Liveblog: Real Madrid v Villarreal

Hala Madrid! Don’t you just love having regular, reliable broadcasts of Real Madrid matches? Man, those first few weeks when the pissing match between the Spanish cable companies denied us our beloved Merengues seem like a distant memory now. Sky Sports 1 is carrying the Sunday late match between Real and Villarreal at 20h00 GMT. Yours truly has nothing planned so the liveblog is on!

Third-place Villarreal make the trip to the capital in the return leg of La Liga and Corey’s written up a preview. I’m not expecting anything like the first match, when we went to the middle of nowhere (Villarreal is about 80km north of Valencia - in the middle of nowhere) and laid a 5-0 beatdown on the Yellow Submarine. That was a spectacular match, and aside from a 5-1 drubbing of Valencia, we haven’t played that well since.

However, we have been very consistent recently, grinding out 7 wins on the trot. For that, we have to thank the blessings of San Iker, who is currently on a streak of 6 clean sheets, 558 minutes and counting. In fact, San Iker has not conceded a goal in La Liga since 1 Dec! He still has some way to go, 150+ minutes, before dislodging the current team record holder, old man Cañizares.

This week sees a bunch of players coming back from the injury list: Metzelder, Robben, and Balboa. I anticipate Schuster will bring out his best lineup against Villarreal; this will be the toughest match of the next four weeks, and he’ll have time to rest up players before the next Champions League match at the end of February. In a way, our exit from the Copa del Rey does help to simplify planning the lineup.

My lineup would be: Casillas, Ramos, Cannavaro, Metzelder, Torres, Gago, Baptista, Balboa, Robinho, Raul, and Ruud. I doubt that exact lineup will see the field though. Balboa and Metzelder will be likely on the bench to start, and I’d guess that Sneijder and Marcelo will start instead of them. Ah well, we’ll see how it goes. Tune in tomorrow to catch the liveblog!

UPDATE: Alright, we’re minutes away from the start of the match… There’s great news from Bilbao, where Barcelona failed to hold their lead against Athletic in a 1-1 draw, meaning Real will finish the weekend with no less than a 6-point lead at the top of the Liga table. Sweet!

Alright, let’s get it on:

PREGAME: Real are playing it strong up the middle… Casillas, Salgado, Ramos, Cannavaro, Torres, Gago, Guti, Baptista, Robinho, Raul and Ruud.
1min: No Pires for Villarreal… interesting.
2min: Ruud wins an early corner… and the team is looking extremely sharp in the early going. Maybe we just play really well against the Yellow Submarine?
3min: Wow, just as the Sky commentators are saying, it’s Real putting on a masterclass in passing. But Villarreal are finally waking up, a couple minutes late.
4min: If you’re watching this at all, the left end of the pitch (from the camera’s point of view) has this really dark patch all the way from the halfway line to the goal… apparently that part of the grass was just re-turfed.
7min: Villarreal’s attacking style plays right into our strengths for counterattacking… loads of space for the midfield to advance into, once we gain possession.
9min: GOAL!!! Robinho cuts in from the left wing to pick up a glorious pass from Guti, and the Brazilian coolly slots it in the far post. Fantastic finish. Real Madrid 1-0 Villarreal.
10min: Villarreal win a corner, but the delivery is sloppy and Marcos Senna’s header goes over the goal. Still looks like we need work on defending set-pieces.
13min: Excellent tackle at the top of the penalty area by Sergio Ramos… just poked that ball away from the Villarreal attacker.
14min: Oh! Madrid are creating chance after chance… Guti plays in Ruud and possibly Robinho, but the space is so small that they all get tripped up and Diego Lopez is able to smother the ball…
15min: Real’s defending in the open field has improved a lot… they’re doing loads of running and pressuring the opposing ballcarriers… Good on them.
16min: GOAL! Rossi loses Cannavaro at the top of the penalty area and blasts a left-foot shot past a diving Casillas. Shutout streak over. Real Madrid 1-1 Villarreal.
18min: Robinho and Torres seem to have a good understanding down that left wing… Torres tried to stop a ballcarrier, and Robinho carried on tracking back as Villarreal developed an overlap on the wing, all the way to the corner flag, and then pressured the Villarreal attacker to put the ball out of bounds.
20min: Great movement from Robinho, making his run through the centre and picking up the ball on the right wing… Real are really attacking with good intent.
23min: You know who’s been surprisingly invisible? Julio Baptista… I’m just not noticing him on the pitch.
24min: Ooh, a bit of dangerous defending from Real… The key to a pressure defense is not to overdo it. Real was pressuring well in the midfield, but since they don’t really keep a rigid formation, players can sorta come and go, but just then, they were swarming a couple Villarreal midfielders and for a split-second, it was 4 defenders on 1 guy. Come on, you can’t leave other guys open like that, and Rossi did get a long outlet pass, but he wasn’t able to corral it in.
27min: Sergio Ramos uncharacteristically misses an unchallenged header off a corner.
30min: Oh! Salgado drives the ball high, but at Diego Lopez, who parries the ball over the bar… Guti got into loads of space in the Villarreal box and cleverly played the ball to the rushing right-back…
35min: WHAT?!? No penalty? Ruud gets pushed in the back trying to reach a slightly too-high headed pass from Raul, just outside the 6-yard box.
37min: Ooh, Casillas makes a rare mistake, not immediately making the grab on the ground, and I think it was Rossi right in front of him, waiting to poach a goal…
39min: Real fans are still up in arms over the non-penalty…
41min: Wow, a decent cross in by Salgado is a bit mis-controlled by Ruud and the offside flag goes up. It’s just as well, Raul and Robinho were both in the area and couldn’t get the ball in the net.
42min: Ooh… Cygan makes a hard challenge on Raul, just outside the penalty area, and Real get a free kick from a dangerous spot…
43min: Oh! Guti curls the ball in, but Diego Lopez is up to the challenge, laying out full length for the save.
44min: Ooh, another good play by Salgado, who rushes onto a slightly heavy pass from Ruud and delivers a great pass, but the ball had just inched over the goal line before he got to it.
44min: Villarreal threaten some gaps in the Real defense, but Rossi (i think) only finds side netting.
45+1min: That’s it for the first half… Real fans erupt to show their displeasure at the ref… hahaha, i love it.
HALFTIME: Well, Real have created loads of chances, and you have to think that maybe they’ll do it the Real way and score a couple late goals when Villarreal lose their legs.
HALFTIME: Villarreal are capable of playing elegant attacking football, but aside from a couple threatening runs, it’s really been Real dominating the match. Rossi’s goal really came against the run of play…
HALFTIME: Sky Sports has former England manager Steve McLaren as a studio commentator, or as he’s known in England, Second Choice Steve… haha.
HALFTIME: Some good insight from the studio crew, first remarking about the overlapping of movement of Real’s attacking trident creating space for each other, then about how Real’s really exploiting Villarreal on the right wing…
HALFTIME: The studio crew also wondered whether Real’s style is putting too much pressure on the back four, requiring utter perfection all the time… it’s a good question, because Cannavaro isn’t going to be able to give a superhuman effort every time…
HALFTIME: I doubt there will be any halftime substitutions… Real is playing pretty damn good at the moment.
HALFTIME: Real haven’t lost in 18 Liga matches at home, 16 pf them wins…
46min: No changes for either side…
48min: Also no changes, it seems, in tactics, though the tempo of the game seems to have slowed a bit.
49min: Ugh, Salgado may be doing good offensively, but defensively, he’s still botching it… He commits to a challenge in the midfield, I think on Nihat, and then gets caught out of position when he loses it… and then of course, Villarreal see this so they attack up the left.
51min: Brutal defending again by Salgado… I mean, I just saw Cannavaro move way out to the right to cover for him… Where the hell was he?
51min: Oh! Ruud misses a chance after losing 2 markers… the ball sits in the penalty area about 13 yards out, but Ruud does a quick spin-and-kick and shoots it right at Diego Lopez. Ugh.
53min: GOAL!!! Robinho caps off a stunning counterattack… Casillas initiates with a quick throw out, Guti gives a lovely touch pass to Ramos who carries it all the way to the box, and passes right to Raul whose shot is saved, but collects the rebound and squares to Guti, and Lopez again saves, but third time lucky for Robinho who blasts the rebound into the far post. Where was the Villarreal defense? Real Madrid 2-1 Villarreal.
56min: Real are sniffing blood in the water… they’re attacking in waves now.
58min: Oh! Diego Lopez is pulling a Casillas for Villarreal, singlehandedly keeping them in this game… He makes a great diving save on Baptista’s searing drive, after a Real indirect free kick…
59min: Canni goes off for Angel…
60min: Oh, a terrible offside call on Raul, who was definitely onside when he rushed onto Robinho’s pass into the box…
62min: Hmmm… Real are attacking more up the left wing now than the right wing… Robinho is definitely feeling it, but this time he gets muscled off the ball…
63min: Baptista chests the ball down going into the box but Cygan comes across and knocks the ball out…
64min: Oh, Ruud cleverly curls onto a pass, but his shot goes WAY over the goal… Real are playing so well with their use of space…
65min: Yellow card on Gago for handball, but there wasn’t anything he could do, as Villarreal counterattacked and he had to cover for Sergio Ramos…
66min: The free kick hits the wall and goes out for a corner… but no damage as it goes long, away from any danger…
68min: Salgado runs funny and he’s lost a step, but he beats Rossi to a ball and he’s able to put it out for a throw-in rather than a corner.
69min: Legs are getting tired… there’s less pressuring on defense. Looks like more subs are coming…
70min: Nihat goes off… Sneijder is warming up…
70min: Hmmm, they’ve missed showing the subs, cuz the commentators say that Villarreal has now used all their subs…
71min: Ruud isn’t quite as elegant on the ball as Guti or Robinho, but damn, he’s effective, shielding the ball away from defenders and keeping possession…
73min: Baptista goes off for Sneijder…
75min: GOAL! A semi-botched Villarreal corner somehow finds Capdevila alone in front of the goal who taps in a mis-kick past Casillas. Real Madrid 2-2 Villarreal.
77min: GOAL!!! Great response from Real. Robinho’s throw-in goes to Gago who picks out Sneijder going one-on-one on Lopez, and the Dutchman slots it home. Real Madrid 3-2 Villarreal.
80min: Yellow card on Godin on a clumsy challenge on Robinho.
80min: Sneijder goes for goal on the free kick, curling it to the far top corner, but Diego Lopez pushes it out.
81min: Salgado goes down after Angel steps on his shin on his challenge… Drenthe looks like he’s warming up…
84min: Hmm, can’t remember if Tomasson was starting but I just heard his name for the first time in the match, so maybe he was a sub?
85min: Hmmm, the substitution board says Robinho for Drenthe, but it will be Salgado for Drenthe.
88min: Ugh, lucky for Real that the Villarreal leftback was greedy and tried to beat Casillas on the near post after going around Torres, because there were some open yellow shirts in the box…
89min: Robinho comes off for Higuain, probably so he can get the ovation he deserves…
90min: Commentators are questioning Schuster’s substitutions… like, why didn’t he bring on Metzelder for Salgado, instead of Drenthe? Then you could switch off Ramos into rightback… but whatever.
90+1min: Great movement still from Real, still looking for another goal… Guti has been on fire all match long. Great touch and movement from the wily veteran.
90+3min: Cazorla takes a shot at a 25-yard drive, but it goes wide of the goal.
90+4min: Oh no… Gago concedes a foul on Tomasson, who pleads his case, but it does look like a foul…
90+4min: Hahaha, Senna gets booked for taking the free kick before the ref allowed it…
90+5min: Casillas parries the over the bar, and amazingly, the ref whistles for a corner even though we’re now into the second minute AFTER the 3 minutes of indicated stoppage time…
90+5min: It’s a rubbish corner and it’s all over. The ref puts this one to bed and Real take all 3 points to keep their 100% home record alive.
POSTGAME: Real increase their lead to 9 points over second-place Barca, and Villarreal remain in third-place on 38 points, a whopping 15 points back.
POSTGAME: It’s clear that Real plays best against attacking teams who give them the space to run and pass freely on the counter.
POSTGAME: They ran rampant over Villarreal from the outset, and though Villarreal came back twice to tie the score, Los Merengues don’t look like they ever lost their touch, which sometimes seems to come and go…
POSTGAME: Real definitely have the upper hand in the race for the Liga title, but don’t forget about our comeback last year… Our defense doesn’t give me enough confidence to write this baby off yet.
POSTGAME: But credit where credit’s due… they played a dominating match today, and even when it was all tied up with 15 minutes to go, I never really felt that the match was in doubt because, if anything, Villarreal’s defending was even poorer than ours.
POSTGAME: Ok, let’s go to the scorecards… Casillas didn’t stand on his head, but then again, he didn’t really have to. Villarreal’s 2 goals couldn’t really be blamed on him…
POSTGAME: Salgado had an ok match… he was good going forwards, but too often got caught out because of it, but thankfully, Villarreal couldn’t capitalize on his mistakes. Sergio Ramos played well, but his tendency to go forward is better served at rightback than from the centre. Great instincts on the attack though. Cannavaro was good, aside from getting undressed by Rossi on Villarreal’s first goal… He covered well for Torres and Salgado whenever they ventured forward. Torres had a decent game too, I don’t remember too many Villarreal attacks up his side…
POSTGAME: Gago was alright, doing well to pick out Sneijder on Real’s third goal, but he gave away some dumb fouls too. Baptista was a bit invisible tonight, not really asserting his presence, but then again, it was Guti who was playing in the advanced midfielder role, not the Brazilian. That might have had something to do with it. Guti thrived with less defensive responsibilities… he was amazing, all match long. His vision is unparalleled in the squad, if not the entire league, and he didn’t even take any dumb fouls today.
POSTGAME: Raul was his usual industrious self, and his constant running was bad for the Villarreal defense, both when attacking and when defending. Ruud was a bit unlucky not to score, but he was still dangerous, usually lurking off one of the centrebacks looking for that pass… Robinho was fantastic. That left wing is his, to Robben’s detriment, and he was just sensational on his two goals.
POSTGAME:Sneijder is a bit too short to play anything except the offensive midfielder role, that much was obvious to me whenever Real was trying to clear their defensive half. A couple times he tried some volleys on clearing attempts and only managed to put the ball out of play. He made up for it with the winning goal though, beggars can’t be choosers. Drenthe and Higuain didn’t really have much time to show their stuff, but they didn’t make any mistakes which is about the best you can ask of anyone.
POSTGAME: Alright, so a good team performance from Los Merengues, though Casillas lost his shutout streak at 574 minutes. Real increase their lead at the top, which is the main thing, and put even more pressure on Barca. Let’s see what happens when Real travel to Almeria next week. Aight, I’m out.

Category: Liveblog, Team News

Tags: Liveblog, Team News, Villarreal

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