Goal drought continues

Another stumble by Sevilla, who go from being the best football club in the world in 2006 (according to the IFFHS) to not having won a game in 2007, puts Real Madrid level with the Andalusians and with Barcelona (who have a game in hand, at least until Wednesday) at the league's mid-way point. And yet, the manner in which Real Madrid are racking up the points in this championship, especially the lack of goals in the last few matches, is beginning to be a worrying trend.

Capello has stuck to his guns, even as far as giving youngster Torres a starting place as left back. Even when Sergio Ramos had to go off injured, he switched Torres over to the right wing and brought Raúl Bravo on, rather than a straight replacement on the right with Salgado. But the defensive area is not the issue. Diarra is giving sufficient cover in midfield to allow Gago to let the game flow. Gago's performance was far from perfect, but there was enough creativity there for Real to have put away several goals.

Mallorca did not seem to be playing at home, judging by the amount of possession they conceded, but Reyes and Robinho kept crashing, almost as if on purpose, against the Mallorca defence. Reyes had a particularly awful game, possibly his worst in a white shirt so far (but who's Capello going to play, David Beckham?), redeemed only by the wonderful free kick which gave his side the three points.

Van Nistelrooy and Higuaín barely got a couple of shots on goal all evening. It will only take a couple of games without goals for the fans to start baying for Ronaldo to come back. We all know the Dutchman goes through phases, much like Morientes used to, and Higuaín needs some time to adapt, but there's not just enough depth in the squad if the manager's going to ignore most of his strike force (Ronaldo, Cassano) or when injuries hit (Raúl). Where are all these youngsters dying for an opportunity when you need them?