Bye Bye Brazil, Hello Holland

Real Madrid's love affair with Brazilian footballers seems to be slowly coming to an end. At its height, back in Florentino Pérez's last season as club president, the squad boasted five Brazilians in its ranks: Roberto Carlos, Cicinho, Baptista, Robinho and Ronaldo. As of today, with the sale of Julio Baptista to Roma for €12 million, this number now stands at two: Robinho and Marcelo. If you listen to the sports press, and Robinho does end up in Phil Scolari's Chelsea, it could soon be just one.

There could be two factors at play in this changing trend: the most plausible one is that, Marcelo aside, all of the other Brazilian players were signed before Ramón Calderón's ascent to power at Real Madrid. And, apart from Roberto Carlos, they were all signed in Florentino Pérez's era. Calderón has not bothered to hide his dislike for his previous boss and has even gone so far as to accuse him of meddling in the affairs of the club following his resignation. He may be thinking of putting his own stamp on the squad by getting rid of those who arrived under Florentino. The second possible factor is the growing perception at Real Madrid of Brazilians as "problematic". In other words, a fondness for the party life and complaints when not selected in the starting 11.

It is no secret that Robinho is unsettled at the club. Marca goes so far as to suggest that he has told Calderón in person that he wants to leave, although the president has so far refused to entertain any offers from Chelsea. This contrasts interestingly with some of his statements during the Cristiano Ronaldo saga to the effect that he would never keep anyone at the club who was unhappy there.

The focus at the club, quite possibly heavily influenced by Bernd Schuster, has now shifted towards players perceived to be more solid, more reliable. This has resulted in an unprecedented number of Dutch players being signed. Van Nistelrooy was signed in 2006 (under Capello), followed by Robben, Sneijder and Drenthe last summer. The recent addition of Van der Vaart to the squad brings the total number up to five. The only nationality with a larger representation is, obviously, Spanish.

The Dutchmen have all, so far, integrated well at the club, and there are no obvious cliques being formed. Without generalising about national traits (a futile exercise, in any case), there is a feeling that these signings are contributing to building a more compact, resilient squad. More of a team than a bunch of talented individuals, in other words. And that can only be a good thing in the long run.

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Life sentences

Raúl and Casillas received a St. Valentine's day present from Real Madrid when they linked what is likely to be the remainder of their playing careers to the club by agreeing contract extensions at lunchtime today. Under the terms of the agreement, Raúl's contract was extended until 2011 (when he will be 35) and Casillas until 2017 (when he will be 36). From that point on both players will then see their contracts automatically extended by a further twelve months if they play a minimum of 30 games for the club during the season. As long as they're fit to play, and if the manager of the day chooses to select them, they will continue to be Real Madrid players.

A lot has been made in Spain of the fact that these contracts are "for life". In reality, the guaranteed contract keeps them at the club until an age that is not unusually high for players at that level, especially for a goalkeeper. The further extensions will be in function of how useful they are to the club at that point, so I can see little reason to object to them. It should also be noted that one other player in the squad, Ruud van Nistelrooy, already has this extension clause in the contract he renewed last month.

Interestingly, neither Guti, who, apart from Raúl, has been at the club for the longest period, nor Sergio Ramos, who was also in Ramón Calderón's sights for this type of contract, were included in today's opresentation. One can only speculate whether one or both may soon see the club reward their efforts in this fashion. Something else that's not been widely reported is whether the players' image rights still remain with the club. Both Raúl and Casillas are among the most valuable players in Spain in terms of their advertising potential and tying their fortunes to the club ensures a steady steam of revenue, helping to keep Real at the top of the table of football clubs in terms of earnings.

Casillas had some words of encouragement for his former team-mate Ronaldo, who suffered a career-threatening knee injury in a Serie A game last night: "on a day like today, with such good news both for Raúl and for me, I want to remember a colleague like Ronaldo, who is suffering after the injury he sustained last night. From here I want to send him the best wishes of the club and all the players."

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The end of the galáctico era

So it's finally goodbye to Ronaldo, the latest player to be treated in ignominious fashion as part of the Real Madrid New Year sales clear-out. It also marks the end of the galácticos, as he, together with Figo, Zidane and Beckham became known during the Florentino era. While it's hard to argue with the premise that Ronaldo is not the footballer he was, the timing of this deal does not reflect well on the management at the club. AC Milan reportedly offered 18 million euros to take him away in the summer, and are now getting him for a reported figure of between 7 and 8 million. Some rumours even go as far as to say that the money has been put up by the player himself, so desperate is he to get away from the "hell" that is working under Capello.

The current goal drought in the league also has numerous people remembering with nostalgia how many times "El Gordo" (together with Casillas) has saved the team's bacon (only to eat it afterwards - sorry, couldn't resist).

Capello himself has remained tight-lipped in recent days about the breakdown in his relationship with the player, although he has not called him up to the squad for several weeks. He did previously say that Ronaldo's attitude to training was "not great", a diplomatic way of saying he's lazy, and he's too old to rely on his extraordinary talent to get him out of trouble. One wonders how he'll fare in the more stringent defences of Serie A. Capello has hinted he'll have more to say "once he no longer wears the Real Madrid shirt". It is also rumoured that Ronaldo does not have a great deal of support from the rest of the squad, and that he's a bad influence on the young Brazilians Robinho and Marcelo (Roberto Carlos doesn't need any bad influences, by all accounts). He's not expected to say goodbye to his former team-mates.

It's probably time for him to go, and it's definitely time for the galácticos to either hang up their boots or take a back seat, but it would have been better if this had happened back in the summer (from a financial perspective) or at the end of the season (out of respect for his contribution to the club). It'll be long before we see his like again.

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Two steps back

Reversing the advantage gained last week, Real Madrid squandered the chance of topping the table, albeit temporarily, for the first time in over 15 months, while the other two teams at the top won their respective encounters. Given the club's poor scoring record (28 goals in 20 league games, the lowest numbers since 1991), it is not a surprise Ronaldo's transfer to AC Milan (expected to be made official today or tomorrow) is being questioned.

It is true that Ronaldo has propped up the scoring over the past two or three seasons. It is also true that his form this season means that his "promise" of scoring 30 goals this season was a pretty empty one. It is not a bad time to let him go. It is a bad time to have so little in the way of alternatives. Real had barely two chances on goal in the first half (Robinho and Higuaín) and none (that's right, none) in the second half. Ruud van Nistelrooy is starting to face criticism that he's not making enough chances for himself, but he's not the only one to blame; he's just not getting the service, and both Reyes and Robinho have been having an appalling few weeks.

There's little room for optimism going forward. The squad just seems too small and unbalanced to link up the midfield to the forward line when both wingers are so ineffectual. It may be hard for Capelo to admit, but he's missing Guti and Raúl up front, and the Castilla youngsters (other than Torres, who had another excellent performance) are just not cutting it. At least this means the club was right to look abroad for young talent.

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The door is open for Ronaldo

It wasn't really much of a revelation, but Calderón made it official today by hinting that Capello no longer wants Ronaldo in his squad and that the club is awaiting offers to offload him in the January transfer window. Ronaldo himself has not joined his team-mates in training in the last couple of days, adding to the speculation that he's on his way out.

Giving the manager his backing for this 'clean-out' Calderón wasn't totally explicit in the breakdown of the relationship between Capello and Ronaldo: "It looks like Ronaldo does not feature in the manager's plans and we have to take that into account. Ronaldo's future depends on whether the decision is taken to put him on the transfer list, but there also has to be a club that wants to offer him a contract, and the player has to want to leave; it's his decision as well. Capello thinks this is the way forward, we have full confidence in him and all he's doing is choosing those players that he thinks best fit the squad he is putting together; they can't all be part of it."

With Ronaldo and Beckham on the way out, the only player on a galáctico salary still left is Raúl. The Real Madrid captain is unlikely to be dumped quite so unceremoniously, but it looks like even he is not immune to Capello's culling (assuming he wants him gone, that is).

Of course, a lot hinges on Capello getting the continuing support of the president, which depends on the team starting to show some positive results, and on the president's own continuity, which is by no means certain to see out the season.

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Apology demanded

Less than a week after Le Monde's allegations of blood doping at a number of Spanish clubs, including Real Madrid, the legal machinery at the club has finally cranked out a response.

In a fax sent on the 11th to the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Real Madrid strongly denies any links between the club and the doctor at the centre of the allegations, Eufemiano Fuentes. The fax goes on to state that no unauthorised product or substance has ever been used at the club and demands an apology from the paper with the same prominence as was given to the original article. Finally, it affirms the club's intention to initiate legal action against the paper and any others who may have been responsible for the publication of the allegations.

Of the other clubs implicated, Barcelona has already said they will be taking legal action against the paper, and Betis have threatened legal proceedings if the story is not retracted. Interestingly, Valencia are taking a different tack, ruling out suing Le Monde. Their president, Juan Soler, is quoted as saying "I know how the process of going to court ends. It becomes you say one thing and I say the other. The best thing is for the supporters to be clear about it and leave it like that".

In response to the original article, Ronaldo said he didn't even know who Eufemiano Fuentes was. "There's really nothing here to hide. We don't do anything illegal and are always available for the random inspections that UEFA carry out, or whoever else for that matter. We take medicine when we are sick or injured, but nothing that can improve or enhance our form," he added.

Figures released by the World Anti Doping Agency show that football complies with its standards in testing its participants from urine samples. However, the same cannot be said for blood tests, which are still being resisted by FIFA. That would be the only way to test whether any of the blood doping allegations had any fundament.

My feeling is that it is extremely unlikely that any of the clubs named by Le Monde are implicated in wholesale doping of their players, for the simple reason that hiding such practices is almost impossible. All it takes is one disgruntled player, or manager (and there are plenty of those) to bring the whole affair into the public domain.

However, this does not mean that individual players wishing to enhance their performance or stamina have not in the past availed themselves of the services offered by doctors such as Eufemiano Fuentes. There seems little sense in FIFA's reluctance to comply with WADA's recommendations and introduce blood testing, particularly as they did this during the 2002 World Cup, with no observed side effects.

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Ronaldo gets a new lease of life

Capello's goading of Ronaldo seems to be having a beneficial effect on the not-so-fat-these-days Fenómeno. The headlines will record that Ronaldo rescued his 'BabyMadrid' side , stuffed with youngsters from the B team from going down to Dynamo Kiev in last night's meaningless Champions League fixture (meaningless because neither side's position in the group could change irrespective of the result). What they will not show is that the formerly regarded as 'past it' Brazilian is training like he hasn't trained for years. He fights for the ball, he's even been seen occasionally heading back over the half-way line to help out in defensive duties. He seems to be a changed man.

Whether this is due to Capello's methods, the president's stated vow not to get involved in 'technical' matters, or a combination of the two, it is extremely welcome. Perhaps he won't get the thirty goals he promised, in typical style, at the beginning of the season, but perhaps he's not as finished as it seemed this time last month.


Match report

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Brazilian 'oldies' to the rescue

Much has been made about the fact that Real Madrid's ageing squad is in desperate need of renewal if they are to be competitive in the coming seasons. Fabio Capello has been both vilified and lauded for what he calls "achieving miracles" with the players at his disposal. And yet, it was two of these players who scored the goals that resulted in Real's come-back against Athletic Bilbao: Ronaldo (30) and Roberto Carlos (33).

Once again, Real Madrid had to struggle to get all three points at home (14/21 so far, compared with 15/18 away), falling behind to a goal of dubious legality after 35 minutes, and playing the sort of football that would "bore sheep". Capello changed tack in the second half bringing Ronaldo and Beckham in for Reyes and Emerson, respectively. The Brazilian, especially, looked sharper than he has for some time and was seen running after balls with the same speed he used to run after the ice-cream van.

While Athletic's defence clearly contributed to the final turnaround in both goals, this article by Martí Perarnau has a good assessment of Real's effectiveness under Capello:

1. Defensive solidity: They have allowed 15 goals in 18 games in the League and Europe. This is the same number as Barcelona, arguably a much more attacking side. The number of unconverted goal chances (thanks mostly to MVP Casillas) means a 'Fail' in this category thus far.
   
2. Fast counter: Real have renounced patient passing play to adopt a counter-attacking style, which is proving lethal, both because of the speed, and the pushing up of players forward when this happens.
   
3. Scoring effectiveness: They have no equal in this category. They have scoring rations of over 60% per game; few opportunities, plenty of goals (on average 2 per game). Overwhelming.
   
4. Results: Three defeats in 18 games. No problems to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League and 1 point from the top in the League. Superb.

Capello will find little in the way of weighty opposition to his methods as long as they deliver results. He has a good track record of doing this. Given that he's unlikely to win everything in sight, he's very unlikely to stay in the post for longer than two years. This is the quandary facing the Real Madrid management: Capello was brought in as a "surgeon" to chop away at all the deadwood and instil a winning attitude in the players. How then can he be expected to contribute meaningfully to the long-term make-up of the squad?

Highlights

Match report

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Capello speaks...

In a revealing interview with As, Fabio Capello faces the Spanish inquisition (in a comfy chair while enjoying lunch at their expense) from a paper that is usually a mouthpiece for the club, but that has been less than enamoured with his style. Capello defends his actions as vigorously as he practised catenaccio in his youth. This is the translation of the full article:

At the beginning of the conversation, Capello tackles Cannavaro's latest accolade

I do not understand all I am hearing and reading about the controversy surrounding Fabio Cannavaro. What's all this about? how are people making these judgements? Cannavaro was the best player of the World Cup and that's where the best players go. Who can argue with that? Only those who don't put enough value on the World Cup. It's the place where all the best players go to show how good they are. And Cannavaro was the best among them all. On top of that he had a great season for Juventus.

Fabio, we can think of a few poor performances of Cannavaro playing for Real Madrid

Look. Cannavaro, like all those who took part in the World Cup, needs some time to get back to full match fitness. Also he's got some back problems.

But coincidentally, he was awarded the Ballon d'Or on the day when Carew kept getting away from him

Not true! I've seen the video of the game. I always do that. I can tell you that Carew gets away from him only once. Only once, I tell you. And I'm not talking about the goal, because Carew was offside. It was in another action. But it was only once, I insist.

He seems to laugh sometimes as if he were mocking people

Come on... let's discuss football. Cannavaro is like that; he laughs when he speaks. But he is player who is always focused on the game. That is essential to be competitive.

No-one's arguing about his commitment, the same as for the rest of the squad. You can see Capello's hand in that

We may play well or badly, but the pride in representing this club has returned. All the players are united and they have ambition. They all play their socks off in all the games.

Don't you think there should be more spectacle as well as physical effort in Real Madrid's football?

Let me tell you something. The fans have asked me to first of all make sure I put back the spirit and that the good football will come later. They tell me this on the street.

But Real Madrid has always played attractive football. And we are not seeing any of that now.

Look, of course I love good attractive football. But we have to play with what we have at the moment. The team plays according to the players in the squad. Good passing is not enough right now. We have to improve in this area.

The team plays the way they do because of the players you have signed: blunt, defensive-minded

What do you want? It was madness to have the elections in July! We were too late to the market to pick and choose. How much do you think Cesc, or any other top player costs in July? We are achieving miracles with what we've got.

Barcelona plays more attractively

Come on. Barcelona did not win all their players on the lottery. They've arrived over time. Do you think I or anyone else can solve everything in two months? Rijkaard took more than 6 months to start showing something for his efforts. My friends, nothing can change as quickly as you're trying to make out to people.

Don't you think that the public wants to see a team go out and attack and win the ball?

Sure - that's tactical suicide. Do you think it would be fun to watch?

Well, yes. It's open football...

Please. In football today you defend with nine and attack with two. Everyone does it! Chelsea, Liverpool, even Barça, after a fashion. They play with two up front: Ronaldinho and Eto'o or Gudjohnssen, and all the rest will go back to their own half to help retrieve the ball. Is that not true? Ninety-five percent of all teams play like that.

We think that, for instance, Diarra and Emerson are blockages to free flowing football. Perhaps it would be better with just one of them and Guti in your 'double pivot'.

You've never seen my 'double pivot' perform at 100% effectiveness. When one is 100%, the other is at 60%. The two of them have not had a great match at the same time as each other. Let me ask you something else. Is there any other team that plays with more forwards than we do? We are not playing defensively because Emerson and Diarra are in the team. Whoever says that is wrong.

You say that Real Madrid's passing game will improve. Will that be with Gago?

Gago is very good. Yes, very good indeed. I've seen him in a lot of videos. But let's be careful with asking too much of him because their season is almost over. We'll see.

Will he play in the same position as Guti? Behind him, in front of him?

I think he has the ability to control and distribute play in the midfield, but he can also go forward. I can't say anything at this stage. We'll have to see how he adapts.

What about Marcelo, will you loan him to Zaragoza or will he play in Castilla (the B team)?

He'll play with Castilla. I want to keep him close, see him every day. I won't allow him to go out on loan.

What about Higuaín?

A good striker. One of the best in Argentina. It will be good to have him here. I think that signing these players is telling the fans that they can rest easy, we have a plan to build a great team.

Have you been fully satisfied with any of the performances so far this season?

I think the attitude we showed in the game against Barcelona is the way to go.

What have you liked the least?

The Getafe game. I knew that game would not be a good one. Something happened...

What?

I don't want to talk about it. But look at how good it was for everyone to stand up and say: "this will not happen again".

Cassano's 'rebellion' was a bad day?

Cassano is how he is. I know him better than anybody. He's a difficult person and a sensational player. Here you've only seen him perform at 50%. His problem is that his effectiveness goes up and down depending on how strong he feels. He needs to feel he's always going to be in the first eleven, but...

So he will get tired of being a substitute, like Beckham

Beckham is not a substitute. He is a complete professional. He will play when there's room in the squd, and there will be room because the season is long. I have a starting eleven now which more or less works, so he will have to wait. But you need to realise that I have personally asked for his contract to be renewed.

Is it true you've been goading Ronaldo and now his morale is up and his weight is down?

I've goaded him a lot, but I have to goad him some more! He is still not at his ideal weight, although he feels very well. He's training wonderfully. Very strong on Monday, on Tuesday... If all goes to plan, he should play on Sunday. We'll see... Ronaldo is the most talented player I have ever seen. His power is impressive. I want to put him up front with Van Nistelrooy again. I have always had two strikers in all my squads.

And you also play with wingers like Robinho and Reyes, or Raúl, although sometimes playing on the 'wrong leg'

Raúl plays well on the wing because he can get forward and look for goals. From the wing he has a great ability to surprise defenders. Also, if he then moves towards the middle, Ramos can then overtake him on the wing more often than Roberto Carlos.

Robinho and Reyes?

My feeling is that it's good to switch the wingers sometimes to play on the 'opposite leg'; it baffles defenders. But I like my wingers to get forward and alsot to get back. They have defensive tasks as well...

Are you convinced by Casillas?

What do you mean? I've always thought Iker was a great keeper. It is true we're working him a lot on high balls and his movement outside the box, and he's improved a lot.

It looks like you're overly negative on his performances when we mention him in the press

I say what I believe. I don't think he makes as many superb saves as you say. I look at him as a coach, from a technical perspective.

Work, work, work. Does this come from your playing day in Italy?

My coach in 1967 in Roma was Helenio Herrera. He was the best I've known by far. Number one. A professional, he always asked for more. He'd have us train for an hour shouting "Attacca la balla, attacca la balla" (Attack the ball). Constant pressure!.

And where did you startout as a player?

I was born in a village with thirteen hundred people, in Pieris. It's 100km from Venice, on the coast. From that village there were twelve Serie A players and three of us played for Italy.

And where did you make your debut?

At Ferrara. The president, who strangely enough was also the coach, signed me. His name was Massa. In the mornings he'd be on the pitch running the training session and on the afternoon he'd call us into his office to tell us who was playing. those were the days! That was Italy in the 60s. After that I played for Roma, Juve, and Milan.

You coincided with some of the Spanish players in the Italian league at that time: Del Sol, Luis Suárez and Peiró

Of course. I played with Peiró in Roma as he was finishing his career. He was great in the box. I tried to copy his technique. He had great cunning and was very successful at heading the ball even though he was not very tall.

Suárez was held in great regard...

He was incredible. Now, according to you, I wouldn't play him (laughs). He used to run up and down the pitch constantly, and with three touches he'd be in the box and score. I had to follow him in some games and he was impossible to mark! He never stopped working. Up and down, on the wing... I remember he used to lift the ball up and hit it almost horizontally. He'd hit fifty metre passes - a phenomenon!

Tell us the truth. What team do you support in Italy?

When I was a kid, I was a Juve fan, like my father. Now, I support whoever I have worked for. And there've been plenty of those.

What's your favourite type of player from those teams?

I like Rossi, at Roma. I remember one day I picked him to play and he impressed me. He played like he trained: no fear, holding nothing back. Aquillani also plays like that. They can play in the big teams. I remember ten years ago, players would come to Real Madrid with a great pedigree and would freeze at the Bernabéu, in front of ninety thousand.

Tell us what you like about your next opponents: Athletic

Whatever I say now or what I've seen in the videos is now worthless. they've just changed coach and how they'll play is a mystery. As a club, they're suffering because their policy of only signing Basque players is making it progressively more difficult.

Will you win a trophy this year?

Let me beat Athletic first...

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Ronaldo wants Nobel Peace prize

Surreal does not really go far enough to describe Ronaldo's ambition to win the Nobel Peaze prize, in an interview with Spanish daily ABC. Admittedly, he has a role as a UN goodwill ambassador, but then so did Geri Halliwell! The interview has some surprising revelations on his current state of mind(lessness).

You must be relieved Barcelona is not the team of last season:

I don't watch their games. I only ever watch Real Madrid games. It's been... years since I saw a game from start to finish. I just watch the highlights. Football bores me. I've never watched much football; I only watch the games I'm in to correct my mistakes. I always do it. The evening of the day after the game. Whenever they give me the tapes. They've not given me many tapes recently (laughs)

On being a substitute:

I spent half of last season injured; I played the World Cup suffering from tendonitis and I've just had an operation to resolve that tendonitis. I'm still getting back into form. When I was playing everything was better. Another bad thing about being a substitute is that you have to train harder, and I've always hated training, although I think it's probably good for me at this point.

Have you ever spent 40 minutes warming up?

Never. They went on forever. I felt forgotten, but I behaved well. I couldn't complain, make a scene. I didn't warm up with Cassano. He just lost his head. I didn't, no matter what was going on inside my head.

What's the worst thing about not playing?

To not have the trust of the coach and to not know what to do about getting that trust back. I don't know what I have to do to get back in the starting eleven. I try everything: run, jump, be fast...

They tell me your dream is to win the Nobel Peace prize

Yes, it's a dream, a very distant one. I have to work a lot, help a lot, put all my energies into this cause I believe in, to one day deserve a prize like this. It's in my hands.

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El Gordo's days are numbered

Unfortunately for Ronaldo, he only practices the second half of a "work hard, play hard" philosophy. He is reportedly still 4 kg over the target weight set by Capello's trainers and doesn't seem to be trying too hard to lose it and get match fit.

Unofficial reports coming out of Real Madrid are that the knives are out for him, that Calderón is now regretting pushing AC Milan too hard in negotiations last summer and that they are preparing to put him on the transfer list, possibly in time for the January transfer window.

Ronaldo also hasn't made himself very popular at the club, by ignoring Real Madrid doctors and undergoing knee surgery in Brazil after the World Cup. Since then, he has struggled to get anywhere near match fitness and his boast to score 30 goals this season looks emptier by the say (he hasn't scored yet).

He was reportedly furious at being made to warm up for the majority of the second half of Real's game against Nàstic at the weekend, but unlike his team-mate Cassano, he kept quiet (at least in public) and was thought to be likely to be "rewarded" with a start in last night's Champions League game against Steaua.

It didn't happen. Ronaldo came after van Nistelrooy missed his penalty to play the last 20 minutes. A mysterious 'stiff neck' was blamed, but Ronaldo said at the end of the game that he felt fine. Capello tried to smooth things over by saying that it was his decision to leave Ronaldo out as he had strained his neck in training, and even though he had claimed to be fine just before the game, he had decided not to start him. The Bernabéu gave 'El Gordo' a warm welcome when he came on, but, unless he bucks up (and going by previous years, this is unlikely) he'll be out by the end of the season.

Another galáctico bites the dust...

By the way, Real won the game 1-0 with an own goal by Nicolita. A far cry from the 4-1 performance in Bucharest two weeks earlier, but, in true Capello style, effective. A farily tedious game, although Helguera will never have an easier miss and van Nistelrooy will rue not adding to his tally of goals this season with that missed penalty. Real Madrid now qualifies for the knock-out stages of the Champions League and will fight unbeaten Olympique Lyon for the group's first place in their next game on the 21st.

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Schuster gets his revenge

Bernd Schuster, the Sam Allardyce of La Liga (in terms of building successful teams with a modest budget, not allegations of improper transfer commissions), notched his first ever win as a manager over Real Madrid, reminding their president why he had been considered as a potential manager for the Madrid side before being passed over for Fabio Capello.

He was helped by the worst Real Madrid performance this season (which, after the Lyon game is saying something), culminating in their first league defeat. Another first saw Ronaldo getting red-carded in the league for complaining to the referee over one of his decisions - it was a week-end of bizarre sendings off in La Liga, this one by no means the strangest, highlighting the 'touchiness' of Spanish officials.

Not a single player is worthy of mention, except perhaps the recalled Iván Helguera in the centre of defence. Capello has his work cut out to pick a team this week with a visit to Bucharest on Tuesday where Real need to get a point at least to consolidate their second place in their Champions League group and next Sunday's Clásico at home to Barcelona.
Match report

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