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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.
Monday, 28 April 2008
Just the two of us
Monday, 31 March 2008
Back on top
Although much is being made of Higuaín scoring at last, he only managed to put away one of at least three clear-cut chances, and his team-mates seemed to be losing confidence in him. Another much-mentioned anecdote is Raúl scoring his 290th goal for the club, putting him neck-and-neck with 70s and 80s legend Santillana and second only to the great Di Stefano (307). Howerver, the keys to yesterday's triumph lie in the great display from the back four (especially Cannavaro, who's come in for a lot of criticism in recent days) and the return of creativity in midfield from the likes of Guti and (yes, it's true) Sneijder.
Real had to start without Pepe through injury, but they barely missed him, and his replacement, Gabriel Heinze, not only ably supported Cannavaro in the rear, but also opened the scoring for Real with a header off a Sneijder free kick. The Dutchman added a second assist when he found Raúl in the area. The captain controlled the ball, jinked around two defenders and blasted it far from the hands of Sevilla keeper Palop. This came barely two minutes after Kanouté, in a rare attack for Sevilla in the first half, hit a beautiful volley to put the scores level.
On past performances, a one-goal lead wasn't going to be enough, even if it didn't look like it was going to be Sevilla's night. Half-way through the second half Sneijder found Guti, who played it back Higuaín, who finally managed to put the ball, and the game, away.
Real's 6-point lead over Villareal means the boys from the "Yellow Submarine" will need to accumulate at least 7 points more than the men in white, given the head-to-head results between both teams.
Monday, 28 January 2008
Breaking away
Real Madrid showed a refreshing lack of complacency and bags of self belief to beat Villareal and extend their lead at the top of the standings to 9 points. Contrast this with their closest rivals, Barcelona, who failed to hold onto their one-goal lead in Bilbao and ended up dropping two points. All the participants agree that the championship is not yet over (Real had an even bigger lead over Barcelona in 2004 and ended up throwing the league title away), but the way the players pick themselves up when things don't go their way is very encouraging.
Guti had a day to remember, providing added verticality to an already aggressive attack; however Robinho was the true star of the team with his clinical finishing on two occasions. Villareal for their part never flagged, giving the encounter added flavour and excitement, and they managed to pull the scoreline back twice, setting up a frantic last quarter of an hour.
Gago has benefited from Diarra's absence in the African Nations Cup and picked up his game impressively in recent weeks. Aside from his defensive efforts, which were many, he was also responsible for the assist to Sneijder which ended up in Real's winner, barely a minute after Villareal's second. The Dutchman had only just come on for Baptista, and the goal must have done his confidence no end of good, given the lacklustre string of performances in the past few months, following a very bright start to the season.
Simon Baskett, over at Reuters, argues that Real's successes this season are largely due to the 'old guard' and that the new signings have not yet made a significant contribution.
Villareal demonstrated that the 5-0 result earlier in the season was a mirage and they are worthy occupants of the 3rd spot in the league, but the 15 points separating them from the leaders are almost unprecedented at this stage of the season.
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
This is no time for euphoria
Coming back from a week's holiday to find that your team is the best thing since sliced bread (which, let's face it, was never that great an invention) always brings out the cynical side in my nature. Granted, winning 5-0 away from home doesn't happen every week (last time was over 11 years ago, on 24th January 1996 against Athletic Bilbao), and Villareal had not lost in 18 games.
Perhaps Bernd Schuster has it right, calling for an attitude balanced between joy and caution: "I'm not worried about the feeling of euphoria because there's a 10-day gap until the next game and in that time nobody will remember what happened here. That's why we're going to enjoy the result, which is a thing that happens only rarely. What I liked the most was the team's attitude; they're all working together at the highest level. We can undoubtedly improve on certain things because not everything was that great." Real Madrid looked good, balanced and playing more exciting football than under Capello, but let's not forget the 120 million euros that have been spent building this squad and all the jogo bonito in the world will not save Schuster from the chop if the trophies don't come his way.
There are some positives to take away, of course. Guti and Sneijder seem to be complementing each other in midfield better than could be expected (though of course it's still early days and Guti has a propensity for 'disappearing' from a number of games every season). Phil Ball argues that Drenthe and Sneijder have given the side the balance they sorely needed and Diarra is doing all the dirty work behind Guti and the little Dutchman. Heinze debuted at left back, coming in for Raúl(!), and freeing up Drenthe to roam further up the pitch, where he prefers to play. Cannavaro and Metzelder were solid in the centre of defence all evening, especially in the first half when Villareal had most of the possession and the attacking play. Ramos continues to impress on the right wing and his tribute to the late, lamented Antonio Puerta, who collapsed during Sevilla's opening game of the season, suffered a number of cardiac arrests and finally passed away a few days later, was spoiled by an officious yellow card from the otherwise fine refereeing of Medina Cantalejo. In a rare display of humanity, the Spanish Federation annulled the yellow card as they considered the tribute to be "sincere" and made in "exceptional circumstances".
However, some of the other news of the past week have not been so positive. Schuster took six canteranos with him to Austria for preseason training: Granero, Balboa, De la Red, Adrián, Codina and Bueno. None have any room in the current squad, given the influx of players, and in the hours before the closing of the transfer window on August 31st, De la Red and Granero moved to Getafe (transfer and loan, respectively) and Adrián was loaned to Celta for a year. Soldado does not seem to feature highly on Schuster striker list and may opt for a move at Christmas. Continue reading this article »
Monday, 29 January 2007
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.
