El Clasico time again...the chess board is ready

We are just 24 hours away from the 158th edition of the El Clasico, the match entire Europe looks forward to every year. No derby match in world football can match up to the intensity and tomorrow the result is as important as it can get. I have only talked to people who mostly hate Real Madrid, for some reason or the other. I was talking to one of my Red Devils supporter friends today and he mentioned to me that Madrid are due a lot of credit on how they have performed since January. I may have mentioned this in one of my earlier posts , the Champions League upset yet again in the first knock round to Liverpool was for sure a disgrace but Real have for sure fought hard in the Spanish League. In December we saw the first edition of the El Clasico and it was the second game that Juande Ramos was in charge of. He tactically survived for almost 83 minutes even though he only had an injury plagued thin roster to pick from before the pressure got the better of the Whites.

This meant that Barcelona were 12 points ahead in the league and it was curtains as per the experts on all the articles that i read. To a certain extend i was also one of those guys who thought it will be a big ask for the ever fighting Real Madrid to overcome. With last weeks hard fought match against Sevilla, and Barca able to salvage only a draw at Valencia meant that Real Madrid cut the point difference down to 4 points. It has for sure not been easy, if statistics were to be checked, since January Real Madrid are unbeaten and have won 17 games. It has been such a splendid 4 months that the rest of the teams in the table are no where to be seen. Second placed Real Madrid have 78 points and the third placed Sevilla are 21 points adrift.

Barcelona come into the match tomorrow having played out a tough and physical midweek Champions League encounter against Chelsea. There has been a lot of criticism from the Barcelona players stating that Chelsea parked the bus in front of their goal. The only problem for Barcelona is that they can complain all that they want but they are left with not just the physical marks and bruises from the match when they go into the El Clasico but they also have to worry about the return leg.

Madrid have their issues as well, and it will be a lot to do with how they play it out strategically in their mind before they step on to the Bernabeu pitch. Guti and Sneijder out with injury while on the negative, the flying Dutchman Robben is back to training normally and could start. There would be a lot of interesting one-one confrontations on the pitch. The winning of these confrontations could very well be the difference between winning and losing the match.

Juande Ramos has Pepe suspended for the remainder of this season and 4 games next season as well, which means he would have to play Metzelder again. One funny point on the German International is that he has only made 5 starts this season but still would end up having played in both the titanic clashes. He played well, the first time these two teams met and also looked confident last week against Sevilla. One thing as clear as day light is that Barca cant be stopped unless Messi is stopped. The problem is Juande Ramos have to pick between Marcelo and Heinze to take the LB position. The coach would prefer to have Marcelo on the left side of midfield, and hope the young Brazilian keeps on with his scoring stint and also would give him some extra cover in keeping Dani Alves in check. Gago might actually struggle against the quick and innovative Iniesta. The Argentine had some good games once Diarra was injured but has seen his form slump in the past few games and have been saved more than once by the superb Lass. Xavi the other key component of the Barca midfield engine might find it difficult to direct traffic with Lassana Diarra most likely employed in a man marking role.

Madrid have a real chance of winning the match and taking La Liga to a heart pounding 4 more weeks. Guardiola would need to know when to take off some of his key players as there are going to be some really strong tackles flying around. He cannot afford to have injuries when his troops make the mid week trip to London. Real Madrid cannot afford to slip up, as anything less than that would mean the title race is over. I have a feeling Juande Ramos would play Salgado at RB and have Sergio Ramos at LB to mark Messi, because if he is going to leave Heinze out there to do the job, its one self destruct button pressed already.

Last season the same encounter saw Barca having to go through the humiliation of giving a guard of honor and also the humiliation of the 4-1 defeat that followed. All the that plus the frustration from not being able to play their free flowing football against Chelsea could mean they come out all guns blazing. Finally it may not be about the points and the title at stake, an El Clasico is the game of the year, the Clasico of the world which could break or make heroes.

Match of the season keeps Madrid alive in La Liga

I have been a keen follower of the La liga for over a decade now, but the last couple of months have been dull to say the least. If you asked me whether the Liga is a foregone conclusion with Barca maintaining a 6 point lead, i would have said yes two months back. Since Juande Ramos took charge of the defending champions a few days before the El Classico at the Camp Nou, Real have brought upon some real shame on themselves. Two months back everyone said that Madrid should focus on the Champions League and the Spanish League is over with Barca seemingly unbeatable. The experts claimed that Juande Ramos had the experience and the grit to take Madrid through a knock out competition, but unfortunately as though to prove everyone wrong Real just put up two embarrassing performances home and away to Liverpool.

Last Sunday Barca overcame Getafe with the help of the superb Messi. Getafe usually has a good record against Barcelona at home, but the midfield did not show any inventive angle and almost were dumbfounded by the passing and the vision of Xavi and Iniesta. Madrid on the other hand went to Recreativo and labored to a win by the same margin. The strikers in Huntelaar and Higuain were no were to be seen. Some of the better players in Gago and Diarra saved the grace with some solid holding and passing play. Finally it was a superb through ball from Gago that let Marcelo free and he made a cool finish one on one with the keeper. Ramos is doing the right thing by taking Heinze out and moving Marcelo back to his normal LB position. Heinze's agents must surely be looking around for other suitable clubs, but Madrid need to identify a replacement wing back first who defends better than Marcelo and Heinze. 10 rounds of matches left, with both Barca and Real Madrid winning their games, it does not matter if you dominate a match and win it. I have always felt that 3 points is the result whether you win in style or ugly. There was more problems for Ramos as Sneijder had to be stretchered off with seemingly a hamstring injury.

Midweek game saw Real Madrid hosting Getafe today at the Bernabeu. Ramos had to make adjustments to his midfield, as Diarra was suspended. Gago took the responsibility of being the holding player. After a lot of speculation that Guti fell out with the coach after being put on the bench, the veteran took charge of the creative role in midfield. Rafael van der Vaart got the start ahead of Robben. It was 9 minutes in and former Madrid youth team stars Granero and Soldado combined to give the striker a free header to make it 1-0 to Getafe. With no Diarra, there was no positive movement, and Madrid lacked the teeth in their passing. They were hardly able to put a few passes together at a stretch. Cata Diaz paused for one split second inside his penalty box which let Higuain get around him and then round off the keeper to tap in from a difficult angle with seconds remaining in the first half. The young Argentine showed a lot of composure for the goal.

Madrid came out in the second half with Robben replacing Van der vaart and with a lot more precision and purpose. Things were getting heated with a lot of strong tackles and a lot of play acting from Getafe. Each time Madrid were making a move forward, Getafe had everyone defending. The midfield was packed, which cut out all through balls from Guti and Gago. Getafe keeper Stoijkov who put up a world class performance last week against the rampant Barca was on hand again to deny Sergio Ramos. The action was getting heated, it was 15 minutes of miss after miss from both teams. Albin mis controlled a ball when he was clear leaving Pepe trip over his own feet. Sergio Ramos again was denied from the line by the Getafe defence from a corner after Stoijkov came up with a spectacular save to deny Higuain. 17 minutes on and Robben had to be replaced by Drenthe due to injury. Surprisingly Juande Ramos replaced Cannavaro with Javi Garcia.

Meanwhile Stoijkov again came up with a superb save when Huntelaar was set free by Guti. Even if Getafe drop down from the La Liga the keeper is for sure going to have some suiters. The misses continued, now this time it was Soldado who had a free header again going wide. With all the misses, the substitute Uche crossed in a long high ball for Gavilan, whose cushioned header was finished off superbly by Albin leaving Pepe looking left and right as though he was watching a tennis match. 2-1 to Getafe.

The drama was only starting to unfold. Madrid still looked to be struggling getting their attacking moves going with the final ball missing, but a free-kick just outside the box was perfectly placed for Guti who showed his sweet left foot with a superbly placed finish. I just love the sight of a left footed free kick sailing in to the top corner of the net. 2-2 was the scoreline which still was not perfect news for Madrid as this would mean that they would see their grip loosening on the La liga chase.

With just 5 minutes or so left Pepe seemingly having too much to do in the back had to make a lot of effort to track back and chase Casquero, the slightest of pushes saw the Getafe player fall down quiet dramatically, the Portuguese stopper went crazy by first kicking the ball away and kicking the player lying on the floor. In the scuffle that followed he punched Albin and it looked as though the referee showed the red card almost three times. It required a calm head on the shoulders in the form of keeper Casillas who escorted his fellow team mate from the pitch. Casquero tried to be a little too cheeky when he tried to chip from the penalty spot, which was so soft that Casillas almost made the dive, got up and still had time to gather the ball.


Higuain seemingly was fouled by Cata in the box but the referee pulled out the card on Higuain for diving. This was but not the last action from the Argentine as he dribbled and dribbled, and let of a superb shot from outside the box for an extra ordinary finish. There was more ugly scenes as Marcelo taunted Cata as a follow up to some earlier arguments they had, and I think Marcelo probably quit when Cata almost twice his size called him out for a fight.

Though this superb result will keep Madrid just 3 points adrift Barca for atleast 24 hrs (Barca play Sevilla tomorrow), there are some real problems for Juande Ramos. He made the mistake of not having Robben on the pitch in the first half when Madrid really wanted some extra width and dimension in a packed Getafe midfield. Guti may have saved face with his free-kick which in the end turned out to be crucial but almost all of 93 minutes saw poor pass after another from him. Higuain now has 19 goals to his credit but the leading Madrid scorer is suspended for the next game against Sevilla. Injury concerns now for their seemingly best Madrid player in Robben. More importantly the mistake in taking Cannavaro out and bringing in Javi Garcia could be the worst.

Javi Garcia was not slotted in to the center back role, i dint see him having a clue of what he was doing except his stare down contest with Soldado. If Ramos wanted someone to do a man marking on the Spanish striker, he got it wrong when the striker was taken out. This meant that there was Pepe having to do a whole lot on his own as Garcia was not able to hold the line with him. With Sergio Ramos constantly joining the attack and Marcelo neither forward nor back was no acceptable reason for Pepe to lose his mind. His horrific violent conduct is totally not one that befits a professional football player, but more importantly he could be suspended for atleast 3 matches including Sevilla and the crucial El Classico. This would mean Cannavaro paired with Metzelder or the ever so non dependable Heinze for these important games.

For me this match is for sure one of the best of the season in la Liga. It had all the ingredients of a great encounter, with the goals, the brawls, the red card, a penalty save and a stoppage time winner. Madrid has this uncanny ability to get into situations where they should not be in the first place and then having to fight out of it with great difficulty. Mathematically, every team all the way to 10th placed Valladolid have a chance to win the La liga, but it for sure has been a two horse race for almost the entire season. Madrid would have to win their remaining 9 games, and hope Barca lose two or lose one and draw one of their remaining 8 games( assuming Madrid win El Classico). On May 3rd if Juande Ramos is able to push his team to score a win over their eternal rivals, the Spanish league is going to come alive and progress to a dramatic climax.

Who should fear who-Part 2

Two weeks earlier i wrote an article on how Real Madrid was considerably in a better situation than Liverpool on the eve of their Champions League encounter. Unfortunately the match was not a spectacle by any means and did not live up to the hype of the number of trophies the two teams hold in their showcase. Liverpool from the outset had come to defend in numbers and hit Madrid on the counter and surprise with them with their pace. Sir Alex did comment before this match that Madrid will struggle against the faster Liverpool team and he said that it is not just Madrid but any English team for that matter play far faster football than their counterparts in Europe. It was evident that Juande Ramos had given specific instructions to the team, to take their time and absorb the initial burst of pace by the English team.

Apart from the defenders holding a deep line for Liverpool, Rafa Benitez also used his two defensive mid fielders in Alonso and Mascherano for extra muscle. Both Riera and Benayoun on the wings looked lively, but were mostly kept under control by Sergio Ramos and Heinze. Apart from an initial superb turn and shot by Torres, the Spanish hit man did not have a pleasant return to Madrid and had to be taken off in the second half with an injury to the boos of the Madrid fans. Madrid with the lions share of the possession was facing one major problem, they were not able to get any action going in the last quarter of the Liverpool pitch and the dribbles of Robben was superbly covered by even Riera. Gerrard got a second half taste of playing at the Santiago Bernabeu. Real could have walked away from the match, with a 0-0 draw and could have blamed Liverpool for parking their team bus in front of goal, but unfortunately lack of concentration in a set piece led to the smallest Liverpool player Benayoun scoring a priceless away goal.

After the first week of Champions League football, remarkably its again the 4 English teams who are going into the second leg with an advantage. For Real Madrid there is immense pressure in any circumstance to win every match. This is what cost them their round against Roma last season in the same stage of the Champions League. Tomorrow Madrid will go to Anfield knowing fully well that they have to score. There is not other way to progress, and this will mean that Liverpool have the liberty to defend and look to hit Madrid on the counter in their home turf. Rafa has new injury concerns, which will mean there will be no first round hero Benayoun and though he will be happy to welcome Gerrard to the midfield, Fernando Torres will be a last minute pick.

Juande Ramos will for sure instruct Madrid not to over commit themselves and look at how Liverpool would be playing. The only way Madrid can get past Liverpool would be for Robben to show his magic and get a goal himself and provide one for one of the two strikers in Raul and Higuain. The only problem is, while Raul is a Champions League legend, the young Higuain does not seem to be the one who is going to emerge as the likely hero.

Fortunes changed for Madrid when, after this midweek disappointment Madrid went to Espanyol and won 2-0 thanks to second half goals from Guti and Raul. In an absolutely breath taking encounter in their neighboring ground the Calderon, Athletico Madrid edged past Barcelona 4-3, cutting the lead to just 4 points. With the El Classico Bernabeu edition still to come, most Madrid would never have seen this coming. Needless to say even Guardiola would not have thought that he would be in a situation to answer for this slump.

Fortunes changed again at the wrong time for Madrid when they looked less than convincing against Athletico on Saturday. Forlan and Aguero ran berserk, but as what i have always thought were wasteful. Lass playing at RB, tried really hard to join Robben in attack but, then was left standing by Simao. Athletico looked super fast with two wingers and the two South American Strikers. It was Forlan who made a cool finish on a counter attack. Madrid labored through for most part of the match, not able to get past the Athletico and defense and also some superb saves from the Keeper. Finally they started playing much better when Lass was moved back to the center and Salgado was brought in at RB. Though Salgado struggled, Lass looked his usual comfortable self when he was in midfield. Madrid was given the benefit of the doubt, when Huntelaar seemingly offside when the ball was passed to him, made a superb turn and finished a thunderbolt, the flag stayed down and the goal stood. Athletico had more and more chances to make it a miserable night for Real, but Aguero made too many misses after getting into some good positions.


Barcelona legend, Cryuff says that Real Madrid are throwing everything away and that this week will bring Madrid to the painful realization that they are not competing for both the La Liga and the Champions League anymore. Two weeks ago Real Madrid had turned the tide from the time the Champions League lot was taken, 10 wins in the La Liga on a trot brought them 4 points away from Barca. With just 12 games remaining in the La liga, the slip to Athletico this week could signal the end of Real Madrid's third successive title hopes. Following the great Real Madrid for the past 11 years or so, i am pretty positive that Madrid is not going to hold off tomorrow for a 0-1 scoreline to take it to penalties. If Madrid are to progress this would have to be similar to a match they played when they visited Old Trafford some 5-6 years back. To achieve this someone has to really live up to their name.

I am not good at predictions, though Madrid may have the fire power to beat Liverpool comprehensively, there is a certain element of stage fright that the Spanish team shows many a year in the Champions League. From what i see, the scoreline could be 0-0 or 1-0 in favor of Liverpool. I know this is going to make some of my friends happy, but i would also like to add that I don't see Liverpool winning this years Champions league with the kind of performances they are putting in. The advantage for Real Madrid on the other hand if they progress would be that the Italian giants against whom Real usually struggle, Inter, Roma and Juventus all could be out. If they want to make this their year in the tournament, Real Madrid need to live up to their name and tomorrow, thank God....i can watch the match in HD with English commentary....

2 months can change who fears whom- Its Champions league time!!

Two months ago when the first knock out stage draw was made for the Champions league, Rafa Benitez and Liverpool fans would have been the first to jump up in joy for the relatively easy tie against the struggling Real Madrid. Liverpool were in top form having made one of the starts of the season in their premiership history. At the same time Real Madrid were a mess, with just not the numerous problems in the board, a new coach and an injury list as long as an old lady's shopping list.

Two months later Real Madrid have cut down the lead Barca hold to 7 points and with the El Classico Bernabeu fixture still pending, they now can think that the La Liga is not over yet. New coach Juande Ramos definitely has what it takes to occupy the hot seat. People generally were skeptical on the chances the Spaniard, trophies out of the question and it was about how to stop the landslide. Ramos did that, went about making his formations click, bring the discipline back and grind out the victories. There were no complains from Madrid, on the injury list, and the problems in the board, they just went about winning. There was no pressure on them as almost the entire world maybe including the Madrid fan base had written off the chances of winning the La Liga for the third year running. With Barca having a 12 point lead it was not just up to Real Madrid winning, but they had to hope that the swashbuckling Barcelona would slip.

The last two weeks saw exactly the same, Barca dropped 2 points with a draw at Real Betis which itself was a point saved from a last gasp effort from Eto. To make the league interesting Real Madrid who were expected to have a tough match against the same Real Betis, fired six goals past them in the first half. Barca on the same day lost to Espanyol cutting down their lead to 7 points, and it was their first home loss in over a year. Real Madrid players eased the pressure on Juande Ramos from the fans and the media that though Madrid are winning they had become a totally unattractive unit to watch. With Robben, Sneijder and Guti coming back from injury, Juande still stuck to his formation, appreciation to him for his guts for playing 3 outright strikers, Higuain, Huntelaar and Raul in the hole.


The Gago-Lass combination in the center of midfield has for sure been the difference from December. Higuain opened the scoring when he was through from Raul's header and the cool finished showed why he is the striker whom Madrid will rely on this season. Huntelaar scored two goals, the first when the ball kindly fell at his feet from a Ricardo punch. The second was a tap in when his thunderous header was saved and put back at his feet by Ricardo. The Betis keeper who kept out the mighty Barca till the last few minutes of their encounter the previous week, was left with a lot to do with his defenders left all over the pitch. Captain fantastic who had recently become the leading scorer in La Liga just took over center stage when his first finish was a sweet left footed first time strike from outside the box, the second was a sweet flick over the advancing Ricardo when he was put through by Gago.

Sergio Ramos was having one the games of the season. Right from the beginning of the match the presence of Mark Gonzalez was not enough to put him in his side of the pitch and he was just terrific in his defending and his attacking contribution. He capped off a brilliant match with a fine diving header from a Madrid set piece. The second half saw Juande shuffling his team, by taking off Raul, Higuain and Cannavaro. Sergio Ramos slipped into the center of defense and still defended extremely well, Lass slipped into RB, Robben on the right and Sneijder and Guti in the middle. Right on the restart Sneijder put in Robben, but the Dutchman was a little too casual on his cut back. Guti showed that he is almost back to full match fitness as he was threading in a lot of his trade mark through balls.

The problem for Juande when Real Madrid welcome Liverpool on Wednesday is to get the monkey off the back. Madrid had great success in the Champions League from 1998-2001, but since then have struggled to get past the first knock out stages. For a team of such pedigree these stats are often the reason for coaches losing their jobs even after bringing domestic glory. In coach Juande Ramos, he brings a lot of success in knock out tournaments. Liverpool on the other hand are struggling, having almost completely lost out on the chance to win the Premiership. Not only are they struggling to keep up with the defending champions but if they are to put up the same show they had against Man City this weekend when they travel to the Bernabeu on Wednesday, their good run in Champions League tournaments in recent years would be cut short.

For me the Real Madrid V Liverpool match will be a pleasant contradiction- most likely there would be more Spanish players in the visiting English team's line up than the Spanish capital city team. But since an English team is playing, there is a high possibility that the match would be on ESPN 2 with English commentary.......

Politics, Money and Football in one sentence???

Just when it looked like Calderon and gang knew how they were running the White house, things have changed. Controversy after another and the President was forced to resign his post. Second in command Vicente Boluda has taken charge till summer which will mean that there will be elections then. Former President and Galactico creator Florontino Perez is who the press is already talking about with the possibility of Zidane coming in to a Sporting Director's role. Now as much as this seems to be a movie story line, this is what the press has put together from separate incidents that happened over the last year. In my opinion this is the primary negative in a Board controlled PLC like Real Madrid. There is bound to be a lot of politics and people go to any extend to achieve their goals. While promising to sign some of the world's best players may seem to be the only main strategy of Presidential candidates, the whole election process is not sans controversy. Mail in votes and now non members approving the Madrid budget?

When the mess in running the club was on, the players were back and was ready to face bottom place Osasuna at the Bernabeu on Sunday. As i have written earlier, it is conviction of what he is doing that sets Juande Ramos apart. He is not doing a whole lot different. Of course he has a lot of players back from injury but even then his man management skills have to be given special mention. Osasuna as they showed last week against Barca is no walk over and they showed exactly that when they went ahead first. Madrid rallied back and won the game 3-1, a scoreline which is more glorified as it was a struggle in totality. A few things that i have noticed that Juande Ramos has done to his formation is that, for one he plays both Gago and Lass together in midfield. I know Guti was injured but i guess he is back to full fitness. In a way Gago and Lass seem to be performing well together. Instead of a Diarra and Guti combination, the two midfielders in a central role seem to be giving Madrid more stability. The only problem yesterday was that Lass was not the best compared to the standard he set in his previous two matches. While he was holding the ball well, he was being too slow in counter attack and was running out of ideas in distribution. Second off Juande Ramos has made it clear with the formation that Robben is to play a role similar to Messi. Robben is a player who is going to dribble and wind his way around defenders and take a shot at goal. He is not a left winger who is going to put in telling crosses into the penalty box. Since Ramos has taken charge Robben is playing on the right side of midfield and is scoring a lot of goals. Ramos also has his best backline now at his disposal and that has contributed to the clean sheets that Madrid are able to maintain.
The match was not without a new set of controversy. This time it was with the refereeing and i think people who complain have a point. Now i have seen this guy referee a lot of Madrid games which is a little weird, and former Madrid player at Osasuna Juanfran would have some complaints. First there was this tackle from Gago inside the penalty box from the side, which looked a little 50-50. First look at normal speed i called penalty here, but then when you look at the replay and think that Gago missed the ball and Juanfran with his original tackle and the ball would not have been recovered by Juanfran and the protests on the dive was enough for the Referee to be convinced to dish out the yellow card to the bewildered youngster. Towards the end of the game, one-one with Pepe, Juanfran was brought down, again a first look "penalty" i shouted and the referee did blow, but the assistant referee suggested that it was a dive and Juanfran was give the marching orders.


There is still a 12 point difference between leaders Barca and Real Madrid, and if anyone is hopeful that Barca will slip up they should have seen their demolition of Deportivo on Saturday. Now Madrid are doing the right thing which is to do their part and that is to keep winning.

When we speak of politics that is ruining clubs like Madrid it is Money and a hell lot of Money thats in the news. Man City reportedly bid a world record of over 110M for Brazilian superstar Kaka and press in Italy and England were convinced that Milan could not resist the lure. Sure Milan could do really well with the money to re-build an aging team. But if Dubai money and a trillion of that thinks that a Kaka or a Robinho can change anything, then he should look at the Premiership table. Granted Man City have a decent young talent pool including the like of Micah Richards and have bought Shawn Wright Phillips back, but to think that the former World Player of the year would leave one of the best clubs in the world to a wannabe club with a lot of Money is just preposterous. Oh really? As Robinho.


I have read that Kaka is from a good background back in Brazil and that is why the decision came today from the Brazilian superstar that he never even for 30 seconds thought about leaving Milan and that he would have been disappointed if Milan had accepted the offer. Now i believe there was a whole lot of pressure on Milan not to accept the bid from the public. No offense to Man City but i don't think Kaka would want to join them for the big money when he has declined offers from Real Madrid.

I can imagine the outburst by a lot of fans and the public alike that when the whole world goes through a financial crisis, spending over 275M in transfer fees and player wage is how should i put it? CRIMINAL! Kaka maybe the golden boy of football, but i thought that was only an expression, did folks in Dubai take that for real?

Glass man on target for rejuvenated Madrid

Juande Ramos took the reins of Madrid with a week to go for El Classico. Though he tasted victory in the first match in charge against Zenit, the heartbreaking El Classico loss was no consolation. But the way i look at it there were a lot of positives out of the the match. This definitely translated the following week when they played Valencia. Wesley Sneijder's superb strike made sure that Real went into the Christmas break on a high. The two weeks break would also see Madrid get some replacements to their shrinking roster. Huntelaar would be the one to get the goals for Madrid and it would be Lassana Diarra signed from Portsmouth who will be the cover for the injured name sake.

Controversy has already kicked off with regards to the Madrid Sporting division headed by Mijatovic making a mistake in dishing out almost 40M on two players who have both played in UEFA cup competitions with their respective clubs. UEFA Champions league clause would mean that only one of the two can play for Madrid post January in the Champions League. After yesterday's match against Villareal i know for sure that Ramos would be a fool not to pick Lass. It is not that Huntelaar made a bad start yesterday, but i think Madrid don't have an issue in scoring goals with Raul, Higuain and Saviola and it is the defensive midfielder position that does not have cover other than the young Gago.

With Higuain out for a week with tonsillitis, it was sure that new signing Huntelaar who is fully recovered from the ankle injury would get to step on the Bernabeu in front of his new fans. He played well for the time he was on the pitch. The Dutchman used his size well and held the ball up well, and could have capped off his debut with a goal when he controlled the ball well but his shot was superbly saved by Diego Lopez. Juande Ramos had his first line defense back, with Heinze finally off the injury list, Pepe and Cannavaro in the center and Ramos at RB. As is the case with the match against Valencia Robben was to start on the right wing and Sneijder on the left side. The difference in the center was that Juande Ramos did not put the entire responsibility on either Gago or Lass. Instead he lined up both of them side by side and had Raul and Huntelaar up front. This move actually worked well for the Madrid midfield as Gago and Lass were just breaking up each and every move.


The first half saw some superb slick passing from Madrid and it was clear who everyone was looking for to pass to and yes it was one of the games that Robben was unstoppable. He was creating too much of trouble for the Villareal defense. Sneijder was also getting into some good positions but was not able to get a good shot off. I was really impressed with the way Gago and Lass played together, and if Madrid forwards could take their chances it would have been an almost perfect match. Seeing Lass play, i am not sure he can exist on his own as the defensive midfielder, because he looks almost a prototype of Gago. He is extremely quick, not that great in the air, but has a good range of passing and ball recovery is also good. It will be interesting to see if Juande Ramos will indeed give him the sole responsibility in that role and add Guti or another play maker to the midfield.

Juande Ramos has a specific plan in place and i think Madrid would buy a winger this January, and i am pretty positive that it will be a left sided midfielder. There is a conscious move to play Robben on the right and he seems to be enjoying the responsibility. The only problem in playing a left footed player on the right is that, his attacking moves become predictable and he has to cut inside in order to get a shot away or a cross. It was evident for the Villareal that Robben would have to cut inside and bring the ball on to his preferred left foot before he attempts anything. With Madrid seemingly struggling to convert or create any final chances it was Robben's predictability that finally paid off. He dribbled past the wing back and then cut inside past one center back and past another sliding in defender and finally placed a stunning shot past Diego Lopez who did not stand a chance. As the flying Dutchman later said it was his best goal in the Madrid shirt.


It was a nerve end to the match for Madrid and Juande Ramos as Villareal came at them with everything they have. It was some good defending from Madrid and the brilliance of Casillas that saved the night. Royston Drenthe made a substitute appearance and again showed positive signs of how far he has come as a player. Cannavaro was superb against Valencia and he was good in the first half of the match, but his marking was suspect in the second period. Pepe on his return was extra ordinary till the end when he made a comical clearance. Sergio Ramos showed signs of what he was becoming famous for. He never looked foolish and ably supported Robben in attack on the right wing. Heinze for a change was solid did not make any mistakes with his usual stupid hustles. Nihat and Rossi were completely kept in check by Pepe and Cannavaro, and Gago and Lass kept Cazorla under control. A few more weeks in Lass and Huntelaar are bound to gain more match fitness and with Higuain expected back next week, Juande Ramos has more players to try out.

There is definitely discipline and organization that has come in to the Madrid play, but they surely need to get some one take up the goal scoring responsibility. Higuain seems to be the most likely candidate having already scores 11 goals in the league. Barca maintained their 12 point lead on Madrid after their hard fought match against Mallorca and Valencia won against Atletico, this mean that Madrid's victory put them one point below Valencia on third, but for all practicality there is no catching up to Barca. With almost two months to go for the Liverpool game, i think this should be the ideal season for the players and the coach to focus on getting past the first knock out stage jinx.

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

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

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

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


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


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

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