In this LATE LATE match report I would just like to mention the performance of our two signings, Huntelaar and Diarra. I was really impressed with Diarra, I think he handled the midifield pretty well and didn’t allow Villareal’s midfielders to settle on the ball. I think he is going to be a regular in our first team, because of his age and because of his experience in playing big matches. He has played with Arsenal and Chelsea before, which are like, the biggest clubs in world football.
As for Huntelaar, he didn’t look sharp enough. He missed a golden opportunity and had he been playing for like 2 months, that ball was destined to finish at the back of the net. Huntelaar looked really good in the air. Real Madrid did change their tactics a bit during the game (which is really surprising) and threw in some lob passes to Huntelaar and he controlled them relatively well.
Huntelaar lacked some speed but I think he cant easily overcome this weakness with his touch and awareness around the the penalty area.
Overall, Real Madrid played an attacking game (as we always do) but the difference was that our defence looked in pretty decent shape. Sergio Ramos has learned how to be a right back. Now he doesn’t just bomb in the penalty area, he defends and when sees a good opportunity, comes forward. That way, he doesn’t negelect his defensive duties, when Schuster was incharge. Ramos was always going forward and that made Real Madrid very vulnerable on the right hand side of the field.
Pepe and Cannavaro looked solid too. Pepe especially. His speed gives him the edge over most strikers and Villareal don’t exactly have Eto’os and Messi’s who can trouble Pepe.
Anyway, Real Madrid put on pressure and from the top of the box Robben sent a shot of the crossbar (11′). Three minutes later Sneijder tried his luck from long range only to see the ball sail wide right of López (14′).
Robben was undoubtly Real Madri’s man of the match. He was really on song tonight and really showed us, what a fully fit Robben can do. Infact, I am going to quote some statistics, which I stumbled upon.
Arjen Robben is the most effective dribbler in La Liga having successfully feinted 74 times in 862 minutes and turned the ball over less than the likes of Leo Messi, Sergio “Kun” Agüero, Joaquín and Simao.
Robben’s 74 dribbles are eight more than the 66 by Simao (Atlético Madrid) and good enough for the fourth spot behind “Kun” Agüero’s 81 (Atlético Madrid), Joaquín’s 96 (Valencia) and the 104 by Leo Messi (F.C. Barcelona).
But among the five players, the Dutch midfielder has seen the least amount of playing time. His 862 minutes of action are well below Messi’s 1,211; Joaquín’s 1,371; Agüero’s 1,296; and Simao’s 1,281.
Messi has lost the ball 12 times trying to beat a defender and averages one turnover every 100 minutes. Robben meanwhile has lost the ball just seven times for an average of one every 120 minutes. What’s more, once Robben escapes from his marker, he’s been able to finish the play 43 times compared to Messi’s 39 (four fewer plays in 349 fewer minutes).
The numbers are in and there’s no doubt about it. Robben is the best dribbler in Primera Divsion
These statistics really show how much worth Robben is to Real Madrid and that too, when Robben has just played two games at his potential.
Anyway, coming back to the game itself. On the 31st minute mark, it was Robben who scored the only goal of the match. It was a magnificant goal and even Lionel Messi would have been proud of himself had he scored such a goal.
Real Madrid players were building a move on the left hand side of the field. The ball came to Diarra and he switched the play to the right hand side by lobbing the ball to Robben. Robben took the ball (used Sergio Ramos’s dummy run as well) and just went towards the goal, beat 3 defenders and took a shot from outside of penalty area, the ball flew towards the top corner of the FAR POST. The keeper just stood and watched (actually dived in the end to diminish some glory of Robben’s goal).
After that Real Madrid just sat back and played a counter attacking game. Sniejder had a couple of chances and so did Raul. Villareal also had chances throughout the game but Casillas made sure (with some spectacular saves) that Real Madrid kept a clean sheet.
A good win for Real Madrid but we are still behind Barcelona by 12 points and really need to continue this form for the rest of the season. Next stop is Mallorca.
I really hope that Diarra continues to play this well. Really. I was surprised to see his calmness in his debut match.
Here are some interviews:
Klass-Jan Huntelaar was very pleased with his first game as a Madridista.
“I am very happy to have won the three points. It was a great night. I am not tired. We notched three points in a very important match.”
“It was a great atmosphere. I played better in the first half than the second. I would have liked to score to thank the crowd for their support.”
“I had some great chances. The keeper made a great save but I should have scored. It would have been marvelous.”
“Of course I would like to play in the Champions League, but it’s not up to me. I will respect the coach’s decision no matter what it is”
Although Juande Ramos believes his men worked hard for their victory on Sunday, he also thinks the team has room for improvement.
“We could have scored another goal that would have given us more peace of mind. The team got tired in the second half. We had men out there who hadn’t played in quite a while and others coming off injury. The team worked hard but also suffered. We had plenty of chances to score more goals.”
“Our intention was to play as advances as possible, but in the last two matches our opponent was losing and forced us to move closer to our goal. It does however give us room to work with and seek the second goal.”
“Our most recent matches have been against direct rivals. We have two wins and one defeat in La Liga and a victory against Zenit in the Champions League. Our results have been good, but we need to continue working and improving. We have several days to train and prepare for forthcoming matches.”
“I think Lass and Huntelaar performed well. Lass only played an hour but asked to be subbed out because he hasn’t played in a while. Huntelaar put in an acceptable performance in the first half, but he was tired and hadn’t played in a long time either, which is why I tookk him out.”
“You have to play well to win. We want to win by playing well because it’s the best way to earn the victory. We weren’t able to score in the second half because we played worse than we did in the first half.”
Pepe:
“It was an interesting match. We played well in the first half and proved many things. We left too much open space in the second however. We have created many scoring chances since the Valencia match but have scored very little. The team did a great job and fought as a team.”
“I didn’t take any time off at Christmas. I was in La Coruña working with my physiotherapist Carlos Lalín. Things turned out well and it showed against Villarreal. The fact that we have a couple months during which we only play on weekends can help us.”
Fernando Gago:
“Lass and I were comfortable playing together. The coach told us what he wanted and we understood one another. We had to win. This victory gives us confidence heading into the rest of the month.”
“We played well, but the score could have been higher. Our forwards can score at any moment. This time it was Arjen Robben’s turn, but I’d also like to point out our defence’s strong performance.”
“We have to continue winning and not think about other teams. As long as we win we will continue pouring on the pressure.”
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