Ok. We lost. Now we are behind Barcelona by 8 points. In 4rth position I think. Need I say more?
I don’t know. Today we saw two Real Madrid sides. One in the first half, totally disoriented at the back and at the front. Poor defending cost us the game again.
Sometimes when I am watching English Premier League, I say to myself “Man, these guys do work on their corners”. Rarely you would see Manchester United or Chelsea concede a goal from air balls, like Real Madrid did in the match against Sevilla.
The second half saw a totally different Real Madrid. Had it not been for Robben’s (unfair) sending off, we would have won the match, let alone draw it.
That is what I am trying to point out. We already are suffering from injured players ( more than half of our first team) and some bad run of form and yet, we have to deal with the poor decisions of the referee. Before I recap. Let me just say that the first goal was offside as the ball had touched Kanoute on the way through, who was in a clear cut offside position.
Secondly, Robben was fouled inside the penalty box (yeah, we were denied a penalty, two infact throughout second half). Referee didn’t do anything and the stupid referee showed him a red card for decent. For heavens sake. It was a derby match, use some common sense referee and let the game continue with 11 a side.
First Half
It took less than a minute for Real Madrid to put Palop to the test with a shot from Robben and a one-on-one between the keeper and Higuaín that was lost by the latter. Sevilla fought back and Adriano scored from a cross by Jesús Navas on the 2-minute mark.
What a stupid goal to give away in such a important match. No marking. Such an easy goal. I mean seriously. Marcelo did not apply enough pressure on Navas, allowed him to put a cross in.
Horrible goal keeping by none other than Casillas. Casillas, known for his agility, really blowed it up (and has been performing under par in the last 4 matches.). Casillas, didn’t handle the cross well, did not come forward and finally, when he got to the ball, he mishandled it. Anyway, it was an offside but the linesman did not see that for some unknown reasons.
The situation got complicated. Real Madrid did not know what hit them. Right from the start, Real Madrid were on the back foot (which has been the case for the past month or so). After that, it was always going to be a uphill taks in order to get anything from the game as Sevilla is the best counter attacking team in La Liga.
Real Madrid desperately tried to look for an opening in Sevilla’s lines, but their defense based on two lines of four players behind the ball, was very solid. Doesn’t it suck.
Every team, every (except Barcelona may be) comes to the Bernabeu and defends deep. That is why we need someone like a Sniejder (or may be better) who can shoot from long range when these suckers shut up shop infront of their goal. Someone like a Gerrard.
I seriously think, that if given the choice. I would sign Gerrard above any player in the world FOR REAL MADRID (after Messi that is). Gerrard can bring back the motivation in these players.
That is what Real Madrid is lacking at the moment, individual class. You look at Real Madrid matches and you see, a team putting a bunch of simple (or intermediate) passes at best and trying to score from it.
How many times, this season have you seen a Real Madrid player taking on a defender or two, and actually ended up beating them. As far as I can recall. May be Robben one or two times and Van Der Vaart in this match once.
When you look at Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona, Ac Milan. All of these teams have individual quality. Either they have player who are world beaters or they have player who can destroy the keeper from the half way line with their rocket boots.
Chelsea, has Lampard and Ballack who can hit long shots whereas Barcelona, Ac Milan and Manchester United have players like Messi, Ronaldinho (Kaka too) and C.Ronaldo respectively, who can (on their day) beat whole sides by themselves.
Anyway, that was just something for you guys to think over.
Real Madrid’s reward came in the 18th minute from a set piece. Guti served a brilliant ball from the right wing and Raúl managed to head it into the back of the net grazing the near post.
Three minutes later, Sevilla’s Romaric put the finishing touch on a cross from Renato and Sevilla took the lead again.
Again a stupid corner. Again Real Madri could not mark properly. Judge the poor defending by the fact that Romaric didn’t even jump when he head the ball, no one could stay with him to putt him off his stride. No one. Are we missing Hierro. May be Yes.
However this second goal from Sevilla didn’t dampen the Real Madrid’s spirits one bit. Real Madri continued to play with holes in their back line and while going forward, couldn’t convert their chances.
Real Madrid had several chances on goal, especially through Van der Vaart. Palop was very solid between the posts and cleared all of attempts to score and, to make things worse, Kanouté netted a third for Sevilla on the 38-minute mark.
This goal was a bit unlucky for Real Madrid. Ramos and Cannavaro actually blocked a shot from Adriano (I think). The rebound fell right into Kanoute, who had the whole goal (with Casillas in the middle) to aim at. He killed the ball. Real Madrid down 3-1 at the break.
Second Half
Drenthe took the pitch at the start of the second half, coming in for Van der Vaart. The team’s intensity increased and it reached Sevilla’s goal more often, but they were over-anxious to make a comeback and failed to score despite keeping possession and forcing Sevilla to stay in their half of the pitch.
Real Madrid soon started having some chances and the first was thwarted by a tackle on Higuaín inside the box that was fiercely protested by the crowd, but the referee didn’t award a penalty.
Robben had another excellent chance two minutes later after a brilliant run down the wings. By the 63rd minute, the siege Real Madrid were putting on Sevilla’s goal was overwhelming. Higuaín then scored a brilliant strike 25 meters away from target,
Now that was one heck of a goal. Higuain seems to be kind of a player who rasises his game when the ocassion demands it. Seriously, Salgado I thinik, just put a umaimed lob into the middile of the park. Higuain headed it back to Gago. Who cleverly got two defenders on him and then slipped the ball to Higuain some 8 yards from the half way line. Sevilla didn’t have their numbers back behind the ball. Only the four defenders were defending for a change. From the spot Higuain received the ball, nothing was on his mind except the goal. Smacked the ball low and hard to the keeper left into the bottom corner of the net from outside the penalty area (which is also a serious surprise).
See my point here. What kick started Real Madrid’s comeback. An individual piece of magic. That is what Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo and Beckham used to do when they were at Real Madrid. They instilled faith in their teammates which propelled Real Madrid to the very top of European football.
This goal intensified the team’s performance and it managed to score again when, just a minute later, Guti served a cross into the box and Gago headed the ball in the goal. The crowd went wild and Real Madrid could smell the fragrance of victory or so I thought. Gago’s goal clearly lifted the team enough to go and get the victory. But……..
Robben was sent off on the 75-minute mark with a double booking. Stupid referee, put a stop to the momentum Real Madrid had worked so hard to achieve. The red card was totally unjustified. Robben was only complaining, because he was clearly fouled inside the penalty box. The referee should had realised that in such a intense moment, things like these can happen. He should had told Robben to shut up and next time if he had done it, then the ref had the right to book him the second time. You do not send off a player for arguing.
Nevertheles. Real Madrid kept trying to net a winning strike while Sevilla did nothing. But then, Nervión grabbed the ball and started a counterattack that was finished off by a header by Renato from a cross by Kanouté (83′). Real Madrid can’t defend with 11 men so why should we expect them to defend with ten!!!.
The fourth goal scored by Sevilla sucked even more than the previous 3. Renato found himself clear in the penalty box. Unmarked, unchalleneged. No one was even near him in the penalty box.
Frankly, I think we if loose (and include draw as well) to Barcelona then we should kiss out La LIga title good bye as I think Barcelona will have enough a lead to go through the the second half of the season. Unless, Real Madrid revolutionize their style of play.
Barcelona have thrashed sides like Sevilla and Valencia. Away from home and at home. Whereas Real Madrid could not beat Sevilla at Bernabeu (their own home) when Barcelona beat Sevilla 0-3 at Sevilla’s home ground. That should be enough to give you the idea of the level at which Barcelona is playing at the moment.
I think Barcelona will win La Liga and Champions League this season. No one can stop them. Unless, Real Madrid sign some real talented players in the winter (which doesn’t look probable), Barcelona are just going to run away with this in a jiffy.
Here are Schuster’s comments.”We did several things wrong throughout the match, but I also think we did some great stuff, especially in the second half. It took us a while to get in the game and many things played against us, but it doesn’t all come down to bad luck.”
“Sevilla helped in the second half by giving us the initiative thanks to their favourable score. We attacked more down the right wing through Robben because it took Royston longer than usual to get in the game. At least we came close to winning the game. We showcased a lot of character, but we failed to win.”
“We are so used to sustaining new injuries that we are somewhat relieved by the fact that Robben and Marcelo will miss the next clash because of bookings. At least that’s something. My players gave their all. Our luck has to change. A turning point would be important to us.”
“I don’t think we had any tactical problems tonight. Their first two goals came from bad defending, but not from bad tactics. We started well and had several chances on goal, but Sevilla’s early strike hurt us badly. They were very effective in attack; they scored as many as three goals from just four chances.”
“I am least worried about the match at Camp Nou than about any other game. Barcelona are in great form and destroying everything that gets in their way. We want to give a good performance against them.”
Marcelo and Higuain also had their say
MARCELO
“The game was a bit crazy. We suffered much, but the important thing is that we managed to draw at one point thanks to doing a good job. We were unlucky to concede a goal in the end. We weren’t awarded two clear penalties that could have changed things, but we can’t do anything about that now. We have to think about the next match now. I would like to play against Barça and it’s a shame I won’t be able to. I would like to help the team. Our fans’ support is very important to us because it helps us win games. Our next few clashes will be very hard and we will need them to back us up.”
HIGUAÍN
“We are sad because we gave our all in the second half and lost. We were superior when we were still eleven on the pitch. They defeated us thanks to a counterattack they pulled off after one of us was sent off. It’s over now and we have to move on because this competition is very long. The fans will always do their best to support us. We have to work on some mistakes and remain calm. I’m happy with my goal, but the team is all that matters to me. Our next games are very important and we want to do well in them.”
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