Liveblog: Valencia v Real Madrid

Hala Madrid! Okay, I have some bad news and I have some good news. The bad news is, the match tonight against Valencia is only on tape-delay on Sky Sports 2 in the UK. Not sure about the situation in America, but streaming shouldn’t be affected. The good news is, I’m going to liveblog it anyways, so make sure you come around to comment, but don’t give away anything!

Los Merengues are coming off back-to-back wins, against Deportivo in La Liga and Olympiakos in the Champions League, but the Mestalla is always a tough place for the men in white, though they haven’t actually lost in Valencia in 3 years. With the latest reports of chairman Ramon Calderon denying any contact with transfer target David Villa, I think the match may have a bit more of an edge to it than normal, which is already pretty damn high. Valencia dropped to fourth place last weekend, 4 points behind Real Madrid, after losing away to Sevilla, and they’ll be looking to get back into the title chase with maximum points.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Quique Flores was ousted as manager of Los Ches on Monday, and B team coach Oscar Fernandez was handed the reins of the first team. Valencia will be looking to make an impression, so Madrid may be looking to wait out a draw, with Sevilla looming on Saturday.

Heinze, Cannavaro and Diarra return from the injured list, though Pepe and Robben remain there. Also staying in Madrid are Salgado, Soldado, Drenthe, Higuain and Codina. I’d look for Schuster to return to his preferred 4-4-2 formation, with Ramos, Metzelder, Cannavaro and Heinze in the back, Diarra, Guti, Robinho and Sneijder in the midfield, and Ruud and Raul up front. Baptista may get a run out, as he hasn’t seen the field in some time, but Balboa also impressed against Olympiakos, so he’s a possibility too.

I’m hoping for a draw really, so I’ll go with 2-2. No naming scorers as I never have any luck with that. Tune in later for the liveblog!

PREGAME: Here we go!
PREGAME: Interesting 4-3-3 formation for Real. Metzelder and Cannavaro in central defense, Ramos and Marcelo on the wings. Gago, Diarra and Guti in the midfield, and the 3 R’s in attack - Robinho, Raul and Ruud.
1min: GOAL!!! First minute goal for Raul! Great work by Robinho to draw defenders and a wicked left-footed shot by Raul. Ruud probably distracted Valencia keeper Hildebrand by being WAY offside… Valencia 0-1 Real Madrid.
4min: Nice fluidity by Los Merengues in the early going… but it usually starts like this, doesn’t it?
5min: Oh, Ruud nearly stole a ball from the centreback and he would’ve been all alone on goal… I know who wins that battle.
6min: Ugh, some really ugly defending by Real inside the box. We just can’t get a handle on that.
7min: Great free kick by Guti results in a good flick-on header from Metzelder that forces a Hildebrand save and a Real corner…
8min: And the corner is cleared pretty easily. No danger there.
9min: Ruud beats the offside trap and Hildebrand had a great save on a direct shot. I think Ruud should’ve lobbed that one, but the second shot got cleared off by another defender. The resulting corner is also cleared. Damn, that should’ve been a goal. Ugh.
11min: Gago is starting off well tonight. Snappy, smart passes, and some good moves to retain possession.
12min: Actually, I should also praise Robinho. It was his seeing-eye pass that sprung Ruud.
13min: Valencia looks really disorganized in the midfield. Real actually looks like a good team now.
15min: Easy header from Angulo means an easy save for Casillas.
19min: Valencia finally finding their feet, being a bit more menacing in attack, but they still haven’t really challenged Casillas. Madrid looks much better in the midfield, not giving up the ball so easily… and the back four is defending really high up the pitch, within 10 yards of the halfway line.
22min: Some nice touch passing by Madrid… but they’re letting themselves down by playing long balls into the forwards, making it a 50-50 proposition at best. Sergio Ramos was sprung down the right, but uncharacteristically completely blew the crossing pass.
24min: Unlucky play by Robinho who gave away a pass, thinking that the ref was on his team…
25min: GOAL!!! This time Ruud beats Helguera to a long ball and his flick over Hildebrand makes it into the goal, as the Dutchman shields the bouncing ball from the Spanish defender. Valencia 0-2 Real Madrid.
28min: Oh!! Metzelder misses a glorious chance by booting the ball over the crossbar when he was all alone in front of Hildebrand. The Valencia defense made a hash of Guti’s free kick and the German international couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
30min: GOAL!!! Sergio Ramos crushes the ball off the far post with a wicked kick, after Diarra poaches the ball off Helguera. Absolutely fantastic goal. Valencia 0-3 Real Madrid.
32min: Ooh, Robinho is just offside and in his current form, you know that was more than likely in the goal…
33min: Wow, Valencia is just shell-shocked now. Joaquin is stamping around in frustration.
35min: Oh! Ramos crosses in from far off the right wing, but it manages to hit the crossbar on its way out… Hildebrand was tracking it well though.
36min: GOAL!!! Ruud tips in a Robinho volleyed pass, after Guti picks him out with an exquisite pass across the field. Real is running rampant. Valencia 0-4 Real Madrid.
38min: Real are playing with the flow and touch they had against Villarreal. This looks good, though I’m not sure if this is because Valencia is just completely demoralized with the events of the last week or so… still, they’re third in the table.
39min: Raul is unlucky not to have Robinho’s flick pass drop at his feet as the Valencia offside trap gets broken again. Helguera flies in to clear the ball away.
41min: Joaquin commits a bad foul on Marcelo, but doesn’t get carded. Lucky for him.
43min: Wow, just as I started to think it, the commentators said it: no one’s having a bad game for Real. Guti is particularly on form, not dropping at the slightest challenge, but smartly sidestepping and keeping possession. Gago is having a terrific half, and even occasional whipping boy Metzelder is having a good game thus far, his awful point-blank miss aside.
HALFTIME: Well, Real Madrid is running and playing like a certain Catalan team that everyone has come to fear over the last 3 years… and if they can somehow bottle up whatever it is that makes them play like this, just as they did against Villarreal, we just might get people praising the joga bonito of Los Merengues.
HALFTIME: I just don’t get this team. Sometimes they play like this, with wonderful flowing football like Barcelona and Arsenal, and they look like worldbeaters. But most of the time, they don’t have quite the same crispness on their passes and giving up possession too much in the midfield, which means often giving up odd-man rushes and really shoddy goals.
HALFTIME: Oh, something else this first half confirmed for me: Helguera is a terrible defender. I have no idea how he lasted so long at Madrid, but thank God he’s not on the team anymore.
HALFTIME: Sure, Valencia is missing David Villa, and they’re not playing Fernandez or Sunny, but still, it’s not like they’re a crappy team, right? They still have top players like Silva, Joaquin, Miguel, Albelda… It’s just amazing. Let’s hope Real can keep it up in the second half.
47min: Marcelo is lucky to escape getting a yellow card after basically throwing Joaquin to the ground… but Gavilan’s free kick flies harmlessly out of bounds on the far side of the goal.
49min: Valencia are starting the second half with more intent, looking a far better side than at the end of the first half.
50min: Real aren’t looking as sharp, especially at the back, but they’re keeping possession with some smart passes and good movement.
53min: That said, Real are letting Valencia to carry the ball forward, not tackling in the midfield but bringing people back to defend, and they look good so far, picking off any errant passes…
55min: Now Real are starting to take the piss… Guti and Robinho, in succession, started walking up the ball, even with clear space ahead of them and a closing defender behind them. Don’t stop working!
56min: Albelda gets the first yellow card for a bad challenge on Robinho…
57min: Heinze comes on as the first substitution, Marcelo goes off.
58min: Robinho gets called for offsides after a headed pass… that’s the third or fourth iffy offsides call so far. really disputable.
58min: Goal. Joaquin passes in for Angulo who makes no mistake and blasts in from just outside the penalty box. I think Sergio Ramos played him onside. Damn. Valencia 1-4 Real Madrid.
60min: Vicente on for Gavilan.
61min: Definitely better play from Valencia now… Real seem to be tightening up in the back.
63min: GOAL!!! Robinho stops and shoots past an over-running defender, after a terrific pass from Gago gets him free on the left side. Valencia 1-5 Real Madrid.
64min: Baptista comes on for Ruud.
70min: After a bit of loose defending, Real seems to have decided to make an effort, and now they’re really putting their bodies into tackles and shielding balls.
72min: Ooh, a quickly taken free kick almost catches Real off-guard, but Casillas makes a great reflex save.
73min: Wow, Sergio Ramos gets a breather, with Miguel Torres coming on.
76min: Miguel Angulo goes off for Mata, the former Castilla player.
77min: Helguera gets between two Real defenders to get his head on a corner, but it goes straight to Casillas.
78min: Baptista makes a hash out of an odd-man rush for Real… he can’t control the pass from Robinho and Valencia manage to sidestep a sixth goal.
81min: Valencia’s last substitution… Silva off for Montoro.
83min: Wow, great 1-2 passing between Guti and Robinho. The more time these 2 get, the better I’m sure we’ll see them work together.
84min: Awesome long pass for Robinho forces Albiol, the last defender, to pull the Real attacker back and he gets a straight red card for his efforts.
85min: … but the following free kick doesn’t challenge Hildebrand.
86min: Great diving save by Casillas on Mata, whose shot made it untouched through a crowd in front of the keeper.
88min: Joaquin beats Heinze to the inside for a cross, but heads it just wide. That should’ve been a goal. Joaquin’s like that though… very Guti-like consistency.
90min: And it’s over. The ref doesn’t have any reason for any extra time.
POSTGAME: Coupled with Atletico’s 4-3 win over Sevilla and Villarreal’s 3-0 win over Levante, Real stay top of the table with 25 points. Villarreal are second over Barcelona who play tomorrow night. Atletico jump into fourth.
POSTGAME: Just a digression, but Mata played pretty decently as a sub for Valencia, and Jurado scored for Atletico, so some of the former Castilla players who were allowed to leave have come good. Of course, after a performance like tonight, they do seem a bit surplus to requirements.
POSTGAME: Great performance all around. Casillas was again top of his game, with several reflex saves, and he had no chance on the single Valencia goal. Cannavaro and Metzelder were fairly anonymous, but that just means they didn’t make any mistakes. Marcelo did a pretty good job, advancing in attack sometimes, but playing a good game on defense. Heinze and Torres were fair, with Heinze seeming to have a bit more trouble with Joaquin than Marcelo, but in general pretty good in the back.
POSTGAME: The midfield was solid. It’s remarkable that Diarra, with a solid game, good positioning and playing within his skills, could be said to have played the worst, but it just shows how good Gago and Guti were tonight. Both played excellently, passing with great vision and defending pretty well, even for Guti.
POSTGAME: Raul was a bit unseen after his goal, but he was much more involved after Baptista came on, leaving Raul to play the lead role off the last defender’s shoulder. Robinho is continuing a great run of form, absolutely weaving his way through the Valencia defense, scoring a goal and assisting on another. Ruud was Ruud, very solid with his two poacher’s goals and you could argue he should’ve had another. Baptista was about the worst player on the field, but given his limited touches and predictable rustiness, I think that’s probably allowed.
POSTGAME: All in all, a dominating performance, a great show, and hopefully something they can continue against Sevilla on the weekend. Aight Madridistas, I’m out.

Category: Liveblog, Team News

Tags: Liveblog, Team News, Valencia

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share