrid in better position to win, then that’s how it’ll be. If Casillas doesn’t play another game for Real Madrid this season or ever, THEN TOUGH LUCK.
Real Madrid picked up their 6th straight league victory over Mallorca on Saturday and have won eight of the last nine matches in all competitions. A game that did not get to the best start as Madrid found themselves trailing after only six minutes when poor marking allowed N’Sue to head in Giovani Dos Santos’ cross to make it 0-1. Like Champions, Real Madrid responded eight minutes later through Higuain.
Modric’s (great game) wonderful through ball found Pepe alone in front of goal, but had his back turned to Aouate. However, he had just enough time to pass to a wide open Higuain who simply put it away to equalize.
Unfortunately, Mallorca would regain the lead in the 20th minute when more terrible areal defending off a corner concluded with Alfaro beating Diego Lopez’s goal. Real Madrid came close to tying the match again three minutes later after Kaka’s assist put Ronaldo in position to score, but could not get a good shot off. ‘La Maquina’ would have another opportunity when ‘El Pipa’ provided him with a small pass in the middle of the 18-yard box, but his shot hit the bar and went out. Just before halftime, the deficit could have been 1-3 for the islanders when Hutton almost taken advantage of more bad marking, but his chance just went wide.
Before the restart, Mou made two halftime substitutions: Benzema and Ozil for Arbeloa and Morata.
Those changes did not do anything to fix Madrid’s defense, who were about to allow Mallorca to get their third goal of the game in the 48th minute. This time it was Bigas left unmarked, but his bicycle kick went over. On the other hand, the substitutions did change Real Madrid’s attack and it would be Ronaldo to tie the game off the corner seven minutes into the 2nd half.
Suddenly, everything changed.
Three minutes later, Modric would put Real Madrid ahead with an incredible shot from outside that went straight into the far side of the goal.
Then in the 55th minute (two minutes after Modric’s goal) Madrid would go up 4-2 when Ozil’s brilliant skill and vision found Higuain coming in alone and placed it into the roof of the net.
3 goals in 6 minutes. Now this is the Real Madrid we all know.
Even though Real Madrid had a two goal margin, Mallorca did still have some chances where they could have made the game interesting; such as in the 69th minute when Hemed tried beating Diego Lopez through his first post, but the former Villarreal and Sevilla goalie managed to get a hand on it. In the 85th, they had a double opportunity starting with Dos Santos beating Ramos on the right side and having his shot blocked by Lopez. However, the ball fell in the middle to Pereira who got his attempt past the keeper, but was cleared by Coentrao.
Finally, Real Madrid would finish the game off in stoppage time with some great teamwork. Xabi Alonso’s magnificent through ball was terribly one timed by Higuain to Benzema, but the Frenchman was able to calmly bring it down and tap it in to give Mou’s side a 5-2 victory.
With international break next week, La Liga will now be put aside as player head out with their respected countries. When the league kicks up in two weeks, Real Madrid will travel to La Romareda to take on Zaragoza where they will look to continue their run of form. Then in the middle of that week will come the all important match up: Real Madrid vs. Galatasaray in the Quarter Finals of the Champions League.
This morning, the quarter final draw took place and the fixtures have been determined. Real Madrid will take on Turkish side Galatasary with the first leg in the Santiago Bernabeu on April 3rd, while the return leg will take place on April 9th in Istanbul. This will be the first time these two sides face each in the Champions League since the 2000/2001 edition where Real Madrid defeated Galatasaray 5-3 on aggregate.
The other matches include Malaga vs. Borussia Dortmund, PSG vs. Barcelona, and Bayern vs. Juventus. The draw also mean there will not be a Champions League ‘Clasico’ until the final (if both Real Madrid and Barcelona make it that far). If Real Madrid beat Galatasaray, their opponent in the semifinals will be the winner of the Malaga-Borussia Dortmund matchup.
But back to Galatasary:
I know what your all thinking: “We got the luck of the draw, Galatasaray was the easiest team of the eight.”
Galatasaray might not be one of the top 10 best teams in Europe, but that doesn’t mean they are going to be easy. To Begin, they signed Didier Drogba and former Real Madrid player Wesley Sneijder in December.
Along with those two, they have other notable players with top European experience.
Albert Riera: Espanyol, Liverpool, and Spanish International
Felipe Melo: Juventues and Brazil International
Fernando Muslera: Lazio and Uruguay International
Emmanuel Eboue: Arsenal
Hamit Altintop (familiar face): Schalke 04, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid
Not to mention striker Burak Yilmaz is the joint top goal scorer of the competition with 8 goals (tied with Ronaldo). This is a team that beat Manchester United in the group stageand eliminated Schalke 04 in their own stadium after drawing 1-1 in the first leg.
This will not be a walk in the park for Real Madrid. If Madrid doesn’t give Galatasaray the respect they deserve, ‘Los Blancos’ could find themselves in quiet a hole. However, Mou will no doubt make sure his players are fully concentrated and do not take this game for granted. Now, as I said earlier, the first leg will take place in the Santiago Bernabeu, where I advise them to do the same thing they did to Tottenham in the 2011 cuarter finals: destroy them and finish the tie in the first game. With Real Madrid’s quality, they can score 4 o 5 goals if every player is on form, even if Galatasaray show up to play. If Madrid doesn’t win by a comfortable margin, they can easily beat the Turkish side in Istanbul, but I don’t think they should leave it for a place many call ‘Turkish Hell’.
Then again, if Real Madrid can win in the Camp Nou and Old Trafford, they can win anywhwere.
Not a beautiful win, but enough to get the three points.
After playing three fantastic matches against Barcelona (2) and Manchester United, today’s game looked more liked a practice game if anything. Real Madrid beat Celta de Vigo (in relegation position) playing at half speed. The first 20 minutes were controlled by the Galician side who almost took the lead inside 12 seconds through Iago Aspas, but Diego Lopez kept it out.
Still don’t know who this Casillas is?
Despite not playing well, that did not stop Real Madrid from creating chances and could have been up by a few at halftime.
22nd minute- Ronaldo’s long range shot
24th minute- Benzema beats Demidov and only has the keeper to beat
32nd minute- Ozil’s delivery is headed to goal by Benzema
40th minute- Benzema’s fabulous ball finds Callejon alone in front of goal
41st minute- Benzema’s cross is headed by Ronaldo, but hits the post
Excluding Ronaldo’s header, every chance was stopped by Celta’s keeper. Same thing happened in the beginning of the 2nd half as they continued to create opportunities, but could not get them by Javi Varas.
Finally, Real Madrid broke the deadlock in the 61st minute after Ozil’s corner was not well cleared and rolled straight to Callejon, who shot at goal with Javi Varas out of position. His shot was deflected and fell to Ronaldo, who simply put it into the open net. However, the lead would only last two minutes as Iago Aspas would catch Madrid’s defense sleeping to tie the game.
Game on for both sides.
Five minutes after the equalizer, Celta would have a great opportunity to take the lead after Aspas’ cross was bobbled by Diego Lopez and was about to be pounced on by Augusto Fernandez, but Albiol cleared the mess just in time. Minutes later, Real Madrid were rewarded a penalty when Kaka was taken down by Javi Varas. Like always, Ronaldo stepped up and kicked it down the middle to make it 1-2.
In the final twenty minutes, each team would have their fair share of chances to tie or ice the game.
Beginning with Iago Aspas’ long range effort that forced Diego Lopez to make a good save. Then came a Celta corner, that was not cleared by Real Madrid, and dropped to Demisov, but Essien blocked his shot. In the 86th minute, Madrid could have finished the game off after a counterattack put Higuain alone in front of goal, but could not finish the play. Three minutes later, Celta would miss their best opportunity when bad timing from Diego Lopez presented Park Chu-Young with an open goal, but his attempt hit the bar.
In stoppage time, both Park and Higuain would have chances to redeem themselves after their big misses, but neither could beat the keepers.
Final
Now Real Madrid will have a week to prepare for their next league game against Mallorca in the Santiago Bernabeu next Saturday.
What a week. Two victories over Barcelona in four days, now Manchester United Old Trafford. To think many “experts” were saying Real Madrid’s season would probably end on March 5th. In reality, it was just beginning.
Despite the win, the journey was not at all easy and qualification at times seemed to be in jeopardy. While Mou came out with his usual starting, Ferguson surprised many by reserving a few key players, including Wayne Rooney.
1st Half:
The 1st half looked like Saturday’s Clasicos, but the opposite: Real Madrid dominating possession and United sitting back and trying to get their opportunities off the break. In fact, Madrid did not have any shots on target, while ‘The Red Devils’ had three.
United’s first opportunity came in the 20th minute, when Giggs’ corner was headed by Vidic, which went off the post and fell to the feet of Welbeck, who’s attempt was stopped on the line by Diego Lopez (wouldn’t have counted anyway as he was in offside). Then they would have two chances in less than ten seconds; beginning with Van Persie’s powerful shot that stopped by Diego Lopz. However, the Gallician keeper did not make a good clearance, as it went straight to Welbeck, but Diego did a good job narrowing his angles to keep the score at 0-0.
Meanwhile, the only thing Real Madrid was dominating was possession.
In other words, we looked like ‘La Coja’.
The closest opportunity Real Madrid had to a shot on target was Higuain’s disallowed goal due to a foul committed by Ramos on Van Persie in the 33rd minute.
To make things worse, Di Maria would have to be substituted for Kaka just before halftime after picking up an injury.
2nd Half:
With the score still tied, Real Madrid needed a goal to stay alive. Unfortunately, the 2nd half would not get off to the best start as United would take the lead in the third minute on a Sergio Ramos own goal. Regardless, Madrid just need one to send the game into extra time, and two to go through, but they were finding it difficulty to break United’s back line.
The game would then change in the 56th minute, when Manchester were left with 10 men after Nani was sent off for a hard tackle on Arbeloa. The red card can be deem as harsh as Nani did not see Arbeloa, but it was dangerous play taking into consideration where his cleats went.
Even Roy Keane (Man United legend) agreed with the referees decision.
Either way, this presented Real Madrid with new life. Immediately, Mou did not waste any time taking off Arbeloa for Modric; and the Croatian would play his best game since joining in the summer. Suddenly, Madrid had more space and were able to attack with clarity. If United argued about Nani’s red card, Real Madrid would have an argument of their own when Higuain’s open goal attempt in the 61st minute was stopped on the line by the arm of Rafael. Although it was not called, Madrid did not complain and continued to play.
Finally, Modric would repay all the money Madrid paid for him by equalizing the game in the 66th minute with an incredible shot from outside beating De Gea to make it 1-1.
From the brink of being eliminated, Real Madrid would put themselves in position to go through three minutes later after great teamwork between Higuain and Ozil concluded with ‘El Pipita’ crossing and Ronaldo putting it away to make it 1-2 (who also had the class to not celebrate it). The monster United created was knocking ‘The Red Devils’ out.
With the score in favored, Mou took off Ozil for Pepe minutes later to secure the result. Manchester United now needed two goals to go through, while Real Madrid looked to finish the game off. Even though Man United were down a man, they would have three clear chances to score:
83rd minute- Cross by Giggs, headed to goal by Carrick.
84th minute- Van Persie only has the keeper to beat.
92nd minute- Vidic’s header off a corner.
What do all these opportunities have in common? They were all stopped by Diego Lopez.
Casillas? Who is this Casillas everyone speaks of?
At the other end, Real Madrid also had their chances to ice the game.
86th minute- Ronaldo breaks lose and takes on three United players before getting his shot off.
89th minute- Kaka’s shot goes off the post, hits De Gea, and looks to be going in.
91st minute- Ronaldo breaks away and shoots from a tight angle.
93rd minute- Again, Ronaldo’s shot from a difficult angle goes on target.
Like Diego Lopez, De Gea managed to keep them out.
Finally, the game came to an end, and Real Madrid were through. Another historic night in Old Trafford. Now we’ll wait for the quarter final draw on March 15th to see who the rival will be.
Four days after the stellar performance in the Camp Nou, Real Madrid took care of business again beating Barcelona in the Santiago Bernabeu. It wasn’t as brilliant as Tuesday, but enough to get the three points. The best part about this, Real Madrid got the victory playing with their B side, which include Kaka, Pepe in midfield and MORATA.
Real Madrid:
Diego Lopez
Essien Varane Ramos Coentrao
Pepe Modric
Callejon Kaka Morata
Benzema
Barcelona:
Victor Valdes
Alves Mascherano Pique Alba
Thiago Busquets Iniesta
Pedro Messi Villa
Barcelona came out strong, but it would be Real Madrid having the dream start in only the 6th minute. After a great cut off by Ramos in midfield, he past to Morata who took on Dani Alves and crossed to a well positioned Benzema, who simply tapped it in to make it 1-0.
Unfortunately, the lead wouldn’t last long as ‘El Enano’ would break the offside trap and beat Diego Lopez on his front post to tie the game. In the first half, Barcelona (like aways) dominated possession, while Real Madrid were stuck in their own half as they struggled to get an attack going. However, that did not stop Mou’s side from creating opportunities. Minutes after the equalizer, Morata had a great chance to score after wonderfully maneuvering his way past Thiago and going at Valdes’ goal, but would be stopped by Pique. Kaka would try his luck with a shot from outside the box, but it went straight into the hands of the Catalan keeper. ‘El Enano’ would have another opportunity to score after a miscue from Ramos allowed him to have space in front of goal, but his shot went into the hands of Diego Lopez. Just before halftime, Morata could have regained the lead for Real Madrid when Modric’s cross presented him with an open header, but could not put it on target.
In the 2nd half, Mourinho did not take long to put in the big guns; and by ‘big guns’, I mean CRISTIANO RONALDO!
Twelve minutes after the restart, Ronaldo and Khedira came on for Benzema and Kaka, leaving Pepe in midfield, and the youngster Morata for the rest of the game.
From that point on, the game changed. While Barcelona had possession, Real Madrid had the chances. In the 65th minute, ‘La Maquina’ would have his first opportunity with a laser free kick that was cleared by Valdes. Later on, he would blew through three Barcelona players with his blazing speed, but his shot hit the side netting. With less than a quarter hour left, Real Madrid would have their best opportunity when Pepe’s fabulous pass found Morata alone in front of goal, but could not get it past Victor Valdes.
During this time, Barcelona had no shots on goal.
Then when it looked like the game would end in a draw, Modric’s corner was headed into the back of the net by Sergio Ramos, who beat Pique in the air, to make it 2-1 with less than ten minutes remaining.
After the goal, Real Madrid did not drop back and kept pushing forward. Ronaldo could have ended the game with another one of his genius free kicks, but his attempt hit the post, and Pepe could not put away the rebound. In the last minute, Barcelona would lose their mind arguing for a penalty when Adriano was taken down by Ramos.
Although at regular speed it looked like a penalty, images show that Ramos slightly touches Adriano, and once the Brazilian feels the contact, he dives.
Even former referee, Andujar Oliver said it wasn’t a penalty (and it is said he is anti-Madridista).
The arguments would cost the Cules a final attack and a man for next week (and many more). Moments after the incidents, Barcelona had one last opportunity as they drove up midfield, but the counter attack was stopped by Perez Lasa, who yellow carded Iniesta and Busquets for their constant arguing. Then at the end of the game, he red carded Victor Valdes for getting in his face and using, what the referee considered, inappropriate words.
What I find ironic about this is that I thought Barcelona’s philosophy was not to talk about the referee. That referees were human and could make mistakes. At least that’s what they would say after the night in Stamford Bridge (2009semifinal), the 2011 Champions League semifinal 2nd (against Madrid), and any other time the officials favored them. How do things change when decisions don’t go their way.
Final
Finally, Perez Lasa signaled full time, and Real Madrid got their first La Liga win over Barcelona since May 2008. Along with injecting more confidence, the victory now reduces the league gap to 13 points (although it might not make much of a difference………… or it could).
Now it is time to turn the attention to Tuesday’s important Champions League return leg against Manchester United in Old Trafford.
In May, Real Madrid will be playing the final of the Copa del Rey after crushing Barcelona 1-3 in their own back yard. Unbelievable display by Jose Mourinho’s side.
It was a night like no other: Real Madrid completely dominating Barcelona in the Camp Nou, Ronaldo going through the Cule defense like butter, and Varane shutting down Messi.
However, it was not an easy start for Madrid. From the get go, Barcelona was the team that came out strong and almost took the lead through Mess in only the 2nd minute, but his shot went just wide. Real Madrid struggled to get two passes together in the opening minutes, but the game would change in the 12th minute when they were rewarded a penalty after Ronaldo was taken down by Pique. ‘La Maquina’ would step up and beat Pinto to make 0-1.
Now the tie switched in favor of Madrid. After the goal, Real Madrid started to open up and managed to get some plays going, while also maintaining their strong defensive formation. Barcelona kept attacking in search for the equalizer, but thanks to Madrid’s defense, they only had one shot on target in the 1st half, which was an Iniesta shot that went straight into the arms of Diego Lopez.
In the 2nd half, everything would come together. Twelve minutes after the restart, Khedira’s long clearance, that looked like nothing, fell to Di Maria with open space going one on one with Puyol. Di Maria dummied Puyol (who was left doing the banana spit) and shot at goal, which was stopped by Pinto.
The rebound fell to Ronaldo, who easily put it away for the 0-2 lead.
With two away goals, Barcelona now needed three to go through. However, Real Madrid would do what many had been asking them to do against Barcelona for year: FINISH THE GAME OFF. In the 68th minute, Varane would make it 0-3 after beating Pique in the air and calmly heading Ozil’s corner into the back of the net.
A goal he would celebrate with ‘The Only One’.
Unfortunately, Real Madrid would take their foot off the gas pedal, when they could have easily scored 5 or 6 goals from that point on. The only bad part was Barcelona would get a goal just before stoppage time after a wonderful ball by Iniesta found Jordi Alba, who put it past Diego Lopez to make it 1-3.
Despite that one goal, Real Madrid played an absolutely perfect game. Atletico Madrid will be the opponent In the Copa del Rey final (Madrid Derby).
Now the only thing that has to be determined, like every season when the finalist are announced, is where the final will be played?
Possibilities: Santiago Bernabeu, Vicente Calderon, Camp Nou, Mestella or La Cartuja.
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