Real 1-2 Roma

By: Corey | February 19th, 2008

We all hope Steve did well on his date tonight and this recap will let him know he did not miss anything entirely exciting. Real went down 2-1 to a resugrnet Roma in what was an equally entertaining and boring enconter. The match started off with fluid passing and a flurry of chances for Real, Raul converting an early Guti effort for the precious away goal Real were looking for. But Roma would eventually come back into the match, first Pizarro equalizing off a broken play with a deflected shot into the top corner. In the second half, Francesco Totti was allowed the freedom to lay the ball of to Mancini who easily rounded Casillas before slotting home. Real had a few decent chances that went begging, most notably Ruud hitting the post of a deflected cross from Royston Drenthe.

I watched the entire match, my eyes glued to my computer screen. Yet I feel like I dont remember a thing about the game, that I wasnt really observing the play and watching players. I was just watching the ball bounce around. It was not the best performance from a Real side that has been streaky as of late. I would have to say Real played poorly tonight to be honest. Most notable was the fact that Roma was able to win but really didnt impose themselves on the game at much either. Both teams passed the ball around a bit, but they relied on a choppy center midfield battle to yield posession before the ball was sprayed wide. Roma incorporated Totti a little more then Real incorporate Ruud and Raul, but still, it was Mancini and Robben who stole the show the most.

And I dont mean put in electric performances, they simply did most of the attacking. Robben to me is not near what Robinho is though. He can run with the ball, but Robinho has a much easier time getting past defenders and putting himself in dangerous spots for shots or crosses. Robben is more adept at running on to through balls then taking on the last man, although he can do a number with his crossing if given space, but Panucci did well to just sorta keep up with him and then put a foot in when he could. Robben did wel, but Robinho would have done more is all I am saying.

Raul to me did not have a great game. And it was for one reason, and one reason only. He missed a sitter that he would pride himself on hitting. He hustled and bustled all over the field and defended when needed. Ruud likewise tongit. But the chances he got he could not do much with which was not necessarily his fault, but Raul’s free header off a Robben cross was a gimme and would have settled the tie. Its okay though, because what he did do he did well and thats all you can really ask. Ruud though, we need to see a little more, he didnt look match sharp yet which is why Schuster angers me with his reliance on the two.

I will single out two more players. Sergio Ramos was bad tonight. Usually when he runs up the field so much he makes something of it, but rarely did he put a decent cross in and he never really got a hold of any of the shots he took. And he had a few good chances to score. He also left Mancini to Heinze, which we all know is not a race Heinze will win. So Mancini took him to the cleaners a few times, other times Sergio just sorta hung by him but was either to far away or too tired to put a challenge in. Not good enough, if your gonna go forward it better count, otherwise defend, its what your on the field to do.

The final player singled out is Heinze. He did resonably well, but was at fault for both goals. The first goal his fault you say….well sure it was Gago who’s crap clearance gave the ball to Pizarro. But check out the replay and notice that Heinze drifts towards Cannavaro’s man instead of pushing towards either Pizarro or the man running into the box with Gago. If he had made an interception on the runner or had been close to Pizarro then I say no goal, because Casillas would have had a better chance with Heinze cutting down the angle. But thats just me.

The second he made a crappy attempt at clearing the ball, but he sorta flung himself into the air, missed the ball completely and Totti picked it up and threaded through to Mancini. Again, poor decision making on his part.

Enough with lamblasting players and complaining about the bad performance. What is the positives from the match? We scored a goal in Rome, which means we can win 1-0 in the Bernabeu and progress. But the permutations get a little tricky. 1-1 means Roma advances, 2-1 is a tie and we go to extra time. 3-1 is a win for us, 3-2 a win for them. Since away goals are doubled, keeping them from scoring is again our main priority, but we will need to show more attacking purpose. Which means Guti needs to step up his game and hopefully Robinho is back from his nerve problem.

Here is a match recap for everyone who didn’t see it, I am going to start deferring these to espnsoccernet.com because its a bit tedious for me to right out. Id prefer to focus on my opinion of the match more so then the play-by-play. And I have homework to do, so you guys understand:

Battling Roma gave themselves a slender advantage after the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday night.
Mancini was the hero for the hosts, firing home the winning goal in the 58th minute after David Pizarro’s first-half strike had cancelled out Raul’s opener.

The result marked Roma’s first win against Real in the Italian capital at the fourth attempt and hands Luciano Spalletti’s side with a crucial advantage ahead of the return leg.

Real were unlucky not to equalise when substitute Royston Drenthe was denied by the crossbar with 10 minute remaining.

The hosts started in confident fashion and earned a corner in the opening stages.

But they were soon stunned with Madrid breaking the deadlock in the eighth minute.

Roma goalkeeper Alexander Doni could do nothing as Guti’s left-footed strike took a deflection from Raul and went into the back of the net.

Roma replied with Marco Casetti’s strike towards the far post forcing Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas to stretch to make the save.

Shortly after, Ruud Van Nistelrooy had a goal disallowed for a clear offside.

In the 12th minute, an unmarked Simone Perrotta wasted a good opportunity to restore parity as he failed to get a clean shot from close range.

At the other end, Gabriel Heinze made a crucial tackle on Mancini, who was ready to play in Francesco Totti after a fast counter-attack by the Romans.

On 21 minutes, a sweeping move by Real saw Arjen Robben cross to Raul whose bouncing header went inches wide off the far post.

Roma continued to surge forward and three minutes later they finally broke through.

Mancini’s cross from the left was cleared by Heinze but only as far as Pizarro whose powerful right-footed strike beat Casillas.

Roma’s joy could have been shortlived as Madrid almost went in front on 28 minutes. Raul set up Van Nistelrooy inside the area whose first touch went wide.

The Spaniards could have gone into the break with a 2-1 lead but Doni did well to punch away Guti’s free-kick.

Madrid picked up where they left off after the re-start and Doni did well to anticipate Van Nistelrooy’s effort inside the box.

But it was Roma who took the lead shortly after.

Totti did well to control a long ball from his own half before delivering a fantastic pass to Mancini, who got past the goalkeeper before tucking the ball in from an acute angle.

On the hour mark, Sergio Ramos fired from outside the area while shortly after, Fernando Gago fired just wide over the crossbar.

With 13 minutes remaining, Roma missed a golden chance to extend their advantage.

A fast counter-attack by the Giallorossi saw them four against two but Totti opted to play in the marked Mancini who was forced to slow the play down and the chance was gone.

Real never lost hope and were almost rewarded late on when Raul chested down the ball to an unmarked Julio Batista, who fired high over the bar.

Its not a bad recap, it does the job. Here is the usual stats attack:

Match Stats
Roma Real Madrid
Shots (on Goal) 9(3) 20(3)
Fouls 16 18
Corner Kicks 2 3
Offsides 0 4
Time of Possession 35% 65%
Yellow Cards 3 3
Red Cards 0 0
Saves 2 1

Real Madrid had 65% possession and 20 shots, 3 of which were on goal, but it seems like they created little. As Phil Ball commented earlier this week in his column, Real dink the ball around the opponent’s box, hoping for someone to do something and score. But it never happens. And Hristo Stoichkov, who I despise, had an interesing thing to say. He said Real are good at getting the lead, but not maintaining it, and certianly not getting it back lately. Its true, if we score first we sort of give up and try to play the ball around till more goals come. If we go down, our sense of urgency turns into sloppy final balls and wild shots.

Schuster’s Post Match Reactions:

‘The only thing I’m not happy with is the result. We deserved more,’ Schuster told a news conference after David Pizarro and Mancini netted for Schalke to cancel out Raul’s early opener for the Spanish.

‘Scoring an (away) goal gives us faith for the return at our stadium, in front of our crowd. The only thing that needs to change is the result. Real Madrid did not disappoint me in any way.’

‘The plot has changed from before when we won against opposition who were having lots of chances and (keeper) Iker Casillas was our best player,’ he said. ‘Now our opponents are taking advantage of two or three opportunities.’

‘When you call him my compatriot that is the worst thing you can say. He gave too many yellow cards in favour of the home side. But I don’t think this influenced the result.’

The ref made alot of pro-Roma calls, but unless something really blatant happens, I dislike speaking about the referee. I feel its an easy scapegoat, something Schuster has used a few times this season.

Roma boss Luciano Spalletti:

‘My team did well. When they had to bite they did, but when Real attacked they didn’t allow them large spaces to exploit,’ he said.

‘The most important thing the lads did was not to throw themselves forward after their goal, but to be patient. It was a beautiful game in terms of the spectacle and the physical contest.

‘We had two or three chances we could have taken better advantage of, but so did they. We showed we have quality and should be confident for the future.’

Guti:

“We started out rather well and our early goal allowed us to be calm, but Roma scored their first when we were controlling the game. The match became tighter after that. We had a couple more chances, but they used theirs better.”
“I think the result is a bit unfair, but that’s Italian football for you. They won because they used the game to their advantage.”

“We are happy with our performance, but sad about the score. I think it could have been better for us.”

“We must be calm in the second leg. There are 90 minutes left in this round and a 1-0 would be enough to qualify for the quarterfinals. We will play at our stadium before our fans, which is important. I think we’ll have chances of making it if we display our best football.”

“We knew tonight’s match would be tough. Roma have very strong players and we knew it would be hard for us to get any chances at all. We didn’t win, but I think the match was very tight.”

An honest assessment I guess. What is everyone’s opinion on the game? Match pictures, enjoy: