Barca drop further, Solid performance from Madrid and "Divine" Ronaldo

Everyone keeps talking on how well Man U play with Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo on the pitch, but to give Rooney the "Man of the match" for the game against Aston Villa is just ridiculous. There was just one man on the ground and i hate to say this, but C.Ronaldo "is" without a doubt "the" best player right now in World Football. If 35 goals in 35 games as a midfielder is not super enough, last game was just one for the home video collection. I was not exactly impressed with Ronaldo because of show boating and also the fact that he was not exactly doing anything positive with his tricks. But over the past year he has done it all, headers, open play goals, assists, free-kicks (some stupendous ones), what more can we ask for from one single player?

This weekend was no different, inside the penalty box, the mind set to try a reverse flick at goal with his right foot and generate the power he did was just magical. If that was a fluke, more was to come from Ronaldo, he was literally skipping past 2-3 players with so much ease that you don’t even see him dribbling. For the amount of football i see, i would give anything to watch happened next, with his back to the goal he created a through ball to Rooney with a back heel. Creating a through pass for that distance with a back heel is just unbelieveble, but his vision to pick out Rooney on his blind side is just out of this world. Just one word- Divine.

As much as i dont like Man U, if i am to pick a winner of the CL this year, it is going to be them. For Ronaldo to get to that level they need to win this trophy. It is not just Ronaldo, each attacking move, I was amazed at the movement from Rooney and Tevez. Many actually overlook Tevez maybe because of his not so great bag of skills, but he is a very intelligent and big game player. The goal he scored, he started the move somewhere in the center of the pitch, passed it to Ronaldo, and his movement across the pitch was terrific, 5 seconds later you see Tevez at the far post unmarked and puts in a great header.

If last week Real Madrid put out a lesson to everyone on how to lose a game, it was they La Liga chasers Barca who took turn this week. They made the trip to play Betis. Rijkaard was not just having problems with the injured Ronaldinho (or is he?), Messi and Deco, Rijkard was also forced to re shuffle the back by moving Puyol over to CB and partner him with Thuram. They just were in the usual passing self and got the first goal on 14 minutes when Bojan showed some good composure when he got a rebound in the Betis box to wait before pulling the trigger. Samuel Eto scored the second Barca goal in the next minute and they went in at half time with a 0-2 lead.

At this point usually I start doing something else, but for once i felt there was something in store from Betis. They came out of the tunnel a different team. Their Brazilian midfielder Edu just took charge from there, when he scored a good header to make it 1-2 at 53 minutes. It looked just a brief charge when Edu failed to convert from the spot. His week shot was saved by Valdes with his legs. But a minute later from the right side of the pitch in the Barca side, Toure was turned inside out by Juanito and for a defender he unleashed an impressive volley to make it 2-2 on 75 minutes.

Probably Barca made the same mistake that Real Madrid made last weekend against Valencia, pushing a lot of men forward. With Zambrotta down the pitch, it was Edu one-one on Thuram and the old legs were running back with no tackles. Thuram probably was expecting some support from Toure, but there was no one to be seen, but Edu saw the goal and made up for missing the penalty with a super finish. This could be very important 3 points that Barca dropped in their chase to catch Real Madrid. It got worse, when Villareal dumped Atletico Madrid 3-0 to go one point ahead of Barca.

Real Madrid had the second successive home game fixture and on Sunday they welcomed Sevilla to the Santiago Bernabeu. Schuster had a lot of things to prove, very importantly the fact that he was the right man for the job and that he knew what he was doing. Stats were not in his favor as Sevilla had beaten Real Madrid in the past 3 meetings. The fans had turned in numbers and i was really surprised seeing 80,000 in the stadium after last weeks surprise loss. Schuster meanwhile again had to make changes, few forced and few tactical. This time I think he got it right. He was forced to replace Pepe with Heinze because of an injury. He took out Baptista and replaced him with Higuain to add the natural striker to the playing 11. Robben took the place of the Brazilian Robinho. Gago who has had phenomenal time in the second half of the season continued to get the nod ahead of Diarra. Sevilla had their problems, they had no cover at LB with Dragutinovic and the midfielder Maresca injured. Adriano the left midfielder was covering for in LB and Keita was in for Maresca. The main threat for Real would be the two big strikers in Kanoute and Fabiano, with Pepe out, Real did not have any big defenders to counter the size and holding play from Kanoute.
Real were playing some good football, with some good passing and creating play in midfield with Higuain coming back to collect the ball and create plays. Raul was staying up front more. Real did not need long to go into the lead. Sneijder put in a superb ball in a set piece from the left of the field and it was Heinze who showed good strength amongst some strong challenges to head it in. This was the Argentines first ever goal in a Madrid shirt. 1-0 Real Madrid on 7 minutes.
Sevilla gave Real, space sucking the pressure and hoping to hit the counter attack. There were several chances for Real, but the keeper Palop made a good double save after Higuain laid off for Raul and Sergio Ramos following up.

Real quickly covered back knowing that Sevilla would be out to get a goal, it was Heinze making a superb block on a point black strike from Kanoute. The Argentine again made a superb block this time a shot from Fabiano. I counted the key tackles that Heinze made during the game were close to 8 or 9. But Madrid were soon to make a mistake. With Cannavaro struggling to mark Kanoute it was Higuain given that responsibility inside the box in a set piece. Madrid could not clear the first attempt and it was headed back in at the feet of the Mali International, who made a cool finish on the turn. Higuain not the right choice to mark Kanoute for sure. 1-1 at 37 minutes.

As in the past many games, there is always an immediate response from Real Madrid when they go a goal down, and as always it was their Captain Fantastico Raul. But the creative play from Sneijder was just superb, he had as many as three Sevilla shirts in front of him and possibly no where to go he played a superb ball in to Raul inside the box. The Captain held up the ball from some weak challenges with two players on him and scored with a superb finish. Real Captain has equaled former great Santillana's record of 290 goals in a Madrid shirt. He is 17 away from the all time highest record by Alfredo Di Stefano who leads the pack at 307 goals. Raul is making a superb come back season when many thought that his career was over with a serious goal drought. He has scored 21 goals in this season 16 of which in the La Liga. 2-1 it was at half time.

Madrid came out in the second half and was making an evident effort not to rush or over commit and the Captain was leading from the front. He pushed back in midfield and started pushing wide right trying to run at Adriano. He was defending deep and supporting the midfield superbly. Gago was doing extremely well and Cannavaro was using his experience well not to stay tight on Kanoute. He let Kanoute win the ball but did not want him moving away from him. It was time for Raul's strike partner to be in the news, but for the wrong reason, he first received the ball from Ramos and missed, then followed that with failing to finish when Palop made a double save on him.

Guti was struggling with what looked like a stomach injury, but it was Sneijder again who made a superb controlled through cross ball to Guti on the right after turning 360, Guti made a cool first touch and made a superb pass with his left foot across the Sevilla goal and Higuain finally made the finish diving in. 3-1 Real Madrid on 65 minutes.

I was closely watching how Real would play this match out and they did the right thing. The defended deep, on most occasions having 2-3 men on Sevilla players. Fabiano kept missing chances including a sitter of an open header. There was also some good defending from Cannavaro, Ramos and Marcelo. On such occasion it was nice to see the spirit in the team when Casillas was just shaking Ramos grabbing his shoulder and Cannavaro going right upto him with a chest. Schuster also made some tactical changes, he brought in Diarra to add strength to the midfield, also Baptista and gave Robinho 5 minutes on the pitch. There was one fine moment when Sergio Ramos stole the ball from Kome, passed it to Raul one touch to Sneijder and back heel to Ramos and a cross ball to Robben. Robben really needs to watch how he handles himself on the pitch, he just gets carried away with each lose pass, each referreeing decision going against him.

I would probably have thought no one else but Heinze who deserved a Man of the Match, but yes there is someone, Wesley Sneijder who set up all three goals and looked to be the key in the Real midfield with his superb one touch football and his vision. This is what Real expected when they brought him over from Ajax.

Real held on to the 3 points in a well played and well executed game, and are on 65 points from 30 games. Villareal 6 points behind on 59 points and Barca on 48 points. It’s Champions League all the way this week....

You can lose many ways, and then the Real Madrid way

It was Grand Slam Sunday in the Premiership with the top 4 teams battling each other, which ultimately could mean lot of big time changes in the standings at the top. I am planning to write a bit on the Chelsea V Arsenal game that i saw in a separate post. Over in Spain Barca defeated Valladolid at home 4-1, thanks to an inspired performance from their teenager Bojan who hit two goals in the second half.

The Bernabeu was getting all set to welcome Valencia who are definitely in a better shape than Real. Valencia have found a bit of form, especially with David Villa and Baraja back from injury. Real meanwhile made changes of their own as Sergio Ramos was back at RB, Pepe and Cannavaro in the center, Marcelo at the LB position. It was Gago instead of Diarra in the midfield in the holding role. Sneijder was back along with Guti and Baptista in the midfield. Robinho and Raul completed the attacking options. With Van Nistelrooy injured Madrid were really struggling for the goals and the back up options in Higuain, Saviola and Soldado are not match fit and are struggling to produce any quality.

It was a good open game from the beginning except for the part that Valencia was staying deep and defending deep in their half and looking for the counter attack. Raul had the first chance from a Sergio Ramos cross but he was flagged offside. Guti was struggling with a lot of incomplete passes and was even not finding his team mates with most of his passes. Sneijder meanwhile was playing well and almost scored with his eye for goal all the time. Gago was doing well recovering lose balls. Villa had moved into a left sided role, probably to keep Sergio Ramos from making any attacking runs. Pepe was doing alright marking Mata and preventing him to get to any crosses from Silva. Silva and Villa were also switching positions on the flanks and even Cannavaro and Pepe also had to switch positions to counter this. Marcelo was also making some runs on the left and connecting well with Robinho. Schuster for some reason could not figure out that Baptista was so slow that he was not even able to make any contribution. His first touch was letting down and he seemed really clumsy.

Real showed signs of some better control in midfield when Sneijder and Gago were having possession. There was chance after chance that was going begging. Sergio Ramos put in a cross but there was no one in the Valencia box to take charge if it. The following two minutes were full of chances. Valencia were not exactly in a Christmas mood, from a set piece that was cleared partially, Madrid defense pushed forward with no particular line, and Silva threaded in a superb ball to Villa who scored. 0-1 Valencia 35th minute.

It took less than a minute for Real to equalize. Robinho crossed in for Raul who got up ahead of Helguera and scored over Hilderbrand for 1-1 score line. Marchena had to be replaced by Helguera and the former Real Madrid man did not do well against his former Captain. It was to remain 1-1 at half time.

The game started back with the same intensity and Real were creating more chances when their wing backs were able to get forward. Through the middle Baptista finally made his first real contribution of the night when he stole the ball and threaded it to Guti who put in a good through pass in to Raul who scored his second and the second for Real. 2-1 Real Madrid on 55 minutes.

Valencia introduced Baraja as well to add more substance to their midfield and Real introduced Robben for Baptista. There was some immediate effect but it was Silva who made the best of a push from Cannavaro inside the Real penalty box, the ensuing penalty was put away easily by David Villa for his second of the night to tie it 2-2 on 67 minutes.

Real switched gear and went looking for the third goal and were pushing numbers forward. Now it was time to start counting the chances. First Marcelo made a good run on the left cut inside two defenders and floated in a cross which Guti met on the volley in the air but it was drilled into the ground and was collected by Hilderbrand. Robinho right before he was substituted by Higuain received a through ball from Sneijder and with Hilderbrand beaten so his effort cleared superbly off the goal line by Helguera.

Higuain hit the keeper with one shot and hit the bar with another, but he was not be looked at kindly for the next miss. Raul took a shot and the rebound was head height for Higuain who headed straight at the keeper who was on the floor. With everyone attacking Real were made to look stupid when a long ball found Arizmendi free on the right, Cannavaro made a half hearted tackle which was no where near, with a difficult angle Arizmendi scored past Casillas surprisingly at the near post. 2-3 Valencia on 88 minutes.

Real who had the league wrapped up in the winter break is now looking like a team which is confused. They dont know when to attack and when not to. I seriously blame the players and not the coach for being hit by a counter attack towards the end like that. This is league play, you have 38 games and when you have a considerable lead over Barca it is important to collect as many points as possible. 30 attempts at goal and 11 saves by Hilderbrand the Valencia keeper Real leave the pitch with nothing to show for it. OK Real were drawing 2-2 on 88 minutes but at home there is no excuse for being hit on a counter attack when the 1 point would turn out to be absolute crucial. Schuster in his post game interview said that he had warned his players about going all out for the third goal and that his players were naive to think a team like Valencia would defend deep. True but here is my point as a Manager you should know that your team play the football based on the players you have lined up. Why did Schuster not replace Marcelo with Heinze or take out one of the midfielders and bring in Diarra. When Sergio Ramos started making some superb attacking play Villa almost found himself clear of the defense till Pepe made a tactical foul on him. It was a repeat of that when Arizmendi scored, when Marcelo was no where to be found. The first incident should have at least lighted the bulb for Schuster.

Now there is no point jumping around claiming that Real are in trouble and that Schuster needs to be axed. I have no wish to see Schuster go, because Madrid are playing a good system under him, but are making mistakes and are paying for those mistakes. He has created a system, but is not sure who he should use in it. For one season Real seemed to have a superb defense with the likes of Metzelder, Heinze, Pepe coming this term. Both Metzelder and Heinze were gambles as everyone knew the minute they were bought that for them to create wonders at Madrid they have to stay fit. Schuster was thus forced to use Ramos in the center back role for a lot many games. The problem lies in the center midfield. When he plays 4 midfielders he plays one in a defensive role, two in the center and one as a winger. He has used 27 different combinations of players in 29 games. He has too many of the same kind. Three wingers in Robinho, Drenthe and Robben all prefer playing on the left. Sneijder when playing is supposed to be positioned on the right side of midfield, but he has no capacity to play in the wings and put in crosses. He is small and is easily muscled off balls. His strength is in his first touch football, set pieces and his ability to keep the midfield plays going. Guti is never a player to depend on the consistency angle. Baptista is one rare Brazilian i have seen who has a clumsy first touch and needs so much time on the ball. He wants playing time, so where does he play, God know where, some position which is not in the coaching manual i guess. Madrid thus plays with a midfield with no winger on the right. They have looked absolutely superb when they play two wingers like the game against Valladolid.

Madrid' Striker department is a classic example of poor man management. Agreed Van Nistelrooy and Raul are the first choice strikers. I have written this numerous times, Saviola, Soldado and Higuain are not in the team for warming the bench and seeing 10 minutes of playing time per game. Now Van Nistelrooy created some controversy when the press claimed that he decided on his own to go for an ankle surgery that will keep him out for the rest of the season and did not consult with Madrid. The reason being that the Dutchman wanted to be fit in time for Euro 2008. Real have later cleared this, Yes the guy was the top scorer in the league in his first year last year, but is Schuster ready for a spell without him.

I have written about the superb tactics from Schuster and because of the good work Real did from the beginning of the season to the winter break, they are still in control but with 9 games left it is time to quickly figure out what has gone wrong. 6 defeats in the last 8 games including exits from the Spanish cup and the Champions League, Schuster better take the team to the La Liga title or it would be more disgraceful and confusing than the loss against Valencia. He is not helping the cause by already claiming that Real are interested in signing Ajax striker Klaas-Jaan Huntelaar, Ya right this is what you should be worrying about now.

Villareal have moved in to 2 points behind Barcelona at 56 and with the lead cut down to 4 points by Barca, i am getting reminded of the 2003-2004 season when Real were cruising till the winter break as leaders and ended up 3rd behind then winners Valencia and runner up Barcelona.

Depressing game at the Riazor, Barca still fall short

The game on Saturday, league leaders Real Madrid visiting the Riazor to play Deportivo who were at 12th position looked a difficult game for Real to take all 3 points. For some reason everyone has written off the fact that Barca could catch up with Real Madrid. Real have been fortunate to have a superb few month till the winter break which has helped him get here. Though the indifferent form after January and the injury worries have even brought Barca close to 2 points from Real, but again the roller coaster ride got the gap up to 8 points.

Schuster finally decided to give chances to some of the second choice players. Robinho, Baptista and Marcelo were rested. Cannavaro and Pepe in the center of defense, it was Torres at RB and Heinze at LB. Diarra in the holding role. Sneijder who made a strong substitute appearance last week was starting along side Guti. Drenthe was on the left wing and Raul the captain was joined by Soldado who was getting a rare start. Soldado who spent last season on loan at Osasuna was recalled back, offered a full contract and he ends up having no playing time, apart from some 5 minute appearances. It is almost the same with Saviola who came in from Barca last season on a free transfer, who has not made any positive contribution, with a fair share of injuries also being a reason for it. With Van Nistelrooy just getting back to full fitness, Schuster finally decided to give some playing time to the reserve players.

Unfortunately for Soldado and the entire Madrid team, Deportivo was not playing for anything and not only that they did not want Madrid to score. The first 45 minutes was to show what Madrid are up against. Deportivo were defending so deep playing 3 center defenders, and the wing backs making no attacking contributions, Madrid midfield was doing extremely well passing the ball around, but neither Guti nor Sneijder was able to produce the killer ball into the strikers Raul and Soldado. Heinze was making some valuable contributions on the left and was trying a few crosses. Real were having 70% of the possession but Deportivo did not care to win the midfield battle as the strikers were not getting any service and though both Raul and Soldado were tracking back to midfield nothing was happening for the league leaders. 0-0 at half time.

On resuming both teams showed a bit of more attacking flair, but Deportivo were lucky to go ahead. On 56 minutes Felipe got past Torres and as he was crossing in the ball inside the Real box, it hit Pepe's out stretched leg and was well placed into his own net. The 30 M defender has been superb whenever he has played. He was superb in the match till that point of time too. The Portuguese player who was not making any mistakes, suddenly a hand ball penalty against Lazio, a red card against Roma and now an own goal against Deportivo, i just hope he gets over these mistakes and does not become a repeat of Woodgate. 1-0 Deportivo.

Schuster seeing the game slipping with the Deportivo goal against the run of play, he introduced Robinho for Drenthe and Higuain for Soldado. Things hardly changed Real were still having the ball but Deportivo were not letting them into their box. There were some oooohs and aaahhhs when Sneijder surprised everyone with a long range shot and some Set pieces and corners bouncing around in the Deportivo box. Unfortunately it was not Real Madrid's day as the game ended 1-0 for Deportivo.

Schuster said after the game that a draw would have been a fair result. Real were unlucky to get out of the Riazor with nothing. Real are showing some good flow to their play especially in midfield with the return of Sneijder. Valencia would be at the Bernabeu next week and Van Nistelrooy is expected to be back. A Madrid offense which a few weeks back scored 7 goals against Valladolid have been struggling to score goals since.

On Sunday Barca visited Almeria, the team for their first season in top flight is in the 9th position and brought Real's unbeaten run a few weeks back. Either Barca have given up on their hopes for catching up with Real or they seriously miss Messi. They looked creative and the young Bojan scored after the keeper parried straight into his path from a shot from Iniesta. Pulido headed in un marked from a corener and a superb save from Victor Valdes ensured it would stay 1-1 at half time. Eto scored to put Barca ahead in the 57 th minute. Milito was sent off in the later part of the second half and Almeria striker Uche created another twist in the tale with a late equalizer.

Barca lost out on an opportunity to cut down the lead by 5 points but as the case maybe its still at 7 points now. With 10 games left in the La liga, Barca really need a miracle without Messi and have Villareal who are right behind them 2 points less. Real need Van Nistelrooy back for the goals. The next game against Valencia could be a turning point in the league.

Real Madrid struggle past Espanyol and Barca falling behind

Real Madrid hosted Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday. It was an important match for the players to show lift their attitude and focus completely on La Liga, the only competition that they are in right now after a humiliating exit mid week from the CL. With Barca hosting Villareal on Sunday, it was important that Real win against Espanyol to maintain the 5 pt lead over Barca.

I was disappointed in the tactics used by Schuster against Roma, especially playing Raul as the lone striker. Espanyol were 5th in the league and were playing for possible CL qualifying 4th spot, but were with out mid field maestro De La Pena and star striker Raul Tamudo was on the bench who was only recovering from an injury. They would be looking at Luis Garcia for all the flair and also the goals.

Real did not look anywhere close to scoring and were almost a repeat of the Roma match when they had all the ball possession but no clear chances. Schuster still had problems in lining up a full team, of preferred players. He had Pepe back, but then lost Cannavaro through injury. Sergio Ramos was suspended for the match. It meant Pepe with Heinze in the center and Torres and Marcelo as wing backs. Surprisingly Gago was left on the bench and Schuster put Diarra in the defensive midfielder role. Baptista and Guti in the midfield to be joined by Robinho on the left wing and Raul to be partnered by Gonzalo Higuain. The former River Plate youngster got a start ahead of Roberto Soldado, and he did justify it as far as results are concerned. The last time the youngster started he scored a scorching volley in the Spanish cup match.

Iker Casillas who was playing his 300th La liga game for the Madrid giants made a superlative full stretch save against a Jonathan long range effort. If Schuster has not realized, Real either need to play two wingers, or the midfield has to be quick. Guti who has never been quick, combined with Baptista who unlike normal Brazilians need one touch too many and Diarra is extremely clumsy in his ball distribution. Espanyol took advantage of some ridiculous defending from an Espanyol corner, something which has been ever so common these days. I can think of atleast 4 goals conceded in the past weeks in similar fashion, when the marking has been terrible. This time around it was a short taken corner which was drifted in by Luis Garcia and Valdo headed in unmarked at the far right corner. On minute 29 it was 0-1 Espanyol.

But to their credit Real seem to play with much more confidence being one goal down, with their attacks much more complete in the final quarter. The response was almost complete when a Baptista took a good free kick from a central position but was superbly saved by Kameni on the top left corner. The highly rated keeper is being chased by a host of clubs including Spurs and he just showed why...

Marcelo, I should say looked much more confident in attack on the left wing and more importantly he was putting in a few crosses into the Espanyol box. He superbly dribbled past Valdo and then crossed right when a second challenge was coming in, Higuain probably blinded could only connect with his knee and that probably confused Kameni with his dive and in the following scramble Higuain ensured the ball had crossed the line. 1-1 Real Madrid on 43 minutes and it was to stay that way at half time.

Schuster was forced to make a change and that was to replace Robinho who it seems is fine, with Drenthe. Similar to Barca being full of flair and style when Messi is on the pitch, Real definitely need Robinho fit and well for the remaining 12 games in La liga. Real looked totally flat footed and with no flair at all when the Brazilian was out injured the last time around. With Drenthe slipping in to the left wing, Higuain and Raul still had to come back to the midfield, especially the right side. Torres was making some runs, but he is exactly not the best in going forward. It was a dull time in the game when Espanyol were limited to some long shots at goal, and surprisingly so was Real, with Guti looking more confident in controlling the ball and play.

Schuster finally put his man management cap on and saw that his midfield was slow and not creating anything, brought on Sneijder for Baptista. The Dutchman has been out for almost a month with broken ribs. He immediately brought in pace and flow to the passing game. His work ethic and his vision in first time passing is just superb. With Sneijder creating space Guti floated over to the left side of midfield and passed straight to Raul who made a good run into the box, with Jarque pulling and tugging at the Captain finally was successful in bringing him down inside the box. When we saw the replay i think the foul started outside the box, but in all fairness Jarque was stupid to continue it inside the box. Raul stepped up against Kameni and had the keeper jump the wrong way. The Captain fantastic in his 13th year at Madrid scored his 200th La liga goal. 2-1 Real Madrid on 73 minutes.

Raul Tamudo took the pitch in a bid to score an equalizer, but Schuster finally ohhh my God brought in Soldado for Higuain. Raul pushed back into a midfield role trying to recover balls and create plays on the right side of midfield. Soldado is an outright ST and its sad that Schuster is not using him more often. Ok Higuain scored a goal, but he was ineffective apart from that. This was the game when Schuster could have started Soldado or Saviola alongside Raul. Saviola just got back from an injury, so it maybe doubtful on how match fit he is, but Soldado not getting a full game is literally pushing him out of the club next season.

Real dominated the rest of the game and there were chances for Sneijder and Soldado even tried an over head kick to go ahead. The game ended 2-1 at full time, with more yellow cards including one to Raul Tamudo. He was stupid to argue further with the referee after the final whistle and he received an unnecessary red card which means he would be suspended for the next Espanyol game.
Unfortunately i could not see the Barca V Villareal game on Sunday, but to La Liga fans this could be the end of the road for Barca. They lost 2-1 at Villareal at home which means that Real have an 8 point lead with just 11 games left. After 27 rounds of matches Real are chasing a record which was matched 20 years back, they have 20 wins, 2 Draws and 5 losses which was last done in 1987/88 season. As I had written numerous times Real have done extremely well at home with just one loss, and have defeated the likes of Barca, Atletico, Villareal and Valencia away from home which could be the difference to Barca's record of 16 wins, 6 draws and 5 wins.

As my friend Antony rightly put it with 11 games left and an 8 pt lead its light out for Barca. I am also planning to focus more on EPL with Arsenal making the title race interesting.

Man i was happy to see Portsmouth dumping Man U at Old Trafford 1-0 a win for Portsmouth in 50 years. FA cup night was smashing on Saturday as this was not the only upset, after their win at Anfield, Barnsley knocked out the defending champions Chelsea. It is really great to see the small teams matching up to the top 4 teams.

History makers Arsenal and disappointing Madrid

After the first round knock out leg 1 a couple of weeks back, i was highly anticipating the return leg for two matches in particular. Arsenal V Milan was so well positioned for a thrilling second leg at the San Siro after a 0-0 draw at the Emirates. It was Milan all the way in the first leg as this is what Milan does well. They play for a draw in away fixtures and then grind out a win at the San Siro. The defending Champions had done exactly that in the first leg. The cut down the pace of Arsenal's young players and then luck was on their favor also when Adebayor missed almost what was an open header. Interestingly there was a photo of the incident in one of the British newspapers the next day which showed that, there was a strong shirt tug when the Togo man was jumping for the ball.

Arsenal would make history if they were to progress to the quarter finals of the CL. No English team has ever beaten AC Milan at the San Siro in the CL. But as Wenger said before the match Arsenal have defeated Inter Milan here in the same stadium by a huge margin a few years back and indeed it was a confidence building stat. All the big guns were back from injury for Milan, including Kaka and Pirlo. Arsenal also welcomed back Robin Van Persie to the line up but he was on the bench. It was a young Arsenal squad with an average age of 24.1 against an experienced Milan team with an average age of almost 30. You can imagine the daunting task when 20 year old Fabregas goes against Maldini who has made over 175 UEFA appearances and has won 4 CL titles.

I really liked the game because, Arsenal never allowed Milan to force them to drop their pace and was constantly at them. Milan were restricted to some half hearted attempts at goal from long range. Milan are really successful when it gets to the CL because they defend well when they travel, but this performance at home when they need to score to win is beyond comprehension. When the game got to the last 25 minutes it was looked as though Milan would want to play the penalty shoot out. Arsenal on the other hand looked the more desperate for a winner. Finally the much deserved first goal came with 6 minutes left when Fabregas shrugged off Gattusso and placed a superb shot from a long way out to make it 0-1 Arsenal.

Wenger brought in pace and width through Walcott and in stoppage time he managed to stay on his feet after a poor tackle and also squared a nice ball into the penalty box which was tapped in by Adebayor. A superb performance by Arsenal and as Seedorf said after the match they look capable of winning this one. I am not exactly sure about the winning part, but i have a feeling that it is going to be an English side this year and i would personally want Arsenal to win it. Ok my logic does not need any explanation, you have Arsenal, Man U and with Chelsea going through today after their 3-0 thrashing of Olympiakos, it leaves Liverpool who are going to the San Siro next week with a 2-0 advantage to make it 4 English teams in the quarter finals. Inter has the fire power to win by 3 goals for sure and i am not sure about Liverpool even planning on scoring.

My second pick in the first knock out stage was the match at the Santiago Bernabeu which saw Roma return to Madrid with a 2-1 advantage. Madrid did everything right at Roma a couple of weeks back including scoring the priceless away goal but conceded 2 goals and those were the only two opportunities for Roma in the whole game. Real on the other hand had numerous chances to kill the tie.

I have praised the tactics and the team selection of Schuster multiple times in my blog and i do think that he has made changes in the midfield to the one that Capello used to field. He has had his share of problems in selecting a strong team because of injuries, but i am totally confused with the tactics today. Schuster had Van Nistelrooy injured so he resorted to a different midfield. Raul as the lone striker and Robinho who made a cameo come back from injury last weekend against Recreativo was the second striking option. There was Baptista, Gago and Guti in midfield to be joined by Diarra. Sergio Ramos was suspended so in come none other than Michel Salgado. Pepe was back from injury so Heinze moved into a LB role. Roma plays with a lone striker in Totti and a 5 man midfield, yes you have to counter this in tactics, but Madrid needed to score to go through. If Schuster thought that Madrid will hold Roma at bay and make a 1-0 scoreline at the end he needs to have a mental evaluation.

The game had nothing to offer, with Madrid struggling to make the final pass, and to whom? there was just Raul upfront who was being marked superbly by Juan. There were a couple of free kicks from Baptista, one which deflected and was superbly saved by Doni and another which hit the post. Diarra made a long range shot which was again saved by Doni. For Roma it was the same, but of more danger as Aquilani almost score from two superb long range efforts. One hit the bar and the other needed a superb save from Casillas in goal. At half time it was 0-0.

Schuster made no changes at half time. Forget about the attacking options or the midfield, while Heinze was making runs through the left wing and even attempting to put some crosses in and winning some corners, Salgado was having a field day marking Mancini, as it was not Mancini's day. Salgado on the other hand with acres of space to make a run through the right wing always keep passing back to either Gago or Guti. I still don't know what Madrid thought when they sold Cicinho to Roma in the summer because he was superb at RB for the Italians. Not only was he running at Heinze and putting crosses in, he was also defending well against Robinho. Maybe he had a point to prove to his former employers. Maybe age has caught up with Salgado but as a RB you are expected to make some contribution to attack as well. As always it irritates me to see him running back at his own goal when a winger runs at him. Has he even heard of the term "standing tackle". Now this is the guy, a few seasons back was told to be the toughest player in the Madrid squad. Real are thinking of giving Guti a life time contract, which is fair but i hope they don't do the same with Salgado. Salgado had to be replaced by Torres after a thigh strain, and the young Spaniard played well.

Schuster waited till the 60th minute to replace Diarra with Drenthe, and the young Dutchman was already creating moves and spreading the Roma midfield. With Gago doing a superb job, i don't understand the whole point of playing Diarra. He is slow and clumsy on his touches and has a poor pass completion percentage. I had written in my last post on the Recreativo match report that, Real are dangerous when they have two wingers. I dont know why its so difficult for Schuster to see this and in a match where you need to win. I would also think that even if Drenthe was not given the start, he should have put a ST on the pitch to partner Raul. To expect Raul to battle Mexes and Juan on his own is crazy. Why do you have Soldado on your team roster if he plays only 5 minutes in every match?

It was a roller coaster ride from minute 70 when Pepe was sent off after a second yellow card for a stupid body check, marginally outside the penalty box. Roma sprung into action in 2 minutes from the sending off of Pepe, they were in the lead. A counter attack, a cross from the left and Taddei leaped ahead of Heinze who either was ball watching or had lead boots. 0-1 to Roma and 3-1 on aggregate.

In 2 minutes Real responded with some good build up play, from Drenthe on to Guti, who passed it to Robinho who laid it for Raul in the middle who made a nice turn and scored his 61st CL goal. Raul was getting back from an offside position, and it was touch and go to say if he was in line with Mexes, my call is its an Offside. The goal stood and Madrid were even at 1-1 and 3-2 on aggregate.

For 10 men needing to score a goal against an 11 man Italian side, Madrid were giving it all. But in the end it fell short and to rub insult to injury, Vucinic scored in injury time to make it a CL home defeat in some time for Real Madrid. 1-2 the final score, Roma advance to the quarterfinal on a 4-2 aggregate.

I was talking to my friend before the game and i told him, Santiago Bernabeu is not a fortress as many think. Madrid concede a lot of goals, but they score to win. This is the only way they know to play. They are not going to defend and win a midfield battle with the Italians and win by a narrow margin. Its flair, the one touch passing and the attacking mentality, even away from home that makes Madrid the dangerous side. It is alright claiming after the match that "we responded well with 10 men on the pitch", but at half time i knew it was lights out for Madrid. Schuster maybe in his first season at Madrid, and maybe doing well, but he got this one wrong and it was fatal.

When Arsenal created History by being the first English team to beat Milan at the San Siro, Real Madrid followed their history and that is to be knocked out of the CL in the first knock out round for the 4th straight year. Its not statistics befitting a team who has won the most number of CL trophies.

Superb Brazilians, Red Cards and 11 goals in Madrid and Barca games

Madrid have been on a losing streak incuding the first home defeat last week, which was their first in over a year. Saturday had two games Real Madrid at Estadio Nuevo Colombino facing Recreativo, while Barca were visiting Madrid to play Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon. Since both games had the same kick off times, GOL TV was indeed going for double presentation of the same. They would be telecasting the Barca game live and would switch with the Real game every five minutes for a 2 minute period.

It was a positive start for Barca at the Vicente Calderon, as they seemed to have over 70% of possession and controlling the play through some midfield play. It’s funny how the press has put a name "Four Fantasticos" for the extremely strong strike force of Barca. It was only Messi who was on the bench, and Rijkaard was indeed playing a strong attacking team considering that they were away from home against an Atletico side who themselves have one of the strongest strike force in Spain.

Schuster had more injury worries and some good news as he welcomed back both Robinho and Pepe on the bench. Van Nistelrooy and Guti were injured and this meant some changes in the line up. It was the same backline; Gago was to play in a ball recovering role along wit Diarra. Baptista was to play in a more advanced central role in midfield. It was to be Drenthe and Robben on both the wings and Captain Raul to be the lone striker up front. It was all relegation threatened Recreativo who were looking dangerous with most of their attacking play led by Martins. There were only some long range shots from him and Sinama which were easily gathered by keeper Casillas. But on the 16 minute mark, Martins curled in a free kick from the left which was tapped in by an unmarked Martín Cáceres . It was some poor marking i think from Sergio Ramos, because i think Real were following a man marking. I have noticed all through the season while Sergio Ramos is one of the best right backs around and a very versatile player, he is found wanting when it gets to marking especially in set pieces. 1-0 Recreativo.

On minute 28 Real had the first real chance of the game, it was Drenthe in the right wing putting up a hopeful ball, Raul just got onside for the chance and rose bravely to connect with the cross but was not up to celebrate as he was on the receiving end of Sorrentino's punch. 1-1 Real Madrid on 28 minutes.

Meanwhile at the Vicente Calderon, Barcelona converted their possession advantage into a goal when some good corner of the penalty box play ended with a stunning over head kick from Ronaldinho. Who said this guy is done and he is not playing well. You cant keep flair and quality under the blanket for long. 0-1 Barca on the 30 minute mark.

While it was no action in the Recreativo V Real game, it was all action in the Barca game. Atletico had luck to play a major part in their first game. 8 minutes after they conceded the goal it was Sergio Aguero the tormenter was Barca as he made some really dangerous runs. It was one such run of his and a shot from right side of the penalty box, which took a deflection from Puyol that was too perfectly unlucky. 1-1 Atletico.

Well Aguero was too hot to handle for Barca defense again as he made a superb twisting run and blinded Milito for a superb pass to Maxi Rodriguez who scored from a difficult angle to make it 2-1 Atletico on 43 minutes. At half time it was 1-1 at Recreativo and 2-1 at the Calderon.

The first ten minutes was super active in Recreativo and on 52 minutes, Martins again created a superb free kick which was saved by Casillas, but right before the set piece was taken there was some pushing and shoving inside the box, Beto poked in the face of Heinze (i would rather not call it a scuffle) and the referee showed him a straight red. Recreativo down to 10 men. The referee made it even when he sent off Ramos for a second yellow card of the game, i think the second was a bit harsh on a doubtful elbow when he was jumping for the ball with Sinama. Cannavaro was definitely not happy either with Ramos or with the decision as he just pulled Ramos away and gave him an earful and Raul had to step in. Pepe who would have got a step in the game maybe for Cannavaro at some point in the game, had to be introduced early and he was to partner Cannavaro. Heinze moved to LB and Torres to RB.

Over at the Vicente Calderon it was Messi in for Henry on 57 minutes. 4 minutes later it went bad again for Barca as a penalty was awarded which was superbly finished off by Forlan. 3-1 Atletico. Personally i think Barca almost like Arsenal make a lot of short passes and its a delight to see them play but it never gets materialized into good scoring opportunities. With Toure injured Rijkard was playing Edmilson in the holding role and he brought in Gudjonsen to add to the attack.

Raul went clear and almost scored when one on one but it the keeper and just narrowly missed. It was Brazilian Robinho coming back from injury, man did he not make an impact. Some superb play in front of goal so Robinho running on to a ball with both center backs spread wide, he just made a superb, cool finish with a first time shot. 1-2 Real Madrid on 72 minutes, he scored with almost his first significant touch on the ball.

On minute 71 at the Calderon, Augero did not need the help of a deflection to complete a superb brace. 4-1 Barcelona. When you think Barca is done and out it was Xavi who almost has been scoring some crucial winners for Barca who did it again, but was saved by the keeper but could not keep out Eto, who was following up. 4-2 Atletico and they held on for the win.

Over at Recreativo Quique Álvarez who was on the pitch for 5 minutes made a criminal tackle on Robben with his studds up and Robben's ankle almost buckled. He continued after the challenge only to be replaced by Higuain after just collapsing again, Robben is going to be out for 4-6 weeks. These are just horrific tackles that i agree mostly with the English press specifically after their emotional outbursts against the tackle on Eduardo. If the result of that tackle was bad, there was limited malice in that, a Red card was shown in the Milan game over in Ital for a horrendous take down of Pato. Now over here in Spain it was Robben on the receiving end. If we need to keep the game alive with flair players, these stupid tackles have to be punished longer bans.
Sinama had a superb chance to equalize but it was Torres who made sliding block. Later Schuster had to replace Cannavaro, the Italian had collected a yellow by then. Diarra pushed back into the Left Back role. It was Gago and Robinho with some superb pass on pass play which ended with a superb through run by Robinho and a defense splitting pass from Gago. One on one with the keeper Robinho finished with a superb lob. 1-3 Real Madrid.

Well there was something more for Recreativo as Martins who had a terrific game was finally rewarded with a goal, and boy it was a thunderbolt free kick. From the replays i think it took a deflection off Pepe. 2-3 on the night for Real Madrid.

Real are much better when they play the two wingers and even if they play only one striker, they look dangerous with the pace rather than the slow, lethargic passing game in midfield with Baptista and Diarra. Real looked much dangerous when Robinho got on the pitch and also looked much comfortable with Pepe in defense. They are almost getting back to full squad, with Van Nistelrooy and Sneijder fit for the Roma match on Wednesday. Its sad Robben has to stay away again, he was just playing superbly. Sergio Ramos is suspended for both the Roma match and the next La liga match as well. Schuster should play Robinho and Drenthe against Roma, along with Gago and Guti in midfield; they are the most dangerous in this formation. Gago is a much more composed and skillful passer when compared to Diarra, that he is just proving how important a player he is at this young age.

Its 5 points clear for Real Madrid, though it was not a comprehensive performance by Real Madrid, they took their chances.

Here are the vidoes:

Recreativo V Real Madrid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7mpVLmCqUA

Atletico Madrid V Barcelona

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9GFFMd8iRA