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.