13 Years of stardom- The Captain fantastic

Raul Gonzalez Blanco commonly known as Raul is best associated with one of the best clubs in Europe, rather Real Madrid was voted as the club of the century by FIFA and for the past 13 years the captain has made people around the world refer to him as "Raul Madrid". He was a youth player with city rivals Atletico Madrid before joining the youth team of Real. On October 29th 1994 Madrid coach Jorge Valdano gave a 17 year old a chance in an away game against Real Zaragoza. The 3-2 defeat that Real suffered and the 3 or so missed chances for Raul did not pour water on one of the biggest Spanish stars in the making.

Raul has not looked back since and in his 13 year with the club, having been rested against Deportivo in the first half he capped off his anniversary with a goal and unlike his debut there was a victory for Real. The Spanish giants were held together for years by another captain fantastic Fernando Hierro, who struggled towards the last few seasons. Real Madrid won the Spanish la Liga in 2003 but saw the exit of coach Vicente Del Bosque and the captain Hierro. Raul has been the Real first captain for the past 4 years and has been a terrific influence on the pitch and inside the dressing room.

Raul has come out of a lot of downs in his career, notably on his goal scoring numbers. He has been one of the first players affected by 5-6 different coaches at Real Madrid since the departure of Del Bosque. The Spanish striker is not new to scoring goals, but in the past few seasons people claimed that Raul is more of a burden to Real and that there is no value addition from him. He excels as a striker or as a second striker. His famous partnership with Fernando Morientes cannot be easily forgotten. Different coaches have tried playing him at different positions such as winger and Attacking midfielder, but this year Schuster has found the right spot for him and his partnership with Van Nistelrooy has been spectacular. He has scored in almost all games played this season both in the La liga and the Champions League.

He has all the qualities of a good center striker. He is by no means a huge guy, but Raul is exceptional in the air and his reaction and movement is just brilliant. Many Real Madrid fans would remember the superb connection between Roberto Carlos and Raul. The Brazilian by no means puts in finesse crosses but Raul would be there to react first in the box to almost all Roberto Carlos shot/crosses to tap in the goals. Raul has also benefited by playing alongside the likes of Zidane, Figo, Beckham and Ronaldo. He has slowed down over the years but his anticipation, movement and work rate is simply out of the world. The fact that Raul brings much more than goals to every game and that he wears his heart on his sleeve every Bernabeu fans scream for him each time he celebrates a goal "Raul style" by kissing his ring.

I have seen certain articles by my fellow bloggers that Raul has been inhibiting players like Sneijder who made a terrific start to his Real Madrid career. The Dutchman scored 4 goals in his first 3 games and since then has just not been seen anywhere during a game. Well in almost all player interviews there has been glowing references to Raul's leadership and motivational skills. Just because Raul is an old horse and may not be as effective as in his early 20s he is by no means lacking professionalism on the pitch. In the match against Werder Bremen Raul covered over 9000 meters and was constantly seen asking the youngsters to cover and close down players. Without a doubt Raul will have a lot of influence in the dressing room and the likes of Guti, Casillas and Salgado would be his favorites. But there has been other influential players at Madrid such as Roberto Carlos who played for nearly 12 years with the them and was one of the captains. Wesley Sneijder or any of the new signings cannot expect the support or respect of the Bernabeu faithfuls or anyone else unless they perform at the same level and bring some consistency to their game. Raul asking Sneijder and the other youngsters not to play well to cover his weaknesses is just ridiculous.

On the other hand Raul's influence on the Board and the dressing room was exceptionally beneficial to Real when Capello the coach last year had decided not to play David Beckham for the rest of the season after he had signed for MLS side LA Galaxy in January. It was Raul who met with the Chairman and resolved this issue. The result was an exceptional performance by Beckham in the last part of the season and thus earning the 30th Spanish title for Real Madrid. It is purely one professional standing up for another.

The bottom line is playing for Real Madrid for 13 years, that underlines Raul Gonzalez Blanco's talent. He said after his debut in an interview " I want to be number one, the best in the world."

Here is a look back at his statistics and a reminder to many:

League: 455 matches 191 goals

King's Cup: 37 matches 20 goals

Champions League: 111 matches 59 goals

Spanish National Team: 102 matches 44 goals

TITLES & HONOURS

5 Spanish Leagues

3 European Cups

2 InterContinental Cups

3 Spanish Super Cups

1 European Super Cup 1999

Pichichi Trophy 1997

Spanish Player of the Year 2000

UEFA Champions League Golden Boot 2001

Pichichi Trophy 2001

UEFA Champions League Golden Boot 2001

FIFA World Player of the Year, Bronze 2001

European Footballer of the Year, Silver 2004

FIFA 100 Greatest Living Footballers 2004

King's Cup Pichichi Trophy 2006

Royal Order's Gold Medal for Sports Merit

Most-capped outfield player on the Spanish national team

Spanish national team all-time leading scorer

Top active scorer in the Spanish League

Most UEFA Champions League appearances

All-time leading scorer in the UEFA Champions League

Here is a video which including his first Madrid pre-match team photo, his first goal and also some really fantastic goals. Also includes the famous goal against Valencia in the Champions League final when he ran the entire stretch of the pitch before side stepping the keeper to score.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JfrXu9Bilw

3 Rs to the rescue for Madrid again

After a not so convincing win against Olympiakos, Real Madrid welcomed Deportivo to the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday. For ten minutes from kick off i thought Gol TV again would not be able to telvise this, but by the time Gol TV got the live feed, it was 1-1.

Schuster had still trouble in team selection at the heart of defense. He continued with the same back line that was used against Olympiakos, with Ramos and Metzelder in the center, Marcelo at LB and Michel Salgado at RB. ( ya believe it or not he played again, honestly i dont even play him in the Manager mode in FIFA 08 ). With Diarra still injured Gago continued to partner Guti in the midfield. Schuster made changes in the remaining slot, Robinho moved in to the left for a benched Sneijder, and Higuain started on the right. The big surprise was Raul replaced by Javier Saviola to partner Van Nistelrooy in attack.

It did not take even a minute for Deportivo to score and silence the Bernabeu fans. A kick from Keeper Aouate found a deportivo head on the right side as Marcelo was beaten to the header, then inside the box Sergio Ramos was beaten and the pass to Xisco found his brilliant first touch take him away from a slow and bewildered Metzelder and he scored past Casillas who did not stand a chance. What was interesting to see was Metzelder's lack of reaction after he was beaten once. 0-1 Deportivo. Real Madrid has conceded a goal in the first 10 minutes in 3 consequtive games now.

Real was not to be left behind as they came barging at Deportivo goal and a Robinho ball found Higuain in the center and he passed it wide to Van Nistelrooy on the right. The dutchman had the space to run inside the penalty and box and was brought down just as he was about to cross the ball. Clear penalty awarded to Real Madrid. Van Nistelrooy stepped up to take the spot kick an unlike his miss against Olympiakos he smashed in a cool penalty to the left corner. 1-1 Real Madrid.

Till the half time whistle Deportivo played better in getting the goal. They were denied couple of times by Casillas. Before the half Guti also started obtaining more control over the midfield as he was supported well by Gago. Diarra is a way better player to Gago defensively especially winning headers but Gago is much more mobile and also joins often with the attacking moves. Guti provided an excellent free kick to the far post only to see a superb save from Aouate to a Sergio Ramos header. It was Guti again finding Robinho inside the box who quickly passed to Van Nistelrooy, but his shot was not on target. 1-1 at half time.

Schuster realizing that Saviola and Van Nistelrooy are having to play in midfield to get the ball as the final ball was not there from Higuain, Robinho or Guti. He first took out Higuain and brought in Sneijder, with whom Robinho switched flanks. Right away Schuster also took out Saviola and brought in Captain fantastic Raul who incidentally is celebrating his 13 th year at the club. There was immediate effect to these changes. Real almost went ahead when a guti corner was cleared back to the captain of the night, who headed it in for Van Nistelrooy who turned superbly and unleashed a thunderous half volley but to be denied by the Deportivo keeper again. A quick counter attack followed, a cross from the left found Casillas stranded trying to punch the cross and it fell kindly to Juan Rodriguez. Some quick thinking from 19 year old Marcelo saved Real as he took the near post and stretched out his leg as in a reverse tackle.

Robinho started enjoying more of the space created by the entry of Sneijder and Raul. His dancing move finally saw him take a powerful shot outside the box which hit the bar on the 70 min mark. Then came the defining minute on the 78 th minute when Robinho on the right wing found Guti and a terrific through pass found Raul who failed to control the ball and it fell to Van Nistelrooy. The dutchman's presence of mind inside the box is out of the world. The keeper was advancing on him and there was no agle for him to shoot and he superbly passed it back to Raul who had an easy tap in. I have been always thinking why Shcuster is not giving the young Soldado who scored 18 goals last season on loan with Osasuna more chances but the understanding and the combination between Raul and Rudd is really the difference. 2-1 Rea Madrid.

Deportivo's strong challenging and closing down of Real players went against them when Sergio was sent off for a second yellow card for a poor tackle on Guti as Real were breaking. Then came a piece of Robinho magic, combine that with Guti's vision and touch you get one of the best worked out goals recently. Robinho again on the right passed to Guti, Salgado made an overlapping run to confuse the Deportivo defense, probably the only thing he did right, Guti provided a killer through pass to Robinho, who showed some superlative skills to dribble the keeper, and defense for an amazing finish. Robinho celebrated the goal with his now trademark sucking of the thumb as he is expecting his first baby and is said to be not performing to his best because of this off the field stress. Well if he plays like as he has played in the last two games i think a little stress is good for him. 3-1 Real Madrid.

Robinho was replaced right away with Balbao, and Real Madrid held on for a good 3 points. They still head the La Liga with 22 points closely followed by Barcelona at 20 as they won against Almeria 2-0 courtesy of goals from Henry and Messi. Valencia lost to Sevilla 3-0, and with their midweek game agaisnt Rosenborg also ending in defeat their coach was sacked. Real play the same Valencia on Wednesday at the Mestalla and then Sevilla on the weekend. Both these away games would test Real. Schuster must be relieved to welcome back Cannavaro, Heinze and Diarra who have been declared fit to play.

Here are the full match highlights.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZNkRUJtJJ8

Robinho and his Brazilian magic saves sorry Madrid

Real Madrid faced Olympiakos at home on Wednesday in the third round of the UEFA Champions League first group stage. Real leads the group courtesy of a win at home against Werder Bremen and a draw in Rome against Lazio. Schuster would have been definitely hoping that his players recoverred from the weekend defeat to Espanyol and put up a good show in front of the home fans.

Schuster had a lot of problems in squad selection especially in defense. He already had two players with a combined price tag of $80M in the treatment room, Pepe and Robben. With Heinze also aready out Schuster's nightmare became worse when Cannavaro and Diarra also joined them in the injured list. This left him no option but to partner Sergio Ramos and Metzelder in defense, he continued his faith in Marcelo at LB and picked Salgado ahead of Torres at RB. Fernando Gago filled in for Diarra as the ball winner to partner with Guti. His major worry was the lack of practice time for Robinho whose news about returning late after international duty due to extensive partying was already the headlines around the world. The German tactician kept his faith in the Brazilian and continued with Sneijder, Raul and Van Nistelrooy.

Olympiakos on the other hand has a young team this term and was second in the group. They had the likes of Rivaldo and other foreign players playing for them till a couple of seasons back, but now primarily rely on some greek talent. There are Spanish players in the team including Luciano Galetti the former Atletico Madrid striker and Real Madrid's own Raul Bravo, the LB having joined the Greek team during the summer.

It was a dream start for Real as Robinho put Van Nistelrooy through but the Olympiakos keeper Antonis Nikopolidis denied the dutchman only to see a cool finish from the Captain Raul. The guy just cannot stop scoring in the Champions League. It is goal number 58 for the Madrid captain in the Champions League. Unlike my earlier post game posts i am just putting up one video for the entire game so that there will be a continuity to the game. 1-0 Real Madrid.

Real were not to stay ahead for a long time. On the 7 minute mark Djordjevic found a lot of space on the left side of midfield. I should say Michel Salgado should either retire or Madrid should throw him out. I dont agree with Shcuster in picking him ahead of Torres. The last time Salgado played it was the same thing, as you can see from the video that the only direction he runs is towards his own goal. When defending he runs back towards his own goal allowing the player to get into a better crossing position. In this case it was the same, Djordjevic was advancing on Salgado, one on one with him Salgado did not put a single challenge instead kept him company by running backwards and finally he put in a slide which he missed and the cross fell kindly to Galletti who finished with his left foot. Salgado may have enjoyed a long spell in Real Madrid after coming in from Celta Vigo in 96 or 97 but i dont see any reason why he is considered to be such a hard nut character and the only reason why he stayed so long in a team like Real is because he was dating the former President's daughter. Now forget the defending, each time Salgado advances, even if there is an acre of space, after getting in to the Olympiakos quarter of the pitch he passes it back to either Gago or one of the center backs. He does not run at defenders, nor is able to cross the ball. People have bad days but Salgado should not be in the playing 11 at Real.

The game got really worse for Olymipakos when at 9 minutes Torosidis was given a straight red card for a tug on Van Nistelrooy when he was put through by a clever pass from Sneijder. Playing against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu with 10 men for 80 minutes is the battle lost already, but not for Olympiakos because their 10 men proved better than Real's 11 when Julio Cesar scored from a free kick from Djordjevic. Well if he was the only un marked man Real could say that was unfortunate, but there were atleast two Olympiakos shirts unmarked. Sergio Ramos again as last week against Espanyol seems to be marking space and not the man. "Space will not score goals it has to be a player so Schuster has to make his players understand that they have to mark Players" 1-2 Olympiakos.

Real had 70% possession in the first half and after going ahead in the second half Olympiakos was staying in their half defending hard and waiting for the chance to break. The veteran goal keeper Nikopolidis was in fine form as he constantly saved shots from Sneijder, Marcelo and Robinho.

Now it was time for the Brazilian to take center stage. First it was Schuster who took out Salgado (ohh finally thank God) and put in Higuain. Guti put an amazing ball to Sergio Ramos on the right, the center back who is so versatile put in a delightful cross to the far post for Robinho unmarked to head in to the bottom corner. It was nice to see Robinho run straight to Schuster and celebrate the goal as in "Thanks for believing in me". Minute 68- 2-2 Real Madrid.

If you think that was it from the Brazilian, think again. There is a famous video of Robinho during his time in Brazil when he did almost 12 of his famous step overs before he was brought down inside the box to win a famous penalty. It was a replica of the same, recieving the ball on the left wing he used the step over again and again pushed the defender into the penalty box and the slightest touch on his shin, he fell earning Real a penalty. But all his hard work was to be blown away as Van Nistelrooy blazed over from the spot.

Casillas kept Djordjevic out at the Real end, but Real's man advantage finally paid out when an intricate play between Van Nistelrooy and Robinho found the Brazilian firing in a thunder bolt inside the box when a tackle was flying in. The shot was so powerful that the keeper could not even move. 3-2 Real Madrid.

The action was not to stop and Olympiakos almost stole a last minute point when Casillas made a world class save to a Darko Kovacevic shot on goal. Olymipakos kept coming at Real and the Real defense put the packed Bernabeu at a razor's edge. Casillas looked disappointed the entire game from the goals conceded through some poor work defensively from Real, now this is a save which definitely warrants him a spot amongst the top goal keepers. As soon as the 3rd goal for Real was scored Schuster smartly took out Raul and replaced him with Torres.

Robinho broke away from an Olympiakos free kick, run the entire pitch dribbled past a defender and un selfishly passed it to Balboa the substitute on for Sneijder and inside the box he took his time and turned and made a cool finish. 4-2 Real Madrid. Its hats off to Olympiakos for putting the Real fire power to test, but it was their problem of having 10 men on the ground for the majority of the game that pulled it off for Real. Gago, Guti and Robinho were enjoying the space, especially the Brazilian who straight away moved to the left flank when Olympiakos were down to 10 men. Real had a total of 28 shots on goal but still needed the Brazilian's inspiration to win. Robinho should be the automatic choice for Man of the Match with 2 goals an assist and also a penalty earned. Shcuster claimed this was a difficult 3 points, well it might be but the final passing and Real's inability to finish off a game that was at their mercy 10 minutes into it should be alarming for the Spanish giants.
Here is the video and i have one luckily with some exciting English commentary....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOPm-p9y6sw

Unbeaten Big guns fall in Spain

Real Madrid showed great signs of retaining their Spanish title holder name after going into the international break leading the pack with 19 points from 7 games and they were unbeaten in all competitions. 15 days or so of International duty in the South America qualifiers and the Euro qualifiers meant that Real players who did participate in the international games had limited rest and time to train. The Brazilian contingent of Robinho and Baptista returned late after their 5-0 drubbing of Ecuador and it is heard that Robinho was late as he was partying heavily with his friends. Both missed training and missed out on the difficult game away to Espanyol. The club board is heard to have fined both players.

It would be the clash of the Raul's. Raul Tamudo captain of Espanyol and Raul Gonzales the captain of Real Madrid. Tamudo picked over Raul for the Spanish striker spot when David Villa got injured spiced up the game more.

In terms of a squad line up Schuster did not find it easy. Apart from the Brazilians, Robben and Heinze also returned injured from their respective International games. The positive was the return to action of Christoph Metzelder to partner Cannavaro in defense. Sergio Ramos and Marcelo played as wing backs. Diarra and Guti continue to be Shcuster's primary choice in midfield. He also had Sneijder and Higuain to start in the midfield wings and Raul and Van Nistelrooy in attack.

Game started well for Espanyol's liking, the fans were creating a hostile environment, as early as the 2nd minute from kick off Espanyol scored from the corner set piece. Alberto Riera rose unmarked inside the penalty box to head home, Sergio Ramos not doing a good job marking the tall lanky left midfielder. 1-0 Espanyol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRKUkrQcWIU

Real showed some positive signs in attack, for a brief period. But that was it, Espanyol suffocated the Real players till the last minute of the game. Whenever a Real player touched the ball there were at least 2 people ganging up on them. Real's Pass completion percentage was really poor. Guti was no where to be seen. Diarra were making a lot of wrong passes. The biggest achievement for Espanyol was that they took Sneijder out of the equation with some tough tackling on him and closed him down letting him have no time on the ball.

Van Nistelrooy had a golden chance inside the penalty box to equalize for Real when the ball fell kindly for him inside the penalty box, but for his finishing skills what happened next was funny. Nistelrooy missed the ball completely and just kicked at thin air, with a tackle in from an Espanyol player on his no kicking heel. Van Nistelrooy fell down from his non balance on missing the ball, but the referee duly showed him the yellow card for diving. In the foul department there was a lot of nasty tackles coming in from Espanyol and it is this physical dominance that took out the finesse out of the Real play.

On 53 minutes it was Espanyol again on the high as a mistake from Cannavaro rushing in to tackle and found Raul Tamudo totally free on the D. The finish from him was out of the world as he chipped Cassilas for Espanyol's second goal. 2-0 Espanyol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7TYbcCPc-0

The sign from Espanyol fan was "The only real Raul is Raul Tamudo" , in response to media complaining that Real Captain Raul should have been picked ahead of Raul Tamudo. Spain coach has ignored Raul for more than a year claiming recently in an interview "What has he won?" well if that is a genuine question then it is the coach who should be out first, because with all the world class players and one of the best domestic leagues in the world, what has Spain won?

I was thinking it was Saturday afternoon i have a friend waiting to go for a movie, should i sit and watch this match any further. For some reason last season's matches came to my mind when Real made some unbelievable recoveries in the final minutes. Well the match went on with almost the same flow with Espanyol denied again by Cassilas. Real defense did not look very confident. Metzelder looked a bit slow and Cannavaro made that one vital mistake, maybe he was covering for the young left back.

Real again was not to disappoint in the drama side, Sergio Ramos scored on 90 minutes from a corner, when he acrobatically got a touch on the ball in a crowded box. Real pushed forward with even Cassilas joining the attacks, but Espanyol held on to a good win. 2-1 the final score.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aBt7C1Wl1k



Barcelona's visit to Villareal was the other match on Saturday. Unfortunately for Barca fans and fortunately for me this was the game the TV rights issue affected. It was not televised. Ronaldinho-less Barca were defeated by Villareal 3-1, 2 of which were penalties to the home side. This was the first defeat of Barcelona this season.
Real stay top of the league still with 19 points, with Villareal and Valencia on 18 closely followed by Barca on 17 points. With the mid-week Champions League fixtures there is an extra match to savor this week. Real play Olympiakos at home, Real are unbeaten in the Champions League in the two rounds completed so far.

A tickle falls the Giant

Dida the Brazilian keeper created some extra drama to an exciting match between Celtic and AC Milan. Celtic scored a late winner and the players ran to the right side of the pitch towards the fans and in comes some fool, who runs on to the pitch from the left side and runs in front of Dida and just tickles him on the neck, if you name that a slap any enraged girl friend in this world would do a much better job. Dida is a huge guy, he chased the fan for a few steps and then decided that there is a better way to make maximum use of this. He just fell to the ground and had to be stretched out with an ice pack on his face.

UEFA the governing body for the Champions League has opened an investigation into the incident. The fan has later surrendered to the police and has a life ban from coming to the Celtic stadium again. Well Dida is no stranger to such incidents, he was hit by a Flare in the Milan Derby in 2005 in the Champions League and Milan were awarded the match. Incidentally they share the same ground... Milan have been quick to say that Dida has exaggerated the incident and does not want any action taken against Celtic.

Seen here is the incident from 2005

For sure Celtic should be at fault for this fan running on to the pitch and it is fortunate that he just tickled Dida, worse could have happened. With usual UEFA rulings for crowd trouble, they could very well give Celtic a ban for playing the next game with no fans in their ground. But the play acting from Dida was quiet pathetic, the press already blaming Dida for the two Celtic goals it was more a reaction of a big loser. Milan who are defending Champions League champions definitely do not want such dramatic events to shadow the class team that they are...

Check this video link and decide for yourself. The fan can be happy that he fell a giant like Dida with a mere tickle.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxTmCD6rKxc

Madrid clashes in Rome

Wednesday saw the second match in the first group stages for Real Madrid in the Champions League seeing them travel to Rome, to play Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico. It was a full house and a full house in Italy means screaming fans and flares burning before the match and at half time. The same happened here as the game began the ground was filled with smoke from the flares from the Lazio fans. The last time the two capital giants met in the Champions league was in 2001 when the competition had the second group stage format and it was an entertaining 2-2 draw. Schuster lined up a really attacking and interesting formation. He had Van Nistelrooy back from injury, but was missing Robinho. Schuster continued with his rotation policy, with Metzelder and Pepe injured, he partnered Cannavaro with Heinze. This was the first time the Argentine was going to play as a center back at Madrid in his first Champions League match for his new team, he is used to playing this position more at his time in Man U. This helped in moving Sergio Ramos to his natural RB position and he brought in Marcelo at LB. The Brazilian has taken his chances in the team well and seems to have gained the coach's confidence.The midfield was rather surprising, schuster continued with Guti and Diarra, but played both Robben and Sneijder and almost left the Right attacking slot empty for one of these players to float. Raul joined Nistelrooy in attack. The game started well, with Real not sitting back and defending and moving the ball around.

Goals are the name of Van Nistelrooy's game, its all about getting in and being at the right place at the right time. For a free kick set piece from the left side of the pitch, Sneijder floated in a wicked ball, and it was clear that the dutch striker was rather surprised that the ball went through all the men and landed on his feet for a simple tap in. 0-1 Real Madrid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtIkB_l1LT4

Lazio came out of the blocks right away looking to inject some life into the game and some noise into the silenced home fans. It was some quiet inspiring football from one side of the pitch to the other, but Real were really holding on to the ball with the majority of the possession, it was on minute 31 that Lazio equalized. Real were pushed back into their half and Real was at fault in not clearing it early. Marcelo could not win the ball in the air and the cushioned pass found Goran Pandev free on the left and finished with a thunderous volley, with Cassilas stranded. The question is with Cannavaro marking Rochi, where was Sergio Ramos? In zonal marking it was definitely Ramos who was at fault. 1-1 Lazio. This is after Pandev flashed over after being one-one with the Madrid keeper and the Spanish number 1 making a point blank save from a header.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiX4mclblf4

With Schuster's different formation Sergio Ramos found himself running all through the right side cutting inside two defenders but found himself in two probably two minds as to whether shoot or cross it for the rushing strikers and in the end it went wide. It was a run with some real purpose but he should have tested Lazio keeper, who incidentally is the oldest player to play in a Champions League match, who is over 43 years old. 1-1 at half time.

No changes at half time and Real were still having most of the possession of the ball, with almost 70%, definitely high for a visiting team. At 61 minutes, It was Raul again with his never ending commitment, the Madrid captain definitely wears his heart on his sleeve and was there to steal the ball in midfield and a defense splitting pass through to his strike partner Van Nistelrooy. The Dutchman one-one with the Lazio keeper showed why he is one of the best strikers currently playing the game, he kept it late, faked the keeper with a shot and once he was committed, lifted it over the keeper. 1-2 Real Madrid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=braCDjtiTyg

Lazio was not about to give up and they came back with more attacking football at 75 Minutes, it was the Macedonian Pandev again when he was one- one with Heinze, who should have closed him down and rather with his LB instincts started running back and giving Pandev the space, by the time Cannavaro came in with a tackle Pandev did pull the trigger and it squeezed in past a full stretch Cassillas. It was 2-2 lazio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_HKgWw6zyI

The fans went crazy with 15 minutes left hoping that there is still time to get all three points. Saviola, Higuain and Drenthe saw time in as substitutes but with both teams going in for three points it was to remain 2-2, another cracker in Rome between these two teams in the Champions League. A draw in such difficult away games is not a bad result for Real Madrid who head the table with 4 points from two games.

The returning Van Nistelrooy is definitely the Man of the Match. Just as a reminder of how hostile the atmosphere was for a visiting team to Italy, i have added the full match highlights also which includes the stupendous run by Sergio Ramos, a couple of brilliant saves from Casillas and Heinze.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skrtGWgFRmk

Real will play Recreativo on Sunday, not sure if the telecast is on Gol TV. It was announced on Friday that Ruud Van Nistelrooy will extend his contract till 2010. He joined Real last year on a 2 year contract with the possibility of extension for one more year, but with a splendid year last year with 33 goals in all competitions, 3 goals in two games in the Champions League, and a couple more in league play, Real would want to keep their prized asset. Credit to Schuster to play such an attacking team in an away game, but i am not so sure of Guti's place in such games, its true that he has a killer pass, but there is a possibility as in this game where he was a no show.....

Luck can win you 3 points but the League?

Real Madrid played Getafe on Sunday in a return for Bernd Schuster to Getafe. In terms of the result Schuster might be happy with walking away from 19th placed Getafe with 3 points but this video link comprehensively shows that Laudrup's men were far more superior through the match.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvtAkrmKxN0

The TV rights issue still rages on i believe as Gol TV did not show the Madrid match. I am not writing anymore than that Real don't seem to be playing anywhere close to how defending champions should be playing.

Fall of a Hero

Barcelona on the other hand seem to be getting inspiration from the media controversey surrounding Ronaldinho that they are putting in some brilliant performances. The lack of Ronaldinho in the team has actually given Henry more space to play in a roaming role and his connection with Messi on field has been terrific. Henry had opened his Barca scoring account during the Champions League first match and the much wanted big performance was put on by the frenchman for Rijkaard against Levante with a hat trick in a 4-1 drubbing.

Though Ronaldinho has come out and claimed to the media that he is going no where and he will prove everyone wrong and will answer the media claims with his performance on the ground. He is indeed getting into the team list for the mid week champions league fixture. This is the ideal time for Barca to get rid of Ronaldinho because they do not want to be a team whose fortune depends on the Brazilians form. If they are to sell him it will happen during the winter transfer window. A good result towards the end of season might up seeing Ronaldinho extend his stay at the Spanish giants.