Real Madrid gets the job done and should move on in the Champions League

A great game and Real Madrid pulled off a good victory beating the reigning Italian Champions - Juventus 2-1 at home at the Santiago Bernabeu.

This victory virtually assures Madrid to go through to the quarter finals stage of the Champions League heading their Group.

The match started in a frenzy and in the 4th minute, Di Maria dribbled the ball from the right and came to the top Juve's area and passed the ball inside through to Ronaldo. Cristiano very skillfully, side stepped the charging Buffon ( Juventus's goalkeeper ) and put the ball into the back of the net - even though the angle was very acute. The goal was well constructed and elegantly finished.

The score was 1-0.

The goal galvanised the Italians. Juve started dominating possession of the ball and the midfield. Juventus had so much of the possession that sometimes, there were atleast two or three Italians around the ball with Real Madrid players nowhere to be seen.

It has to be said that Pirlo, Vidal and Martin Caceres were in total command of the game. They did not allow Real Madrid to build up any move and on the contrary, were quick to put their forwards on the counter attack.

With so much pressure being built up, it was inevitable that during this period of play was when Juventus scored. A floating ball found a Juve forward who crossed the ball to the far post. The ball beat the Madrid defenders in the air and the Juve player headed the ball towards the Madrid goal. Casillas had to make a diving save but in doing so, the ball fell in front of the goal line and Llorente tapped the ball into the back of the net - giving Casillas no chance to make a save.

It was a defensive lapse - first Marcelo was out place and could not prevent the ball from being crossed and secondly Arbeloa was not guarding the far post. These fundamental defensive problems have been a constant problem for Madrid this season so far.

The scores were level 1-1.

The match was fast paced and it was end to end football. Very exciting to watch. Around the 35th minute a high ball into the Juventus area saw Chiellini grappling Sergio Ramos around the neck and bringing him down in the penalty area. The linesman very bravely and correctly signaled the penalty to Madrid. Cristiano converted beating Buffon going the correct way - but the kick went into the top left hand corner of the net. Buffon had no chance.

In the process, Chiellini received a yellow card for bringing Sergio Ramos down in a wrestling hold.

The score at half time was 2-1 in Madrid's favour.

The second half started with Madrid in the driving seat. Shortly after the start, Ronaldo picked up a through ball and was going towards the goal when Chiellini elbowed him in the mouth and sent him falling to the ground. This brought out the red card and Chiellini was sent off.

With the sending off, the stuffing was knocked out of Juventus. With 10 men Juve could not compete - their players were exhausted. When Pirlo was substituted, Madrid roamed the pitch freely but could not score even though they had two great goal scoring chances.

The first chance came when Di Maria chipped the ball to Arbeloa who had come into the box behind the Juve defence and made a great pass across Buffon's goal line. However Benzema kicked the ball over the crossbar - missing an open goal - a "sitter" as some would say. The Madrid supporters did not like Benzema missing such an easy chance and voiced their feelings.

The second chance came when Khedira found himself inside the Juve area with only Buffon to beat. He tried chipping the ball over Buffon's head but the experienced Buffon was not to be fooled.

Benzema was substituted by Gareth Bale - who was only given about 20 minutes by Ancelotti. He made a few runs but nothing special.

Morata and Isco were brought in for Di Maria and Iyarramendi. With what little time they had, they played well.

Juventus continued to hold through the valiant efforts of Vidal and Martin Caceres. With only 10 men, they created two clear chances of goal but then with fatigue and being overwhelmed by the Madrid numerical superiority, they could not convert.

The match ended 2-1.

Two incidents stood out during the match which are worth noting. It tells the story of what Real Madrid stands for. The first came when Fernando Llorente was being substituted. You will remember Llorente used to play for Atletico Bilbao and this was his first match in Spain after his move abroad. The Madrid fans gave him a standing ovation for the hard work he put in and the goal that he scored. The second standing ovation was reserved for Pirlo. When Pirlo was walking off the field after being substituted, the Madrid fans clapped and acknowledged what a great footballer he is and has been all these years. Yes Madrid fans acknowledged the class of this great footballer.

Hopefully this victory will boost the team morale for Saturday's CLASSICO.

If Madrid wins on Saturday, they will be equal on points with Barcelona.

Something to look forward to.

HALA MADRID.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Convincing Real Madrid's 2-0 victory over Malaga

After many weeks watching Real Madrid struggle, today we saw a much better display from Madrid.

Real Madrid had the lion's share of the ball possession and created opportunities at will. The only flaw was they ( read Ronaldo ) could not convert.

The man who stood between Madrid and many goals was the Malaga Goalkeeper - Willy.

Today was not of one Cristiano's better days. He missed so many opportunities that when he took the penalty, I thought, that going by the flow of play, he would not convert. But luckily he did.

Madrid played flowing football and the standouts were Marcelo, Di Maria and Morata. Even Khedira played well. The flowing attacks produced wonderful play but the finishing touch kept eluding Madrid.

The first half ended goalless. 

Almost at the beginning of the second half, Di Maria's cross found the back of the net as the Malaga Goalkeeper was distracted / blindsided by Cristiano's diving attempt to get a touch on the ball.

The game flowed at a frantic pace with Madrid launching one attack after another without much luck. Isco, Morata and Di Maria were substituted and we saw Modric, Bale and Jese enter the field of play.

Each played their own part and late in the second half, Bale was brought down inside the penalty area and Ronaldo converted.

I think the side fielded by Ancelotti was one of the better and stronger sides fielded by Madrid this season and it will great to see them play and gain confidence with one another.

This week with the European Championship match and the Classico coming up, Madrid needs to stay focused and stay strong.

Hope this victory over Malaga will provide the necessary boost they need.

 

 

 

 

Oooof finally Real Madrid managed a win over weak Copenhagen

The Madrid team did not start with Sergio Ramos, Isco and Arbeloa but instead selected Marcelo, Carvajal and Varane. These were good moves as Madrid protected its left flank and Marcelo's speed and skills helped mount attacks from the left wing.

Carvajal played a more attacking game down the right hand side but he also seems incapable of crossing or centering balls to the forwards waiting in the area. This has become a major concern this year.

In the first half, Madrid attacked frequently but most of the moves fizzled out due to lack of ideas. The Madrid forwards were at one time lining up to take shots at the Copenhagen goal but the lack of accuracy was quite pathetic to watch.

As usual Benzema was not playing well but later in the match, he made a couple of good passes that brought back some of the Madrid fans to his side.

Late into the first half, Marcelo's measured, floating cross from the left completely fooled the Copenhagen goalkeeper and Ronaldo made no mistake in heading in his first goal. The cross was a beauty and all credit to Cristiano Ronaldo to head the ball down onto the grass and then bounced it in.

Madrid went into the interval with a goal advantage.

The second half began in the same manner as in the first half. Madrid lacked finishing skills and then after the first 10 minutes, the game changed. Madrid it seemed woke up and started playing some attacking and attractive football.

The second goal started with back heel from Benzema to Di Maria inside the area and Di Maria floated the ball to the near post. The beauty of this goal was that Ronaldo who was behind the defender, moved out in front of the defender and headed the ball home. The move to go in front and meet the ball and thereby taking the defender out the equation was really great thinking.

Madrid made two substitutions - bringing on Isco for Khedira and a little later Morata for Modric. The substitutions were applauded by the fans because firstly Khedira had not played particulary well and secondly Isco and Morata are fast becoming the Bernabeu favourites.

The third goal was a solo run by Di Maria at the Copenhagen goal and he curled the ball into the far left hand side giving the goalkeeper absolutely no chance at all. It was a great goal to see - specially when you can see the ball turning and beating the goalkeeper - a treat for the eyes.

Madrid made their third substitution for the night bringing on Jesse for Benzema.

The fourth goal came from the right hand side when Morata managed to "rob" the ball from the Copenhagen defender and pass the ball to Di Maria who made no mistake in putting the ball into the back of the net.

The match ended Real Madrid 4-0.

Although the fans were happy to go home with a victory, the Madrid defence let the Copenhagen forwards too much space and time with ball in their area. The Copenhagen team created quite a few dangerous chances. The first was in the first half when Luka Modric had to kick the ball away from Madrid's goal line. And in the second half, a Copenhagen forward found himself solo in front of the Madrid goal and thank Saint Iker for bringing off a brilliant save. That save was followed by a corner when Iker again had to pull off a left handed save. These were three clear chances of goal that Copenhagen missed.

Ancelotti should be careful of corners because everytime Copenhagen had a corner, the Madrid defence was caught out. This is a very serious weakness in the Madrid defence. The finishing skills have to be honed and finally the accuracy of passing needs improvement.

Anyway it looks like Real Madrid will sail into the next round with this victory.

So lets concentrate on the Liga.

 

 

 

 

  

 

Shameful display by Real Madrid in front of 80000 fans

Shame!! Disgraceful!! Shocking!!

Is this the result of Ancelotti being brought to the Bernabeu?

Is this the result of Zidane's influence on the team as the Assistant Coach?

Is the result of buying super stars?

I don't mind Real Madrid being beaten by a good and better team. But for Heaven's Sake - do not go down in this pathetic manner. It was the worst display of ineptitude I have seen from Real Madrid. And I can only blame Carlo Ancelotti and Florentino Perez.

One does not have to be "professional" football coach to tell you, and tell you correctly, that Real Madrid today is carrying Benzema , Arbeloa and Khedira. Without these three millstones around the Team's neck, I am sure Real Madrid will be a better team.

Forget analyzing the game.

We should discuss what is fundamentally wrong about the Team.

1. How many scoring chances were created in the first half?

2. How many passes were incomplete?

3. How many shots were taken at Atletic's goal?

4. How many times did Arbeloa pass the ball BACK to Pepe or Khedira?

5. How many times did Arbeloa cross the ball to his forwards?

6. How many times did Ronaldo enter Atletic's area?

The problems go on and on.

It was terrifying to see Atletico get the ball and run at the heart of the Madrid defence. The defence was like a house of cards - frail, weak and vulnerable. Everytime an attack was on, we felt the panic and terror in the defence.

Madrid's midfield was non existant today. Di Maria was awful. I was sorely missing Ozil weren't you Mr. Acelotti?

The only saving Grace was Diego Lopez. He was Madrid's savior yet again.

I really don't know where Madrid goes from here.

The Management needs to go back to the drawing board and start from the basics.

My simple advice is. You DO NOT need 11 men on the field. You need 11 professional, confident, skillful footballers who play in specialized positions and play as a team. 

 

 

Real Madrid win at home

Real Madrid as usual started off very slowly. In fact during the first few minutes of the match, Getafe was on the attack and in one of the first attacks on Madrid's goal, Getafe's Angel Lafita scored a lucky goal. The goal was deflected off a Madrid defender and Diego Lopez had no chance.

Madrid created some good moves with Di Maria, Carvajal, and Isco combining nicely. But unfortunately Benzema was again very disappointing. He missed a point blank chance from a cross from Carvajal. It is incredible how many opportunities the French International has been given to prove himself. In fact his poor display today drew jeers from the Madrid fans. Nacho give a good account of himself and he cut off a sure goal.

Madrid scored twice in the first half. The first was from a free kick and as Ronaldo's tap in was bouncing in front of the Getafe goal. All Pepe had to do was to tap the ball in.

The second goal came again from a free kick. Ronaldo's free kick hit Michel on the hand and a penalty was awarded to Madrid. And Ronaldo stepped up and converted the penalty without any difficulty.

Now Ronaldo has equaled and surpassed Hugo Sanchez's record of 208 goals but Ronaldo has played fewer games. All Madrid fans miss Hugo's celebratory back flips.

The Getafe forwards were dangerous and had a couple of chances.

But that was as far as they got.

The second half was far better for Madrid. They had the lion's share of possession and attacked the Getafe goal at will. But the main problem was Benzema. He could not finish. He could not put away sitters. An Albeloa cross found Benzema with an open goal but he headed it over the bar. Another pass he headed it past the goal post. It was embarrassing to see Benzema play.

Albeloa tried to get the Madrid crowd behind Benzema and applaud his efforts.

The third Madrid goal was brilliantly executed between Ronaldo and that GALACTICO Isco. A quickly taken free kick sent Isco on his way and he curled the ball in beating Moya - Getafe goalkeeper very easily.

The fourth goal came right at the end. A pass from Khedira which arrived a little late for Ronaldo, had Ronaldo twist and back heel the ball into the net. It was a clever and quick piece of thinking by Ronaldo and the goal looked spectacular.

In summary. Ancelotti it is very clear you have to find alternatives for Benzema, Khedira and Albeloa.  I have said this numerous times but now you have to take action. Secondly, Madrid is very vulnerable in the first half hour or until Ronaldo settles into a rhythm.  The defence has to withstand pressure during this period.

Finally I have a word of advice for Khedira. Why do you tend to pass the ball back to Pepe or Diego? This breaks the flow of play and gives the opposition time to regroup. I know by getting rid of the ball you think you are doing a great job, but in actual fact you are hurting Madrid's chances. I sincerely wish you see the video of your passing and see the damage that is being done.

 

 

 

 

 

Real Madrid score 6 a good morale booster.

Forget about the quality of Galatasaray. Its all about confidence in themselves, confidence in their much hyped forward line, confidence to do well, confidence that they are destined to be CHAMPIONS.

The first 35 minutes of the match was dominated by Galatasaray and an injury to Casillas which forced Ancelotti to bring on Diego Lopez. We are not really sure what happened, but they bandaged up Casillas around the midrift pretty good.

Galatasaray had most of the play and had two clear chances of goal. One save which Diego pulled off - diving fully extended to his left was a treat to watch. He used his full height to save what was a sure goal. The Turks could have had atleast two goals but let them slip away.

Real Madrid in a counter attack lobbed the ball from their own half, to that little genius - ISCO, who made no mistake and slipped the ball in at the corner of the goal giving the Turkish goalkeeper absolutely no chance.

Having gone down a goal, the Turks run of bad luck continued and Drogba, their Superstar, went down from what appeared to be a relatively innocent challenge. Anyway he too made his way down the tunnel to dressing room. His contribution for the evening done.

The second half began well for Real Madrid and they were made to look good by the numerous errors made by the Turks. Errors in passing, errors in communication and errors in judgement. The second goal - a defensive error that let Benzema in and then the flood gates opened and Madrid put another 4 goals away. Leaving the Turks reeling, wondering what had happened. The Turks scored a consolation goal at the end.

It was night which saw Ronaldo getting frustrated, shooting and missing opportunities and then ending the evening scoring a hat trick!! How lady luck changed his fortune within 30 minutes. His third goal when he latched on to a through ball from Bale, dribbled past three defenders to beat the keeper was a treat to watch.

The little genius - my GALACTICO - Isco was in my opinion the standout player for Madrid. He defended, played midfield, was up in attack, he created chances and scored a beauty. What more can you ask from a player?

Bale came on with about 30 minutes left in the match. His free kick led to a Ronaldo goal and then he slipped in a nice through pass which Ronaldo put away very neatly.

Now it seems that Ronaldo will have to start feeding Bale some passes to repay the generous service that he has been receiving from Gareth!!!

Di Maria was great as usual but his "bad" right foot caused him to miss out on goal scoring chances.    

Now that the first Champions League match is out of the way, can you Mr. Carlo Ancelotti, get back to Madrid as soon as possible and start winning matches in the Liga.

 

 

 

 

 

Boring Madrid scavenge 3 points

It was a pathetic display of ineptitude.
Real Madrid does not need Bale, they need a whole new team!!
What is the forward line doing? It cannot get together a couple of passes and get inside the Granada defence? If they cannot breakdown the Granada defence, what will they do against the better teams like Barcelona and Athletico Madrid?
Ancelotti you have a lot to think about. Ronaldo is clearly out of form, Benzema should be benched even if he scored the only goal. The only two players who tried today was Di Maria and Ozil. The rest spent the 90 minutes putting us to sleep.
Albeloa does not have the ability to cross the ball into the penalty area. The number of times he back passed the ball to Pepe or another team mate was incredible. The flow of the game is savagely cut and all comes a halt. In this day and age, if a left back cannot cross the ball and feed the forwards, he has no right to be in the team. Look at Marcelo, he crosses are beautiful - if the forwards mess it up - it is not his fault.
I am really frustrated seeing this poor poor quality of football.
Are the stories of the imminent arrival of Gareth Bale so disturbing to the Madrid players?
What is the reason?
They were up against Granada for God's Sake not Bayern Munich or Dortmund.
God help us.

 

Real Madrid 2013 / 2014 - the need for quality

Whilst Sr. Perez is busy building his team for the next season, I would like to put forward the following points for consideration:-
1. The team needs another first class striker to work with Ronaldo.
2. Karim Benzema is not really of that calibre to be a Madrid forward. May be the time has come for his
    departure.
3. What was the reason for getting rid of Di Maria? He was one of those youngsters who gave it his all and
    was back defending and going forward as an attacking mid fielder.
4. We have to review Alonso's role in the team. He is not fulfilling his role as a play maker or the distributor
    of the ball. If you do not have any ideas - think of Kaka filling this role.
5. Abeloa's role should be reviewed. He is not effective. He is weak, does not have pace and definitely out
   of sorts when up against quality attackers. Further he is prone to get yellow cards.
6. I think, although this hurts me to say so, Casillas should be replaced by Diego.
Sr. Perez please get one or two quality players otherwise you are not going to win any silverware this year. And remember Barcelona is bolstering its forward line by incorporating Neymar.