It was not an El Classico whitewash after all...

From the postings on my blog it is clear to many that i am a Real Madrid fan. I would not want to have the word "fan" in there, because i believe i am fairly a good critic as well. Having seen them play for over a decade, it is only natural that i write most of my posts on them. The reasons why i even started watching the great Whites in the first place have moved on, but still they somehow retain a certain class. On certain other days, the disgrace and the disappointment to their fans is just outright humiliation. I have been reading many articles, discussions and forums on predictions on the El Classico. You are looking at a Real Madrid team, who are struggling for results, a new Manager and half the team in the hospital playing a team who look the closest to some of the best football i have seen, almost the same as Man U in some of their best games last year. Naturally the weight of the past which we call as "form" was heavily supporting Barca and some of the polls were pretty interesting. 5-0, 7-0 or even 10-0 in favor of Barcelona were the poll results. One website that i keenly follow had their experts giving some really interesting predictions. All of the predicted that it would be a tight game with not many goals scored.

From my knowledge of Real Madrid, i knew one thing for sure, this particular game was not going to be a whitewash. Madrid somehow plays poorly when and in games that nobody expects them to do so, and they win coming from behind in games that no one gives them a chance in hell. El Classicos' never are free flowing games, some exceptions granted when a few years ago Ronaldinho lead a Madrid destruction and last season Madrid thumped Barca 4-1. Barca have had issues putting Madrid away at the Nou Camp in almost 2 years, and Guardiola had his best 4-3-3 team to do the job for him this time. Henry on the left, Eto in the lone striker role and Messi on the right meant that the Madrid defense comprising of an unproven combination of non regular first team players would need a lot of help from a recently suspect Casillas and the rest of the team. Juande Ramos had used Metzelder at RB and Salgado at LB in the match against Zenit and possibly this had nothing to do with the possible players against Barca. Ramos even continued to use Marcelo in an attacking midfield position on the left so that he did not risk Drenthe. Messi was sure to hang out on the right side of midfield and cut inside so that he can get a shot away with his favorite left foot, this meant that the game would be over in the first 10 minutes if Salgado was to mark him. Ramos played Salgado at RB to mark Henry and Sergio Ramos was to play at LB to mark Messi.

From the kick off it was clear what Juande had in mind, his strikers in Raul and Higuain were at the half line, the formation was compact and he basically made sure that Sneijder was on the right and which gave some extra protection to mark Henry. Madrid had everyone covering back and the first real ball possession from the whites came in the 18th minute when they strung a few passes. From there on to almost the entire game, the percentages of ball possession was to remain over 75-25 in favor of Barcelona. Sergio Ramos was right on Messi and as one should expect constantly ended up fouling him and got an early yellow card. It was not just Messi that is a danger for Barca on the right, we also have Dani Alves who though having to mark Drenthe was looking more to contribute in attack. His defensive frailties could have put the game to rest, if Drenthe could have made a calm finish when put one-one with Valdes by Raul, with acres of space and time. That was the miss of the match and also i knew that minute that Madrid are bound to have a lapse somewhere in 90 minutes.


At half time though it was Barca and Guardiola who should have been worried. Right after half an hour Ramos took out a laboring Sneijder and replaced him surprisingly with 20 year old B team player Palanca when he had Van der Vaart on the bench. The second half saw Madrid playing with a bit more ease and a much improved effort in spreading the play. Palanca noticeably had a good second half when he was a handful for Abidal and also tested Valdes with a stinger. But another area of question for Madrid was Casillas, the keeper who has come under a lot of criticism, i am no exception to this. Casillas almost as though enough is enough put in a herculean effort and was supported well by Cannavaro and Metzelder, the latter made up for his lack of pace with some real last ditch tackles on the floor. Salgado was not running back towards his goal for once and was constantly trying his best to have his old legs keep up with the long legged Frenchman.


A suspect penalty decision on Salgado for bringing down Sergio B and the penalty that followed was saved well by Casillas meant that Barca would have to try extra hard to keep up to the predictions. The heroes from Madrid could have walked away and possibly even come back in their hunt for the La Liga if they had a bit more luck on their side and a little bit more concentration. In the 83rd minute Metzelder was found lacking in marking Eto in a corner when Puyol headed it across goal and went in off the Cameroonians thigh. With a possible defeat on their face, Madrid threw caution to the wind and came out attacking, which resulted in a counter attack where Henry passed to Messi for him to finish, with a last ditch effort from Cannavaro colliding with the goal post. This scene at the end was unfortunately what a great performance came to for Madrid. A superb Casillas finally ended up conceding two goals and one of the better players on the night Cannavaro was seen lying on the floor writhing in pain.

Following the match, there was some good press coverage on the Madrid performance. Press across the world called Madrid the brave hearts though they wilted away in the last 10 minutes to non stop pressure from high quality Barca team. Juande Ramos has brought discipline back for sure and is making things easy by playing a 4-2-2 diamond formation. The new Manager was able to make his player believe in the concept that even the midfielders and wingers have to dig deep to help out the defense. From the zone marking during Schuster, there is an evident switch to man marking. During the second half of the match, when Messi moved to the middle and Eto onto the right so did the Madrid defense. Metzelder and Ramos did switch places to accommodate the attacking changes by Barca. There is no doubt in my mind that 12 points away from the league leaders that Madrid find themselves, now guarantees that barring a miracle they are not achieving their 3rd title in a row. But if they can put up 70% of this level of performance in their forthcoming matches they can finish runner up, which is under question now by the critics. Juande Ramos is known to be a knock out tournament specialist but with a depleted team, it would not be a smart move to focus only on the Champions League as many say.

Pull up your White pants it is not a pleasant crack anymore

Work and more work, pretty much like the same time last year has kept me not so motivated to spend the evenings writing. I end up on the couch either with my Fifa 09 manager mode game where i recently earned 20K points for not simulating even a single game for an entire season as a Manager. The last time i wrote, it was an entire post on why it is not a crisis that Madrid is going through. The board this time around have indeed come out and rectified a portion of it, which is to get a replacement for Van Nistelrooy who is out for the season. From many names that were discussed for a couple of weeks, Madrid swiftly closed the deal with one promising youngster. This was one of the smartest business deals they have done in a few seasons, especially considering the summer fiasco. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar known as the "Hunter" was signed from Ajax with a possible full amount of 27M. Though Huntelaar is currently injured with an ankle injury, he should be fit and completely ready by Jan 1st when he is eligible to play for the Whites. His scoring record is just phenomenal and many think that he will be Van Nistelrooy's flag bearer for the Netherlands. It will be interesting to see how he steps up to the demands of the La Liga.

People who follow my blog would very well know that my last post pointed out a few things, which of course some of my readers did not agree with. After their humiliating defeat at the hands of Getafe last week, Madrid were to host Sevilla at the Bernabeu. It was not that Getafe played superb, it was just that Madrid was trying their level best to be as poor as possible. After missing this match due to my travels during Thanks Giving holidays, i had my eyes set on the Sevilla clash this Sunday. This is a team to whom Madrid always lose on their trips to Seville. Schuster though on thin ice was saving his job because of the only reason that half of his first team was in the hospital. The game against Sevilla welcomed back Robben, Higuain and Cannavaro. Robben and Higuain made their impact felt in the match and so did Cannavaro i should say but not a positive one. The Sevilla match was indication that it was not just injuries. I have mentioned even in my previous post that Madrid have no problem scoring, actually they are very good in making come backs when we would have written them off. This Sunday was no exception Madrid were down 3 goals to 1 at half time. But a change in strategy at half time which saw two wingers playing saw Madrid come back and level the game at 3-3, but this time only to lose a man and lose the match 4-3.

7 goals are nothing new for Real Madrid, if i remember right this is their 4th already this season with the same scoreline. The only problem this time was that this was the first time they were on the losing side. If a team is conceding 3 goals or 4 goals in a match, its time to look at the defense, organize it and add players if need be. I would like to add a few points taken from an interview with Madrid keeper after the Sevilla match.


“I have been playing in La Liga for ten seasons and this is the worst start I have ever had,” True, Casillas and the Madrid defense are struggling to keep a single clean sheet. At least he is accepting the problem.

"Defensively, we are very vulnerable, including myself. It just seems that when teams attack us three times, they score three goals and it is clear that everyone in the team is at fault."
It was true against Sevilla, when each time they put an attacking move together the Madrid defense struggled. Casillas made a fool of himself when he came out for a cross and got thin air and then he never came out for any of the other crosses. Whereas his counterpart at Sevilla Andres Pallop made nearly 9 saves though he conceded 3 goals.

“With the way we are playing now, we will not be able to win the title. But I believe that we are just going through a bad streak and there’s still a long to go in the season. Two years ago, we were eight points behind Barcelona but we came back and we won La Liga on the last day,”
Any sensible man who sees Barca go out week after week clobber teams and fire 4 and 5 goals past them, and see Madrid struggle against these very same teams the following week should know, that barring the same injury crisis at Barca there is no points for guessing who is going to win the league.

Losing was not just it, Madrid wanted to lose in a way that people will never forget and will for sure get their coach fired soon. I have a few reasons:

Marcelo was seen out of position on more than one occasion which resulted in crosses coming in from his flank, got himself booked, from the resulting free-kick Sevilla scored one of their 4 goals. When you think that he was out of position defensively, maybe he was contributing in attack. I sure don't remember any positive effect. His booking was the 5th yellow card which means he is suspended for the match against Barca. With Heinze and Torres injured, Schuster might have to find someone from the B team to play here.

Cannavaro was almost so uncomfortable playing alongside Sergio Ramos, that he left his position on numerous occasions, both defenders challenging the same players and finally the inability to win balls. I think he should maybe return to Napoli and save his reputation or retire.

Robben dubbed the "Glass man" gets a game finally after all his starts-stops and what does he do? For the most part of the game, he played well, turning defenders inside out, but either the final ball was poor or he was un-lucky with his shots. But collecting a second yellow card for arguing and abusing the referee for getting booked is just plain stupid. This meant Madrid were down to 10 men when the scoreline was 3-3 and that he would be unavailable for the game against Barca. He may have lost not just the game against Sevilla but something more. With the medical reports flowing in at the Madrid camp, it seems now Drenthe is carrying an injury which makes him doubtful for the Barca game and thus no wingers at all. I hope there is some disciplinary action taken against such behavior.

Now for the Manager, there is no excuses anymore. Actually i think Schuster might actually be looking for jobs elsewhere. If he is not he should definitely, as only a miracle can turn this team into a league winning position. The team just has forgotten to win, and there seems to be no discipline. Van Nistelrooy out for the season and now Diarra too would mean the players coming in to replace them, have to step up their game. Gonzalo Higuain is doing his part, and Gago is really doing well. Schuster needs to organize the defenders. With Casillas himself struggling it is not going to be easy, but you cannot concede 4 goals against 3rd division side Real Union and claim that we are plagued by injuries.

Last i also cannot help wonder about the medical staff at Madrid. Is something wrong? Are they rushing players back into action? Jonathan Woodgate was injured when he got to Madrid and was always injured, but he got back to England and started playing fairly on a regular basis. Brazilian striker Ronaldo took almost 4 months to get fit after signing for Madrid, this is after winning the golden boot the same summer in the World Cup. Antonio Cassano was struggling to stay fit and also was overweight, but is now a superstar in Italian Serie A. You see young De la Red fall unconscious on the pitch, and players after players getting injured, its time to look at your Physios and strength training techniques.

Real Madrid in crisis or just stupid?

I just had a weird two weeks or so where i suddenly faced a writers block so as to say. The work days were so long and stressful that my past time was not a passion anymore and i was finding it difficult to focus and write what i was feeling. Now all the news in the press has prompted me to touch upon the one thing that everyone is talking about. There is a crisis at Real Madrid and that the recent results are there to prove this point. Real Madrid lost at The Bernabeu in a long time when they lost to Juventus last week in the Champions League. The Italian club did the double on Madrid but unlike the game in Turin this was pretty one sided and which was in favor of Juventus. It was a clean game, with nothing to complain about but the players. Juventus outclassed the Madrid players in every department. I would rather not want to get into the details of this game, but would bring this back up in other parts of the post. Madrid followed this up with a 4-3 win at home over Malaga. This game though from a neutral point of view was a superb watch and personally for Higuain who smashed 4 goals, this for sure exposed the issues Madrid currently face. If this was not enough Madrid faced third division club Real Union in the return leg of the Spanish cup. The first leg ended in favor of Real Union at 3-2. The return leg in the Bernabeu though ended in a win for Real, the score line was 4-3 which meant that Real Union would progress on away goals.

I read numerous articles on what is going wrong in Madrid and whether there is a crisis or not right now. Here is my take on how we define the situation. Real Madrid are trailing Barcelona the league leaders in La liga by two points, considering the fact that this is after 10 rounds of games there is no concern of worry here. In the Champions League Madrid got off to a superb start in the group of death and now have had back to back defeats against Juventus. They could still top the group if they beat Bate away and Zenit at home. There are other teams who have had less than inspiring results in the Champions league, i will take the example of Chelsea who had a goalless draw against a nobody team and then lost to Roma. The Spanish super cup loss is not a big deal for the club. Though every year they come out and say that they consider this tournament very important, it is for sure just an opportunity to test some of the youngsters. Madrid almost every year have been knocked out early in the past few years. So if all is well, then what is everyone talking about? Here are my thoughts:

Can Casillas ever keep a clean sheet?

I have no intention in putting all the blame on someone who is widely regarded as one of the best keepers in the world now. A Goal Keeper who is in the prime running for the European player of the year and the winner of the best keeper trophy in Spain last season is someone who will go unnoticed amongst a flurry of mistakes by defenders. No doubt Casillas was phenomenal last season and was indeed a major contribution to the success of Madrid and Spain. The defenders have not changed this season. People under estimate Pepe, but it is he who makes others play better. Somehow there is a thought that Cannavaro is a leader and he organizes the defenders. If he claims one day in the press that he knows Del Pierro like the back of his hand and then becomes the reason for the same man scoring three goals, i dont think many younger lads would want to look up to him. Cannavaro was at fault for the first goal Del Pierro scored in Turin, the first goal at the Bernabeu was a repeat of the same event and then he conceded the free kick that led to the third goal Del Pierro scored. Another thing to notice in all three goals was, the first time around Casillas did not attempt a dive, same with the second and for the third the free kick he made the criminal mistake of organizing a poor wall. Chasing Christiano Ronaldo was not just the only bad move Madrid management made during the summer transfer window, they signed Esquel Garay from Racing Santander and let him go on loan. Gaby Heinze does not have the pace or positioning skills to be a LB, he can only play as a CB, but makes too many mistakes. At this age and experience, there is something wrong with this guy if he things that bundling over people is what you call a tackle. Sergio Ramos should never be played as a CB and Schuster knows this. He is one the best Right Backs in the world currently, but has lost the heart in the past few weeks with all the controversies. Schuster has the other genuine option in Metzelder who if not injured does not give any confidence to his Manager with his performance.

So is it all about the defenders or Casillas? When you look around most clubs in Europe they do not have the big names that Madrid can boast of defense. I will take Liverpool as an example a back four of Carragher, Agger, Arbeola and Aurelio is in no way comparable to what Madrid have. This is in paper, but collectively they are way more effective than the super star defenders. So there is something in the way they are organized? Well yes, for one there are far too many changes in the back 4 because of injuries or otherwise. This does not pass on any confidence between these defenders or between them and the keeper. Capello brought discipline to this Madrid team, now this does not come easy, he made them play compact and curbed the super attacking team into defending their half. With Capello fired for the reason that Madrid were playing unattractive brand of football, Schuster has advanced the line of defense, the whole team plays up the pitch. There is limited help from the midfielders and with one winger, one of the wings would be exposed when the wing back attacks. This was evident when all Nedved was doing was to keep Ramos back and Marcelo was having all the space but no imagination. The success of the Juventus backline was that they never even let the Madrid strikers make a turn. Chiellini for that matter was outstanding in both ties. The Madrid defenders don't have the strength or the skill to do this. This is where Schuster should know that he needs to play a layer of midfield closer to the defense. Again space marking or man marking needs to be thought about. As always "space" does not score goals, men do is the point. I was seeing the highlights of the Real Union match and the last goal the visitors scored in the dying minutes was from a header and who was in the middle of the penalty box jumping for the ball? Of all people Marcelo!

It is evident that Madrid defenders and goal keeper together are not functioning as a unit. Some lack confidence, and some just make poor mistakes. Schuster should thinking of going back a bit to the Capello plan. Real Madrid will for sure score goals, but you cannot have a beginning to a season where your team is struggling to keep a clean sheet and you have already played 3 games ending in 4-3 score line. I for one believe that Casillas has lost his Halo and now the only way out of this is to function as a group.

Midfield Circus

Now I can debate on this for years. Schuster just gives us one reason after the other. From 30 midfield combinations last season, to more this season, there is no plan in place. I believe that the squad formation should change with the players in hand and not to fit a player into a squad formation. Van der vaart is not a CF and the past few games this is where Schuster is playing him. He is the best player who can link well with Gago or Diarra and the defense and still go forward and score goals. The hat trick he scored against Sporting earlier this season was the classic example of it. I can understand the problem Schuster has-he has too many midfielders performing the same act in his circus. The answer to this is not to keep changing your formation and hope that the dice falls on the perfect "1". It is not difficult to figure out that Schuster cannot have all of these names on the team sheet at the same time. With Robben living up to his name of "Glass Man" the only wing option is in Drenthe. This leaves Sergio Ramos with the Herculean task of providing the attacking flair on the right and also falling back to support the cracks in defense.

Van Goal-less

Schuster has had his worst nightmare come true. Van Nistelrooy who is to undergo knee surgery is to be out of action for more than 9 months which will mean the remainder of the season. He has had recurrence of his knee injury he had in 2000 with PSV which almost canceled his move to Man Utd. With the Dutchman out Schuster knows what he has in hand. There is Raul who is way past his prime and has more games where he is invisible than the ones like Real Union where he scored a hat trick and in the process crossed 300 goals in the white shirt. Then the big positive of the season, Higuain who has now established himself this season as a clinical finisher. With a total of 9 goals in La liga, his 4 goals against Malaga, though 2 from penalties was just the best finishing i have seen in a while. With Saviola the only option on bench whom Schuster has no confidence in, Real would have to buy a striker come January transfer window.
Do they invest in some young talent from South America or Europe similar to the likes of Higuain, Gago or Marcelo, Hell Yes!. But is that the answer for this season- Hell NO! Madrid signed 16 year old Brazilian Alipio Duarte Brandao and is joining the Madrid B team. Brandao known as the "little Ronaldo" is for sure a talent to look out for the future.

When Madrid ventures into the January transfer market, the answer to their problems would come in strikers who are cup tied. You are not going to get the players of the quality of Podolski or Carlos Tevez free to play for them in the Champions league. The most feasible in this looks primarily Carlos Tevez and Andrei Arshavin. Man Utd's loan deal on the player is about to end and they are due 37M on the player. Would Sir Alex be able to convince the board to shell out this kind of money when another expensive signing this season Berbatov is keeping the Argentine away from the starting line up? Arshavin is unhappy and wants to go come January, but is he the right choice for Madrid? I don't think so, he is a CF with a lot of pace but is not an outright goal scorer. Tevez in the other hand can play second striker and still score. The only choice for Madrid board and Schuster is to go and buy a quality striker who may be cup tied but who can help to save the La liga. The latest news is that Madrid is following Inter striker Hernan Crespo who is bound to be headed out in January. The advantage in this case would be that the experienced Argentine is not cup tied as he was not picked by Mourinho for the Champions League.


I do not agree that the right term here is Crisis. Real Madrid are facing issues which everyone knew they would face right from the beginning. Sending Esquel Garay on a loan deal when you are facing problems in defense, the wild goose chase in Christiano Ronaldo, letting Robinho go without a proper replacement and not re-enforcing the striking department were reasons enough to think that this situation would arise. Schuster's neck is on the chopping board. If he wants to retain his position, not only does he need to win against Valladolid this weekend, they need to get back into the habit of maintaining clean sheets. If Schuster is not able to create a turn around, reports claim that former Inter coach Robert Mancini, former Tottenham coach Juande Ramos and former Getafe coach and Madrid player Michael Laudrup are supposedly in the Madrid shortlist. But if i am Schuster, there is a small but growing injury list that is worrying. Apart from Van Nistelrooy out for the season, Cannavaro and Metzelder picked up injuries mid week, Pepe is out for a month or so, De la Red and Diarra are out for a further week and Robben is out for a month or so. So should everyone be tagging this as a crisis or is it a result of some stupid decisions?

Tactical disaster at the Madrid white house

I have always heard that it is all about being better than the Champions. Being the Champion in the first place is not easy and now beating the Champions, it does not look that difficult right? Let us take the La Liga for an example. Real Madrid are going for their third successive title in as many years and it would indeed become a disgrace to the other 19 teams in the league, in one of the most volatile leagues in Europe. Since the turn of the new millennium Real have won the La Liga 4 times in this period, which is literally every other year, twice as much as Barca. Still press around the world except Madrid Marca maybe seemingly have a problem with Real Madrid. It is almost as though Madrid are followed by their own shadows. Inevitably there would be stats and other facts to prove that Real scrape through to their wins. Even when they win big games, there is hardly anything positive coming out of this.

I say this because what transpired on Sunday was by no means becoming of a Champion. Especially when Barca are steamrolling past opponents scoring at will, it does no good to your confidence when you have to settle for a draw against Almeria who were destroyed last week by Barca. Schuster is a very keen tactician, but he also makes some big mistakes in line ups and substitutions. He has been pretty consistent when it goes to good decisions almost the majority of last season, except maybe the home game against Valencia that come to my mind. Madrid had injury problems in attack with Van Nistelrooy injured after his suspension last weekend. But that was the only major player missing for the defending Champions. Schuster is in a difficult position, when every week he does not have the Dutch goal machine in his line up it reiterates the disastrous transfer summer for Madrid. The lack of a genuine replacement comes evident in each of these games. But a good Manager ought to work with what you have.


With all his first choice defenders starting, it was an unnecessarily defensive midfield, with both Gago and Diarra joining Sneijder in midfield. Higuain and Raul upfront and Robben on the wings indeed looked as though there would be some goals coming up. Much more than the formation, putting Diarra and Gago on the pitch together did not seem to be working. For one i hate when two defensive midfielders play together, second off Diarra was playing in a much advanced position than Gago, but in reality the Argentine is a better link man.

Higuain finally put in a precise cross in for Raul to score with a diving header. The Captain who was sure to be criticized if he did not score in this match in the absence of Van Nistelrooy, scored with Andy Gray's favorite diving header. 0-1 Madrid leading at half time.

Second period was interesting as Almeria came out and spread out on the pitch which ensured that their more illustrious opponents were pinned in their own half. Against a relatively lesser opponent why the hell would you not go for the kill and finish off the game? Schuster had to make a substitution by taking the injured Pepe out and introduce Metzelder in. Pepe and Cannavaro were doing well in the heart of defence, and i would not want to say that Metzelder dropped the ball. He did well and got some important tackles in, but he looks so old fashioned a CB, slowest of the slowest in pace. The big German does not attack balls, because if he is turned inside out by any striker with decent pace then its kiss goodbye.


With two more substitutions that Schuster could make and the signs of threat from Almeria, he had to bring flair into a bunch of players seemingly performing under par. The problem was both wing backs in Heinze- goofy, lunging into tackles and too clumsy and Sergio Ramos-reprimanded, consoled and questioned by many for his comments in the press last week. Robben was switching wings consistently, but how should i put it, i will take a leaf out of someone and say he was more like a chicken with no head. He was not the same threat in running at defenders, could not even take a decent shot at goal and not even a good ball in for the strikers.

What is puzzling is with this situation prevailing, Schuster brought in more midfielders in Guti and Van der Vaart. He did not take out any midfielders to bring these guys in, it was a replacement for Sneijder and Higuain. If Raul was left all on his own in the first half just imagine when you have a team plugged with midfielders and Raul as the lone striker. If Schuster did this with the intention to give some kind of playing time then this was the wrong game. Guti and VDV were seemingly no where to be found and hardly got any touches on the ball. With 9 minutes to go, Almeria equalized and Madrid came back losing 2 points rather than earning a point.

When Real Manager complaints that he does not have a striker, and almost everyone in the team gets playing time, if i was Saviola i would rather hang up my boots.

Record breaking Liverpool, and Madrid says "Referees, Referees and Referees

From a perspective of keeping my blog going and find the right state of mind to write is getting difficult by the day. With another big depression hitting all the financial markets, i have been kidding around with a lot of people that when things go bad, i will take to writing full time. Well on the contrary it has been so busy at work that i am finding it difficult to get into the afore mentioned state of mind. It has been an interesting week since i wrote my last post. First the most anticipated match in the first group stage of this year's Champions league was up when Madrid made a visit to Turin to play Juventus.

Madrid continued to show that they will struggle in Europe's premier club championship, it was almost the same as has been the case in some of the previous visits to Italy. In the first 5 minutes Juventus were up a goal, when Cannavaro let Del Piero away from his sight for once and it was a terrific first time shot from outside the box that gave Casillas no chance. I tend to agree with some of what i have been reading that Casillas should have made an attempt. Yes, the shot was well placed, but it was no bullet. Though Madrid showed signs of some good stint in the match, there was a lot of unwanted time in their half with defenders passing the ball amongst themselves. With no wingers and playing 3 strikers up front, there was no connection in midfield and Sneijder did not come into his best self till the second half.

The Dutchman came out like a man possessed and starting taking numerous shots from his comfort zone and also tried some superlative passes. Amauri's goal in the first few minutes of the second half really was almost the last nail in the coffin for Madrid. Cannavaro was booed all night on his return to Italy to play in his former home ground. Once Robben was on the ground, Madrid looked really threatening during this period and Schuster should see this. Well it be an interesting match when Juventus plays Madrid at the Bernabeu next, but for all said and done the group of death is all but resolved with Juve and Madrid almost guaranteed to go through.

Speaking of formations, the big issue in Spain was Real Madrid's young right back Sergio Ramos claiming that he is not enjoying playing right now. The reason is one which almost all can see, that there is no right winger and Ramos has no cover when he goes up attacking. From having an abundance of such wingers like Figo, Beckham to name a few Ramos is left playing a lone role on the right. He also added on saying that he is sick of hearing that whenever things go wrong it is invariably he who is out of position or at fault. Schuster was asked by the press on these comments and he said that he had not read any of these. The result of these outbursts, was being benched by the Manager against Atheltic.

Before i get into that match, this weekend was all about Liverpool's superb start to the season so far and their historic clash with co-league leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Both teams were unbeaten, but there were at least two things against Liverpool, one that star striker Fernando Torres was out with a hamstring injury and two the fact that Stamford Bridge was a fortress for Chelsea for over 4 years that they have seen their team lose at home. I am firm believer from watching EPL over the years that the games which feature the top 4 are always cagey affairs. It was no different on Sunday, with Torres out, Benitez used Keane and the lone striker and had Riera on the left, Kuyt on the right and Gerrard, Mascherano and Alonso in the midfield.


I have felt that Liverpool needed a bit more options in defense, but Agger and Carragher certainly did not look anywhere close to being challenged. Carragher had such a superb game that he controlled Anelka without any trouble. I am not one who watches these teams on a weekly basis as i focus more on La liga a few things i noticed. Chelsea newly signed RB, Bosingwa was good attacking but Benitez did well to line up Riera against him who was giving him trouble more than once. John Terry coming back from injury looked unsure of himself and was looking rusty and it was Carvalho who seemed to be the more confident of the lot. I still do not know what Malouda is all about, is he winger or what? Gerrard was all about a hit and miss concept, but he was keeping it going time and time. Mikel played superbly and he looks like Makelele in his prime in Madrid. For all the class Chelsea has, they cannot afford to play the better teams in the EPL with Anelka and Kalou playing like this.

A deflected goal from a shot by Xabi Alonso gave Liverpool a shock victory, well deserved i should say. The big news in the press is that Chelsea's record came down of being unbeaten at Stamford Bridge for over 4 years, but i say it is better to lose this record against Liverpool than maybe Hull city, no offense to the minnows but the way they are playing, i doubt if that is the right word that describes them. I am happy for my friend Spartan and Liverpool in going top of the EPL, but it is just November and too early to say if Liverpool can break their 19 year jinx.

In Spain its almost roles reversed between Barca and Real Madrid. Barca have been just crushing opponents week after week and this weekend was no different when they scored 3 in the first 15 minutes and 5 in the first half against Almeria who were in the top half of the table. Though Barca just faded away in the second half it was 3 points in style. Real Madrid on the other hand did get a last gasp winner against Atletico last weekend and after the loss to Juve mid week, they welcomed Athletic Bilbao to the Bernabeu.

Van Nistelrooy had asked Madrid to appeal to rescind the red card he got last week against Atletico Madrid. Some committee at Madrid decided that it was a 50-50 chance that the appeal could be denied resulting in a lengthier ban. This meant that Madrid would be without the Dutch striker for the game. Schuster rested Cannavaro, brought Heinze in to partner Pepe and Marcelo came in to LB. Sneijder, Van der Vaart and Robben were all lined up in midfield with Salgado, yes my favorite Salgado at RB.

The opening minutes showed that it was going to be an easy night for Madrid, when Sneijder took a 50 meter shot seeing the goal keeper away from his line. It was almost perfect till the last swerve that took it away from the top corner. Then it was Higuain who scored, but it was disallowed for an offside, but this was a howler. Actually these decisions are just making more and more excuses for everyone at Madrid to complaint that there is a conspiracy against them winning the third consecutive title.

The game slowed down or rather Madrid was trying hard to slow down a match seemingly rattled by the disallowed goal, but Heinze was able to connect straight with Sneijder with a long ground ball, if at all there was a question of offside, this was the one, but the flag stayed down and Sneijder took a few quick steps before smashing a powerful left footed cross shot. Sneijder was having a superb game already when he hot the post after some good work by Higuain in getting past defenders and laying it off for him. Llorente was basically the lone striker for Athletico but was being a handful for both Pepe and Heinze. But the second goal was soon scored when Sneijder fed a ball through to Van der Vaart who showed his flair in a side flick into the box, Raul and Higuain staying together ran in different directions leaving the defenders confused and Higuain scored with a cool finish to make it 2-0.


Madrid seemingly cruising to a victory then crumbled, when first Iraola was on the floor, and play stopped, then started and amongst all the distraction, Exteberria scored to make it 2-1. It was not to stop there, Athletico got a penalty from a set piece when the referee thought that llorente was man handled by Pepe and Heinze. The replays showed that the Madrid defenders bumped into each other with some strong pushing from Llorente. Iraola scored the resulting penalty to make it 2-2 at half time. Then it was a period of rough tackles, play acting and pushing and shoving. Marcelo was lucky to escape with a yellow card, where i thought it was not a tackle but a kick.


The second half showed an improved Madrid, with first Higuain going close and a minute later from a corner, Heinze hit the bar. Gago, who for me was the best player on the night fed a terrific pass on to Higuain, who finished off with another cool finish to make it 3-2. From there on it was downhill for Athletico as Amorebieta was sent off with a straight red. Though Schuster did give the returning Diarra and Guti some playing time, but keeping Raul on till the last 3 minutes is like an insult to Saviola.

This is what Real Sporting Director Mijatovic had to say “It seems that there are people who do not want Real Madrid to win their third consecutive La Liga title,” he spat out bluntly, before adding, “We want to believe this is all just coincidence, but too much has happened in the past few games.”

First and Last minute goals in drama filled Madrid Derby

After being drubbed by Barcelona 2 weeks ago, Atletico would have been the more eager of the two capital city teams in the first edition of the Madrid derby of the season. The international break gave Atletico the time to forget about their miserable performance and to bounce back. Apart from the Barca game they have been in splendid form driven by one Sergio Kun Aguero. They have put together some really strong attacking displays in the La Liga and the Champions League. For once they were coming up to the same league and their big brother neighbors.

Madrid had their fair share of injury problems coming into the Vicente Calderon. With Diarra and Guti injured, it was De la Red, Gago and Sneijder in the midfield. The Argentine link man and the Madrid #10 for this season have just returned from injury. Schuster had one change in defense and that was to bring Marcelo at LB. With Robben injured Schuster used 3 strikers in Raul, Van Nistelrooy and Higuain.

Historically, the Madrid Derby has seen some really fast goals and this was no different, just 34 seconds on the clock and Ruud Van Nistelrooy getting receiving a ball on the left side outside the box, with a defender right in front of him, still beat Franko with a superb finish from a long way out. He joins a special 1 minute club, a total of 6 players who have scored within the first minute in the Madrid derby. Another interesting detail to this statistic is that two derby games last season saw Raul and Aguero score in the opening minutes respectively and with Van Nistelrooy's goal it makes it 3 in a row. You have a ticker for a Madrid Derby, you got to be in the stand before the first kick of the ball. I may sound biased now when i say that Van Nistelrooy is one of the best strikers of our generation, but even before he joined Madrid i had the same opinion. Each week you see the Dutchman score all kinds of goals. I pulled his goal scoring stats for the notable three clubs he played for in the last 10 years. 3 season at PSV he scored 62 goals in 67 appearances, 5 seasons at Man U he scored an astounding 162 goals in 189 appearances. He showed that it was no fluke in just his third season at Madrid he has already scored 57 goals in 82 matches. If a striker can boast of a record of 281 goals in 338 matches at the big stage in club level at almost 0.8 goals/match ratio, can anyone say i am wrong?


It was a dream start for Madrid with the goal in already they knew they would have to face a big attack tide from Atletico and it was exactly not the case. Both Aguero and Forlan were getting into shooting positions but could not create any fluid movement into the Madrid box and their shooting was awful. Madrid created moves of their own, though Sneijder was relatively silent on the night, Gago and De La Red were controlling midfield well. Higuain had his shot blocked by the keeper and also the follow up shot from De La Red. From a corner just past minute 20 Cannavaro took a shot on goal, Van Nistelrooy was on hand to tap in from close range. The goal was disallowed as the Dutchman was deemed to be in a offside position. The replays showed that at the time Cannavaro was taking the shot, Van Nistelrooy was clearly onside and it was not even a close call. I seriously think the assistant referee missed the defender who was playing him onside.

Perea was sent off for clearly a second bookable offense when his flaying elbow hit Sneijder on the face, resulting in a bloody nose for the Dutchman. Tempers were flaring and living up to the derby environment which usually is not the case. Fans and players play fair and with 10 men for Atletico and Madrid a goal up, it was going to be tough times for them. Then came a decision from the referee which almost justifies nothing else but the term "balancing out". For a neutral observer it was a disastrous performance by the referee to say the least.

After the half time Higuain had the chance to have Madrid go one or two up when he was denied by the Atletico keeper again once from a point blank range. Atletico finally started looking dangerous when former Barca and Portuguese winger Simao came in. Sergio Ramos who was having a disappointing match, was to have things going worse for him with the winger giving him trouble. But i should say there was a lot of diving going on as well and again there was pushing and shoving between the players. Again a counter attack hit by Higuain when he tried a shot, laid off the re bound for Van der vaart but, the keeper denied him as well. In the 89 the minute Simao won a free kick a little outside the Madrid box about 30 metres or so and he finished off with a superb finish over the wall with Casillas not even moving.

But as in the past couple of seasons Madrid, there is no way we can write off this team until the final whistle is born. Drenthe who was on as a substitute was brought down by Heitinga and the referee pointed to the spot. If this penalty was not given, referee in a different part of the world would have been shot dead. Drenthe makes all these surging runs, but is easily muscled off and hardly creates any chances, but this was a night where he was the hero. With no regular penalty takers in the team, it was the young 2o year old Higuain to take the kick. He hit a sweet spot kick, the keeper guessed right and i think he even got his finger tips on it, but it was Madrid who walked away with 3 points with a 2-1 score. The referee played 7 minutes and 51 seconds of stoppage time maybe to also accommodate the time he himself was getting treatment. I agree this time with Schuster, people looking at the score line think that it was a struggle for Madrid and they were lucky for the win. In a game when their goal was disallowed and a poor red card decision, i think Schuster is right here that they would have won 5-1. It was tactically a good game for Schuster as he got everything including the substitutions almost bang on the money. Incidentally the German tactician got into the record books. He coached Madrid for the 45th league outing against Atletico and notched up 100 points. The earlier record was held by Rijkaard at Barca in 49 games.


Tuesday is one of the biggest matches of this years Champions League, a match which would have had the hype of a final a few years back. Italy's biggest play Spain's biggest and the result could be Claudio Ranieri's job on the line. Madrid make the trip to Turin to play Juventus in the third game of the Champions League group stage. Madrid are sitting on top of the group with 6 points and if Schuster's men can get the 3 points which i seriously doubt, then they could go easy on the remaining games. Good thing to note that the 12 times these two teams have played each other, there never has been a draw. Lot of things have happened including the troubles in Italy, their performance this season and at Madrid as well in terms of teams. I still remember Hierro struggling for pace against Nedved in the 2002/2003 season. Since 2000 i think Madrid has had serious trouble getting past Juventus and Bayern Munich, the problem being the away fixture.

Player Ratings(starting rating 6):

Casillas: 7
Decent game for the Spaniard, who is now in the shortlist for the Balon d Or and considered by many as one of the fore runners for the award. Honestly it was an easy game for him. Considering the fact that Atletico boasted talents like Aguero, Forlan, Manish, their shooting was pathetic to say the least. He was helpless in the Simao free-kick.

Pepe: 8
Marking strikers, small, and quick could be very tricky and the Portuguese defender seems to be back to his best. He was up to the task and kept Aguero kept quiet for most of the day and cut off most of his attempts to connect with Forlan. I would give him the Man of the Match ahead of Higuain. A little tough one.

Cannavaro: 8
I honestly was thinking of a 7 for the Italian, but i thought he deserved a point more for a few headers he won and a couple of desperate tackles putting his body on the line at the end of the match.

Marcelo: 7
The young Brazilian getting the nod ahead of Heinze and he showed the difference between the two. He was just excellent going forward, but was found lacking with the final ball and also his positioning at the back. Heinze maybe got a reprimand for the poor challenge and the penalty that he conceded.

Sergio Ramos: 6
The International games have probably taken the toll on the RB as it was for sure not his best game. He struggled going forward was ineffective, and also struggled once Simao came on.

Sneijder: 7
Was relatively a quiet night for the Dutchman. He got some valuable minutes under his belt coming from injury.

De la Red: 7.5
Was good going forward on the counter attack with Higuain and also had a few shots on goal. He also assisted Gago well in going back to cover.

Gago: 7.5
Considering it was his first game after the first match of the Champions League, it was a decent outing for the Argentine holding player. His tackling and covering skills are good and was never threatened by the Atletico midfield and was also good going forward and link up play.

Raul: 6.5
Rightly substituted in the second half as the Captain went invisible in the second half, not a night to remember individually for him.

Van Nistelrooy: 7
I would have given him an 8 or more if he was given a chance to complete the game by the referee. An absolutely stunning goal out of nothing within the first minute and though he played only a little over 30 minutes, it was in my opinion 2 goals for him in that period.

Higuain: 7.5
Good match again for the youngster. He has just been one of the most improved young players in the La Liga. Maybe not heralded like most of the new footballers coming up, but has definitely become a fan and coach favorite this season. At his age showed a cool head, when he finished the penalty in a big time pressure situation.

Substitutes:

Van der Vaart: 6.5

Came in for Sneijder in the second half, but could do nothing much except for a shot on goal.

Drenthe: 7

Replacing the captain made a few dribbles, and won the crucial penalty.

Javi Garcia: 6

Apart from a note worthy stupid tackle on Aguero, he did what he was asked to do.

Here is a video with highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU9C3vx0IoM

Madrid forget shooting boots against Espanyol

After the mid week Champions league fixtures the Spanish La liga was back over the weekend. Every year in La liga they pair two teams for their playing schedules. This season it is Madrid and Barcelona, which means Madrid play Barcelona's opponents from previous week. This is really tough on some of the teams, who will end up playing one of the Spanish giants at home one week and the other away or vice versa. This could be good and bad for Madrid depending on how Barca does the damages. Espanyol played Barca the week before and it was a match that Espanyol did not deserve to lose. Amongst crowd trouble from the Barca ultras Barca did overcome Espanyol 2-1. Now Espanyol make the visit to the Bernabeu and as in the recent years it was to be another interesting game again.

Madrid were coming off a tough fought victory at Zenit in the Champions League in the mid week. When all the press mentioned that Madrid were lucky to get off with a win, i use the word "hard fought" because it was one of the most crucial 3 points Madrid could ask for in what is undoubtedly the group of death. With Juventus getting a draw with Bate and Zenit now losing against both of the other big teams in the group, it looks defined. Madrid have made their best start in 5 years in the champions league group stages. Madrid had to overcome tough weather and a barricade of attacks from the Russians. Though the papers heralded the efforts of Madrid keeper Cassilas as heroic, it was Pepe who had a man of the match performance including a good performance from Ramos, who did well to mark Arshavin, who was just superb on the night.

Barcelona thrashed an in-form Atletico Madrid 6-1, on Saturday and Madrid would have hoped for all 3 points against Espanyol on Sunday before going into the international break. Schuster has been commended for by Madrid sporting director and president equally for his squad rotation policy. He did not play Raul against Zenit Petersburg and it was more than likely that he would play him against Espanyol. Squad rotation is fine but i guess Schuster got a couple of things wrong. His idea of playing 3 strikers is not working out. Madrid this season is for sure playing a 4-1-3-2 formation, with one winger in the 3 midfielders, but against Espanyol it was a 4-1-2-3 formation and from the initial few minutes it was sure, it was not working. More importantly with the absence of Robben, he should have got the attack minded Marcelo at LB instead of Heinze. Though the Argentine was all up and down the pitch, he lacks the pace and ability to go in support of attack. With Ramos kept busy by Espanyol winger Nene, there was hardly any wing play for Madrid.

It still would have yielded results, but Madrid started off wasteful after Higuain, Sergio Ramos, and Raul had chances missed, off which the first two were wild. To add to their worries Heinze made a horrific challenge inside the penalty box on Raul Tamudo and the Espanyol icon converted the penalty to score the first of the game and his first at the Santiago Bernabeu. 0-1 Espanyol on 20 minutes. Sergio Ramos was doing well going forward considering the fact that he had a fair bit of defending to do. 3 minutes after going behind Sergio Ramos made a good run on the right, cut inside and waited before putting in a wicked ball which Raul, sandwiched in between two Espanyol defenders headed in superbly to make it 1-1.

Madrid seemingly were lost completely in the move that created the second goal for Espanyol. Nene recieved a pass on the right, Cannavaro attacked but did not put in a challenge, and Heinze, Pepe and Sergio Ramos were all out of position and left Luis Garcia enough space and time to score. In the first place it was Heinze's territory that Nene was in, second off Cannavaro held off without challenging and Pepe and Ramos were just ball watching. With just one on rushing striker to pass to and 3 defenders, Madrid should have done a better job of marking. 1-2 Espanyol.

Madrid have not lost a match at the Bernabeu in La Liga since March last year and their record was in trouble here. But before the break it was Sergio Ramos again who put in a nice cross, Raul tangled with a defender and got the ball and passed it to Van der Vaart who passed it back to the Captain. The much under Madrid striker showed why he is still in the top league, when he waited and with superb footwork got past a defender and finished with a superb shot. With his second goal of the night Raul is now 7 goal shy of Di Stefano's record of 216 goals. 2-2 at half time.

Schuster made changes in the second half, when he brought on Robben for Van der vaart who had just faded away as the half progressed. The second half saw Madrid having most of the ball, but once they were in the Espanyol third, the shooting was poor. Higuain who is a natural striker, so he gets a ball in the midfield miles out, he is not looking to pass and his shots were not on target. Same was the case as with almost everyone including De la Red, Sergio Ramos, and Robben. De la red was sacrificed for the introduction of Wesley Sneijder, the Dutchman making an on track recovery after being injured in a pre-season friendly against Arsenal. He did not have the time to do anything significant, but a quickly taken free-kick which appeared to be a hand ball, but was not given.

It was an excellent game from Diarra, who won almost 18 balls and made almost 89 passes is staggering stats for a game. Robben in the end, had to be substituted with Drenthe, as the Dutchman seemed to be carrying an injury who now is ready for Atletico next week. Schuster is doing right with his squad rotation, but i am definitely not for the idea of changing your formation. Schuster could have given start to Drenthe if he was not playing Robben. Instead his 3 striker formation did not work, and Van Nstelrooy, though he worked hard did got maybe a couple of shots, second of which was a superb instinctive save with his legs from Kameni.

Schuster in his press conference said, Madrid deserved better, but that it is better to get away with a point than none. This was 2 points lost than a point gained.

Rafael Van der vaart orchestrates Real 7 * assault

With a week lost in International duty, La Liga had mid week games this week. Both Barca and Real have come off victories last weekend in away games. Wednesday night it was first Barca who entertained Real Betis at the Nou Camp. Barca were seemingly in control at half time when Eto converted twice from Messi passes. In a superb turn around Betis fought back to level the match in the second half at a 2 a piece. Just as when it was looking that Barca were to drop 2 points at home Guardiola's introduction of Gudjohnson into the game on 70 minutes worked. Just 10 minutes after the Iceland international made a start he scored converting a Dani Alves pass. It was a difficult goal at a difficult angle. The funny part of the celebration was when Eto came charging out of the Barca dug out and pushed Guardiola who was standing by the side line from the back-in joy of course. Pep looked back at the Cameroonian and then finally hug him. Of course Eto is a Player and Guardiola is a Manager, he has all the right not to have such extensive celebrations with his players. After all Barca were not scoring the crucial winner in a Champions league final. Barca held on to win the match 3-2.

Real Madrid entertained Sporting Gijon at the Bernabeu. Real coming off a difficult but well earned victory away at Racing and Sporting got drubbed by Barca the same 6-1. Schuster had made some changes again to his starting line up. Real were playing at home and against a team in the bottom of La Liga, squad rotation was not a bad idea, unless it came back to haunt him. The first 10 minutes looked as though Sporting had learned from their mistakes 3 days back in their match against Barca and were playing a compact defensive formation. Madrid took their time in passing the ball around mostly between the defenders and the midfield, rarely connecting with the strikers. Schuster rested Ramos and gave the youngster Torres a start, alongside Pepe, Cannavaro and Marcelo. It was Diarra, Van der vaart and de la Red in midfield, Robben on the right wing, Raul and Higuain as strikers. The youngsters who were superb against Racing almost immediately combined when 3 minutes into the game de la Red fed a neat ball to Higuain in the box but was not able to finish.

Just as when Sporting looked a little bit more comfortable on the ball and were stringing their attacks, a fine counter attacking move with de la Red chipping the ball to Raul, who headed the ball through into the path of Van der vaart who finished it off with a graceful left footed half volley. 1-0 Real Madrid on 18 minutes.

This almost immediately rattled Sporting who were trying to be organized. Raul and Higuain seemed to combine really well. The only part missing was the finishing. The young Argentine as i have mentioned numerous times before, has an excellent eye for hitting the counter attack and has the pace and dribbling skills to execute it. On the 33 minute mark a well executed play and a touch of brilliance got Real two up. de la Red inside the box squared a fine ball to VDV, who showed all signs of finishing with his preferred left, but with the goalkeeper charging and cutting down the angle he turned 360 and finished with a superlative back heel to make it 2-0.


Robben was getting too much space to run into, though his first touch and control let him down a couple of times, he was adequately supported by Torres. On one such run Robben cut inside the Sporting LB and with white shirts lining up inside the box, instead played a delightful ball across the penalty box for Higuain to finish off unmarked. 3-0 on the 36th minute and it was to stay so at half time.


As in the match against BATE in the Champions League Schuster did not want his team to sit on the lead. They did follow his instructions to the word as Madrid scored just a minute from game restart. A long ground ball into the box found Raul who probably was looking to pass back to Robben with the 1-2, but it was VDV again who finished with a sweet left footed shot leaving the goalkeeper stranded. It was 4-0 on 46 minutes and a superb hattrick for the Dutchman who is fast winning the Bernabeu fans over and also giving a strong answer to critics who doubted his ability to add quality to the Madrid midfield.


Just a few minutes later it was a switch of roles. VDV fed in a delightful through ball to Robben who tip toed and beat the center backs and the keeper for pace and scored with a well placed shot from a long way out. 5-0 Madrid on 50 minutes.


Schuster seeing a good stage for the young Madrid players to get some playing time brought in Javi Garcia to replace Diarra. Garcia has been used as a CB in pre-season but he played well in his natural position the rest of the game. On minute 53 the traveling Sporting fans had something to cheer for when Marcelo found himself a bit out of position and David Barral passed from the right for Mateo finish off avoiding the dive from Cannavaro. It was 5-1 on 53 minutes.

The press has been relentless about how Raul has lost his scoring touch and how he is now a liability for Madrid. I agree partially to the point that Schuster should not be scared to bench Raul especially in away games and give the likes of Higuain and Saviola more playing time. When the Manager points out that he did want Raul to play withdrawn in an away game similar to Racing, we cannot expect him to bag a lot of goals. Press is probably looking at stats only, but Raul definitely brings a lot more to the plate. Is he a negative influence and does not want to see other players succeed at Madrid? I don't think so, we have to understand that Raul has been wearing the Captain's arm band regularly for the last 5-6 years, even at a time when there were players such as Figo, Zidane, Beckham and Roberto Carlos.

Well Raul decided to take center stage amidst all the goals that Real were scoring. First Robben cut inside again on the right and seemingly with minimum back lift got a powerful shot. Sporting goalkeeper desperately punched it up and Raul was there and finished off with a difficult high tap in. 6-1 Madrid on 59 minutes.


Schuster introduced Saviola for Higuain and almost immediately the forgotten Argentine made a surge down the left, dribbled and side footed two defenders but could not find the final ball to Raul. Couple of minutes later it was Saviola receiving a ball, fed Raul and with the keeper charging would have expected the Captain to pass back to him, but Raul made a superb lob which was so perfect that it could be used for lessons to kids. 7-1 Real Madrid on 64 minutes.


Robben after a good night was replaced by Drenthe, but now Madrid as though providing a favor to Sporting decided to step of the gas. I am pretty sure if they had attacked more they would have scored another 3-4 goals. Madrid seemingly have grown in confidence after their poor showing on Match Day one against Deportivo. Schuster would be one happy man, seeing that his squad rotation worked out excellently. But is this game a fair assessment? Certainly not!! Madrid have scored 14 goals in 4 league games but have shipped in 6 goals with only 2 clean sheets for Casillas in all competitions. 7 goals against Sporting for many may not be a big deal, because they let 6 goals in the week before against Barca at their ground. Having lost all 4 games conceding a total of 19 goals Sporting are in bad shape. Well i have a reason for this, the scheduling for a team like Sporting has been absolutely cruel. Having played Barca and Madrid in the space of 3 days, they welcome Vilarreal over the weekend.

Real Madrid travel to face Real Betis on Saturday, though Betis are struggling they did give a scare to Barca. David Villa inspired Valencia got back to top spot in La Liga thanks to two goals from the Spaniard.

Here are my player ratings:

Casillas- 7.5
Though he had limited saves to make as most of the action was at the other end of the pitch, he maintained high concentration and was good. Cannot blame him for the goal he let in also.

Miguel Torres- 7
Getting a full game ahead of regular Sergio Ramos, the young Madrid defender held his ground and also joined Robben in attack in the first half. His positioning with the rest of the defenders was noticeable when Cannavaro was barking out instructions asking him to maintain the high line.

Pepe- 7.5
Much improved performance from the big Portuguese. He did not have a lot of defend, but still controlled the ball and looked sharp and quick.

Cannavaro- 7
The General at the back was good organizing the Madrid defense. In the beginning of the match he held on to the ball with Pepe with some neat passing with midfield. I am not giving a higher rating because if he was a bit quicker maybe he could have blocked the shot that let to Sporting's goal.

Marcelo- 7.5
He made one mistake which led to the goal, when the young Brazilian was found too high in defense. With Robben playing on the right, Marcelo did well going up and joining the attack.

Diarra- 7
Another player who did his part, but was never under any pressure. Also only played 50 minutes when he was substituted by Javi Garcia.

de la Red- 7.5
It was a composed performance from the young player and a lot of running. He provided the assist for VDV to score his second of the night. de la Red could be a serious competitor for Guti and Gago.

Van der vaart- 10- Man of the Match
I was split on a 9.5 for VDV. But I don't think he could have had a better game. I don't agree with people who say it is Sporting Gijon who is 20th in La liga so its no big deal. A hat trick from midfield is a really great feat to achieve. VDV had to prove that he was worth the money Madrid spent on him, or rather he is now proving that Madrid made one of the deals of the decade. He was involved in the game from start to finish, was tracking back to help in defense as well as going back to collect passes from the defenders. He set up Robben with a delightful through ball. The goal he back heeled into the net was just phenomenal presence of mind and flair.

Robben- 8
Switched wings and was predominantly on the right the entire game. He cut inside the Sporting LB with ease on more than one occasion. It was his delightful pass that set up Higuain. It was also his shot saved by the keeper that Raul tapped in. He was also involved in the third goal scored by VDV. Though his first touch from some long balls did let him down, it was a busy day in the office for the flying Dutchman.

Higuain- 8
Did what he is there on the pitch for. Hard running, good link up play with Raul and also scored a goal.

Raul(c)- 9
Real Madrid's official website says Raul is the Man of the Match. I disagree in this aspect, but i do give him 9. He was involved in almost all of Madrid's attacking play. If the first goal was his pure poacher instinct, the second was pure genius.

Substitutes:

Gavi Garcia- 7.5
He looked solid and got some quality playing time under his belt. Playing in his natural position of defensive midfield, he recovered balls and was pretty good in his ball distribution as well.

Saviola- 7
First real quality minutes for the Argentine. He showed bits and pieces of the Saviola he was famous for. Good triangular 1-2 passing with Raul led to the Captain's second goal. He was getting in to too many offside positions and looked a bit rusty.

Drenthe- 7
With Real taking the gas of the pedal on terms of attacking play, the Dutchman was just having a jog in the park with no positive play.

Here are the goals with some exciting English commentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_XRg3WQ_kE

I am putting this second video too because the first one seems to be missing Raul's second goal:

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

Superb Real youngsters, unstoppable Barca and titans no show in Premiership

This past Sunday was in game minutes a really long day for me. Started off at 6 AM when i labored myself out of bed and onto the couch to watch Chelsea V Man U in the early kick off. This was one of many cases in the Premiership of choking each other out. The more i see the top 4 teams play each other i am less impressed with the actual freedom in which they play. Sir Alex used the same system sans Christiano Ronaldo that brought him glory against the same opposition the last time they met in the UEFA Champions league final. Surprising to many he played Park and Hargreaves on the right. I just hate it when teams play with one striker up front and Chelsea at home looked compact but looked never in a position to score for almost 80 minutes. Rio was having a party in the back because he had very few threatening attacks to deal with from Chelsea. He even joined the attack on one occasion and would have scored if not for a superb save by Cech. Chelsea had immediate trouble when Carvalho had to be stretchered off and Alex was introduced. The big Brazilian was superb in the game, i personally have high regard for his abilities.

Scolari took the entire first half to realize that Malouda and Anelka up front are not the right option. Anelka was coming in to the game in good form and got into some good positions but unfortunately was wasteful. In the second half he missed what could be called a sitter. With Evans partnering Rio in the center Scolari should have put on an additional striker from the beginning. I have always felt that Rio is a good defender when he plays with someone who can cover for his mistakes. With no threat from Anelka and Malouda mostly inactive Drogba came in for Malouda. He was indeed creating some trouble for the central defensive partnership of Man United. Bosingwa was reasonably good all through the game but needs to really work on his delivery because after making some impressive runs the final ball was disappointing. It was he who let Evra muscle past him to put in a ball for Berbatov. The Bulgarian who seems still not completely in the Red's system took a shot which was spilled by Cech right into the path of Park, who justified his selection ahead of Nani with a simple tap in goal.


Though the likes of Ronaldo were seen in the latter half of the match there was no real threat from the Portuguese apart from a few counter attacking runs. With Chelsea's unbeaten home record of over 85 games and 4 years under threat it was Kalou who rose highest in a set piece and scored the equalizer with 10 minutes remaining. He was involved in a swift counter attack within minutes as well. Overall it was a decent game, but with 7 yellow cards to Man U players they are probably looking at a fine or sanction from the FA. Some of them really deserved it, players like Scholes who put in such a lot of wrong tackles that the referee was struggling to keep the match going for a minute at a stretch.

Real Madrid made their visit to Racing Santander a historically tough match for Madrid. Racing was missing Munitis to injury and Center back Garay was no playing because he is on loan from Madrid. Schuster on the other hand made some changes which were surprising for sure but worked out in the end. He had his preferred his defensive 4 to call upon. Cannavaro was back from injury which saw him miss the European championships and the early part of this season. Pepe who is not yet in full form, Ramos at RB and Heinze at LB. With news in the press that Schuster would bench Raul and play Higuain did not come true as the German tactician went with a new formation. No winger as Robben was rested, Gago added himself to the injury list mid week in the Champions league win. It was young de la Red, Diarra and Guti in midfield. Raul and Van Nistelrooy as strikers and Higuain in a withdrawn role on the right.

Racing are a tough opposition when it gets to their strike force. Madrid had to dig deep before they could even generate any positive moves. It was Higuain who created the first real chance for Madrid when he dribbled past Christian and almost set up Raul. 10 minutes later Guti too a rather different set piece and saw de la Red shoot from distance but was denied by a finger tip save from the Racing goal keeper. Though Racing got close to the Madrid goal, some last gasp defending ensured that Casillas was not tested till about 37 minutes. Madrid midfield misery continued as Guti was soon stretchered out with a few minutes to half time. Van der vaart was introduced to take up Guti's role. Guti was seemingly looking more and more confident and seeing a lot of ball as he was enjoying the space created by de la Red and Diarra.

Madrid came out in the second half continuing to play the patient waiting game and trying to hit Racing on the counter. Sergio Ramos and Heinze hardly went up the pitch to join in attack. Schuster had his cards well played as Higuain is the best man for a counter attack. The Argentine picked up the ball deep in his half from a Racing set piece and hit a fast counter attack on the right. Raul and de la Red were the only options to pass, the Madrid captain though has been struggling to find his scoring form, pulled the defense with him thus leaving de la Red unmarked, who controlled and made a cool finish to make it 0-1 to Madrid.

Racing hit Madrid with an array of attacking moves, but the always questioned back line held on. Van der vaart fed a long ground ball to Van Nistelrooy who in the Racing box had no one to pass to. With a defender right in front of him, his quick feet enabled just the smallest gap to shoot past him into goal. Such goals are what differentiate between a good striker and a great one.

Robben and Saviola also got a bit of playing time. De la Red had a good game, but could improve on his passing. He has an extremely accurate long shot and is a good finisher. If he does not improve in his ball distribution he will find it difficult to find a starting spot ahead of a very talented Madrid midfield in this department. For me the man of the match though was Higuain. When the likes of Raul and Van Nistelrooy were trying hard to link with the Madrid midfield, the Argentine was always looking to dribble as soon as he got the ball.

Elsewhere a Robinho inspired Man City hit six goals, who scored one and was involved in almost the entire Man City attacking moves. Similarly Messi inspired Barca hit six past Sporting Gijon whom Madrid play on Wednesday.