Real Beats Sevilla Thoroughly
By: Corey | March 30th, 2008
This ones for you Mac, you prick.
Real put in a solid performance to defeat Sevilla 3-1 tonight, in what should have most Merengue fans breathing a sigh of relief. Relief because they are not going to throw the title to the Catalans, and relief that they dont suck as much as their recent form suggests they do. Even the usually grouchy Bernadine was placated in what I think was one of the teams best performances of the second half of the season. Of course the Valladolid blowout and Vilarreal win were better, but this was a much needed performance to reignite the title challenge.
First, because this astounds me more then the game, is Schuster’s post match presser:
“I want to congratulate all my players”
Real Madrid’s coach highlighted the excellent job done by his men, who according to him played at a “high level.” Bernd Schuster doesn’t believe the victory to be too decisive, but he thinks the team stands strong and that it must take each game at a time to win the title.
“I think Sneijder covered the same position, that he is in good form and that he played a great and aggressive game in midfield. I believe all the players should be congratulated because they all played at a high level, so I wouldn’t like to praise any more than the rest.”“I don’t think this victory is very decisive. We simply won an important game against a tough rival who defeated us in our last three clashes against them. We are strong, but we must take each game at a time.”
“We’ve been the masters of the League the entire season and we must continue working along the same lines in order to win the title. We won our game, so I don’t have to look at what the other contenders do, at least not for the moment.”
And that is the first thing I want to say about the match. I was impressed with Sneijder once again. He was all over the place, a great link up player, and his set piece delivery was right on the money (or more appropriately, Heinze’s head). Sneijder played more centrally this time, in conjunction with Guti and Gago, and the three man rotating central midfield partnership was an interesting idea, it worked well against a rather subdued Poulson and Keita, like wise Renato who had no more impact then the man he cam in for. If he can play like that for even 1 of every 2 games we would be winning alot of titles in the future.
Second is Heinze. Where the hell did that come from? I mean Canna played really well today, but Heinze overshadowed him?!? The goal was solid, it was almost comical in slow mo how it played out, but I give him credit for keeping his eye on the ball despite his marker have two fans of jersey/Argentine perm. His defending was good, then it looked like he would take a turn for the worst with his poor positioning on the Kanoute goal, but he never looked back, sliding in with good tackles and blocks, and some vital interceptions. He covered for Marcelo really well also.
Yeah Canna played well to, after having a miserable week he was back to Mr. Consistent, even with pretty bad shot to the face from a Kanoute shot.
Stats Attack:
Match Stats
Real Madrid Sevilla FC
Shots (on Goal) 17(10) 13(2)
Fouls 20 20
Corner Kicks 2 6
Offsides 3 2
Time of Possession 48% 52%
Yellow Cards 4 3
Red Cards 0 0
Saves 1 7MATCH REPORT
3 - Real Madrid: Casillas; Ramos, Cannavaro, Heinze, Marcelo; Gago, Guti (Diarra, 72′), Sneijder, Robben; Higuaín (Baptista, 83′) & Raúl (Robinho, 85′).
1 - Sevilla: Palop; Alves, Mosquera, Prieto, Adriano; Crespo (Navas, 27′), Poulsen (Renato, 45′), Keita, Capel (Koné, 72′); Kanouté & Luis Fabiano.
REFEREE: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes. Booked Crespo (6′), Heinze (22′), Mosquera (50′) and Raúl (56′).
GOALS:
1-0: (7′): Heinze.
1-1 (37′): Kanouté.
2-1 (39′): Raúl.
3-1 (65′): Higuaín.
HIGHLIGHTS: Matchday 30 of La Liga. Venue: Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Attendance: 80,000. One minute’s silence was held in memory of the recently deceased former Real Madrid basketball player Sergio Luyk.
First Half:
So the first 13 minutes of the game I was glued to the screen, it was open and lively, but it was mostly Real doing the talking. Some good movement on and off the ball from Robben and Sneijder led to Robben bursting down the left flank and being man-handled by Crespo the whole way. Robben threw his arms in protest and the ref gave the free kick, I wouldnt have if I was the man in yellow. From the ensuing in-swinger, Sneijder put the ball on Heinze’s forward as the Argie Perm was falling down, and the ball was in the back of the net. The wonderful illegal Chinese stream I watched the game on was replaying the goal atleast 20 times. I guess people thought it was offside, but according to the new rules, Canna and Sergio Ramos did not touch the ball or interfere with play to warrant a flag raise.
After that goal, Real relaxed a bit, the typical bend but not break defending that gets them in to trouble, except this game luck was on their side, as calls and 1 v 1 challenges fell to their favor. I felt confident and pleased in the performances of the Real players, and I watched on hoping for another goal. I knew it would come, but I also had this feeling in the back of my skull that Sevilla could score on one of their dangerous counter attacks. A few chances went begging, Guti being snuffed out at the last second by Prieto, Higuain’s dribble and dish to Raul hitting Palop and not the back of the net, and a point blank Raul shot was turned away.
To this point, Kanoute and Fabiano had put together a few good interchanges, but no clear oppurtunities. The first, in the 7th minute was beautiful play only for Kanoute’s final ball to be to strong for Fabiano. But in the 37th a Dani Alves was half cleared before Seydou Keita rose up to head the ball back into the box. On the first clearance attempt by Sergio Ramos, Heinze did not move forward as you should. Push up after a clearance, never stand still. When the ball comes back in, Sergio Ramos had moved up leaving Kanoute behind him, thinking he will be caught offside, but Heinze hasn’t moved and Kanoute slots home. Probably the only mistake Heinze made all game, but its a frequent problem he has with the offside trap, he doesn’t quite grasp it.
So I said to myself, well shit, there was that moment I feared for in the back of my mind. And it was going to be a long game, but two minutes later (and my travel coach always told me that 3 minutes after you score your most vulnerable) Raul scored an incredible goal. Incredible. Robben was ‘fouled’ by Alves, the ref again being duped into Robbens antics. The ball was pinged around a bit before Sneijder did a quick little turn and chip that Raul controlled with a man on his back, somehow spun around, moved the ball by the marker (Adriano I think) and swivled. The ball had no spin on it somehow, and squeezed inside the post while still rising. It was a surreal moment, I didnt even celebrate, I was amazed at how that had just happened.
And like that it was 2-1. And we did not look back after that. There were a few chances for Sevilla to level after the half, but first Fabaino was blocked from a sliding Canna before Kanoute slipped when he had already beaten Fabio. Then came the comedy of misses from Higuain. The kid can not hit the broad side of a barn. He shot at Palop so many times I figured he was as big as the goalmouth. He did put one away though, off a nice Guti cross, sorta like the one Sergio Ramos slide in to him that he fluffed. The game puttered out after that, a Raul chance well saved by Palop and a Fabiano header went wide when he looked certain to score.
Fabiano didnt exactly put on a clinic to convince me he needs to be signed this summer, I hope he stays away from the locker rooms of the Bernabeu. And how Palop is not an international right now is amazing, but such is the depth in that position for the country. Here is the match highlights, enjoy:
With Barca’s surprising loss to Betis, we are once again have a 6 point lead on Vilarreal! No not Barca, but Vilarreal. Other notables from La Liga this weekend include the crazy table changes at the top and bottom of the league. First, Santander is tied with Atletico on 50 points, althought Atletico is in 4th by virtue of goal difference. Then theres Espnayol, who cant buy a win and are looking up at Sevilla and a missed opportunity but more importantly down at Almeria, 3 points off Sevilla and Espanyol on 42 points. The other shocker is Zaragoza is now on 33 points, in 17th, above Huelva on GD. Incredible, as Getafe, Deportivo and Osasuna have all pulled themselves up by their boot straps. This years La Liga has been dubbed boring by many a pundit, but I saw its so tight and so even that its entertaining. Well, here is some post match comments:
Gago:
“It was very important to win this game, and besides, we did it playing good football,” he said.
“We know that every game is a final, but we showed tonight that we can win the league. We had to win this game and that’s what we did, so we are happy.”
“We do not have to worry about the others, only about ourselves. The key is now to think one match at a time.”
Bernd’s extra commetns:
“We’ve not struck the killing blow in the race.
“We have won an important match against a tough rival… We’re at the top, but we must go from game to game.
“We’ve been the league leaders all season but we need to continue in this direction to achieve the title. And since we earned our win I don’t need to deal with my persecutors. For now.”
Calderon:
We’ve taken a giant step,” he told RealmadridTV. “Our rivals will make things hard for us, but we must take every game as a final.
“Every match will be very complicated and we must fight to the end. Barcelona will also try hard. However, theoretically speaking our strongest rival right now are Villarreal given Barcelona’s defeat yesterday.”
“This success will have a lot of merit because of how complicated things are going to be.”
Manolo Jimenez:
We’ve lost a final, but we still have finals to go.
“Certainly, though, we’ve just lost another matchday, and time is running out.”
On the match itself, he reflected, “I’m concerned about our second goal. We were in no great danger, but if you can’t stop a player like Raul, it’s bad news.
“Overall Madrid had more opportunities, but we had ours, and until Madrid’s last goal came there was palpable tension in the stands, because we also could have scored.”
And Match Pictures:
Category: Game Recap
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Comments
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As Cesar said to me when we beat Valencia. You guys looked like world beaters today.
I’ll wait to download the game from Rojadirecta tomorrow and give it a watch.
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United States
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Henize, Gago and Ramos were excellent. Sniejder also looking good. Higuain struggling to finish. Cana made quite a few really scary mistakes.
Posted from
United States -
Overall we played pretty well, but except for a few heart-in-mouth moments Sevilla lacked bite up front for a change.
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United States -
Your right Ryan, but although I didnt say it to you, when you beat us in the Pijuan, you guys looked like world beaters. Funny how these things fluctuate.
Evo- Canna made one or two mistakes, the great thing is Kanoute slipped on one, and Heinze covered on the other few. But by and large Canna played well compared to previous outings, improvement wont be punished by me, especially after such a good performance. Ramos was his usual, whic his terrific, but I cant praise him because Capel gave him some trouble, more so then Navas on Marcelo (weird how that worked out).
And I disagree with Gago, I think he was average. Some of his passing was decent, but anything ambitious he tried usually meant loosing possession. He is getting stronger defensively though, so if he is gonna be a true DM then the passing thing will be left alone, but I dont think thats where he is headed. He wants to be Redondo, but he wont ever get there.
Posted from
United States -
I agree with Corey about Gago, I think he is a good player and believe he will get better but he realy wants to be Redondo. I read in an interview with Gago where he says that Redondo was one of his idols growing up and that he trys to imitate his playing style. There was only one Redondo and Gago doesn’t have what Redondo had.
Posted from
United States -
Give Gago a break guys, he’s still young and just now starting to come into his own. Corey did you not see the stat they showed during the game, 90% passing accuracy. He did a good job, his defending is getting stronger, but also it was his quick play that set the pace of the team. While his passes weren’t brilliant, he did a great job of bringing the ball out quickly and finding Sneijder/Guti, who in turn kept kept the pace quick and also made brilliant passes. Gago did his job in my opinion.
Posted from
United States -
Posted from
United States -
So, 7 points up (Villareal need one more to make up for their heead-to-head against Real) and 8 games to go. Who wants to bet that if we lost at Mallorca next week and either of the following two win, the talk of “crisis” would return?
On the other hand, if Barça lose at home next week, what odds on Rijkaard not making it to the end of the season?
Posted from
Germany -
I didn’t see the whole match, but what I saw of it was pretty impressive stuff from the Evil Empire, as we’ve come to call you guys over on my side of the blog. World beaters, indeed, yesterday. The tragedy of it all is what Gonzalo says, about the “crisis” returning if you lose another game. What crisis?
If Barcelona loses to Schalke, Rijkaard is out. I’m not in favor of that, but that’s how it’ll work, I’m sure. Crisis? What f-ing crisis? Third in the league right now and plenty of time to make it up, out in the semis of the Copa and away to Schalke in the Champions League quarterfinals. I don’t care what anyone says, if the season ended today, it’d be a successful year. You can’t win em all and that’s just how it is. Maybe my boys holding off Davidson and making the Final Four has assuaged my hurt feelings from that Betis choke job, but whatever, I’m for keeping Frankie, beating los blancos in the Bernabeu, and calling it a wonderful year, despite.
Posted from
United States -
Glory!!! Hala Madrid!!!
It was so refreshing to see Ramos spreading out the field, charging down the right flank. It’s been a while, but the difference it made was clear.
I agree with Corey, Sneijder’s work rate was, and is, impressive, and as Corey pointed out, he was the link up guy we needed in this match. But aside from declaring him the link up player, what the hell position was he playing? Seriously, he floated from left to right to back to front - you almost expected him to pop up between the sticks. But whatever works, I guess. It was a whacky midfield, but it had Sevilla confounded. Still, I was scratching my head at the start.
Marcelo instead of Torres? Robben instead of Robinho? Gago, Guti AND Sneijder, but no Diarra? (That move I actually liked though.) And the biggest, scariest question: No Pepe? Dear god, will someone assure me he’s not injured again?
Posted from
United States -
No Phil Ball for two Mondays??? What am I supposed to read in class today?
Posted from
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I was wondering the same thing!
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Elmero- Gago’s passing was high because he made the horizontal pass so often. Xavi is similar in that his percentages are so high because he moves the ball side to side more then vertically, but Xavi is still a better passer then Gago, dont get me wrong. Whenever Gago tried anything ambitious, which was a few times, he either gave possession away of telegraphed the ball of our players foot, which counts as a completed pass but it wasnt effective. He needs more work still, just like Higuain.
Gonz/Ish- the crisis talk is silly, and even though Real didnt make it far in the CL, we finished top of our group, which is an improvement. Barca likewise cannot win the league ever year, so these crisis talks are unfounded.
John- Pepe is injured, but its just some bruising on his thigh. Sneijder and Guti sorta floated, but both put in equal attacking and defending, and with Gago behind them, they drifted left and right, it had Sevilla’s center pair confused. I would have prefer Robinho in there, and definately with Ruud instead of Higuain, we could be a very good team next year.
Posted from
United States -
Phil took a break, he was covering something but I cant remember what now, he mentioned it in his last article.
Posted from
United States -
Whatever happened out there, whether the Sneijder/Guti floating was part of the game plan or not, whether Gago and Higuain still need some work, whether there may or may not still be a crisis, I think we can all agree that our boys played one heck of a game. Hell, I might just have to watch that one again. HALA MADRID!!
Posted from
United States -
I was thoroughly entertained throughout the whole game, I was loving life when I watched it, I hope the remaining games are that good, because since late January I have been sorta wishing it was EURO championship time.
Posted from
United States -
Corey - I agree that Gago hasn’t set the world on fire. Also you’re right his passes are generally moving the ball around rather than the insightful attacking passes they ought to be.
BUT…I see a young man who is putting his all out there regulalrly and getting better every week. He’s not a star and he hasn’t proven himself yet.
Perhaps I’m soft, but I like him alot and hope he will be a great player for the club. I think he deserves the praise.Posted from
United States -
Phil Ball is back…
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=521822&root=europe&cc=5739
Posted from
Germany -
Hard to say what’s gossip and what’s true, but De La Red’s agent stated yesterday publicly that offers have been made by Madrid to bring back De La Red, and Javi Garcia. Also, word on the street is that Granero will be back this summer as well. De La Red’s agent makes it clear that he understands Madrid may choose to trade him. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t, either way should be a good day for Ruben.
http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/futbol-red-javi-garcia-regresaran/dasftb/20080401dasdaiftb_49/Tes
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United States -
Evo- I want him to succeed to, all I am saying as the price we paid for him to blossom into a world talent he isnt doing it. Ever Banega cost around the same and is already at Gago’s level. I want him to become a great player for Real of course, its just my patience runs out after two seasons of so-so performances, like wise Higuain.
Elmero- The De la Red rumors are great, I love the guy and always have, but a trade looks likely unless Schuster has a change of heart about the Castilla players. The “list” he gave management to pursure was curiously short of central/defensive midfielders except Poulsen, so De la Red could be an option. Granero will definately come back. Javi Garcia is new to me, I hadnt heard anything, but this is also exciting for me, Javi was De la Red before I knew him, he has so much potential. Javi has played a center back a bit as well this year, I think he is a good one to bring back. Likewise, Mata will be stayin in Valencia, his potential is going unfulfilled so far, but he will be a star one day, while Agus and Adrian will be recalled but I doubt will see much action. Also, word is that the guy from Tenerife thats on loan at Castilla will be signed permanently. If we bring back 3-4 young Spaniards and integrate them into the first team along with Alberto Bueno, I will be through the roof, I assume this is all Portugal’s doing, which is why I like the man, but Calderon likes the local boy Spanish flavor as well. We can only hope this all pans out.
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United States -
I guess at a certain point this season I made up my mind on Gago. I want to see him stay on through next year. If his average performance is still mediocre and lacking balls (in both senses of the word) then it will be time for him to shuffle along. But in the meantime, he’s got my total support. I want to see him break through as much as you guys do.
I’m really getting my heart set on Granero’s return, and think he’d do nicely on the right wing. But that brings up another question - where’s Bilboa been? If I’m not mistaken he’s recovered from his CL injury, yet he’s not even being included in the squad lists. Head scratcher.
I’m still buzzing from Madrid’s performance on Sunday. Last night the Mexican kid (Guatamalan? if you’re reading this please forgive me) at my local liquor store, who knows me to be a Madrid fan, and is one himself, gave me a shout out. The two of us sat for a good five minutes (four minutes too long according to the people in line behind me) and listed off the laurels of Raul Madrid, the 290th goal, etc. Next week we might be shaking our heads in disgust in the event of another loss to the islanders, but for the moment - pure ecstacy!
Posted from
United States -
Granero is play who really excites me, I hope he can come back to us.
Posted from
United States
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