It's all uphill from here

It's hard to win a game where they score against you in the first few minutes of each half, said Guti, summing up the impotence felt by Real Madrid at Getafe.

More importantly, it illustrates why the recent mini-run of two 1-0 victories (against Recreativo and BATE) was a mirage and bodes extremely badly for the next lot of league games against the top-placed teams.

The week has been somewhat overshadowed by Ramón Calderón's announcement that a couple of "young, promising" players will be signed in January when the transfer window opens, plus two top stars in the summer. Given that he's clearly trying to shield himself from the ire of the socios at the upcoming Annual General Meeting next Sunday, this really does very little for the current squad in the current season.

Add to this the plague of injuries decimating the side (Sneijder and Torres had to be substituted in the first half hour) and the next few weeks, or even months, look very bleak. The medical staff and physios have been added to the close scrutiny everyone else is under.

The Spanish league this season has been likened to the Tour de France, and December sees the Alpine stages as many of the "top" teams face each other. Next week, it's Sevilla, followed by Barcelona, Valencia and Villareal. Barcelona have already made short work of Sevilla with a 3-0 away win and look to be running away with the Championship. The shape that Real Madrid is in means that they'll struggle to compete for a Champions League place come next May.

Things have got so bad that Casillas had possibly his worst game in years. He looked insecure every time he came out for the ball and was particularly uninspired in Getafe's second goal. He even conceded a penalty that the referee did not see (or maybe he took pity on him).

And yet, even after going two down at the beginning of the second half, Real might have got back in the game as Guti found Saviola for his first league goal for his team. Getafe looked shaken for all of five minutes when Raúl could have equalised.

It was not to be (nor would it have reflected the relative merits of both sides). Eight minutes from time Uche made it 3-1 and means Real Madrid is losing sight of the leading rider as they are slowly absorbed into the ranks of the peloton.

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Much needed win is scant consolation for more injuries

There were a few positives for Real Madrid following the weekend's action in la Liga. A win against Recreativo de Huelva when the top three teams all dropped points means Real Madrid climbed to second place, three points behind leaders Barcelona.

It was also the first clean sheet since the 2-0 away win at Racing back in September, and, surprisingly, Real Madrid is now the best home side in the league, with sixteen points out of a possible eighteen. Aside from the purely statistical though, there is little joy to take from this game, and the patient is still languishing in intensive care.

There was so little football that there is barely any need to recap the game, if only to note that Sneijder's goal, six minutes before half-time, was the only one of a handful of chances to go in, helped in some measure by the wicked deflection it took on its way into Riesgo's goal.

Injuries to Cannavaro end Heinze forced Schuster to make Pepe and Ramos his pair of central defenders, and, to be fair, the squad looked a little more solid at the back than in recent weeks. Whether that was also because the opposition was not particularly ambitious in their attack is another matter. Miguel Torres, returning from injury, was an able substitute on the right flank and even Marcelo was less accident prone than thus far.

However, the lack of a true centre forward forced Raúl into a position he's uncomfortable in, and it showed. Even Higuaín managed to miss an open goal before having to be stechered off with an ankle injury that may keep him out for up to ten days.

To the already large injury list Real also added Sneijder's name. He was replaced by Van der Vaart, who will likely start in Tuesday's Champions League game against BATE Borisov. He is also likely to be joined in the starting line-up by either Saviola or youngster Alberto Bueno, both of whom had a few minutes late in the game.

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Irún puts Real Madrid in intensive care

The word crisis, whispered in the last few weeks, has now reached a crescendo at the Bernabéu, as Real Madrid were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by a third division side. A repeat of the 4-3 weekend scoreline was not enough to subdue a Real Unión de Irún squad that ran rampant for large stretches of the game, as if the venue or their opponents were of no consequence. Not even a hat-trick from captain Raúl was enough to bring his half-dead team back to life.

The first half was symptomatic of everything that ails Real Madrid at the moment. This is a side split in half to such an extent that they seemed at times to have completely abandoned the midfield to the opposition. It's not just that the defenders are sometimes slow to react and badly positioned, there is just no support from most of their team-mates.

But the lack of players tracking back to defend was also in evidence when the team had the ball. It's not in Real's genetic make-up to play long-ball football, but that is exactly what the local crowd were treated to for most of the first forty-five minutes.

Raúl, the busiest player by far on the night, acted as link-up man, even though he was nominally one of the two strikers, the other being Saviola. This seemed to change in the second half as Sneijder dropped back more often, but just exactly what are Schuster's tactical instructions at the beginning of the game? Asking Metzelder to make runs on the left wing was a first, and what Real gained in attack they more than lost on defence.

The visitors went ahead through Abasolo after 13 minutes, after Salgado failed to deal with a cross on his wing and left Dudek with little chance of making the save. It took a mistake from Eduard, the Irún goalkeeper, to allow Real to equalise, with Raúl easily heading the ball over the advancing goalie after a cross from Marcelo.

Saviola could then have put his side ahead but his goal was disallowed on the stroke of half-time when he was clearly on-side. That was the linesman's fault, but someone needs to take the referee aside and explain to him how to apply the advantage rule, though his failures in this respect affected both sides equally.

Schuster swapped Cannavaro for Javi García during the break for no apparent reason, other than the Italy captain was not having a very good night - but then, neither were any of his colleagues in the back four. Three minutes in, García and Metzelder were not fast enough to catch Salcedo,though it must be said, they had precious little support from any of the midfield players, who were all far too far upfield.

Fortunately for Real, Irún's lead lasted just over a minute, as Raúl got his second after Saviola's pass had found him free in the area.

With the game at 2-2 fifteen minutes into the second half, Schuster brought Alberto Bueno on for Drenthe. The player from the Castilla reserve side only had two minutes on his debut in the first leg in Irún. The promising youngster impressed with his energy and talent and went on to score the goal of the night to put his side ahead and even the tie.

Raúl then thought he had put his side through five minutes from time with his third of the night from a free kick intended as a cross which none of the other players got a touch on. It was the first time all night that the home side was mathematically in the last 16 round of the Copa del Rey.

In a heart-stopping finish to the game, Real Unión took advantage of yet another defensive blunder to score their third in the 89th minute and put Real out of the competition on away goals.

Real Madrid have shown all season that they have the talent up front and the self-belief to enable them to claw their way out of adverse scorelines. However, this is a side so unbalanced on the pitch that any team with a modicum of tactical nous can control the game at their leisure. We haven't seen Bernd Schuster do anything to remedy this over the last few weeks and, as he admitted in the post-match press conference, it's now looking like he doesn't know how to.

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Epic Finish

Despite playing almost the whole of the second half with 10 men (and a few minutes with nine), Real Madrid managed to overturn a 1-0 deficit with less than 10 minutes to go and win their thirty-first league title. It's the first time they have won back-to-back titles since 1990 (though that was the last in a run of five consecutive champioships), when John Toshack was in charge. Robben, with a header from a free kick, and Gonzalo Higuaín (let's give my namesake his full name here) with a powerful volley, means they'll be partying in Cibeles until the early hours.

A few minutes earlier it had looked like Real would have to wait at least one more week to clinch the title, after Heinze had been judged to handle the ball in the area, and Puñal converted the resulting penalty. The handball was unarguable; the ball hit Heinze so hard that his hand started to bleed and he had to leave the pitch for a few minutes to seek treatment. Though Schuster had said in his press conference before the game that he'd like to win the Championship at home to Barcelona next week, his players still looked like they wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

The first half was edgy and tough ("muscular", some would say), with few chances and an extremely hostile crowd, but the game opened up after Cannavaro was sent off seconds after the restart for a misjudged tackle from behind, which forced Schuster to bring off Saviola, in his second start in as many games, and bring on Torres. Osasuna sensed they had a chance to win at home to Madrid for the first time in five years, and yet it was Real who had the better chances, with Sneijder hitting the bar from a looping deflected shot.

Puñal's converted penalty had some of the faithful leaving Cibeles, when Higuaín, having come in for Raúl, floated a perfect free kick right to the side of Robben's head which left the keeper no chance. It's Robben's first headed goal for Real and something of a rarity elsewhere. It's hard to say whether he looked more surprised than elated. But there was no time to waste. Real scooped up the ball from Osasuna's goal and piled on the pressure in the dying seconds. Diarra powered towards the Osasuna area but found his way blocked by one too many defenders; the loose ball found its way to Sergio Ramos, who threaded it through three Osasuna defenders to Higuaín. The Argentine chested the ball down, let it bounce once and connected with a powerful volley inside the near post and scored his third goal in as many games, though this one was worth the league. The game was all but over. A couple of minutes later the celebrations began and continued until the early hours when the players returned to the capital and the captain dressed the Cibeles fountain with the obligatory Real Madrid scarf.

Real will miss both Heinze and Cannavaro through suspension in the Clásico against Barcelona (who'll be missing Deco and Eto'o for the same reason) on Wednesday, but the game is likely to turn into one big celebratory party that the Catalans will try their best to spoil, as they fight Villareal for that elusive second place and automatic qualification for the league stages of next season's Champions League.

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Just the two of us

The number two features highly following the league results at the weekend: two points out of the next four games are all that Real Madrid need to clinch their thirty-first league championship. Two is also the number of teams still in the race, as Barcelona dropped out of contention after going 2-0 in Riazor against Deportivo on Saturday. Only Villareal now have a mathematical chance of preventing the Real faithful congregating at the Cibeles fountain in Madrid to celebrate victory and they need to win every single one of their remaining games (at home to Getafe and Espanyol, and away to Recreativo and Deportivo).

In fact, as Villareal's home game against Getafe will finish before Real's away tie in Pamplona (against Osasuna), the merengues could find themselves champions before they even kick a ball. They already knew before their game this Sunday that Villareal had denied them the chance of singing the alirón (a word of disputed etymology, but you could say it is the equivalent of singing "We are the Champions"). Though the Yellow Submarine had torpedoed Betis, the Madrid players nonetheless came out determined to show their mettle.

Schuster lined up Saviola from the start, allegedly because he'd been training well and had not had the chance to come on in previous games when he had spent some time warming up. More suspicious minds may conclude that Real wants to give him a bit of an outing to improve his selling price come the summer. Regardless, the diminutive Argentine showed flashes of his class in his first league game since December 1st and pounced on a rebound from the Athletic keeper to put Real ahead after 13 minutes.

If the final result looks like a comfortable win, it is fair to say that it was only possible through the acrobatics of Iker Casillas. He may claim a lack of interest in winning the Zamora trophy, but he put paid to Athletic's hopes of getting back into the game with a crucial penalty save in the first half, and two more excellent stops later on. Athletic looked deflated and Schuster brought on Robben and Higuaín part way through the second half to finish them off.

And finish them off they did. Higuaín sped down the right wing and threaded it through to Robben for a simple finish. Barely two minutes later, he got himself on the scoresheet by latching onto a throw-in and sending goalkeeper Armando the wrong way.

The omens, if you believe in omens, are good for next Sunday's game against Osasuna. Real have won in their last three visits and have not lost at El Sadar (or Reyno de Navarra, as it is now known) since February 2003. Should they win the league title there, their next opponents will make the traditional pasillo welcoming the champions onto the pitch of the Bernabéu in a game that's already sold out. The identity of their next opponents? Barcelona.

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Transfer boredom

Given the week-long gap between games at this stage of the season, press reports on Real Madrid during the greater part of the week have been concentrating on possible transfer movements during the summer. I normally don't bother reporting 90% of this stuff as it's more often than not concocted out of thin air, so I tend to wait till it's either officially announced, or the buzz is so insistent that there's a good chance it will happen. But I thought it would be at least amusing to record what is being said and then come back next September, after the transfer window closes, to see whether there was any truth in any of the stories.

The list of possible additions to the squad includes the following:

• Diego: His transfer was already hinted at after his display against Real Madrid for Werder Bremen in the Champions League earlier this season. In recent days, his father (and manager) confirmed a number of clubs, including Real, have expressed an interest.
  
• Huntelaar: As insists Chelsea and Real will fight it out for the Ajax striker.
  
• De Rossi: Mijatovic was in Rome this week to watch Roma and Manchester United in their Champions League quarter final tie and allegedly ask about the contractual situation of a number of players. De Rossi would theoretically be a replacement for Diarra, but with more technical ability.
  
• Aquilani: Mijatovic also looked at this more attack-minded Roma midfielder, although it is hard to see where he would fit in given the large number of players able to fill this position.
  
• Vucinic: The third Roma player allegedly in Real's books, although supposedly as a back-up striker should other options not pan out.
  
• Garay: Supposedly going to Barcelona at the end of the season, the Catalan club's interest has reportedly cooled following an injury that will keep him out until the end of the season. Real may therefore join the bidding, while Spurs and Liverpool also expressed an interest earlier this year.
  
• Luis Fabiano: Interest in the Sevilla striker seemed to wane after his performance at the Bernabéu last Sunday, where he was even less able to slot one in the back of the net than Higuaín.
  
• Drogba: Sport claims he would follow Mourinho to his next club, and they're convinced that Schuster won't be at the helm next season, so there you go...
  
• Quaresma: If FC Porto, at the centre of a match-fixing scandal, is relegated, some of its stars may seek clubs with Champions League potential. This is what happened when Real scooped up Cannavaro and Emerson from Juventus, although in the latter's case, it did not have much of a happy ending.
  
• Cristiano Ronaldo: His name is mentioned in connection with every major European club pretty much every week, although As did manage to trick his mother into posing with a Real Madrid shirt and say her son had always wanted to play for the club.
  
• De la Red: His agent has stated that Real will exercise their 4.5 million euro buy-back clause with Getafe in the summer, presumably with a view to selling him on for a profit elsewhere.
  
• Javi García: He has the same agent as De la Red, and the story is the same, although the club involved is Osasuna.

In terms of those leaving the club, elconfidencial claims there is a "blacklist" of players who will be put up for sale in the summer. This includes Dudek, Salgado, Metzelder, Cannavaro, Diarra, Baptista, Saviola and Soldado. I'd be surprised if both Cannavaro and Metzelder leave, as this would leave the centre of defence rather short of players, even if Garay was signed to replace one of them. Also, from a performance perspective, Cannavaro has had a solid if not brilliant season (regardless of his detractors) and Metzelder has been blighted by injury, so Schuster may give him a chance if he recovers and starts the preseason well. On the striker front, both Saviola and Soldado have been massively underused, so it's almost a given that if clubs are found to take them they will leave.

elconfidencial also claims that an additional four players will be loaned out to let them gain additional experience: Marcelo, Gago, Higuaín and Drenthe. I'm skeptical about this; I think one or at the most two may leave, but not all four.

Sport would have us believe that it is Ruud van Nistelrooy's dream to be a top scorer at each of Europe's main leagues, and thus he is eyeing a move to Italy (more specifically AC Milan) while he can still cut it at the top level. Though the report was published on April 1st, I suspect this is more of a flight of fancy than a April Fool's story (especially since the Spanish "celebrate" this in December).

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Paying the price of rotations

"We have to think about every player's physical condition in every match", said Bernd Schuster ahead of Sunday's game against newly promoted Valladolid. While not in Rafa Benítez's league when it comes to squad rotations, Schuster was as good as his word and left out Sneijder (replaced by Drenthe). Injuries to Pepe and Metzelder forced Ramos to join Cannavaro in the centre of defence, with Salgado on the right and Marcelo on the left (why not Torres?). Since the start of the season (including the Spanish Supercup), the only players still to get some time on the pitch are Soldado and reserve keepers Dudek and Codina. however, if Sneijder was in no condition to play (and he didn't come on when things turned sour), why was he on the bench? Why not Soldado, or better yet, Baptista?

Valladolid started very strong, putting the Real defence under a great deal of pressure in the first 20 minutes of the first half. Drenthe was ineffective on the left and Guti was not getting enough deliveries to feed to the front line. Diarra thankfully, was strong, despite his Ramadan-induced fasting, but he's not the type of player to link up with the forward players. Robinho was perhaps the most aggressive in the first half, with several jinking runs nearly undoing his markers. Salgado gave away two handballs in the area and Valladolid can count themselves unlucky neither of them turned into a penalty. He is really off form (I'm not the only one who thinks so), and Schuster should consider giving youngster Torres a run out.

The second half was more even, particularly when Robben came on for Drenthe on the one-hour mark. Things can only improve when he's fully match fit. However, first blood was for Valladolid, with a tremendous strike by Pedro López which Casillas, with his soon-to-be insured hands, had no chance of reaching. Casillas later claimed this was the second best goal ever scored against him.

With five minutes to go, Schuster decided to throw caution to the wind and brought Saviola on for Salgado. The little Argentine had only had a couple of touches when a through ball from Guti to van Nistelrooy beat Valladolid's offside trap. The Dutchman unselfishly laid the ball off to Saviola who merely needed a tap-in to score Real's equaliser. On the balance of play, a point was probably more than Real deserved and they'll be much happier with the outcome than Valladolid, who, like Almería, so far have shown they have what it takes to stay up this year.

In other news, the New York immigration service mistook Ramón Calderón, travelling on leisure, with a similarly-named criminal and detained him at the airport for over two hours while they checked him out. Unfortunately, telling tall stories to the press about the football club you run does not warrant a custodial sentence in the U.S., so they had to let him go.

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Sneijder shows his worth

It wasn't pretty, but it was a win. That's not a standard summary game review for last season, but a fair reflection of Saturday's outcome against Almería. The newly promoted side set out to prove that their 3-0 season opening win at Deportivo was no fluke and took the game to Real Madrid, who floundered for the first half hour or so.

Saviola, in for Van Nistelrooy who was presumably not 100% after his international duty for the Netherlands, had a goal disallowed for a clear offside before picking up a rebound off the post from a Raúl strike and neatly putting it away. In the second half, Schuster brought Drenthe in for Heinze and Higuaín in for Robinho, like-for-like substitutions which preserved the tactical line-up. Almería, however, were uncowed and rightly protested a disallowed goal soon after the restart, as Higuaín was clearly playing Uche onside.

In fact, Almería are to be congratulated for their fighting spirit, which should be rewarded with retaining their top division status at the end of the season. After Sneijder doubled Real's lead with a sublime free kick worthy of David Beckham (his fourth goal in three matches), Almería received a further blow when Crusat was sent off for bringing down Saviola as the last defender. Still they kept on coming, harassing the Real defence, making Casillas look shaky on the high balls, and finally getting their reward with a fabulous finish by Uche, after he got the better of Cannavaro. They even had a penalty appeal turned down (it looked like an accidental clash between Metzelder and Natalio, rather than a deliberate trip). This is the sort of stuff that will have Sport and El Mundo Deportivo claiming biased refereeing, while Marca and As will say it was just human error, the opposite of what either side said after Barcelona's last game. Naturally.

Higuaín made it safe a few minutes later, with Saviola in an offside position (was he or wasn't he interfering with play? You decide) and Real are now the only side with three wins out of three, although Sevilla are 2/2 with a game in hand and looking as good as last season.

The Champions League group stages kick off this week, with Real hosting Werder Bremen on Tuesday, and the fixture list is starting to look its usual congested self at this stage of the season.

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From Russia with goals

Rather than go into details about the two matches Real Madrid played in Moscow, I'll concentrate on a few of the things to take away from the performances we've seen in the preseason so far.

Results-wise, it's not been too bad (the exaggerated 3-0 scoreline against Hannover aside). All the teams faced so far are at least a couple of weeks further along in their preseason training than Real Madrid; this makes a big difference at this stage. In the case of Lokomotiv, they are actually half-way through their season (which must be worrying for them, given the 5-2 score, but then again, perhaps their attention was focused elsewhere). Also it's clear Schuster is moving all the pieces around to see how well they fit into his scheme. He clearly still has some work to do. Whether new signings will come in to supplement what's already there remains to be seen, the bleatings of the sports press notwithstanding.

• Dudek showed off his impressive reflexes, although he could've done better in the second goal against PSV, but Casillas now knows he cannot rest on his laurels. I still see him as second-choice, though.
  
• Metzelder has had a worrying lack of opportunities: he did not play against Hannover or PSV and only part of the game against Lokomotiv, where his performance was not up to par. Let's hope this is not the shape of things to come.
  
• Pepe, on the other hand, is looking settled already and shows perhaps why Real paid so much money for him. However, if Cannavaro and Metzelder don't pull their socks up, Ramos may be joining him in the centre of defence, rather than on the right wing.
  
• Twelve months on, there is still no replacement for Guti (not Gago or de la Red). Capello had similar troubles last season finding someone else with the creativity to open up defences and link up Real's midfield and forward lines.
  
• Saviola got off the mark in both games, although the first came from the penalty spot. He's also been doing his set-piece homework, connecting with Guti's inch-perfect set-up from a free kick to score Real's only goal against PSV. However, Real are clearly still missing Van Nistelrooy up front.

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The White Rabbit

'Saviola is better than Zidane' - Diario Sport, 2-Nov-2001.

'The fans want Saviola to stay' - Diario Sport, 12-Jan-2007.

'I won't betray Barcelona; I cannot go to Real Madrid. If I leave it will be for new experiences abroad' - Javier Saviola, 10-Feb-2007

'The club has treated him extremely well in his five years here, and he's had excellent contracts, but unfortunately his yield in terms of titles and trophies has been nil' - Joan Laporta, 11-Jul-2007.

'His technique is reminiscent of Michael Owen's, his instinct in front of goal is like Raúl's' - Ramon Calderón, 13-Jul-2007.

El Conejo, as he is known, will have to wait until two days before Christmas to make his return to the Nou Camp, where he will hope his reception is less hostile than what Luis Figo had to face. Barcelona supporters seem split about the move, from wishing him luck, regretful denial (sorry Linda), to outright hostility. Not all Real fans are happy, either.

He will also face some competition in the starting line-up, with Van the man, Raúl, Higuaín and Soldado (returning from his very impressive loan season at Osasuna with an extension to his contract until 2012). They say Schuster prefers to stick to the same set of players and does not rotate often, but then he's not really had to juggle three competitions on the go at the same time at either Getafe or Xerez.

Check out his Goal.com profile, for a hopefully objective summary of his career so far.

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The Twin Towers

Christoph Metzelder has known for some months that he would be joining Real Madrid in the summer. Today, he was finally officially presented as the first signing under the new Bernd Schuster régime. This marks the second (after Schuster himself) in a week of new signings, as yesterday's surprise announcement, Pepe, passed his medical and will be presented tomorrow, and Javier Saviola, who finished his contract with Barcelona on June 30th, is expected to agree terms and be presented on Friday.

Metzelder himself has been working hard to make a good first impression and demonstrated at his presentation that he has been learning Spanish in recent months. His formidable height (1.93 metres) and cool demeanour won him the title of 'Best Young Player' in the 2002 World Cup and will make him a very valuable addition to the centre of defence. He has suffered more than his fair share of injuries, missing the entire 2003-2004 season with an achilles tendon problem, and, more recently, he had a knee cartilage operation in September 2006. These injury problems have made him seem a bit of a gamble for any club to take him on, but his obvious talent, and the fact that he is a free agent, probably decided Real Madrid to take the chance. It should be noted that he has only signed on for three years, instead of the usual four or five for a player of his age (26), so this is perhaps another instance of the club hedging their bets.

The signing of two tall central defenders (Pepe is 1.88 metres tall), who are good in the air and can also play the ball intelligently supports Schuster's intention to play with defenders in more advanced positions and speed up getting the ball to the forwards. Real Madrid has also reinforced the view that Sergio Ramos is one of the top players in his position by doubling his salary and increasing his buy-out clause. With Cicinho recovered and also covering the right wing, things don't look too good for Salgado this season. The left wing is presumably Miguel Torres's to keep, with Marcelo as possible cover, although there have been plenty of rumours about the club looking to reinforce this position with young Dutch sensation Royston Drenthe.

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