Champions Madrid make first signing

A day after they finished a record breaking season with a 5-2 win over Levante, Real Madrid made their first signing official. Real have paid close to 10M Euros for the signature of highly rated Argentine Center Back Ezequiel Garay from Racing Santander.

The former Newell's Old Boys defender was valued at 18M which put off Barcelona. Real have worked out a Business deal which will see a cash down payment of 10M to Racing right away, the player will remain on loan with Racing as they prepare to play UEFA Cup next season and will be a permanent move to Madrid next year.

Real have done smart business here by paying for the already highly rated defender who could have cost them double the money next season and also a year more with Racing will give Garay the experience of playing in a European tournament and Madrid will also get a year more out of Cannavaro before the Italians likely return to home club Napoli.


It was not just Racing who got a sweet deal, Garay was signed from Newell's Old Boys by Racing Santander in 2005. The then 18 year old cost Racing 2 M but Newell had smartly put a clause in the contract which would mean that in an event of future sale they would receive 15% of the transfer fee. In this deal the Argentina club could very well end up with over 1.5M which could be a real relief in a financial crisis struck year.

Unsettled players, clubs in crisis- rumour mills curtain raiser

Every summer the transfer window always is the busiest time for most news dailies and sports journalists. More than 80% of the stories are all rumours are hopeful reporting based on the probability factor. Most big clubs are predictable to say the least in who they are looking at. Even when they try as much as possible to hush things up, it is mostly inside information that sets the press off. As far as i see it, it does not do any good to any one. The buying club unsettles the player, the player owning club and also brings other competition for signature which in turn will jack up the price tag.

We are not even in the transfer window yet, and most importantly across Europe, except La Liga all most leagues are running into a dramatic end to the season. Already we have news of players leaving clubs, players put up for sale and big buyers trying to unsettle their targets. The first news in this category actually materialized in a move. Mathieu Flamini signed a 4 year bumper deal with AC Milan on a free transfer. Press and fans of Arsenal have gone on and on about how this could affect the chemistry at the club. There was also a ot of mention on Flamini being an ungrateful servant of the club. Well Flamini has his point of view, for sure and that will be in this line. He joined the Gunners 4 years back on a free transfer and never saw his salary cap raised. Arsene is a smart tactician, the minute he knew Henry was being courted by Barca he went ahead and raised his salary over the 100K mark, but Henry still left the following season. But it did the job for Arsene, not only did he prevent Henry from leaving on a free transfer in 2 years, he was able to recover 16M for the Frenchman and he had his Captain to lead team into the new Emirates stadium. The same was the case with Fabregas, and the fear of a bumper offer from Real Madrid, Arsene has further extended the Spaniards contract to 2014. When Flamini was not being re-signed 20 year old Fabregas was getting renewals after renewals.

Arsenal have issued a statement later, mentioning that they are over Flamini and that the Board did everything to keep him from leaving. The only problem, it is breaking up a solid partnership in midfield, means a new player, more money to be spent and the threat of other youngsters in the club being unsettled. Alexander Hleb following suit as per the Press and claims from his agent that Inter Milan have offered him a lucrative deal. Hleb is reported to have even offered to buy out the remaining 2 years on his contract. Now this made the ideal time for Real President Ramon Calderon to throw a bait, "Cesc if you ask for a transfer, we will come get you". He did the same last year with Kaka and he declined the offer. The Brazilian would probably think after the end of this season as to if the choice was the correct one. But Fabregas is going to look at it different. The example he would be taking would be that of Henry, who has struggled in his first season at Nou Camp, and his himself a possible transfer target back to the Premiership. Real would for sure break their bank to buy Fabregas, because he would be a wonderful addition to the team. I certainly don't feel the Spaniard will be interested for a move. This was followed by Wenger saying that Adebayor needs to work harder to continue the rich form he is having. A day later reports in the press claimed that Wenger wanted to bring the "one season wonder" tag on the Togo man because he did ask for a salary hike.

Two days back, Inter who are celebrating 100 years are promising to make some major headlines in the transfer market. They have it seems tabled a 25M offer for Captain Steven Gerrard. If there are any two players who are going no where, it will be Torres and the Captain.

If there is one player, most clubs in Europe would love to have, not many points for guessing- Berbatov. The striker with the silky touch has been followed by a lot of clubs within the EPL. Now it seems Real Madrid has joined the race and even offered about 32M to the Spurs. Real are for sure looking at a striker. Everyone close to the Spanish giants still claim that they are going to be silent in the transfer market and may only make one or two major signings. A team which has Raul, Van Nistelrooy, Robinho, Higuain, Saviola and Soldado as striking options still want a striker? Well the good part is Real Madrid have taken the badge of Galactico off their tag and have worked in creating a team that functions as a unit. David Villa, Luis Fabiano and now Berbatov, one of them is for sure to end up in Real Madrid.

Barca get "Real" thrashing in El Classico

It is always a special night in football, whatever be the competition when Real Madrid play Barcelona. The second edition of El Classico for this year's La Liga campaign on Wednesday was special for more than one reason. But let me see here, it is special only for Madrid fans or may be the neutrals. Real had secured the Spanish La liga 3 days before at Osasuna in dramatic fashion and their arch rivals Barca were to give them a guard of honor at the Bernabeu. 80,000 fans inside the stadium which will be hosting the 2010 CL final was filled with Madrid fans enjoying the sights of a wonderful season. This match when completed would further enhance the record book pages. Apart from the 80,000 inside the Bernabeu the match was also watched by 9.2 Million in Spain on TV and i am happy to be one more to the list outside Spain.

Many a Madrid fan may not remember or want to remember a night in November of 2005 when Ronaldinho made the Madrid defense dance to his tunes and Barca left the Bernabeu with a 3-0 win. It looks as though this incident has happened a decade back. From the time the Real players took the pitch through the Barca guard of honor it was clear who was the more confident of the lot. Barca have been in deep trouble with unsettled players, poor performances, and a Manager who seems to have run out of ideas. There was controversy to add to all their troubles even in their thrashing of Valencia 6-0. Reports in Spain claimed that Deco & Eto got themselves booked which would see them accumulate 5 yellow cards and see them suspended for this game. If you ask me i am not a person to think, players do this on purpose. But Eto made a silly challenge in the 87th minute when the game was all but over, and later when Rijkaard was questioned by a member of the press as to whether they knew they were on 4 yellow cards, he said "I am sure both of them knew, if they said they did not then they are lying"

It was a Barca team without Eto and Deco, so it would be Bojan Henry and Gudjohnsen. Schuster was forced to make changes in defense, Cannavaro was suspended after his red card last week against Osasuna, it was Pepe and Heinze in center, Ramos at RB and Marcelo was given the daunting task of marking Messi on the right. The game was off to a slow start, with both teams trying to hold on to the ball. Schuster had packed the Madrid midfield, it was Gago, Diarra, Sneijder and Guti, relatively meaning there were 4 center midfielders on the pitch but playing 2 in front other two. Robben with his superb performances got the nod ahead of Robinho and Raul was the lone striker. Robben was creating most of the early chances as he was proving too fast and good for Zambrotta. When Robben switched flanks to the right, Abidal was doing much better controlling his run. There was also a clash of the goal keeping records at stake in this game, with both Casillas and Valdes running for the lowest goals conceded this season. But soon Valdes was to realize that the competition is over for him. The Zamora trophy all but certainly would be with the Madrid stopper.

The first goal game through some good build up play outside the Barca box when Sneijder and Guti played some superb 1-2 passing to ease past the midfielders, Guti clashed with Marquez, but still was able to square it for Raul who rushing in placed a superb shot past the fully stretched Valdes to make it 1-0.

Being a goal to the good Madrid looked to absorb pressure from Barca, but there was none to absorb. Marcelo was doing well to prevent Messi from making those runs and which was forcing the Argentine to cut inside. Ramos was doing an excellent job of keeping Henry in shackles and that left Bojan to counter both Pepe and Heinze. The 17 year old was literally starved of any service and even touched on the ball in the first period.

Xavi was taken off the equation by Diarra, pretty much the tactics used by Schuster when he played Baptista. Seeing this or even a possible injury, Gudjonsen was replaced by the young Mexican Giovanni Dos Santos. Barca defense did not do any better. Sergio Ramos made a surging run on the right, and did his trade mark cut inside at full pace but collided with Abidal. It looked mostly as though Ramos had initiated the Collision when Abidal was staying put. A free kick, quickly taken by Guti found Robben, but the referee asked it to be re-taken. Zambrotta was no where to be seen when Robben rose un marked to a pin point Guti free kick to head home. Second goal in consecutive games for Robben and the Dutchman himself could not believe that he has scored twice in the space of 3 days with headers. 2-0 Real Madrid in 20 minutes.

Real have taken the weight of the Championship off their back was in no mood to relax, they were enjoying their play and was controlling the midfield. Giovanni was drifting more to the right, which let Messi cut inside, but Gago was there all the time. With two levels in midfield from Madrid and Sneijder always tracking back to defend and his quickness and one touch passing was a treat to watch. All attempted through passes from Barca for which they are usually famous for, were all not reaching the attackers. Messi was not finding a channel to pass the ball when he had the time. Robben when playing on the left wing was causing all kinds of problems for Zambrotta, as he was easily cutting inside and running at him when he had the chance. Robben had another two chances which he did not capitalize on and could not add another goal to the tally. Just before half time Sergio Ramos again made a superb run and blasted a shot/cross across the face of goal, but the on rushing Raul was late and could not connect. Half time it was.

Rijkaard would have thought, to hell with formations, he took out Marquez who was booked in the first half and seemed all over the place, and replaced him with Sylvinho. This move almost made Barca play 3-4-3 formation, but it almost worked miracles, Marcelo the young Brazilian was having a good game, made an attacking run found Guti, who having the chance to shoot elected to square it for Marcelo who was following through in his run, only for Sylvinho to make a last ditch tackle when he was about to pull the trigger. The ensuing pushing and shoving resulted in Valdes getting a yellow card.

This tackle from Sylvinho would have prevented the third goal, but he injured himself and had to be replaced by Edmilson the only option left for Rijkaard. Edmilson who is more known to be a defensive midfielder can also play in the heart of defence. I say "can" because the next minute would prove why. Schuster soon took out Robben and brought in "super sub" Higuain who took just over 50 seconds to score. Diarra on the right side of midfield took the ball off Abidal and squared it for Higuain, who easily side stepped Puyol, Edmilson who should have attacked the ball, tripped over his own feet, the Argentine striker made a cool finish past an on rushing Valdes to make it 3-0. He has been in rich scoring form and in the past two seasons has earned a name among the Madrid fans of scoring the key goals like the one he scored last week at Osasuna. Valdes was almost in tears and throwing his arms up in despair on a defence that looked school boys level.

Marcelo again it was who wanted to get on the score sheet, since he is filling in the boots of the legendary Roberto Carlos i have always thought that the young Brazilian should be more adventurous in putting in some crosses, and attempts at goal. This was his match, even with the responsibility of marking Messi, he still made another run down the left, cut inside Zambrotta again and shot with his right foot. Only a superb save from Valdes prevented the deserving Brazilian.

Schuster wanted to make the party complete and he replaced Captain Fantastico who scored his 18th La Liga goal and brought in Van Nistelrooy. The striker returning from injury took a lesson off Higuain's book. Robinho who was on for Guti, crossed in from the left, right at the face of Puyol who blocked it with his hands, the referee right in the thick of the action called a penalty.

Van Nistelrooy stepped up and with no rustiness neatly rolled into the right when Valdes jumped the wrong direction. 4-0 Real Madrid. This was the 50th Real Madrid goal for Van Nistelrooy, considering that this feat has been achieved in 2 seasons at the club is just superb.

Real probably had enough and were looking to play out the minutes, but still were making attacking inroads. But finally it was time for Messi to raise hands and be counted. He went past player after player but not Casillas as his shot was saved by a finger tip save from a fully stretched Spanish Number 1. But there was a consolation when Henry for once got away from Sergio Ramos and showed great pace and composure when he finished neatly past Casillas to make it 4-1 on the night.

Van Nistelrooy had another chance to make it even more miserable for Barca when put through by Robinho but looked lacking in pace. No one celebrated the Barca goal, Xavi soon picked up his second yellow for dissent and and early bath, and probably the rest of the Barca line up were also hoping to get this over with. It soon happened and the night ended with one of the strongest performances of the season from Madrid.

As for Barca they are behind Madrid by 17 points and most likely end up in 3rd place behind Villareal, which will mean they will even have to play qualifiers for the CL next season. Soon after the Madrid humiliation, Toure mentioned that this was the first time coach Rijkaard was upset at the player's performance. He is not going to have anymore chances as the announcement came right after that he was to be replaced by Pep Guardiola, who is now the Barca B team coach.

This night has created some records as i mentioned in the beginning. This is the first time in 25 years that Real Madrid have won both home and away against Barca in a La Liga campaign. If Real Madrid win the remaining two games and tally a total of 87 points it would the highest since the 20 team La Liga was formed in 97/98.

Here are the match highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO0WVWDfuBA

Here is a video of the much hyped Guard of Honor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKwqwv6Ilbg

Man down, Goal down but Real Madrid rally to Championship # 31

Sunday was an all action day in the La Liga with a lot riding on both the Villareal and Real Madrid games. Winning at struggling Osasuna would ensure that Real win the Championship irrespective of the Villareal match result.

Earlier in the day, Villareal beat Getafe 2-0, and Barcelona drubbed struggling Valencia 6-0 at the Nou Camp, Real could still get out of Osasuna with a point and needing one more in the remaining 3 games. Osasuna were struggling relegation but as Real would seen find out, it was a pulsating match in a tough environment, the Reyno De Navarra stadium was full to capacity with a vociferous crowd. The voices of 300 travelling Real Madrid fans no where to be heard. Schuster made some tactical changes, welcomed back Cannavaro to partner Pepe, Ramos and Heinze on the wings. Diarra earned a spot in midfield for the suspended Guti, Gago continued in the holding role, Robben on the wing , Sneijder in the providing role, and it was Raul and Saviola in attack. Saviola had a terrific game the week before.

One team playing to escape relegation and the other team out to close down on the Championship, it was back to back action. Neither team was sitting back. For Osasuna it was to be former Real Madrid striker Javier Portillo and Flano on the wing who were the main threat. Real made the first threat at goal when Robben crossed in for Saviola, who was swamped by defenders and the goal keeper with a hint of hand ball as well. Casillas who is not known to come out for crosses was i believe playing a different game plan and attacking all the crosses from both wings. He did get to almost all of them except on two occasions. On both occasions that he missed there was no good follow up from Osasuna other than some scuffed shots. Diarra made a powerful shot from distance, on target but too close to the keeper to punch it to safety.

I was re heating my coffee at half time, but seconds from kick off was all Cannavaro needed to get his second yellow card of the game. The first tackle, which was a mistimed sliding tackle was indeed worthy of a yellow card, i am not so sure about the second one. But out came the red card and Real were left with 10 men playing almost the entire second half. Schuster played Diarra in the center for a while, but knowing the threat of this, soon replaced Saviola with Torres. The youngster slipped in to the RB role, and the versatile Ramos moved into the center with Pepe. There was no shortage of cards in the game, the referee pulled out the yellow card 10 times and the red card once. They were a man down, but Real were trying to hold on to the ball and build attacks slowly. Sneijder, right outside the penalty box on the left tried a shot with two defenders on him, it turned out to be one superb lob, with keeper Ricardo totally out of position it hit the bar, came and hit the keeper with Raul rushing in. Soon a free kick from distance was cleared well, Sneijder was playing with a lot of passion.

Schuster realizing that Raul was spending more time defending and that the goal was really needed brought in Higuain for Raul. Osasuna soon brought in Pandiani on for Portillo. On 85 minutes a goal from Osasuna meant that Real will have to wait for another week for their Championship hopes. This could actually mean that Real could make scenes for a better celebration when they welcome Barca on Wednesday. The drama of the last 5 minutes was stunning. First from an Osasuna corner Heinze was adjudged to have hand balled when he jumped in the air to head the ball and a penalty was awarded. Considering the fact that he was under tremendous pressure, it was maybe a little tough a call. Landing from that incident left Cruchaga stamping on Heinze's hand and the Argentine was left bleeding. Punal scored from the spot making it 1-0 to Osasuna.

Sneijder was replaced by Baptista on the 86th minute, emotions were pouring over and the Dutchman sat out in the rain with a jacket over his head motionless for minutes. The next 4 minutes proved that though Real have changed their style of play under Schuster they sure have the Capello discipline and playing as a unit still in them. Higuain's free kick from the left side, found Robben unmarked and the Dutchman scored with a stunning header. Osasuna players were busy marking the likes of Baptista and Diarra and both of them were down on the floor when Robben was jumping unmarked. 1-1 at 87 minutes, meant Real would still have to wait but it would be just one point needed as an insurance.

It was superb move that was to create the anti climax of the night, minute 89 it was Diarra who surged forward, bumped chest in to Cruchaga, Ramos ( who was playing center back) at the edge of the box turned and passed to a wide open Higuain on the right, he took one touch and blasted a shot past Ricardo. I don't think the keeper even saw the ball. The Madrid bench, fans section everyone went into so much excitement, there was hushed silence in the stadium. Real weathered the storm for the remaining few minutes, and the celebrations took off.

Real wasted no time in celebrating with the 300 odd fans in the Osasuna stadium, and inside the dressing room, but soon the boarded the Real Madrid jet where the celebrations continued and they reached Madrid airport where almost 20,000 fans were waiting. An open bus to lead the players out to the Cibeles fountain where 200,000 fans were waiting to greet the Champions and Raul crowning Cibeles with a Real Madrid scarf and flag. It was the Captain's 6 th La Liga in his 14 th year at the club. Everyone around the world have been talking about how Barcelona have been struggling, on and off the news with their key players, how Valencia have had their fair share of problems, i say forget all this and let us congratulate Real for how well they have played. They play well as a unit, but not defending from the front, Schuster have brought back the Madrid style to their play, scored more goals, Casillas the keeper fighting for the lowest goals conceded and became the first team in over a decade to win the La Liga with 3 games or more left. More importantly on Wednesday Barca' visit to the Bernabeu does not just become more of a formality, but Barca would have to give a Guard of Honor to the Champions.

This is an interesting video listen to the commentary when the second goal goes in:

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

Hala Madrid!!!! Campeones 31!!!!