Real move closer to Title with a hard fought draw, Villareal and Barca slip

Real went into Saturday's game that they have to come out of Mallorca with a positive result. Now it was not just Barca that they had to look for over their shoulders. Villareal was 6 point adrift and Barcelona 7 points and any Real slip would result in either of them gaining a significant advantage with such very few rounds left in La liga. Real had their task cut out as Mallorca had beaten the defending Spanish Champions twice in the Copa Del Rey to pave way for their exit from the competition for yet another season. Their strikers Guiza and Arango were a real threat to look out for. Guiza was the player off whom the entire Mallorca team plays off of.

Schuster lined up the same team that he used in last week's win against Sevilla. The good news was he had most of his regulars back fit and healthy on the bench. Diarra, Pepe, Robinho and Saviola were on the bench just in case it did not go exactly as planned. Mallorca proved a tough team to play against with their strength in marking and also because of their superb wing play. Ramos and Marcelo was kept busy right from the beginning defending the flanks. Robben was maybe a little careless in not able to finish as early as the opening few minutes after being superbly set up by Sneijder. Real were getting close to the Mallorca box, but was being controlled well by the Mallorca defense. There were some long range shots on both ends which were cleared by the respective keepers. Wing play was very strong by Mallorca and one cross from the left took a deflection off Sergio Ramos and Casillas was tested for his reflexes.

Guiza went through and with the keeper to beat, was almost any tears when he saw that his toe poke had gone wide. It was again the striker scoring after a penalty box collision but the referee had already halted the game for the foul on Ramos. Gago was controlling Ibagaza through the middle well, but Guti was also proving in effective. The one thing to be noticed through the game was when Robben switched over to the right wing, Sneijder could be seen taking his position on the left wing and playing in an advanced position. He seems to be playing with so much confidence and form and has to be credited for taking shots at goal. Sneijder knows that his long range shots might actually not beat the keeper but a spill can always result in a chance for Raul or Higuain.

Robben was looking very active on the pitch and a handful for the wing backs, and he finally went past two defenders with ease on the right and squared a delightful ball in for Raul, keeper pushed the ball right into the path of Sneijder unmarked inside the box and he smashed it in. As soon as Mallorca saw Robben get past the defenders they pushed forward and that probably cost them. 0-1 Real Madrid at half time.

I always thought that Cannavaro needs a partner who is an aggressive defender and who commits first time into tackles and wins the headers. Pretty much similar to the Ferdinand situation without Vidic, he was found wanting against Alfonso Alves. I was talking to my friend about the Brazilian not having an impact yet in England after coming in with such a big goal scoring record. He proved me wrong and in the most important fixture against Man U. He made two cool finishes and made Ferdinand look foolish. Pepe and Cannavaro as the two center backs are the best combination for Schuster and Pepe is all that Cannavaro is not. The Italian Captain who has struggled after the World Cup and FIFA player of the year winning year did show some sign against Mallorca when he did a decent job of controlling Guiza.

Soon after the restart Ramos was shown a Yellow card for a hand ball, which most referees would have just called a foul on. There was some confusion amongst the TV commentators as they thought it was his second yellow card, that's all i could figure out from my minimal knowledge in Spanish. They were not to be disappointed as the Referee did show him the second yellow card for a seemingly non existent foul. I personally thought it was a bit harsh. Real was playing better organized football and not trying hard to score the second goal. They pushed their defense up and Raul was playing withdrawn in the midfield, with only Higuain up front. But to play against Mallorca with 10 men and defend the lead for 25 minutes would be tough. Schuster soon brought in Diarra, but wrong call, he can maybe play as a CB but with his poor pace and touch no way he can play as a RB. It was Valero who made the initial run, Diarra not getting close to him, Arango backing into Cannavaro made a one touch through ball to Valero, Cannavaro probably did not even see what was going on, he made a cool finish past the lunging in Heinze and diving Cassilas to make 1-1.

Schuster but soon made the right choice to bring on Torres the defender who plays at RB, but i was surprised to see him take out Sneijder and not Guti. The Dutchman was seemingly annoyed on being substituted and i see a point too, he had played much better in the game till then, where as Guti was no where to be seen. Torres slipped in to RB and Diarra moved into a defensive Midfield role on the right. Baptista also got a few minutes of playing time, but Real smartly played out the draw.

Villareal lost to Sevilla, and Barcelona managing a goalless draw at home to wonder boys Getafe means Real, now have 66, Barcelona on 59 and Villareal also on 59. Real welcome Murcia to the Bernabeu next weekend.

On my last post, I had written a comment about who can afford Ronaldinho, i would think i need to correct myself. I think most clubs in the world can buy the Brazilian because of a transfer clause that lets players leave their club for a portion of their release clause after 3 years. The release clause on Ronaldinho is some where close to 170M but looks like clubs like Milan are talking to his brother and agent at a figure close to 20M. A host of clubs are now in the running, Milan, Inter and Chelsea have been long term admirers, but now Man City have surprisingly joined the race. 20M for Ronaldinho is a lottery but Man City better be prepared for a 100,000/week salary.