Real Madrid 2-0 Real Zaragoza

A very tough game for real madrid as real zaragoza really made life difficult for the real madrid back line which did not have the services of Pepe to guard them and lead the defense with example. In the whole match real madrid were able to produce very few plays which started from the back efficiently without Pepe. I actually do not know what real zaragoza were doing so well that they made things very tough for real madrid and in the end real madrid had to grind out the 2-0 home win thanks to the majesty of Robinho, who made one and scored one with all his trickery and innovation. There was very little happening in the midfield for real madrid in the first half but credit to schuster for motivating the players to the extent that they came out in the second half with all guns blazing.

Bernd Schuster, a tactical genius
(Source Realmadrid.com)

Real Madrid decked in white as usual were slow to start of with an early injury to heinze, which did not allow real madrid to go forward freely. Eventually, he was replaced with Miguel Torres in the 18nth minute. Guti came on in the second half after it seemed real madrid were unable to build up play in the 3rd quarter of the pitch and he completely changed the game with his precision passing and looked completely comfortable playing in the midfield with Diarra playing behind him. All in all, real madrid didn’t play well but still got the win. It was a kind of a match where real zaragoza could have scored 3 or 4 goals but thanks to Casillas, real madrid got away with it but in the second half it could have been 4 or 5-0 to real madrid as well with baptista and raul both missing sitters.

Now its time for my favourite section, Player Ratings which go like this:

Casillas 10 : Yeah 10, to many it may seem like a amateur rating someone but seriously, any keeper, any keeper besides Casillas and real madrid would have easily lost the game by 2 to 4 goals. His agility is just abnormal, he makes difficult saves look so easy, I am just glad Casillas is a real madrid player. He saved one on ones, powerful shots, on target free kick in the 90nth minute, everything. Casillas was just at his best on that night and just refused to lie down and concede a goal, for his resilience he got a big fat 2-0 clean sheet to take home with him.

Casillas making mind-blowing, unbelievably stunning saves
(Source Realmadrid.com)

Sergio Ramos 7 : Good performance by him, had to shift to the central defending area to cover up for heinze, I still think that sergio ramos should play as a centre back rather than right back as real madrid can play salgado over the right and autmatically get an extra defender on the substitutes bench. Made some important tackles to the real zaragoza’s forwards when they were on the counter attack and Ramos is always a giant when it comes to winning air balls or one on ones.

Cannavaro 7 : Nice, solid performance from the Italian but still I think he is a bit too old meaning he cannot handle one on one situations, tries to anticipate too much for my liking. Definitely cannavaro on current form looks nowhere near a former World Player Of The Year, still his experience and calmness is sufficient for real madrid. I have seen cannavaro play in very few derbies for real madrid since he left juventus a year ago but he really performs well in big games and then I think to myself that may be he is one of the best defenders in the world, another week ahead I watch him agaisnt lower teams like real zaragoza and he looks nowhere near himself. Anyway, for now I would definitely stick with him seeing that there is not a single quality center back in the substitutes bench for real madrid.

Torres 6 : Finally, after a long time indeed am I seeing a real madrid youth system’s player playing in the first team on regular basis since raul and guti, may be. Very versatile defender, can play on both flanks or as a center back. He had an average performance, did not make any mistakes but the only thing I am skeptical about is that he is too much of a standard player which means very rarely and I do mean very rarely produces a a world class moment. He just performs at a professional level not on a world class level, may be it will change as he ages but I would like him to make more tackles to win balls.

Torres a tough defender, nothing more than that
(Source Realmadrid.com)

Marcelo 8 : He made some goal saving tackles in the second half and is a very solid defender, sometimes tries to copy roberto carlos but he is not of that class yet. He was instrumental at driving real madrid forward from the left wing with his speed, dribbling and determination. I hope he develops into another roberto carlos because then real madrid would have another attacking option to play the ball to.

Diarra 7 : Diarra is as they say is an all terrain machine, he runs and runs hard all over the park closing down the opponents and as always I was not impressed by his ball distribution which lets him down. He himself says that he was and still is a very technical player. Well I don’t actually get to see him playing with a solid technique for real madrid, may be he is better at distributing the ball with mali, I am myself not a follower of african cup of nations unfortunately. Anyway, his defensive qualities are more than capable or overshadowing his poor touch on the ball.

Baptista 5 : He was well below par in this match, may be the pressure of being a starter in this fantastic real madrid starting eleven was too great for him that night. Although he made some bursting runs from the middle, he did miss controlled lots of balls played directly to his feet just outside the area which really hurt real madrid going forward. Then again his physical presence in the midfield gives me that extra relief that real madrid won’t get manhandled in the midfield by the opponent. Julio Baptista has got all what it takes to be a starter for any team but he needs to be more consistent with his performances. I was really impressed by his shoulder tackles, he really blew all of real zaragoza’s midfield out of the stadium with his unmatched strength.

Sneijder 4 : I was not content to see him on the field at all after a series of very average performances for real madrid in the previous league games. He just hasn’t handled the responsibility given to him by schuster. When he arrived, I was like o yeah real madrid have a Lampard or Gerrard but he just has not performed to the level which was expected of him after the first 3 or 4 La Liga games. Not impressed by him at all, just glad that he got substituted.

Guti 8 : He was the brains behind the first goal for real madrid combined with robinho who got guti’s defense splitting killer through ball. His touch on the ball is a joy to see, if he can just adjust his attitude to some what like wayne rooney’s then I think he can regain his spot back in the spain national side and be the best midfielder in Spain. I was really astounded by the quality of his passing and his vision, wonderful performance for real madrid.

Guti, manipulating the ball in the middle of the park
(Source Realmadrid.com)

Raul 6 : He was his usual, working hard for the team and running his socks off in chasing down midfielders of the very tenacious real zaragoza side. Raul is slowly becoming the raul of the old where he used to score goals and had alot better touch on the ball than he now has, missed a sitter in the second half when real madrid were leading by 2 goals which did not matter in the end but still raul has to put them away if he wants to rediscover his old form of early 2000′s.

Robinho 9 : Without the trickery and pace of robinho real madrid had no chance of even getting close to the opponents goal. He combined with guti gave their teammates a kick in the rear, to get up and start working hard. I think now robinho is playing the best football of his life. He is now truly showing why they compare him with pele but thats a different story all together. He dazzles with his flare and touch on the ball, bamboozles defenders who eventually drop to the ground. Now I know how much robinho sacrificed his game for real madrid under capello where he has forced to defend deep, consequently not having enough gas to turn on the magic in the attacking aspect of his game.

Robinho after scoring his goal celebrating.
(Source Realmadrid.com)

Van Nistelrooy 8 : Overall a good performance by van as he scored the goal when it was really required and by that time real madrid players were starting to get frustrated by the rigidness of real zaragoza’s defense. He also had his share of bloopers that night, shooting from outside the box, yeah because he is not the greatest long shot taker I have ever seen. Still a very fine finisher, just latches onto chances so quick, always there at the right moment in the right position, that just makes him the best striker in the world.

5bbc68288ruudp Real Madrid 2 0 Real Zaragoza
Van Nistelrooy,shooting from outside the box. Not really one of his traits.
(Source Realmadrid.com)