3 Rs to the rescue again for Real among defensive blunders

I have been neck deep in work, not an excuse really but that has kept me away from writing here for two weeks. Well for a Real Madrid fan like myself it was a time to forget. Real faced Sevilla in and lost the match 2-0 and also had Sergio Ramos the former local boy sent off in the second half. Real then travelled to Greece to face Olympiakos and apart from Van Nistelrooy hitting the bar, the game was a dull affair which ended in a 0-0 draw.

After Real's loss and Barca winning the corresponding week at home the lead for the Spanish champions was cut short to 1 point. Barcelona lost to Getafe this Saturday and Real were at home to Real Mallorca on Sunday. The last time Mallorca were here was a great day for Real as the 3-1 victory handed them the league title on June 17th. It was no different this year as it was to be a cracking game in front of a packed Santiago Bernabeu. Schuster was forced to make changes as Ramos was suspended and Guti was injured. He partnered Cannavaro and Heinze in defense and had Torres at RB and the young Brazilian Marcelo at LB. He continued with Gago and Diarra in midfield and Sneijder found his way back to the team as the attacking option. Raul, Robinho and Van Nisterlrooy have proved to be one of the most dangerous attacking trio in Europe currently.

As early as the 3rd minute from kick off Robinho found Raul floating on the left side and the Captain's cross just missed the on rushing Van Nistelrooy. With some good ball movement from both teams and Mallorca in no mood to stay back and defend it was a cracking opening to the game. The goal came in the 11th minute when Robinho made a stupendous heel pass to Marcelo and the LB crossed in to precisely find Robinho in the box who headed it in to make it 1-0 Real Madrid. Though Marcelo has been making some runs down the left his final ball or even attempts have been below average. This was a pleasant surprise.

The Brazilian LB was hero a minute and villain the next when a long ball found his way to Valera as Marcelo missed his clearance and a cool finish past the already committed Casillas to make it 1-1 Mallorca. Defensive error number 1.

On the 16 minute mark Sneijder in a much central role and enjoying more touches found 3 strikers ahead of him and his pass fell off Raul and a Mallorca defender to Robinho who one-one with the keeper finished it off cool as a cucumber. 2-1 Real Madrid.

Just when Real were gaining some momentum Mallorca again struck back again through Valera when he got past Marcelo again and Heinze could not get him before he unleashed a powerful right foot thunderbolt that flew in to the top corner. 2-2 Mallorca and it was half time.

I was expecting changes, atleast in the defense and my feeling was that Schuster will take out Marcelo and move Heinze to LB and have Pepe to partner Cannavaro in defense. Schuster surprisingly took out Cannavaro who may have been a little off from his usual self and gave the Brazilian born Portuguese Pepe a chance. Pepe has not played in a competitive game for Real since his 30M Euro move in the summer as he was injured. Now having been called up by Portugal for the upcoming International games Shcuster would have thought "wait a minute we pay his salary and you guys get the benefit?"

Well Pepe did justify the 30M Real paid for him in the next 45 minutes. He was so full of confidence and the way he cut out aerial plays was brilliant. The guy is a formidable presence on the pitch. Even he could not save Real from the second defensive blunder of the match. Pepe tackled Dani Guiza and the ball fell to Diarra who tried to be cute and passed it back to Heinze in the box and instead the ball fell to the Spaniard who blasted a shot past Casillas to prove why he just got called to the National team. 2-3 Mallorca. Defensive blunder #2.

Real Madrid have not lost a game since February of this year in the Bernabeu and Mallorca was about to beat that good run. But as last season Real were in no mood to give up. Robinho has been consistently performing well in the last 4 games and he made a similar trade mark run down the left got into the penalty box and squared the ball for Raul for a simple tap in. 3-3 Real Madrid.

The Champions wanted all three points and the understanding between Raul and Van Nistelrooy again showed as Raul set up an excellent through ball for the Dutchman who finished with a neat finish past the keeper trademark Van the Man style. 4-3 Real Madrid.

Real held on for the 3 points and also have the best record in club history for the same number of games played in a season. Its been 278 days in the Spanish League that Real have lost at the Bernabeu. They won the last 7 to close out last year and have an impressive 6/6 win at the Bernabeu this season. The Spanish FA started rewarding 3 points for a win in the 1995/96 season and Real's record of Played 12, Won 9, Drawn 1, Lost 2 is the best start since then. Real have 28 out of the 36 possible points from the 12 games played so far and the closest any Real Madrid team have reached is 27 points from 12 games and even then they were second in the league.

Real will lead the Spanish League for another 2 weeks without playing a game as it is a break for International duty. Real are leading with 28 points, Villareal at 27 and Barcelona at 24.

Here are the match highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBLFkKX-y8A

Ruthless Madrid buries Manager-less Valencia

Real Madrid played the first of the two games this week on Wednesday when they travelled to play Valencia at the Mestalla. The second tough game for Real Madrid would be another away game to Sevilla over the weekend. Going in to the match Real were leading the pack in Spain by two points and wanted to come out of both the fixtures without losing 6 points. Did they do better than that and that too in style. Valencia have been in real trouble after the board sacked coach Sanchez Flores after defeats to Rosenborg in the Champions League and a defeat to Sevilla last week in the Spanish League. Valencia had their second coach on the bench as stand in manager. Schuster on the other hand welcomed back Cannavaro, Heinze and Diarra back from injuries. He lined up a different looking squad especially in midfield. Cannavaro partnered Metzelder in defense, Marcelo at LB and Sergio Ramos moved back to RB. The big change was in midfield as Schuster played both Diarra and Gago along with Guti, this was to prove the tactical winner in this titan clash. Robinho, Raul and Van Nistelrooy finished the starting 11. Valencia was struggling with injuries as Baraja, David Villa and Cannizares all out due to injuries. They had former Real Madrid players Morientes and Helguera starting.

Valencia fans hoping for a good start were to be silenced by Real 50 seconds from kick off. Raul found Robinho, the fast move saw Robinho screaming past a slow off the block Valencia and an unmarked Captain at the end of the Valencia box, Raul with a sweet left foot shot scored with a little assist from the post. It was not the last time the post would favor Real Madrid. Real Madrid having conceded a goal in the first 10 minutes of the last 3 games played but this time it was their opponents who were on the receiving end. 0-1 Real Madrid.

Valencia tried to get off the block, but Real with the two midfielders in Gago and Diarra allowed Guti to be more effective in attack and was controlling the attacking moves for Real. Van Nistelrooy found himself in a shooting position twice, once to be saved by the Valencia keeper and then the second time blocked by the defense. There was just one chance from Angulo which was to be the only chance for Valencia in the first half. Diarra controlled the center of midfield beautifully and Gago supported the wing backs for some extra cover.

Raul put in a lobbed pass to Van Nistelrooy and who was under constant pressure from Helguera who was trying to wrestle him to the floor. Once inside the penalty box Van Nistelrooy could have played for a Penalty instead he showed some brute power to hold off Helguera and Chip the advancing keeper and made sure it stayed in for Real's second goal. 0-2 Real Madrid.

Real Madrid moved the ball and the mid field put their heart into one of the best performances from Real in such a tough match. From a Guti free kick Metzelder found the ball and the goal at his mercy but the German slashed wide into the stands, that was the only open chance missed by Real, as they were in no intention to make it a habit and was looking to kill the game in the first half itself.

It was Guti again who found Sergio Ramos near the Valencia box, and the youngster with no angle for a shot, took one nonetheless and the ball ricocheted off the far post into the net. 0-3 Real Madrid at the 30 minute mark.

This was not to be the last piece of productive action for Madrid in the first half, minute 36 and the 3 Rs were dancing around, constantly changing positions in and around the Valencia box. Again it was Guti who faked a shot and then made and exquisite pass to Robinho who fired in first time on the volley and it was Van Nistelrooy who would turn it in for his second goal of the night and the 4th for Madrid. Real players were in for demolition and it was evident after the first goal from Raul that they smelled blood and each attacking move was with an intent to score. The is was evident when Van Nistelrooy scored, Raul was also sliding in, incase the Dutchman missed. 0-4 Real Madrid and it was to remain at half time.

Real looked to consolidate the win in the second half by trying to hold on to possession as much as possible and defending deep waiting for the counter attack. Valencia finally got something to cheer about when Joaquin who had been kept quiet all through by Gago and Marcelo slipped away from the Argentine and crossed in for Angulo, with Metzelder ball watching the striker finished with a superlative left foot shot giving Cassilas no chance. 1-4 Valencia.

If Real had knocked down Valencia in the first 45 minutes with 4 punches, the knock out punch the fifth one came few minutes later. Again some brilliant passing between Gago and Guti saw the Spaniard threading in a superb pass to Robinho who made a superb trick on Miguel and still had the ball in his feet to take a shot and score for Madrid's 5th of the night.

Schuster quickly removed Marcelo and replaced him for Heinze, giving the Argentine some playing time in a comfortable situation. He also replaced Sergio Ramos by Torres for some well earned rest for the superb Ramos. Schuster made the final change by taking out Van Nistelrooy and giving Baptista some time on the pitch. When Real Madrid's finishing and the intent to win has to be appreciated, it was Schuster's tactical change in the midfield that was the key. He first took out Valencia's attacking play through the center with Diarra and had Gago supporting the wing backs to cover the likes of Joaquin. With Gago being a better link player it helped Guti to float around and he almost created 4 of the 5 goals for Madrid. As always when Guti has a bad day he is invisible on the pitch, but when he has a good day he is unstoppable.

Real have put extra pressure on Barca who play Valladolid on Thursday. This is the second time Real has scored 5 goals in an away game and against the likes of Villareal and Valencia who are in the top 5 in Spain is no child's play.

Here are all the goals:

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