Barcelona played the return leg of the Barcelona derby by hosting Espanyol at the Nou Camp. It was a packed stadium and its a sight to see when the Nou Camp is full all the way up to the top tiers. If the first edition of this season's Barcelona derby was a treat to watch, this one was an absolute dull affair. With Eto up front Barca has one of the most clinical strikers in world football. The problem? simple- the midfield is not flexible. Without the flair of Ronaldinho and Messi they are just mediocre, who play a specific system. The wing backs, this time around Sylvinho and Zambrotta make a few runs and create some chances but there is no movement and most of Barca's possession is just their cute passing game. Most teams who visit Nou Camp (including Real Madrid earlier) just sit back, suck up the pressure and then hit them on the counter. Espanyol could not do that on Saturday but they did well to counter each Barca move and ultimately Barca would be kicking themselves for how wasteful they were. They looked like a team who had given up on the title hopes and team some what concerned with their big clash mid week against Man U. Barca dropped 2 points in a week when Real were playing away at Racing Santander, a team fighting for the all important Champions League 4th spot.
Real Madrid visited El Sardinero where a capacity 22,000 Santander fans were packed in to see their team going in to the match just 1 point adrift 4th place Atletico Madrid. A win against Madrid will take them 2 points clear of Atletico as they had lost at home 1-3 to Betis on Saturday. Schuster had always complained about injuries to his backline and how he was finding it difficult to get the four first choice defenders in a game. This happened last in the match against Barca at the Nou Camp in December and it was a phenomenal effort from the defenders. 4 months later it was Sergio Ramos at RB, Pepe and Cannavaro in the Center and Heinze at LB. Gago continued to hold on to the holding role in midfield, Guti's absence gave Diarra a start. It was both Robinho and Robben on both the wings and Raul playing as the lone striker. Santander play with a lone striker in Tchite, the tall lanky forward was a real threat as the match progressed. Real would know all about their former player and now Santander star Pedro Munitis. The game started well and both Robinho and Robben were switching flanks well and Sneijder was the key in the midfield to quickly get to the Santander quarter.
On the 14 minute mark Robinho curled in a right footed shot/pass from the left wing and Raul turned it in with the slightest of touches to make 0-1 Real Madrid. I had written in my last post on how Raul has carried this team forward in the absence of Van Nistelrooy. The goal he scored was his 17th in the La Liga and 22 in total for the season. Knowing what was at sake for Santander, Real defended deep with Gago trying everything to keep Colsa and Munitis quiet. Diarra also had one of the better games that i have seen him play, when his first touch and his turns seem to be much more fluid and fast. It was the striker Tchite who almost levelled the score when he was neatly put through by Munitis, but the shot was saved by Casillas with his foot after he had smartly narrowed down the angle.
The second half was again full of midfield battles and Real were playing a well thought out passing game and were having close to 60% possession and absorbing the pressure from Santander. With Robben, Robinho and Sneijder they were always dangerous on the counter. The Madrid defense was holding up well. I personally think Cannavaro plays best when he is partnered by Pepe. Henize was doing well but on a couple of occasions found lacking for pace. I think he is at a point in his career when he should maybe used more as a CB than a LB. Robinho seemingly had very few touches on the ball apart from setting up the first goal, he still missed a chance on the 60 th minute mark. A golden chance fell to Robinho when he beat the entire back line for pace on a lobbed through ball, with all the time in the world, the keeper not charging he opted to go for the first time half volley and missed the target. Schuster took out Robinho and brought in Higuain, Balboa in for Robben and Baptista came on in the last minute for Sneijder. It was another solid performance from Sneijder. The three substitutes combined for what was the finishing touch. Almost 4th minute in stoppage time Balboa and and Baptista played a one-two on the left side, just outside the Santander box. With three defenders in front of him Balboa had the presence of mind to fake the shot and pass it to a wide open Higuain on the right who finished with a good left foot shot. Everyone in the dug out celebrated with the entire team on the goal, this was a seemingly important win which will give Real the chance to win the La liga next weekend.
Real are now 10 points ahead of second place Villareal who won earlier on Sunday, putting them in second place one point ahead of Barca. Next week Real are at home against Bilbao and Barca and Villareal face Betis away and Barca face Deportivo away. If they both lose and Real win, its all over!!
To add to my last week's segment on trouble in the Barca camp, it seems to go worse every day. If their on the field results are poor, important players are coming out and stating that they are unhappy. The most recent has been Samuel Eto who has said that he does not want to stay at Barca next year, if they are not winning anything. He also added that his time in Spain is over and it is almost certain he will go to the EPL. Valencia were 3rd in the League when Ronald Koeman took over as Manager and now they are 16 th, 2 points clear of the relegation zone, can you imagine? ya i am talking of the same Valencia who every year are title contenders at some point. They won the Spanish cup (Copa Del Rey) earlier eliminating Barcelona in the Semi finals, but this was not enough as earlier today Valencia fired Koeman, lets just hope that they don't fall out of the La Liga. I know that David Villa is not going to be there next season for sure now, any takers?
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