A “7EGENDARY” Comeback

Posted by: Ashay K, India.

Real Madrid is a brand name. But in this team, every player is a brand name in his own right. The 06-07 season saw the team branded quite differently from the usual Los Blancos, Los Galacticos to “Capello’s Boys”. Capello symbolizes an abstract for the Madrid faithful (players, fans and management) rather than a person. Capello is determination, grit, pride, the “never say die” attitude for a madridista.

“Jonarda 33: Sevilla – Real Madrid” saw yet another chapter written into the scripted comeback that only Real Madrid with their “Capello” can orchestrate.

Rewind the clock to December 13, 2008. Juande Ramos had landed in Madrid 48 hours before and proclaimed that the back 4 of Real Madrid (S. Ramos, Cannavaro, Pepe, Heinze) – until then the leakiest defence in La Liga – could grace any top team in the world and was one of the best. Pretty strong claim, if one considers the last season, but not this one. Real Madrid played one of most defensive games in their entire career as a professional football club to stem the Barca juggernaut. And they almost succeeded. Drenthe spurned a one-on-one chance with Valdes, Casills wared off an Etoo penalty kick at the other end and the goal, when it came in the 81st minute, came from a corner (that ever reliant scrappiest source of goals). Real Madrid lost 0-2 to Barcelona at the Camp Nou and the point gap widened to 12 points, but it silenced those who were expecting a manita. A team which was going to be doubtful to make it to the Champions League next term went down fighting like lions, fighting for pride. There were flashes of Capello in that match; but not enough Capello. We declared the next day that we would fight for the league and win it. Everyone in Barcelona had a patronizing grin on their face and the so called football pundits had the disposition towards Madrid which a father has towards an errant child.

Fast forward the clock to Present Day. Real Madrid has been unbeaten on the trot since that fateful encounter with Barca. We have won 17 out of the last 18 matches. We have one of the meanest defence in the league since the turn of the new year but our play lacks the necessary eye candy element, which is still fine given that there are no extra points for attractive football There’s enough of Capello in our squad though and we’ve clawed our way back from a 12 point deficit to just 4 after being virtually written out of contention for the league; which all brings us down to the last concluded match.

Barcelona had a lucky draw against a resurgent Valencia at the Mestalla on the previous day and got 1 point out of an encounter that was destined to hand them none. This was the chance for Madrid to shorten the now 7 point gap to 4, provided they won against Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan; a venue where they hadn’t won for the past 6 years. Unlikely? Very Much. But the team, especially El Capitan had other ideas.

Juande-Dollars and Judas Chants

The Andulasian crowd greeted Real Madrid on the back of a 4-0 defeat to Barcelona with dollar bills having Juande Ramos’ mugshot on them and chants of “Judas” directed at Juande Ramos and Sergio Ramos. Ironically, it was Juande Ramos who led Sevilla from being a mediocre mid-table club to European glory before departing for his disaster of a season with Tottenham Spurs. The Andulasians seemd to echo a distinct anti-madrid feeling by whistling at the two Ramoses, though they dint seem to take any offence to Dani Alves, who had departed for exactly the same reason as the former two did, but to Barcelona.

Referee Alfonso Burull (the awarder of the infamous decisions in Madrid’s favor against Osasuna) kicked off the match in front of a 45,000 attendance and Sevilla immediately hit top gear. Sevilla had the lion’s share of possession in the opening 10 minutes. Adriano, Renato, Kanoute, Perotti, Jesus Navas dominated the midfield and kept the ball moving around the park through Romaric and Duscher. Quite predictably, Sevilla had all the initial chances. Romaric and Renato blasted in early chances which were saved by San Iker. Sevilla kept up the pressure with Madrid really struggling to string passes together. Sergio Ramos, in particular was having a very poor game (by his own high standards) and soon, Perotti wrong footed Ramos and unleashed a beautiful cross. Torres was caught napping as Renato nodded a free header into the back of the net. Sevilla were one goal up in 15 minutes and showed no chances of relenting as Kanoute sprayed an easy effort wide of the goal. Barely a minute later, Perotti broke free of the offside trap and bounded down the park. But his left-footed shot was tame and easily parried away by Casillas.

As the time wore on and the initial exuberance faded, Madrid slowly started getting into the match. Marcelo had a half hearted shot which was well wide of the goal. Higuain slowly started getting into the groove and had two back to back chances, one which Palop parried and the other which could only make the side netting at the near post. The match soon disintegrated into a midfield tussle with destroyers taking precedence. Lass was having yet another of his best games as he ran all over the park, working tirelessly to cut down openings and nip attacks in the bud. At the other end Duscher received a yellow card for a bad foul on Guti and nothing came out the ensuing free kick. The ball continued to bob around in the air as the Madrid defenders started tracking back after the non-productive free kick. All of a sudden it landed at Ramos’ feet who backheeled it to a back tracking Metzelder. Metzelder beat Navarro to the ball and accelerated down towards the end of the pitch before unleashing a dangerous, low cross into the middle of the box. All of a sudden, Raul beat Prieto to the ball and flicked it away into the far post from 3 yards out, past an onrushing Palop.


The Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan went silent just as the clock read 45 minutes and the scoreboard read 1-1. Real Madrid was back into the game. The stage was set for the next 45 minutes, which promised to be much more entertaining than the first.

“Raul” Madrid

As soon as the teams came out of the tunnel, each had shots at either end. Marcelo had a brilliant run into the box and he laid off the ball for Higuain to finish it, but the in-form striker’s 1st time shot with his left foot (and incidentally the same foot which helped Madrid win against Getafe) let him down as the ball went harmlessly wide. On the other end, Jesus Navas drilled a low, power strike to the bottom right corner which Casillas spilled initially but gathered later before Kanoute latched on to it.

Sixty-three minutes into the game, Higuain combined with Torres who sent in a tame cross into the box which took a deflection off Escude. Almost against the direction of play, Raul came in from behind Prieto and volleyed the ball into the far post at his right. Palop was absolutely clueless and so was Prieto. It was one of those touches which only Raul can manage. Suddenly Real Madrid was leading 2-1 and the Pizjuan went silent once more. Only 3 minutes later, Palop made a criminal error in spilling Higuain’s low cross. Raul, on the prowl, darted forward and guided the ball into an empty net. Its times like these which make one to never count Raul out of the game. El Siete took just 3 chances to score only his third hat-trick in La Liga, and it was more to do with the fact that Sevilla had got their tactics horribly wrong. They had labeled Raul as a “has been” and concentrated on marking Higuain out of the game. But this strong reminder from El Capitan would always serve the Andulasians to remember that one never under estimates Raul.

The game dragged on with Madrid enjoying more possession, and substitutions happening at regular intervals. Almost at the death, as the clock struck 82 minutes, Jesus Navas sent in a tempting cross and Ramos completely miscued it to allow Diego Capel to strike it home at the near post. The Pizjuan came back to life as Sevilla announced that they would not go without a fight. Madrid then closed up shop and chose to defend and hit on counters. Sevilla could not penetrate Real Madrid and though they tried their best, their attack simply lacked enough conviction. In injury time, Madrid made a slick counter attacking move which saw Huntelaar (on for Raul) and Marcelo up front with two defenders to beat. Huntelaar drew away one defender and sent in a pass to the surging Marcelo who went one-on-one with Palop. 1..2..3 fakes and still Palop dint go down; but Marcelo having had enough of the little game slot the ball past Palop beautifully for the 4th goal and final nail in the coffin for Sevilla.

Madridistas world round were celebrating the further reduction in the point deficit. Things, as they stand now, Real Madrid are 4 points behind leaders Barcelona with El Clasico coming up next week. Should Real go on to win the Clasico, the gap would close down to 1 point; a very realistic chance there on of winning the league. The way Barcelona is playing, no one expects Madrid to win against them. But in Madrid, they believe in miracles. An abundance of Capello is what drives this miracle team. At Madrid they have a right to dream…

Of Pandemonium,Pain,Panenka and Pipita

Posted by Shibarjun Ghosh, India




Some moments are special. Special enough to write about them even if it is 4 in the morning and you have work to attend to early next day. Jornada 32: Real Madrid Vs Getafe was surely one such match. “Game of Three Thirds” as Terry Gibson stated. It certainly was one... Like Marc Anthony’s rendition in the motion picture “The Mask of Zorro” …



”heroes rise, heroes fall and they rise again with it all…”



The game tonight followed a somewhat similar note.Just as an autobiographical synopsis of any great legend.


1.The Rise(min 0 to min 9)-The first of the three thirds.The shortest of the three. Spanned for little more than 9 minutes. Real Madrid pushed along the wings through Higuain and van der Vaart. The crowd was on a high and the audience experienced some crisp passing, attaking football. Surging runs, floating crosses and tiki taka at its best The party came to a grinding halt when old cantera boys Granero and Soldado combined to silence the bernabeu crowd. Against the run of play Granero collected a pass on the right wing and crossed it to Soldado who suddenly found himself in free space enough to build a parking lot, made no mistake and headed it past a hapless Iker Casillas. Certainly making amends for the miss he has had barely 6 minutes ago and making a statement to the sporting director for a year that he wasted in oblivion.



2.The Fall(min10 to min84)- Ceratinly not as beautiful as the American “Fall” if u are a madrisimo. The 74mins were long. The only silver lining was the Higuain’s goal in the injury time of the first half. The attacking front seemed to have been cut off from the rest of the squad. There was very little activity around Getafe’s goal. An out of touch Huntelaar, an out of position van der Vaart, a confused Guti and an invisible Raul seemed late for the prom night. Lass’s presence was deeply felt as Guti and Gago failed to provide a productive midfield pairing. The modest Getafe was taking the game to their more illustrious neighbours. Playing matadors in the bernabeu is not something that many clubs can afford to do ,but Getafe surely had come to spoil the party. Attacking along the flanks, they nipped any attack that came their way in the bud. Marcelo and Cannavaro seemed wanting against the darting runs of Granero and Gavilan .



Then came the Arjen Robben cameo,who by Juande Ramos’s own admission “has had a problem or two when he plays back to back matches”. 17 minutes, four long “Forrest Gump” runs later the “man of glass” was out. Canna followed shortly after and in came Drenthe and Javi Garcia and a slew of tactical blunders. Gago as centre half and Drenthe on the wings seemed to do precious little in their positions. Uche and Albin then did what seemed at the moment to be hammering in the final nail in the coffin of real madrid’s title ambitions. On a wild run on a counter attack Uche crossed on to Casquero whose header found Albin ,and the hit man from Uruguy did what he had already done twice in the season i.e fire the ball past Iker Casillas . Victor Munoz’s super sub had thrown the spanner to real madrid’s title ambitions and there was silence in the crowd and the only sound was that of crashing dreams. That was min 84.



“Picture abhi baki hain mere dost…(the film has not ended yet my friend…)” as the Bollywood thespians like to put it.





3.The Rise Again (min 85 to min 93)- He has attitude problem, he is any coaches’s nightmare, he is the bad boy of the media, he is past his prime, he is the prodigal son of the Bernabeu, he throws tantrums, make fiery comments and he score stunners from freekick when his team needs it the most…He is JOSE MARIA GUTI.



Min 86- Guti curled the ball from the edge of the box into the top left corner of Stojkovic’s goal. Two minutes is all it took to bring Madrid into the game. The silence of dejection suddenly changed to roars of jubiliation. “Stuff of genius”, “sheer brilliance”, “scintillating” .. the commentators can go on…but for us Madrisimos its was an important equalizer from one of our favourite sons and there was little time to waste on platitudes at this juncture of the game (and the league).Compliments can wait...we have a league to win.



Min 88- Pepe pushed Casquero in the box and then mistook him for the ball which made Pepe see red.(pun intended).



Min 89-Casquero took the kick himself with one eye on the morning newspaper headlines reading out his name in bold letters applauding him as Getafe’s hero who made a fool of the world’s best goalkeeper to give his team a most unlikely victory. The other eye on the ball and the goal seemed not enough. He took a penalty kick which would certainly put him on the tabloids but most probably in the “jokes” section. A weak spot kick which even a ten year old could stop was certainly not good enough to test San Iker.



Still score was 2-2. Time was ticking on.



Min (90+3)- Breaking in through the crowd Gonzalo Higuain shoots and it’s a GOOOAL. A thunderous left footer from the edge of the box went roaring into the top left corner of the Getafe goal. Jubilation turned to delirium and it blew the lid of the Bernabeu .

Real Madrid 3-2 Getafe.

Title chase continues

GAME ON.



Hala Madrid.

Real Madrid Vs Liverpool (post match review)

Posted by Paulo Martin,Spain

BACK TO THE CRUEL REALITY

Real Madrid returned to cruel reality. Europe rejects us.We are on the verge of yet another early elimination from the champions league, the teams favorite competition, a team that came out of the Liverpool clash hurt and wounded mentally. The optimistic signs from our last few matches vanished in a heartbeat. Real Madrid didn't play well, and it didn't have its recent epic heroic attitude either. We were overcome by our adversary that was correct and played by the book: they were well positioned, they played with serenity and waited for there moment. They had a plan. Real Madrid didn't.

 

The insulting superiority of Xabi Alonso & Mascherano in the midfield was decisive. Each one in his element, they played with authority, the authority that Gago and Lass lacked. Liverpool's advantage in that department was obvious, but Juande Ramos failed to see it. After half time he changed Marcelo for Guti and he never looked to the bench again. The team needed something else, an intrepid moment, an epic heroic moment, anything that would change the dynamic of the match. But nothing. Real Madrid continued the same, which was in mediocrity, doing nothing.

 

Nobody after the match felt that they had seen a great brilliant Liverpool, in fact at times it felt like Liverpool were only playing at 60% of there capacity. They done what they set out to do, without any brilliance or showing off, with hard work and the firm conviction that they would get a result, the conviction that Real Madrid lacked. It was a professional job, without Gerrard in the team and with a defisient Torres who was clearly not pysically fit to keep playing. All those circumstances add more motives to be worried for Real Madrid. The loss was poor, the play was dishearting. The possibility of yet another early elimination in 1/8 looks close. It look slike we are only capable of competing at a domestic level and nothing more.

 

A CLASSIC

The Bernabeu looked fantastic with a full house, a typical european night game. Two classic teams that faced each other for the first time in Madrid. All the ingredients were there for an intense european classic. The reality however was totally different. Liverpool closed down the match and cooled the game off, the Bernabeu seemed to be mesmerized by this and slowly feel into the same trap as the team did and wasnt the Bernabeu that the team and everyone else expected. The fans were almost silent all match and the atmosphere of yesteryears was sorely missed. They seemed locked in melacholy and quickly realised that the team had no real chance. The defensive work by Liverpool was very efficient. Nobody comitted any errors, they were very comfortable, so comfortable that Reina seemed to have a very easy night. The only real threat for him all night was a long range shot by Robben. That was pretty much all of Real Madrid`s offensive display yesterday night. The team nearly entered Liverpool`s box. But thats very hard to do when you dont have a player to feed balls to the strikers. The only thing left was the epic herioic victory. Sometimes there isnt anything you can do except try for the epic heroic win. But that didnt happen either. The team was riggid  and stuck and it needed something to break that state. But we didnt find anything to do that. We were a bland team from the get go.

 

It was surprising to see Juande Ramos`s defensive side. Especially in a match which was the most important of all since his arrival. A match that could have made of broke his career at the club. If Real Madrid is finally knocked out of europe in the 1/8 finals then he`ll have no chance of staying on as manager next year. He kept Heinze on despite the objections of the fans, he persisted with the Lass and Gago tandem in the midfield when they didnt offer any rigor defensively nor offensively. Its one or the other. Neither of them offer what the team needs in the midfield and least of all in europe. Just like the fans the manager also was infected by a certain air of melancholy.

 

The match was ran by Xabi Alonso and Mascherano. One beacuse he plays like all great center midfielders and dominates all aspects of hid craft. The other is like a human vacum that sucks up all the lost balls and wins all the challenges. They left no doubt over there superiority and authority in the match. Xabi Alonso played like someone who is clearly at the top of his game and in the prime of his career. He consegrated his epic game with a magnificent 55 yard shot that came very close to surprising Casillas. The keeper had to pull off a wonder save to what would have been the goal of the season in the champions league. Only Casillas and Pepe were there usual selves. One making epic saves and the other putting out fires all over the back line and keeping a weak Torres in his pocket all game. Both areas seemed vetoed by the defenders and Raul and Higuain passed almost testimonially in the game. Robben was below par and only offered a few sparks of greatness but he never shwed real conviction in what he was doing.

 

INFURIATING

The fans were infuriated int he second half. And they ended up being more infuriated when Liverpool scored. Heinze commited an unnesiseray foul near the edge of the box.
Benayoun, who was alone and has never been a good headerer of the ball or good in the air anticipated himself and scored the only goal of the night. The markings in the corner were not clear and Higuain and Gago were left confused and not marking anyone. A big error for two of the clubs young stars. There was almost 10 minutes left.The English fans erupted in estacy after tha goal. The Fondo Sur where the Ultra Sur are acomodated started misbehaving as always and had various incidents with the clubs security and with one another fighting between each other. The Ultra Sur who the ex president Calderon defended on many ocassions and still inexplicably allowed to enter the club and are still reciving preferential treatment by Boluda. The police had to intervine and more fights broke out but luckly it didnt not escelate more and from then on nobody payed much more attention to the game. There was nothing else to see or tell. Real Madrid had once again sunk in europe.

Goals galore on a SIXY night

Posted by Shibarjun Ghosh, India

 

 

Quite a hectic day it was shuttling between two rooms. Real Madrid vs Betis on my PC and on the other room the Barcelona derby being shown on  the TV. Story of two halves I should say…the first one being a typical exhibition of Real Madrid's attacking flair football in which six goals were scored but in the other half the happenings at the Camp Nou took precedence. Former Barca discard Ivan de la Pena scored twice against 10 men Barca to send the 80,000 strong Bernabeu faithfuls into ruptures and silencing their more illustrious cross town rivals. Tables were starting to turn and memories from the past were coming to haunt them when two years earlier Raul Tamudo scored very late in the Catalunian derby to spoil Barca's chances of catching up with Real when the latter drew 2-2 at the La Romereda against the now relegated Zaragoza as the Capello led Real Madrid turned around the league on its head and completed the most incredible comebacks in the history of La Liga.

 

A lead of 12 points have been cut to 7 in a space of two weeks as Real Madrid surge forward in their quest for their 32^nd la liga title.There is no denying the fact that Madrid has been in their hottest streaks ever in their recent history,winning 10 games out of the 11 played under the new manager Junade Ramos.

The floodgates opened at the 7^th min when Argentinian hitman Higuain danced his way around Betis defense to put the ball in the back of the net. Huntelaar  followed suit with two goals of his own, although both were from rebounds .. but it was a Klass act to say the least.

 

Ricardo Oliviera did something which he could not do last year with Zaragoza…ie beat San Iker at the Bernabeu. Pulling back one for the Balompies didn't help their cause much because 35 mins into the clock started The Raul Gonzalez Show. Two goals in the space of 7 mins for El Siete brought the Bernabeu to their feet and Paco Chaparro at his wits end. The first one being a scorcher for which Ricardo had no answer and the second one being his typical trademark which had Raul Gonzalez written all over it. Collecting a pass from Gago, El Capitan showed immense cool that would even put a refrigerator to shame and lobbed the ball safely home much to the dismay of Ricardo and the entire Betis backline.

 

Sergio Ramos was not to be left behind. After assisting hunter for his second , this time it was his own turn to find a mention on the score sheet. A flying header from a Heinze free kick did it for him .It wasn't even half time and Real Betis had been hit for a six .

 

The second half had no more of the free scoring flair run that had resulted in six goals in the first half.Guti,Snjeider and Robben all got minutes under their belt ahead of the Liverpool match as Juande Ramos decided to consolidate the defence. But by then news had started filtering in that de la Pena had struck against 10 man Barca. Madrisimos on Orkut chat room forums went beserk .Just as when we thought it cant get better …the improbable happened again…de la Pena scored again. YES…lightning did strike twice. The Bernabeu blew its lid. It was a double treat for all of us. The 80,000 Madrisimos  at the Bernabeu and a million more all across the world. Delirium turned to nervousness when Yayah Toure leveled one back for the Balugranas . but Sergio Sanchez and co held the backline very well and saw Espanyol through the rest of the match.

 

The once untouchables Barcelona are just 7 points ahead with the El Classico still to be played at the Bernabeu….but for now its not about  Barcelona…….Bring on Liverpool.