Liveblog: Racing Santander v Real Madrid

By: Steve | April 20th, 2008

Hala Madrid! Hey kids, guess who’s back?! Sorry i’m late, only just realized the first half of today’s match was only available through “the red button”, as they call it here in the UK… it’s alternative programming on the digital channels here. It’s on Sky Sports 1 via the red button for the first half, and then on the main Sky Sports 1 channel. Ok, i’m late as it is, let’s get to it.

38min: It’s already 1-0 for Real, not sure who’s scored, i haven’t heard the announcers say anything about it. On the pitch that i’ve seen are Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Heinze, Gago, Robben, Raul, Sneijder…
41min: Real have so far enjoyed 54% of the possession, though the Sky commentators said it was up at 60% earlier, so Racing is doing better in the latter stages of the first half here…
42min: Cannavaro also in central defense, so that’s our ideal back four, though whether you like Heinze or Marcelo is a personal choice…
43min: Contrary to reports earlier this week on Goal.com (i know, i know), Robinho IS playing…
44min: Ooh, a curling shot from Chite leads to an uneasy save from Casillas… the rebound comes out towards another Racing player, but the cross is horrid.
45min: Oh! Cesar Navas is left alone in front of Real’s goal and he only barely misses the header… 3 straight chances off of set plays, although that last one was a bit of a broken play…
HALFTIME: well, of course, i can’t say much about the first half, but the 10 minutes that i watched, Racing was really pressing well, and they were finding the right passing channels to get in advanced positions.
HALFTIME: Ok, just saw a replay of the goal… Robinho gets the ball wide left from Sneijder and puts in a wicked cross that Raul gets the slightest of touches to put past the Racing keeper. Nice.
HALFTIME: Anyway, back to what i saw… Madrid’s woes with set plays continues… it’s so frustrating seeing how poor they do it. Maybe i can understand their vulnerability to quick counters, if they play their back four high up the pitch, but set plays… come on, you have the time to figure out where you need to be and who you have to mark.
HALFTIME: But a win would be a win, no matter how ugly. Coupled with Barca’s draw against Espanyol yesterday, a win here today would put us at 11 points over the Catalans. Not that I don’t think we can’t beat them at the Bernabeu in a couple weeks, but it’s still nice to have that cushion.
HALFTIME: With 5 matches left after this week, Los Merengues could theoretically have the Liga wrapped up after next week’s round, but as James said in another thread, how sweet it would be to celebrate the Liga after a win against Barca!
HALFTIME: Ok, let’s not get ahead of ourselves… I would settle for some tightening up in the back for the rest of this match, what I’ve seen so far today doesn’t lend much confidence. And another goal, just for insurance, would be nice too.
47min: Real comes out strong, attacking up the right wing with Robinho and Diarra… and then up the left with Sneijder and Robben…
49min: Chite wastes a Racing possession by dribbling the ball too much and then losing possession to Sergio Ramos…
51min: Real do look a bit better early in this half…
52min: Yellow card for Pinillos, for basically grabbing Sneijder’s feet and tackling him. Stupid foul.
53min: Real have a chance to break out for a quick attack but settle for a “half-court offense”, as they say in basketball. Slowly passing it around the perimeter but not being able to penetrate into the box… Gago almost loses it, with 6 attackers in front of the ball, but some quick reactions by Sneijder and Diarra save a Racing counter…
55min: Brutal dive by Serrano who goes down like he’s been shot in the face. Sergio Ramos did nothing… but the ref says play on and the ball gets put out to deal with the “injury”…
58min: Smolarek comes on for Serrano.
59min: Ooh… Real again play around outside the box, but a lovely run in by Sneijder gets Real into the box… some ping-ponging later, Raul has about a second and a half on the ball but is turned the wrong way and he can’t get a shot or a pass off.
60min: Oh! Robinho gets a quick pass on the right and with Raul in the middle as a decoy, the Brazilian shoots it on target but it’s an easy save.
64min: Ugh, another Racing free kick leads to a chance… well, it’s not directly from the free kick itself, but Real’s incompetence at clearing the area after a set play gives Chite an opportunity for an audacious overhead kick that just misses the far post…
65min: Yet another Racing free kick, yet another couple chances… Casillas nearly bobbles the ball, but the ball doesn’t fall directly near a Racing attacker so he has time to recover position.
66min: A Racing substitution, i missed who it was…
69min: Wow, Diarra makes a couple nice moves to get out of a sticky situation with 2 defenders hounding him… his pass up to Robben almost gets through too, but the Dutchman’s first touch was a bit heavy.
70min: Great desperation tackle by Heinze to block an attempt by Chite who was sprung by a great through-ball.
73min: Wow, Racing is finding some holes in Real’s defensive positioning, picking out suddenly open players in dangerous positions… luckily, someone comes up with a last-ditch tackle or block, usually Heinze.
76min: Robinho comes off for Higuain.
77min: Racing get a couple chances at corners, but Real manage to clear the box, and Higuain leads a quick Real counter, but Gago’s ball for Diarra who has gone wide right was too strong and it rolls out of bounds.
78min: OH!!! Robben gets behind the defense but whiffs the chance to put away the Cantabrians from 15 yards out. Brutal miss, though his run in behind a sleeping Racing defense was good.
80min: Oh! Another great chance for Real to put this one to bed. Robben squares for Raul, but the Racing keeper makes a fantastic save. The ensuing chaos leads to a foul on the keeper, which negates Higuain’s ball in the net.
81min: Cannavaro gives away a bad foul but the free kick hits the wall, a well-defended set play for once.
82min: Colsa comes off for Orteman.
83min: Balboa looks like he’s coming on…
84min: for Robben…
86min: Gago trips up Navas, giving Racing yet another free kick… this one is about 25 yards out… and it’s sent out on a horrible kick.
88min: This late, Real doesn’t look like they’re really looking for that second goal… they’re playing keep-away with the ball, but not really making any attempts to get into the box…
89min: Baptista prepares to come on…
90min: Sneijder has been absolutely tenacious on the ball or near the ball… but he’s getting the sub for the Beast.
90+1min: 3 minutes of extra time, Racing is pouring on the pressure…
90+2min: Racing its getting loads of good possession, in some pretty advanced positions, but Madrid is concentrating on defending in front of the goal…
90+2min: Ooh, Balboa almost gets through for a clear shot on goal, but a Racing defender gets back in time to block the shot and clear the ball… yet another wasted chance.
90+3min: GOAL!!! Higuain puts it away with a low shot after some shaky passing from Balboa and Baptista. Racing had almost everyone up the pitch pressing for the equalizer, so they weren’t defending as normal. Racing Santander 0-2 Real Madrid.
90+4min: And it’s done.
POSTGAME: So Real take a commanding 10 point lead over new runners-up Villarreal, while Barcelona is a further point back in third.
POSTGAME: With only 5 rounds left in the season, Real would have to screw up massively to mess up the title.
POSTGAME: Despite Real’s dreadful set plays leading to Racing scoring chances, the Cantabrians never really got clean looks at goal, while Real had 3 or 4 clear chances but only put away the last one.
POSTGAME: Without having watched the first 35 minutes, i’m loathe to say much about the match as a whole, but the bits that i did see… well, i was obviously less than impressed with the set plays, but Real’s open-field play really has few peers.
POSTGAME: I didn’t like how we settle into that half-court offense, it seems a bit predictable, but I guess Robben and Robinho don’t have free license to attack 3 defenders at once.
POSTGAME: Anyway, like I said at halftime, a win is a win, so I guess my ranting is a bit of sour grapes.
POSTGAME: alright, let’s go to the individual scorecards…
POSTGAME: Casillas kept a clean sheet, and made a good save on Chite in the first half, but he’s still a bit shaky on crosses and corners in the air. A few Racing set plays seemed to give him a bit of trouble, though that may have been due to all the traffic in front of him.
POSTGAME: Sergio Ramos did a fine job at rightback. He was all over the pitch and made some decent runs forward. Pepe was solid, usually playing on the right side of the central defense pair. His pace ensures that few through-balls will get past him. Cannavaro was a bit off his game, giving up position a bit too often and resorting to obstructing or shirt-pulling. Heinze generally kept his ridiculous runs forward to a minimum and defended like his pants were on fire. He was everywhere, making pretty good tackles and frequently clearing balls as the last ditch defender.
POSTGAME: Gago and Diarra were both on the pitch, meaning they were playing the cursed double pivot… except it didn’t really seem like it. Both players played well up the pitch, Diarra sometimes even carrying his runs onwards into the box or deep into the corner. They of course both did alright with their defensive and primary responsibilities, though Racing were able to penetrate Real’s box with a few unmarked runs. Sneijder was an absolute bulldog, playing real box-to-box football. He may not have Guti’s vision (who does?), but he plays better defense and he seems to keep possession better, without having to resort to leaving his feet.
POSTGAME: Robben missed an absolute sitter to put away the match, but he played pretty well. Same for Robinho, whose fantastic cross led to Raul’s goal, but he did seem to tire in the last third of the match, so his substitution was a good one. Raul, as usual, was a machine, running all over the place, sometimes to go back to get the ball, other times way up front trying to poach a goal…
POSTGAME: Higuain made some good runs, and this time didn’t mess up the final touch, grabbing a nice goal at the end. Balboa didn’t get much time on the pitch, but was involved in several attacks, the most prominent one where he was sprung forward seemingly alone on goal, but just as he was about to shoot, a defender got back to make the block. Baptista came on mostly as a time-wasting move by Schuster, but he found himself in on the buildup to the second goal, so good on him there.
POSTGAME: Hmmm, surprisingly positive reviews for everyone in spite of the crap i wrote earlier. well, i do suppose a 2-0 win, and a clean sheet, isn’t anything to sneeze at, so whatever. Decent game, good win, great prospects for the Liga title.