Real Madrid 2-0 Getafe
Santiago Bernabeu 80,000 attendance
Jornada 9 10/31/09
Sr. Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz

MATCH STATS
Real Madrid Getafe
Shots (on Goal) 23(8) 17(7)
Fouls 9 11
Corner Kicks 2 5
Offsides 5 1
Time of Possession 41% 59%
Yellow Cards 2 1
Red Cards 1 0
Saves 7 6

Real Madrid got a 2-0 result with ten men against neighbors Getafe in a dull mini-derbi that was more therapeutic then anything for the Real squad. Manuel Pellegrini decided that the lack of width was holding Real back from its full attacking potential, and use yet another formation this season, while Getafe coach Michel played it safe with a five man midfield and tight lines. The game was very methodical, with possession firmly in favor of the home side at 60-40 despite the man advantage for Getafe, but a few minutes of industry from Gonzalo Higuain put the game out of reach for the visitors.

Its worth mentioning that before the sending off of Albiol, Real were content to knock the ball around the midfield with little pressure exerted on the Getafe goal. Once the man advantage was apparent, the game opened up a little more, but Getafe still kept their lines compact as not to give any hope to a Real Madrid flash attack. Real on the other hand looked more lively down a man, with more space in order to operate inside their own lines, and a heightened sense of urgency given the dire need for a result after a tough week.

Lineups

Real Madrid
Casillas
Sergio Ramos
Pepe
Arbeloa
Marcelo
Albiol (Red Card)
Lass
Xabi Alonso
Kaká
sub Van der Vaart 84′
Higuaín Goal 54′, 57′
sub Raúl 78′
Benzema
sub Gago 62′

Getafe
Ustari
M. Torres
Cata Díaz
Mario
Mané
Celestini
Pedro León
Boateng
sub Albín 53′
Parejo
sub Adrián González 69′
Soldado
Manu
sub Gavilán 61′

As you can see above, the move many of you were calling for finally took place, with Arbeloa at left back. Our first choice back line was finally on display, but not for long. Marcelo was pushed further forward in a bid to spread the opposition and Higuain starting as a faux-winger, a position he sometimes occupied under Juande Ramos last season to great effect. With a double pivot and Kaka behind lone striker Benzema, the formation looked awfully reminiscent of the defensive approach Juande took to every game. The Real management did not like this approach, so how could Pellegrini get away with it? Kaka for Sneijder or Raul was a big upgrade, and obviously the injury to Ronaldo affected such a formation, but it was history repeating itself none the less.

Real opened the game with a dominant 10 minute spell of possession, but there as not cutting edge to this advantage as Getafe effectively soaked up pressure and let Real play with the ball. Around the 13th minute Getafe began to take more initiative in the game, and were counter attacking more effectively. Real were trying to keep possession for as long as I can, but as often seen this season, we were more concerned with holding on to the ball that our ability to create chances was often lost. Kaka was the only player in the first half who really gave it a go offensively, with bot Higuain and Marcelo ineffective in spreading the Getafe back line like Pellegrini had hoped.

On the 27th minute the game turned, with a miserable call from referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz, who adjudged Albiol to have brought down Soldado, and as the last man back, was given a straight red card. Such lapses in judgement were a cloud that hung over his head at Valencia, and perhaps he could have gotten out of such a situation, but the call was still poor. In real time and on replay you see Soldado running backwards and trying to lean in to Albiol for position as the ball is in the air. Soldado wants to trap the ball with his back to goal, as a header on would give Getafe nothing with no on rushing players. Both Soldado and Albiol have a fist full or jersey each, and when Albiol shifts to address the ball, Soldado tumbles backwards as he loosed his balance. He bought that call, as it could have gone either way, and I would have blown for a foul on Soldado, who was backing in. The Bernabeu let the ref have it, but the call stood and Pellegrini’s eyes drooped like that cartoon dog (name Droopy) at the prospect of playing 60 minutes a man down.

I did say that the game changed at this point though, because after Pedro Leon put the resulting free kick wide, Real began to use the ball more effectively and Lass was dropping deeper and pressing for the ball more. Kaka and Lass were my star performers of the first half, as each did their assigned tasks well, and if it was not for effective screening from Celestini and Boateng, and a compact defensive line, we may have had a goal or two. Benzema and Higuain were not making a whole lot of trouble for the Geta back four though, and with Marcelo switch to left back, Sergio Ramos pinched and Arbeloa moved to the right, we had a more compact shape as well, and attack down the middle we would.

The only action of note for the close of the first half fell to Soldado, who spaced himself well behind Sergio Ramos for a headed chance that he put right at Casillas. Last year he had a similar chance from the opposite wing, Esteban Granero the provider, and he powered that home. This year Soldado looks short on confidence, as he is often left alone up top with little support. Certainly Dani Parejo provided little service or danger to the Real defense today to free Soldado from the shackle of Pepe. Real went in to the break with the better of the possession, but it was quite clear that either Pellegrini needed to make a change or the game would continue to move along rather mundanely. Cesar and I both suggested pulling Marcelo and putting Granero out there, which would reshuffle our back line with Lass at right back, Arbeloa back to left back. We were wrong to suggest that move though…

Pellegrini did not make any changes, and the second half continued in the same fashion as the first. Although the pressure was on Pellegrini to make a move and get the win, Michel clearly knew he would have a tough time justifying a 0-0 draw to ten men Real if he did not introduce a more offensive scheme. In the 53rd minute he introduced winger Albin for the defensive midfielder Boateng. Pellegrini did not have to make a move, Michel did it for him. It may have been a blunder by the rookie tactician, but it was a gamble that did not pay off. Geta effectively surrendered the center of the pitch to Lass and Xabi Alonso, and soon the dividends would be reaped. Benzema won the ball at the half way line, and moved the play wide to Marcelo. Marcelo deliberated on the ball but seeing an outstretched hand curled in an early cross the cleared Cata Diaz and hit Higuain on the chest. Pipita controlled perfectly and side footed past Osky for the 1-0.

A great ball by Marcelo, and an exquisite take by Higuain, who was given a gift but showed nice patience to control, take a touch and then finish. A striker who is maturing for sure. That goal could hardly be blamed on Michel’s substitution, but the next one could have. Three minutes later an isolated Celestini was stripped in the center circle by Lass. With Miguel Torres already pushed up the field, Benzema found space on the right and began to move forward with the ball. He cut in slightly, drawing both center backs which allowed Higuain to make a diagonal run that Benzema fed, and after two touches Higuan fired past Osky for the 2-0. In a few short moments the Getafe central midfield had yielded Real the killer 1-2 punch, and the game was over after that.

Pellegrini reacted by adding to the dominance of the center midfield, withdrawing Benzema for Gago. Getafe’s wingers rarely troubled Real’s flanks, even with the introduction of Albin and later on Gavilan, both dangerous players on their day. Lass and Xabi were cutting the supply to Parejo, who looked a shadow of the lad who played so well for Castilla, and Pellegrini tightened the screw by using Raul as another body to defend centrally, effectively nullifying the substitution of Adrian Gonzalez. It was not a tactical master class by Pellegrini, but a mistake by Michel that won it for Real. Getafe were not dominated the midfield by any stretch of the meaning, but they were keeping Kaka from getting the ball as much as he did, and if he did get the ball they were effectively double teaming him with the center backs. With just Celestini, he was over run, and the supply to Pedro Leon and Manu was cut short.

It must be said that both wide players were poor today, and Parejo was ineffective in the final third, often disposed with no outlets to turn to. Soldado was wasteful of a chance or two, but this was more a win of attrition then style. And that is how it had to be for Real. Pellegrini now takes his team to Milan with the confidence of containing an effective counter attacking team, but with the knowledge that they will have to come up with another way to win against AC Milan as the center midfield will be a battle. The idea from Pellegrini was correct, to stretch the play, but with Kaka so vertical in his approach, and Higuain and Marcelo not proper wingers, is he kidding himself in to think that would work?

I suppose we will have to wait and see on Tuesday, but its a win under the belt and another hopefully to come.

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Pellegrini’s Post Match Comments:

“I don’t think we benefitted from the red card because I believe it was unfair and because we had great spirit from the start.”

“I think it’s best for others to analyse the team’s performance. It was important for me to offer the fans a game like this. They helped us throughout the match.”

“This was a very important game because we earned bad results last week. We are still leaders in La Liga and in the Champions League and we hope to make a comeback in the Copa del Rey. This was a key encounter with which to turn our recent situation around.”

“I’m not worried about what people say about us. I think we are all very much involved in what we do and we must remain distanced from what others say.”

“This was a special game for the Club because we need to keep earning points. I hope this triumph allows us to perform well in Milan and to stay alive in every championship. Every game is difficult.”

“We knew it would be hard for us to change our style. I don’t like teams that counterattack and I wanted to change that. It’s hard with new players and a new coaching staff. We are finding it difficult at times and it will continue to be this way. We haven’t conceded a single goal in six of our nine games and that’s very positive. We are one of the least scored upon teams.”

“Higuain’s situation on the team has always been very good. He couldn’t play before because he’s been injured. He is as important as Benzema. He’s always been very involded and he is gradually doing better. He is essential to us and he will stand out.”

“Sergio Ramos is a very good centre back. He is versatile, which is very important. I regard Marcelo as a left back and Arbeloa can play anywhere. We’ve been forced to make changes to avoid our men from getting too tired.”

“I liked my team’s spirit above anything else. Personal and collective performances may vary, but spirit is constant.”

He makes a few interesting points. First, that he himself will rarely instruct his team to counter attack. Much like Del Bosque and Aragones, he is a possession manager. Thats all well and fine, as I am too, but we have lacked a cutting edge in creating chances that still worries me. The two goals by Pipitia were nice, but can we attribute them to collective team play, or even an individual moment of brilliance? Not really. Higuain has show he should be a starter, and as I mentioned during the match, Benzema has shown he should not. He missed a few great chances, two of which had to be goals. He was caught offside often, and his movement off the ball is lacking. The pass to Higuain was a nice contribution, but as a striker you must score, and he has done that to few times so far. Raul has more goals and only a few more minutes if that tells you anything.

Second, Sergio Ramos was superb at centerback. Raul Albiol has shown he is not up for a physical battle, and several strikers including Soldado (Negredo roughed him up) get the best of him in the air. Ramos had none of it and kept Soldado quite. Pellegrini sees Marcelo as a left back, so do not warm to the idea of Arbeloa at left back. Rotations may see him play there a few times, but Marcelo is #1 at left back, and with Drenthe so terrible, Arbeloa is essentially #2 at left and right back. Makes you wonder why Torres was sold? He played pretty well defensively today, but like many have mentioned, contribute little going forward. Against ten men he still stayed in his own half a majority of the time, but then again Arbeloa is similar. I dont understand the rational?

Third, team spirit improved considerably today with a rejuvenated Lassana Diarra and the absence of both Raul and Guti from the starting lineup. I still see both as key players, but they are not essential like they use to be unfortunately. I will never demand they be off loaded or even benched, but if the coach decides to bench them, I accept it. Both have been great servants and will continue to be, but coming off the bench will be their role in the coming months. I think that is not a sign of disrespect, but a willingness to allow them to prolong their career with Real. It is hard to handle the aging of club legends. Perez clearly wont even toe the line after dismissing Hierro so arrogantly, so its a complex situation. But both still deserve a place in the squad, as they have contributed well this season when called upon. The new reality is players like Ramos, Higuain, Casillas and Granero (eventually Negredo and Parejo) will be the spine of this side, and I feel safe in knowing we had a hand off from one generation to the next.

My man of the match has to be Pipita, but as mentioned above, Lass, Sergio Ramos and Kaka played well today also. Barcelona could only get a point up in Pamplona, a late own goal by Pique gifting Osasuna an unjustified goal. I say this because I watched the game, and Barcelona were unlucky to not get a few. Osasuna also should have had Flano sent off for a last man back tackle on Ibrahimovic, but to no avail. There is the problem, as Barcelona should have had a man advantage and probably a win, and we should not have been a man down. The inconsistency of calls in Spain is mind blowing, but its what makes La Liga what it is I suppose. You wont hear my crying out for justice for Barcelona to often though. A win is a win, and we will now move forward. Leave your comments on the match below please. HALA MADRID! And Happy Halloween!

Hello everybody, Corey asked me to do the Match review, so it’s nice to write again and share my thoughts about the match with all of my fellow madridistas.

First, let’s get the match facts out of the way:

REAL MADRID:
Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Albiol, Marcelo; Granero, ”Lass”, Xabi Alonso, Van der Vaart (Kaká, m.72); Raúl (Drenthe, m.82) y Benzema (Higuaín, m.72).

VALLADOLID: Jacobo; Pedro López, Luis Prieto, Nivaldo, Arzo; Nauzet (Manucho, m.58), Borja (Pelé, m.79), Rubio, Marquitos, Héctor Font (Bueno, m,.78); y Diego Costa.

GOALS:1-0, m.13: Raúl. 2-0, m.18: Raúl. 2-1, m.29: Nauzet. 3-1, m.45: Marcelo. 3-2, m.53: Marquitos. 4-2, m.79: Higuaín.

MATCH STATS
Real Madrid Valladolid
Shots on Goal 6 8
Fouls 11 16
Corner Kicks 6 12
Time of Possession 54% 46%
Yellow Cards 2 2
Red Cards 0 0

This match had been under scrutiny, from the press and the fans for the last couple of weeks; the defeat in Sevilla,the poor performances of certain players (and coach), the international break, and Raul, were all part of an explosive mix, a mix that resulted in all the expectation regarding this match.

The game started well for Madrid, with Raul scoring twice in the span of 5 min: the first one after a great play from Granero on the right wing, which Raul put past the keeper with a clever touch from his heel; the second one, came on a play from the left, where the much-maligned-for two weeks Marcelo provided Raul with a beautiful ball that the Captain put in the back of the net with right foot, you heard that right, HIS RIGHT FOOT!!!!. Don’t worry, this is not the first time in this review where you’ll see the words RIGHT FOOT in capital letters, just bear with me….

After the two goals, Madrid’s level of play was really low, giving Valladolid the chance to score in the 29th minute, courtesy of a BEAUTIFUL free kick goal from Neuzet. The FK was a result of Lass’s STUPID AND CLUMSY foul right in the edge of our penalty box. More on Lass later.

It was after this goal, when the figure of Valladolid’s Diego Costa started to emerge; for me, he was MOTM, he had our team in shambles, and was easily the best player on the field yesterday. His pace, skill and reading of the game were a thing of beauty. The game continued with Valladolid putting more and more pressure on our team, specially on Lass and Xabi, who were having a really tough time building the plays. And so it was that in stoppage time, Marcelo started a run down the left, then drifted inside, went past two Valladolid players, and scored a goal with a cannon from the edge of the area, with once again, HIS RIGHT FOOT!!!!. Valladolid were right to protest the goal, because it happened after stoppage time had already ended, tough luck for them.

The second half started, and after 7 min, Valladolid reduced the difference to one goal: Marquitos scored a superb goal, after a great pass from Diego Costa, who caught Pepe and Albiol off guard. The play that made this goal possible was a Xabi Alonso lost ball, who up to this point was having a terrible game. Madrid’s play was stagnant, and as result of that Pellegrini brought in Kaka and Higuain (with the fans chanting their names while they were warming up) for Benzema and Van der Vaart, both of whom had average games in my opinion.

And so it was, that fresh from his debut with Argentina, with a great goal I might add, that in the 79th minute, Pipita scored a cracker of a goal: Xabi gave him an in between the lines pass, Gonzalo let the ball ran, and once he saw the keeper coming up, he scored with a delicate touch over him, resulting in the beautiful “Vaselina”. Beautiful goal indeed.

But Valladolid weren’t done; they still created more chances, and came really close to making it 4-3 near the end, after a great individual play from who else, Diego Costa, who took the ball in the right flank, got rid of Sergio Ramos, and shot softly past Iker, with Albiol saving the goal right on the line.

I wanted to come back to Lass’s performance: HE WAS JUST PLAIN TERRIBLE!!!!. I really don’t know what’s wrong with him, but many of us who were doing live comments during the match were screaming at him to “KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!!!”; he lost countless balls, made poor decisions, gave away stupid fouls, like the one that resulted on Valladolid’s first goal. He’s really not the same player from last year, and i don’t know if it’s a result of him wearing the number 10 shirt, and ASSUMING that he’s now an attacking midfielder. Lass, my boy, GET YOUR SHIT STRAIGHT!!!

As for the Raul part of the title, well, we see it once again: the captain comes through whenever his doubters start asking for his head, and to me, it’s a pretty difficult situation for the club and the coach, because I think that deep inside they both know the team would be better with him contributing from the bench, but you just can’t overlook his contributions, professionalism and commitment to the cause. So, for now, until he has a bad game once again, we won’t be hearing much about him. Benzema, on the other hand, get ready to read your name on the press a lot during the coming days…, and not in a good way….

CONCLUSIONS:

In the end, we got the three points, but we did it only because of our “pegada”, and not because of our team play.

There were many subplots leading up to this match: should Marcelo start???; what about Benzema???; should Raul start from the bench???, etc, etc, etc. To me, they all add up to one: Pellegrini.

For me, he must get his act together, or he won’t last long in this team. It’s the coach’s duty to make adjustments and make the tough decisions, whatever they might be. If they mean no wing play, well, make sure there’s support from the midfielders when the full backs attack; if Benzema starts, make sure he understands his role, and pair him up with somebody who complements him; if Raul has to sit, well, DO IT. But have the cojones man!!!!

It’s really worrying to me to watch this team and see the lack of fundamental plays that you expect from a world class football team: two against one in the wings; runs to the hole without the ball; runs at the back of the defense; defensive support, etc, and sorry if I sound like a broken record, but it’s Pellegrini’s fault.

Thanks for your time everybody, I’ll be in San Francisco from Tuesday to Sunday, so if you know of a good place where I can watch the Madrid-Milan game, please let me know.

HALA MADRID!!!, and Corey, count with me anytime.

Pipita’s goal in one word: sublime.

Madrid has become synonymous with goals this season. Possibly the most offensively-talented team on the planet, we come to see Madrid for the goals. We come to see greatness – and Pipita, in his first La Liga goal of the season, gave it to us. Ooooh, and Xabi – what a PASS! (Raul’s backheel was fab too)

And what a great turnaround overall. This was the game to test our fortitude after a terrible loss, and I saw a hunger that I hadn’t seen before. The passing and the movement between our players were far, far better too. Well, at least in the first half. The second half was a bit more nervy, and if Valladolid had any better luck finishing, this game would’ve been a lot closer. Still – this is a great step forward. I’ll take it!

Herein, a quick n dirty blog:

Sergio – Pepe – Albiol – Marcelo
Lass – Xabi
Granero – VDV
Raul – Benzema

0:50 WOW, is Real FAST!!! It’s like they wanna forget that Sevilla debacle as quickly as possible, already a near-chance for Benzema if only he could’ve gotten onto that pass from Marcelo!

8:18 Benzema over the bar, but I love how Real is playing right now. It is all speed and gusto, plenty of support everywhere going forward. They are really playing with a chip on their shoulders, and this game is already night and day in contrast to the Sevilla one. What a turnaround in two weeks, huh? Cuz right now? Real is hungry . . maybe for the first time all year. Exhilarating to see.

9:20 LOL at the shot of Ronaldo munching a sandwich, while wearing a natty sweater with tie up in the VIP box.

12:55 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RAUL, with the BACKHEEL! WAAAA!!! 1-0!

What a nifty goal! How did Raul know?? Granero skips by his marker on the right wing and sends a superb cross in, low and fast, Raul in the right place to just get a touch on it to send it in – but the supreme confidence with which he does it is astounding to see. Haha, how they hug! You know what? Maybe I DO want Alvaro to return. This team – sparkles.

17:35 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RAUL mi dios! TWO goals in FIVE minutes! And courtsey of a superb pass by Marcelo, against lesser competition he is a handful, isn’t he? And this goal, wow – full of speed and movement, Valladolid is making Real look like a superpower. Ronaldo must be jonsing to join in on this! 2-0 and we are coasting.

28:00 GOL for Valladolid! 2-1, wow is that eerie. Almost the same exact kind of goal as the Depor one v Sevilla, off the post before richocheting inside. Almost impossible to stop. This one was off a free kick. Superb ball, they deserve it.

29:40 What happened?? Sergio plows down a player in the box, isn’t that a penalty? Oh phew – just a corner.

37:00 Dammit, Sergio’s shot is blocked by – Van der Vaart?? O.o

42:50 Yellow card on Sergio for a dangerous tackle, Sergio immediately pointing to the ball that bounced away, but the ref isn’t fooled.

45:00+0:50 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MARCELO on the death! One minute to be added and here is the clock ticking past it, but they let play go on, and Marcelo powers past his hapless marker in a move reminscent of Ronaldo to blast that shot past the keeper and into goal. LOL at Marcelo’s offensive prowess today – it was a great idea to let him start and let him forget that nightmare at Sevilla. Against lesser teams, he is dynamite. Awww, and how cute is he to run to celebrate with Kaka? 3-1 when neither Sevilla nor Barcelona could even score today!

Second Half:

52:00 GOL for Val!! What another pretty goal! Haha, the ball threaded through the legs of (Xabi?) to the Val player Marquitos, who thumps it one-touch past Iker and into the net. 3-2 and Valladolid suddenly looking eager to challenge what I thought was a dead and buried game. Iker, lol, lies dramatically on the grass, face down, while Marquitos jogs back to the center circle and so breezily flips the ball over his shoulder. Game on!

70:20 PIPITA!!! Heehee, and Kaka. Gonzo smoothing back his short curly hair to be ready for his money shot. On at 71 for Benzema and VDV.

78:30 GOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PIPITA!!!!! Oh, but it is all Xabi Alonso, for finding him and sending him such a ball that has me agog. WHAT A BALL! Freeing Higuain from the shackles of his marker and sending him off to the races, and we all know what Pipita can do with the ball once given space! Ronaldo clapping too! Eeeeee!

And my astoundance is increased ten-fold when I actually see the replay, shown from the angle behind the net where you can truly see how far out Pipita lets that ball roll before he angles his shot just so, just so as to rainbow it over the keeper and bounce all giggly and cheekily into the net. WHAT A GOAL!!!!!!!! The talent on this team is just ridiculous – for that kind of pass, that kind of shot! I’m just – speechless. Simply speechless. His first La Liga goal too! 4-2.

80:00 Interesting – Drenthe on for Raul, so he plays as a winger.

84:00 HOLY COW, WHAT HAPPENED?!?! The ball just stopped at the goalline, at the feet of Albiol? What a “save” by him!! O.O How did the Val player not hit that harder? Replay: oooooh, he put too much spin on it, trying to round Iker. Phew!

90:00+2:45 WOW, another near-near-goal by Valladolid, saved by the skin of our teeth as Albiol just sticks a leg out to deflect it in time – otherwise Iker wasn’t ready from punching out that first one!

End:
OH.MY.FUCKING.GOD! Hala Madrid!!! How INSANELY HOT was Sergio pulling his shirt off, getting his head momentarily stuck in there – then finally breaking free to reveal the body of a GOD??? And his hair is starting to grow out. Oh Serg . . ! Kaka! Higuain! Just . . *bliss*.

I’m starting to forget that most football matches end in 1-0 (Is Milan really that bad?). Man, are we being spoiled by Real Madrid’s run this season! 7 wins on the trot, 24 goals scored and only 4 allowed. Not as stylish as Barca yet, but behold our own patent-pending formula: let the opponent think they have a fighting chance in the first half, let them get all hot and bothered trying to score, then slowly warm ourselves up before unleashing all hell in the second half. This formula works only against normal competition though. What will happen when we take it to Sevilla?

Marseille game first:

Sergio – Pepe – Albiol – Marcelo
Gago – Xabi – Guti
Kaka – Benzema – CR9

FSC Pregame is decent, they show a shot of the armband and white kit neatly folded and waiting for the lucky chap who gets to be captain today. GUTI!!! OHAI Rafa Nadal! With adorable scruffy hair. LOL at Morientes’ hooded eyes in the starting lineup.

6:45 Marseille is attacking with gusto. Far more gusto than us, as we cannot keep any meaningful possession at all. And there’s the first shot of the game, just over Iker’s crossbar!!

14:00 Much better from us! Though the ref seems to be swallowing his whistle a lot and letting somewhat rough play go on, no? Kaka got stepped on, Sergio with a dangerous challenge a while back, but the ref seems to be immune to the gasps from the crowd.

20:00 How come only Sergio was in the box for that corner kick? It was fantastic, dropping right into the center! LOL at Heinze lunging out at Marcelo as he deftly cut across the parameter of the box and Marcelo dancing away neatly.

22:00 A boatload of chances! If only we could support each other more?? It just seems to be Kaka running and running, annihilating their left side only to arrive in the box with no option to give the ball to, unless he shoots it himself. Or Ronaldo steaming up the right side, but then crossing in for nobody at all? C’mon, guys – talk to each other!

26:00 IKEEEEEEEERRRRR!!! Saves us from certain doom with his mitt and wonderful positioning on that runaway Niang! Pepe sliding in and failing to tackle – and for a split second it looked like Marseille would take the lead. A bullet dodged!

28:00 Ronaldo is pissed. He’s all alone on the right side, miles and miles of grass all around him as far as the eye can see – and Benzema gives it to Kaka on the congested left side who then lost it? HEY! He says to Benz. Who shrugs and wears the same expression he gives to all matters not concerning a goal – quoi?

29:00 Guti with a cutting-edge ball forward to Benzema in perfect shooting position – but it rolls right past him!! Now its Guti’s turn to be pissed.

32:30 Finally a decent shot at goal! A trademark Cristiano strike, the ball hit so clean it doesn’t even rotate as it sails through the air.

34:00 Holy GOD, here it comes, here it comes! The onslaught by Madrid! Sergio with a wicked cross in, just barely missing Benzema’s toe and parried in the nick of time by the keeper! It was thisclose! Then Guti with the gunner’s effort BLOCKED and out for a corner! And it all started with who else, Cristiano, another laser-like shot. Awesome. Xabi, though, decides to throw cold water on the party by tossing another bad corner kick. Meh.

36:00 Who is this ref?? I swear, an elephant can fall right in front of him and he will simply step over it and walk on by! Here is Xabi and a Marseille player clashing with such force that I’m sure the ref could feel the ground shake, yet he pretends nothing at all happened until its obvious the players are hurt and not getting up? C’mon!

38:35 WHAT A GOAL if that had come off!!! Benzema with a stunning bicycle kick, so so close that it just sails over the bar!! WOW! And there is Guti, who gave him that pass, pinpoint as always, flashing him a thumbs up for the attempt.

45:00 WHAT A SAVE!!!!!!! Was it Albiol who gave Benzema that gift of a pass, a through-ball straight through the entire midfield onto his running feet? It looked like a goal for sure, only for the keeper to somehow, magically, impossibly, block it! Someone bloody score something, PLZ!

Second Half:

55:00 Ten minutes in and its all bluster, nothing more. We’re creating chances, its just that – there’s no real danger to them, no real excitement. To be honest, I don’t see any defining characteristics of this team that separates it from last year’s team. What do we do better than the others? What is our trademark? Is it our passing? No. Our counter-attacking? No. Our wing play? Our strong midfield? Our creativity? Cuz right now, we’re none of those things. Not yet.

57:35 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow, is that boy fast! Finally a longball to our center forward in a perfect position to shoot, not too far away and not too close for the keeper to come out – and its RONALDO! Who maybe could’ve made it prettier, but hey, it’s a goal! And he runs to the crowd and blows kisses to them, then nods playfully with a smirk to Pepe, who provided the beautiful assist. And what an assist! Dead aim by the Portuguese, who brings so much to the table. How can Portugal be on the brink of WC2010 elimination with those two on their team? 1-0.

59:00 UUGGGGHHHH! Cristiano DOWN! Ref reaches for a card – flips over the yellow searching for the red – then raises them both high to dismiss the culprit, Diawara. That was a horrifying challenge, the defender flying in at the last minute to sweep the ball out of bounds, taking Ronaldo’s legs out with him. Did he get the ball or the man first? It was that quick!

I’m amazed that the ref could make the call that decisively. I had to rewind and watch twice before determining that he got man first, and that’s from the reverse camera angle from the endline! Maybe he’s pretty good after all?

PENALTY. Kaka to take – not Ronaldo? A buzz of anticipation goes up as Kaka coolly sends the keeper the wrong way, making it 2-0. And finally Benzema does something cute, boxing Kaka’s ear! LOL, while Pellegrini uses this time to grab Guti for a chat.

62:20 Great round of applause from the crowd as local boy Morientes comes off the pitch.

63:30 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There’s some beautiful football!!! Ronaldo finishes it, but it was the buildup that has me in awe.

Guti on the right with a spellbinding ball forward for Benzema, the crowd gasps with delight as he rounds the corner into the box! But he’s cut off and smartly plays it back to Sergio, who gives it back to him – and then Kaka puts his mark on it, a one-two so sublime it leaves the defenders in awe. How else to explain the amount of space Benzema gets to tee up Ronaldo across the goalmouth, Ronaldo who had his hand raised the whole time silently begging “me, me, me!”? So yes, Ronaldo gets to finish it. But this was a true team goal, my favorite of them all. 3-0 in what, 7 minutes??? INSANE!

66:00 LOL, six players converge onto Benzema and collapse on him, bullying him off the ball. He’s that good, huh?

67:55 Pipita on for CR9, who limps off, still hurting from that penalty box tackle.

69:30 Pipita bowls over Heinze in his eagerness to the ball.

70:10 WTF? You can’t just bowl over Guti and get away with it! If Pipita’s action was a foul then what do you call this?

71:00 Kaka with an amazing solo run! Makes it all the way into the box! Then they make a legal tackle this time, sandwiching Kaka between two dark shirts, and Pipita pouts as they steal the ball off Kaka.

71:45 Sergio off, Garay on. Albiol shifts to RB. Niang comes off too, temporarily – fab design on his hairline! Like the flicks of a bonfire on those hot-wheelers; ah, those stylish French.

72:45 GUTI NICKS A BALL AND PIPITA WASTES IT!!!!!! From what looked like a routine pass between two Marseille defenders – Guti guns in to steal it, then gallops forth – he could’ve gone for goal! But no. Higuain had said Guti was the best in welcoming him to Madrid, and Guti shows it, so unselfishly crossing the ball across the box for Pipita rather than take it himself. Pipita has to fight off Heinze though who does well to force a hurried shot from him that goes over the bar.

74:30 Guti protests that he was impeded. Ref waves play on. Haven’t you learned yet that this ref has someplace to go after this match, like a hot date? But we win the ball back, Albiol makes an appearance up the right wing to show he can be Sergio-like too, and Higuain shows beautiful ball control evading challenges from one defender and then from Heinze, only to send the shot once again over the crossbar. Is he perhaps too anxious for a goal and its bothering his shots? A nice round of applause though from the satisfied fans.

77:00 Raul on for Kaka. For once, the sub-par English commentator nails it: “Not bad if you can withdraw one of the world’s greatest players for, one of the world’s greatest players.”

79:00 Priceless shot of Kaka on the bench next to Ronaldo, and you think they’ll just stoically watch the game, but no! Kaka suddenly breaks out laughing! Haha! He flashes his neat white teeth and schoolboy smile and I’m wondering if Ronaldo made a joke but maybe Kaka is just randomly like that?

81:00 GONZO GONZO GONZO!!!!!!! HOW COULD YOU MISS??? That was given to you on a silver plate by Benzema, all you had to do is aim and kick! UGH!

Guti forces a throw-in on the left wing – gives it to Benzema who so cleverly evades a sliding tackle to wiggle free into the left of the box, running parallel to the endline. He rolls the ball across for an oncoming Higuain, who all he has to do is tuck it in!! But NOOOOOO!!!!!!! His touch lets him down yet again! Shoots it straight ahead of him and wide, Benz must be fuming over this lost assist.

81:45 Someone goes down in the box?? Who? Hey you ref, do you not care about the players at all?!

82:20 JESUS CHRIST! That was close, I thought Brandao had scored!! But Iker, San San Iker, pulls off one mother of a save. That shot was rising, and it was struck so hard, on the run – !!! Wow, wow, wow.

It was Higuain. It was Higuain who went down in the box just seconds before, when it looked like he would break away and score. Ouch.

89:45 RAFA!

89:55 OMFG! The ball just rolls to the smack center of the goalmouth, unattended??? Thank god our defender is alert enough to punt that outta there before the Marseille player, who was just an inch off from tapping that in. PHEW, THAT WAS CLOSE! (Ah, it was Garay!)

90:00+1:00 What happened???? Why the f*ck is nothing being called?! Higuain again goes down in the box, somebody tripped him, I swear to god! Yet the ref says play on! Ok! So we play on, Raul comes away with it, lays it back for Guti who should’ve scored!!! ACK, BLOCKED! I WANT MORE GOALS!!!!!!! >_<

Replay: Yep. Heinze tripped Higuain up, stuck out his leg and barely got any ball. So there.

End: 3-0 but shoulda, coulda been 5-2.

MOTM: Ronaldo

He opened up the game for us, scoring 2 goals and earning the penalty for the 3rd, which I was surprised that Kaka took, but perhaps CR9 is just nice like that (or he was hurting). Once Marseille went down to 10 men the game really opened up for us, so thank you Ronaldo. I wonder, as I watch you wince coming off the pitch – what will we ever do without you? 9 goals now in 7 games, we rely so much on you that I fear we’ll go straight back to last year’s form if you’re ever injured. Thank god you’re not like Robben!

Update from RM.com:
“The bad news of the Real Madrid-Olympique Marseille match was that both Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Gago were injured during the clash. The Portuguese winger suffers from a strong bruise and sprain on his right ankle, while the Argentine has a strain on his left femoral biceps. Both men will undergo medical examinations on Thursday.”

Post-game Thoughts:

I will say this. When Madrid goes up 3-0 or 4-0 they want more – they keep attacking. When Sevilla goes up 4-0, they relax – they sit back and play stallball. Hence their 4-1 score at Ibrox on Tuesday. Madrid’s philosophy demands 90 minutes of attack, which I do admire. (or did they amend that to just the last 45 minutes? Note to self: when busy, watch just the last 45 min – and maybe the first 5, when Ronaldo’s on)

Seeing Heinze defend in this game was pretty fun – brings back a lot of memories, no? C: Not necessarily good memories, just – memories.

Poor Higuain was trying his darnest to score and had a hatful of chances, but fluffed them all! Not that the ref helped in any way shape or form. Well, at least he got them – Raul looked very lost out there. Did Pellegrini actually mean to field 3 strikers, or was it because Raul had to play? It could’ve been weird, but I must say they did work it out, Benzema taking the left wing and Raul working the right. I can see how Negredo will say Madrid only has 1 central forward (RVN?) while Sevilla has 3.

Marca has this poll:
¿Crees, como Del Nido, que el Sevilla tiene la mejor delantera de España?
Do you believe, like Del Nido, that Sevilla has the best strike force in Spain?

2,296 votes so far, I would imagine most of them Madrid residents since Marca is Madrid-based – and 65% says SI. That’s amazingly high! I agree Sevilla’s got an amazing strike force, but nobody can beat Madrid in terms of attacking power. For comparison:

Sevilla: Fabiano, Kanoute, Negredo, Kone
Madrid: Benzema, Higuain, Raul, Van Nistelrooy
Barca: Ibra, Messi, Henry, Bojan

The voters are obviously biased, as they may be anti-Madrid (Atletico supporters), or anti-Barca. I think if you look at all four strikers, you HAVE to say hands down its Madrid. CR9 should arguably be in that mix too, if Messi is. Yeah, Ruud’s injured again, but he’s got a goal whereas Kone has barely played.

My opinion is Madrid > Barca > Sevilla. I do think Negredo is better than Pipita or Raul though.

Can’t wait for D-Day this Sunday!!

What a bizarre, amazing, sleep-inducing, insightful, crackerjack of a game!!! It was seriously a tale of two halves, night and day. And one word to explain the difference: Kaka.

Sergio, Pepe, Albiol, Drenthe
Granero, Lass, Xabi
Raul, Benzema, CR9

10:00 Ten minutes in and this is looking exactly like Xerez all over again. Oh no, I take that back – its even worse, since we have no early goal to show for it, Ronaldo’s try this time expertly blocked. Game flow is non-existent right now, and its not like Tenerife is playing well, but then again, Real Madrid seems to be playing even worse.

Tentative, slow, unimaginative – we’ve tried to advance both up the flanks and up the middle, and have failed everytime except the first one: through Drenthe, whose multitude of step-overs seems to harm him more than the marker, because his subsequent high cross in vrooms by everybody and we get nothing to show for it. Our back four – seriously, even Iker! – has touched the ball way more than our forwards. Blah.

Meanwhile, they decide to spoil the other game I wanted to watch, Bilbao v Sevilla, by showing the score??? WTF!

15:28 I am actually rooting for Tenerife right now (!!) Look at that brilliant little one-two in our box! The final cross in would’ve been a goal if only their other forward had run onto it. And it all started because Sergio was too lazy to come meet Lass’s pass on the right wing, instead letting his blue-shirted defender fly by to steal it and make off with it. They’ve also had the first shot on goal. Keep it up, Canary Islanders!

22:09 OMG NEGREDO SCORED!!!!! YAY!!!!!!! Haha, not in this game though. ESPN, you fools, you picked the wrong game to telecast live. I almost want to switch this off and turn on espn360 for the Sevilla game instead, I didn’t even know he was starting today?? Does this mean he’s not gonna start in the uber-important Rangers game on Tues?   

But YAY, he scored! Sevilla up 2-nil on BILBAO AT SAN MEMES!!!!!!!!
Ok, back to our boring game.

27:00 OMG, finally something happens!!!!!!!!! Ronaldo! Then Raul! But ack, straight at the keeper who palms it away. Good buildup though, Lass playing in the “Guti” role to spread the passes around just behind the attackers. But their defense is so good at blocking everything left and right, its like they have telepathic powers! They don’t even have to park the bus in two columns like Zurich did.

30:00 WOW, look at that cross coming in from Alfaro! Took a deflection too, that thing was wicked! Iker all out to beat it.

35:15 Awesome, they’re not afraid of Ronaldo. One of their defenders fighting tooth and nail alongside CR9 for the ball when he ventured into the box, doing a “Sergio” and forcing Ronaldo to turn neatly around and go here and there and then a tiny little shove to push him off the ball! Fantastic defense! They’re gonna be fierce when we revisit them at their island home!

42:00 I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want Tenerife to score. I LOVE how they play! How come every other team except us can do this? They seem to have played with each other forever, they have that innate understanding with each other, lookit how intuitively they move! Unlike us.

Unlike us who lack a creative player of any kind. Ronaldo and Raul and Benzema yes, on paper they are the envy of any team. But put them out there with no one to organize them and give them ideas they seem lost, disconnected, simply running at defenders by themselves until they are dispossessed of the ball. How can we sit both Kaka and Guti? Whose brilliant idea is this? What, exactly, is our game plan without them? You tell me Xabi is our most important player – ok, now prove it?

44:30 Is that Albiol running all the way up from center back to the upper left byline? LOL, looks like somebody on the team agrees that their midfield is sh*t right now!

Halftime:
I cannot wait until this team goes to Sevilla and gets a load of how they play – how fast and energetic their wings, how strong their forwards. What this team needs right now is a wake-up call. In the meantime, I’m gonna go dig up a copy of War and Peace, anything’s gonna be better than another half of this crap. Unless one or ALL of Guti, Kaka, and Pipita comes on, in that order. Pipita just got called up to the Argie NT – put him on, coach, I’m sure he’s feeling it!

Second Half:

HOLY SHIT, GUTI on for SERGIO?! KAKA on for Granero! Man, Pellegrini is not messing around, is he? Thank god!

And as soon as I see Guti come on, talking energetically to Albiol and Pepe and the other players – I feel better. He has a calming affect right now, based on his super form in the last few games, and being the veteran of this group, he gives off that air that he’s gonna reorganize his troops and rally them for a better showing in the second half. VAMOS Guti!

46:20 Instant success! A near goal! Great buildup through Kaka and Guti, fast and direct, exactly what was missing in the first half. Kaka dribbles up the right wing – sees no place to go so he finds Guti, who immediately switches play to the left wing for Drenthe. The Dutchie ditches his crazy stepovers for a no-nonsense cross straight into the heart of the box, where if Benzema would’ve arrived 1 second sooner he would’ve had a missile straight towards the center of the net! Then Raul just over the bar!!! Awesome.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BENZEMA! And he actually smiles this time, haha! 1-0, what did I say?

We got a corner off that Raul shot, ball is cleared out, but then Xabi races it down and gathered it up and sends it back in – a great cross for Benzy who rises highest of all to head it into the lower corner of the net. Not a great header or anything, but still, the aim is perfect. A group hug!

49:00 And now the whistles turn into cheers as Iker saves a blistering shot from Tenerife. Ahhhh, that’s what a goal will do for ya, restore the natural order of things.

51:00 Guti! That pass through the heart of TWO defenders converging in on him to Kaka nearly made me cry with awe and joy. This is what I want to see! This is what I paid for ESPND to see! That attack doesn’t come off but seconds later we’re at it again, this time with Kaka providing the aetshetics, skimming by all along the wing. And later, Pepe, with Guti not even thinking, instantly one-touch passing it back to him, giving him all the room he needs for a good cross if he had in him . . my, my god!

Tenerife is not gonna back down, though. Amazingly – the better we play, the better they play too! Terrific little team, searing pass to their forward all alone breaking away, if Iker had not dashed out there and made himself a human wall in front of their striker just as he chipped that ball – it would’ve been a Guti-like goal, a near rainbow! WOW, how this game has turned!

55:45 Holy cow, watch Ronaldo outrun EVERYBODY! Crossing the entire 70 foot plain all by himself! Past – how many? – 4 or 5 defenders?? That’s crazy! Then forcing the keeper to so narrowly save his shot, another inch and it would’ve been in! Oh, if only that had been a goal! They would’ve replayed it over and over. Take that, Messi.

Replay: He won the ball too. He won the ball too. All by himself! *faints*

LOL, then on the corner he jumps over the back of a player to head the ball, of course falls over him and the ball goes horridly awry. He gets up and throws up his hands, shaking his head at the ref. Not a foul, he says. Over the back? Never heard of it.

57:20 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BENZEMA x2! Now that’s just silly!

Drenthe with the long ball punted upfield – no aim really. But the Tenerife defender can’t quite reach it, in fact just pretty much lets Benz have it, then leaves him all alone to do whatever the hell he wants in order to run towards his own goal? Why, because that’s eons better than actually trying to defend?? So Benz has acres of space to take his time, get himself properly behind the ball, order a cheezburger, and then aim for the far corner where neither the keeper and the defender are. Hilarious! And I was rooting for you too, Tenerife! (ok, so I’m not the biggest Benzy fan) 2-0 and let’s get some more!

59:00 Kaka pushed down at the edge of the box! Ref waves play on! Not enough exclamation points on how well we’re playing right now!!! <3333333

The announcers are talking about Sevilla. This is the best thing ever – finally, a worthy opponent for both teams. Real Madrid is going to walk into an inferno at the Pizjuan! *giddy*

75:35 What did Ronaldo do thar??? Replay: a BACKHEEL to Kaka! Beating the marker in front of him soundly and splendidly. WOW – defying all laws of physics.

77:00 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KAKA!!!!!!!!!!!! Oooooooh, I love him!!
WHAT A GOAL! Just when it looked like Raul would pelt it, such was the way he ran onto it, left for him with a sweet little tap by Benzema – it’s BLOCKED! But they can’t keep Kaka from latching onto the rebound, and before anyone can blink he’s teed it up and fired it high and unstoppable at the gut of the net. Beautiful goal! 3-0. Haha, he’s only been trying for like ever!

79:00 Perfect. Momo Diarra comes on for Ronaldo, who looks slightly pissed at being substituted, but then winks cutely at Momo. (Pipita will start against Marseille on Wed, y/y? And score a hat trick?)

83:00 Benzema is looking better and better. He’s helping out on the wings, building the attacks, not just waiting up top for the ball to come to him and then fluffing it cuz the ball’s an alien to him. Ronaldo leaving also gives him more space to work with – and he really combines well with Lass up the right flank! Now if only he can expand on his facial expressions a bit – I might like him more.

85:30 Jeez, what’s up with Ronaldo? He doesn’t care to talk to anyone unless he scores a goal?? Completely ignores Pellegrini as he walks to the bench, doing some sort of fish-mouth with his lips. Then plops himself down in the back row of the bench, looking all prima-donna. Eh.

End: 3-0, what a wicked second half.

Man of the Match: Kaka

For a split second I couldn’t decide between the two responsible for our turnaround in the second half, Guti and Kaka. Then I realized – its gotta be Kaka. Man, Pellegrini was right – you don’t rotate due to fatigue, you rotate due to motivation and desire and the need to keep an edge on your game. Play Kaka all game long and you tend to see him running and getting fouled and not much else. Take him out – and you suddenly see what a vaccum he leaves on the pitch.

I think we needed this tepid first half too. To rest him. To remind him of how much we need him at his best. It is night and day, huh? In the last one, it was undoubted who shined more between Guti and Kaka – to the point where I even questioned Kaka’s usefulness.

But I see it now. In this game – their one-two punch gave us a huge lift and brought this game to life, brought out the best in everybody. Suddenly, players who looked like they’d just come from Segunda were now outrunning, outwitting, and outplaying the team that did; suddenly, they were worthy of the names on the back of their shirts.

Guti started out brightly and then faded a bit. But it was Kaka who kept going, Kaka who looked like he was worth every penny by running, running, running, finding every seam in the Tenerife defense. Those two are gonna drive this team to such great heights. May we never see another game when both of them are on the bench.

Post-game Thoughts:

Boy was that a Jekyll and Hyde game. O.o First half was full of snooze-button sloth, where we couldn’t string two passes together; second half was a complete 180 as I clung to the edge of my seat, barely remembering to breathe! The movement and fluidity that Kaka brings to the team, plus the steadiness and creativity of Guti, was like a Botox double shot – all the ugliness instantly erased and we were young and happy and beautiful again. This team cannot run without those two. For all the head-scratching we did trying to find a replacement for Xabi Alonso when he went out injured – who do we have to replace Kaka if he ever limps off the field? Cuz Granero ain’t it.

I feel so bad for Granero too. Now I see that Sergio was replaced because of a muscle strain – but Esteban? El Pirata? He was hauled off because he wasn’t good enough. In two games now, he hasn’t made his presence felt. Obviously its never easy for former canteranos to just come back and expect to slide seamlessly into the team (Soldado failed too, no?). I really hope he keeps working at it, he has amazing potential.

Another guy I feel bad for – my favorite striker, Higuain. What’s up with this rotation policy that sees either Benzema or Pipita missing out on a full game? He just got called up to Argentina, he’s happy – would it kill you to play him some, Pellegrini? Instead of having him warm up, then sit back down?

Look at Sevilla, for example. They have 3 world-class strikers too, in Fabiano, Kanoute, and Negredo, but they are rotating them so that ALL THREE get to play every game, whether they are starting or coming on as a sub. That allows the players to keep working and improving and feeling connected and useful to the squad. And especially for younger strikers – this is crucial. Half the reason why I dislike Benzema so much is because every minute he plays, and every goal he scores, hurts Pipita directly.

Don’t do this to him, Pellegrini. Because now Balague is saying he might leave us in January?? Yeah, I can see that. I mean, if a junior ad exec pulled in the biggest accounts last year and saved the firm from tanking, only to get shoved out of his hard-earned corner office and company car by some hot new French dude? He wouldn’t think twice before leaving and taking his talents elsewhere. You have been warned.

I’m off to see the Sevilla game. Man, what I wouldn’t give to be in the Pizjuan when Real Madrid visits next Sunday!!! I hope to god Alvaro Negredo starts, as I don’t think he’s allowed to play in the Bernabeu. A true test for both teams, and hopefully a whale of a game! May the best team win.

EDIT: Here is the match highlights

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An inspirational Guti, rejuvenated Sergio Ramos, and the “Arsenal” of Spain, Villarreal, made this game about 100x better than that last one against Xerez. Pellegrini continued with his science experiments of rejiggering the lineup, throwing out there a 4-3-3 with Pipita the lone striker and benching Raul from the 4 attackers that bogged down the Xerez game. Plenty of questions were answered: how will we do with our new lineup? Who is the better attacking mid, Guti or Kaka? Is there any hope for Lady Gago? Read on!

Pellegrini’s back at his old stomping grounds! But his former side is really hurting, with only 2 draws and 1 loss so far. They really miss him, don’t they?

I have a feeling they’re gonna bring a lot of fight. Villarreal has great players in Diego Lopez, former Real Madrid canterano; Capdevila, Marcos Senna, and Santi Cazorla from La Seleccion; Cani, which is just a cool name; Giuseppe Rossi – the kid from New Jersey USA who plays for Italy; and Nilmar, at 11ME the most expensive signing in Villarreal’s history and who’s nicknamed “Nilmaradona” back when he played in Brazil. Awesome!

Lass, Albiol, Sergio, Marcelo
Gago, Guti, Granero
Kaka, Pipita, CR9

Uh oh! Garay got injured in the warm-up? *facepalm* Is the Robben ghost still haunting us? That means . . Sergio To CB, Lass to RB and Gago in next to Guti. Oh dear God. Why did we let go of Miguel Torres?? >_

GUUUUUUTTTTTIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!! *giddy*

Guti is EL CAPITAN today! Awww, so awesome to see him do all the things that Raul always did – shaking hands with the ref, following the coin toss in the air up and down, then encouraging and rallying on his troops, including kissing Sergio on the cheek! All the while sporting that spiffy black armband. (He’s also got a cast on – did he hurt his arm?)

1:30 GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY COW, RONALDO! Again?? Haha! O.O

And this is what we paid for. He made this, all on his own. Villarreal with the ball, Villarreal attacking – and then all of a sudden it is Real attacking, Ronaldo flying up on the left wing, his first touch to pip that ball past his marker is tremendous! Then he keeps going, evading a wall of defenders, none of whom quite knows what to do with him but can only give him space, give that tiny window between two of them where he shoots, Sergio had run up from the CB position and Pipita is right there but Ronaldo wants that Pichichi trophy – and it rolls right in! OMG! I totally thought the keeper would save it?

But no, Ronaldo is too good – and my god, he wins over my heart by running over and doing the first thing he can think of, which is to celebrate this one with his captain, his true captain, Raul. What a ham, huh? Ooooh – and it was SERGIO with the steal and pass for him! Does he get the assist? 1-0.

8:30 Wow, my hats off to Villarreal. They play beautiful, flowing football alright, the ball scarcely touching one player’s boot before its released to another. Is Pellegrini nostalgic? I would be. After that Xerez game, where we couldn’t string two passes together, to this? I am almost entranced by the Yellow Submarine, as the white-shirted players can do nothing but chase and chase – or, in Gago’s case, hack and hack. If it weren’t for that early goal, I would be very worried, indeed.

8:47 Guti hacked down! Making his blond hair all sexy and sticking up.

12:00 Aaaaaaahhhh!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOO! That was such an amazing attack building up! Granero nearly HAD IT!! Then he tripped? Cristiano on the ground? :/ Then the ref whips out a yellow card, and I exhale. Free kick coming up!

Just when I thought Villarreal would rule the pitch with their technical excellence, we play a little “tic-tac-toe” according to Ray on the edge of the box that has me speechless in awe. Guti! Ronaldo! Granero! With defenders buzzing all around them and in fact in between them but they do not care! Forming a little triangle with their one-touch passing that almost sends Granero free towards goal, before he tripped! OMFG, if that had come off! And for a minute there I thought it was Kaka instead of Granero, they do look very similar in their movements and hair color, no?

16:17 “Cannot let Guti get into his groove, man!” cheers Ray as Guti displays one accurate pass after another, pulling the strings in midfield while barely moving a single muscle. His position is his throne, just behind the attackers, and its been more than half a year since I’ve waited to see him back to such imperious form once again.

Look at him – he can teach you how the game is to be played. With just one flick of his boot, one raise of his chin and his eyes to the teammate he wants, he can make the pass that will completely change the direction of the game. That’s nuts! That’s Guti!

18:50 Pellegrini looks terribly worried, his brow furrowed. Why the worry, mister?

19:20 Ronaldo again! With that feathery touch of his, tapping that ball forward to evade TWO defenders! Then sets up Pipita!!! *speechless*

20:30 SERGIO!!!!!!! Ok, I LOVE this game. Quality, quality opponent at every position, fantastic test for us, all my favorite players out on the pitch, and now SERGIO races in side by side with Nilmar to force the Brazilian to check with nowhere to go when just a second ago he had the ball at his feet and Iker’s goal at his mercy!! WAAAA! Great stuff!

22:20 GONZALO?!?! HOW, HOW COULD YOU MISS THAT?! That’s even worse than Negredo’s miss from yesterday! ACK! Perfect, perfect buildup, I am nearly crying from the way Guti is threading every pass from midfield, all one-touch between him, Marcelo, and Kaka, before Marcelo almost runs to the endline before teeing up Pipita, just waiting in front of goal, seriously if he could’ve had gotten any control on it he would’ve tapped it in? But noooooo – he once again sends another one to the moon. Jesus, bb – everyone else is doing so well – why can’t you?

33:50 OMG! Kaka down?? It looked so promising all of a sudden, total surprise as Higuain got the ball from their defense, gave it to Kaka for the attack – and then the defender?? Reached up with a boot to try to reach the ball, but instead kicked Kaka in the ribs? Oh no . . then a yellow . . Guti coming to talk to the ref, everyone huddled around them . . the guilty defender, Gonzalo, wiping his face with his shirt and looking terribly sorry. RED CARD! Wow!

I feel so bad for Villarreal. I don’t know why. They’re already a goal down and now they’re gonna lose for sure, right? 10 men against Real . . impossible. But I hate that they’ve lost their coach, they’ve lost Marcos Senna to injury (because of La Seleccion?), they’ve started out so badly in La Liga, and now this. I don’t know . . they play too well to deserve this.

Second Half:

51:33 Aww, c’mon, Guti. A bit choppy now in the second half, and he gets booked for what, for kicking the ball away when there was a whistle? Jeez. *shakes head*

53:30 Guti wins a header! Then sees it still in the air and jumps again, gets it down for a teammate! “Haven’t seen that fire from him for a few years,” Phil muses. A few years?? What do you mean, a few years, its only been a few months! And then we have a beautiful buildup, Gago gives it to Higuain on the far right who powers that shot at goal!!! Tremendous SAVE by Diego Lopez!! Then we get the rebound, AAAAAHHH, so close by Ronaldo across the face of goal, if only somebody had been there to tuck it in! But they clear it off the line, and the crowd is still holding its breath. So, so close!

58:00 Villarreal looks amazingly dangerous, you would never have guessed that they were down a man!

64:40 Higuain? Pipita subbed out? And the look on his face as he walked off will kill you, so full of quiet anger and tremendous disappointment in himself. He only got that one great shot in the second half, but other than that, he couldn’t combine well with the rest of his teammates. It’s not like they weren’t trying to find him, but either his positioning or their pass would be *just* off, its been so frustrating for him today. Better than Benzema before the Xerez game opened up, that’s for sure – but, well, not by much. >_

Raul, though, comes on extremely eager and claps his teammates on. Does he get the captain’s badge now or Guti? I’m into stuff like that.

68:40 SERGIO RAMOS TO THE RESCUE!!!!!! WOW! There’s the Sergio that I love and missed! They take down – Granero? Ref doesn’t care, waves play on – then all of a sudden Nilmar is released and is battling Lass in full gallop towards goal???? Nobody can stop him?? Eeeeeek! Then out of nowhere a freight train comes in to tackle that ball away, taking out Nilmar as well, the Brazilian flying and rolling over into the penalty box! One split-second later and that would’ve been a penalty! But no – Sergio timed it right – timed it just perfect. Wow, wow, wow. Thank god for you, bb!

69:35 Ooof, Guti taken down. Ray berates him a tiny bit, saying that with only 10 men for the opposition, Guti should be able to dictate the game more than he has so far in the second half. Truth. But he can only set up the passes, not finish them. And just then, as if he’s heard him – here it comes – the pass to Marcelo.

Marcelo races the defender to the endline, and seems to have won a corner! But why is he so happy? LOL, slapping high five with Raul? OH, OH! A PENALTY?? WHOA! The defender Angel had used his hands to try to stop the ball? Hmmm – watching the replay, where he seems to pull up his hands out of the way as the ball pings off him – that seems a bit harsh. But hey – I’ll take it.

KAKA up for possibly his first goal. Diego Lopez, former backup to Iker, readies himself for the pen. I feel kinda sorry for Kaka, that the only way he can get his first goal is through penalty? We gave him a penalty during one of the preseason games too, didn’t we, so he could get the monkey off his back? But no matter – he cuts in from an angle and sends Lopez the wrong way, easily striking the ball home for his first La Liga goal!!!! YAY for Kaka! 2-0, I feel much better now.

74:00 Guti fouled yet again. Free kick – Ronaldo? Then who do I see? RAFAEL VAN DER VAART! Ohmygosh, I never thought I would ever see him again! Ohai Rafa! Welcome back! On for Kaka.

HOLY GOD, what a free kick!!! Screaming and diving, Lopez tremendous in parrying that away!

79:00 Marcelo is tripped up just outside of the box and we get another free kick. Ray is full of praise: “Lovely movement from the Whites! Prompted by a sweet little kiss of the ball from Guti in a tight situation.” Granero to take . . but right into the wall. VDV tries to win it back and is called for the foul – OMG, then out of nowhere GUTI wins the ball back! Runs up the right! Ack, then the pass is nicked off . .

80:53 Lass is booked. But why is there a huge cheer going up? Is that Momo Diarra coming on?? Ah, I see: Guti off. And he deserves nothing less than the rapturous ovation. He knows it too, raising his fist happily towards the crowd before he grins and hugs Momo. Great game, baby – see you next game!

Ahahahaha! What a cute little moment with Sergio there! OMG, I love this game! Sergio taps his nose with a finger, and Guti’s like “yeah, I know, let me show you what they did to me, those punks,” and lifts up his top lip with his hand to show him! Is he bleeding? Chipped a tooth? Jesus Christ, that little snarl! *faints*

Too funny, as Raul loses out on a header:
Phil: “Has Raul even gotten a touch on the ball since he’s come on?”
Ray: “His next one is probably a goal.”
Touche.

85:30 DAMMIT!!!! His first touch is NOT a goal scored, but ALMOST! Again Sergio is TREMENDOUS, he glues himself to Nilmar? in the box and beats him to the ball, cleanly, not a feather ruffled, yet he doesn’t punt it away blindly. Oh no – he is in full control. Wow, just the composure on him, look at him GO! To VDV, who slips it on to Ronaldo, who looks like he might be beaten but then so alertly finding Sergio again – bang, bang, bang! And Sergio, running and running, almost beating the last defender to break free 1v1 with the keeper but just missing that final touch, then finding Raul, to Ronaldo, to VDV again – ah, beautiful stuff! VDV cuts it back! Almost finds Ronaldo, OMG! Raul with the too-heavy touch! YEEEEEEKS! How many chances have we had??? This game should be at least 3-0, then we can keep our top spot over Barca! *sigh*

89:30 ACK, Raul so close yet again! Wow, either Villarreal has gotten tired, or we are really starting to show some sexy one-touch passing too that is just dazzling! Momo Diarra fitting right in!

End: 2-0, and a fun match!

Man of the Match:

No question this time – Guti. Though Sergio was amazing too, but for me, Guti had me on the edge of my seat at times, the way he dictated the direction of play. When he’s “on”, it is such a treasure that it’s impossible to watch anyone else. He commands all eyes. Bravo, Guti – I really hope this is your year!

There was one point midway through the first half when Kaka deferred to Guti to make all the decisions. My jaw dropped open. Why, why did we pay 67ME for Kaka, when we have this gem from our youth side? I’m all for Kaka, but I’m just waiting to see what he’s all about.

Because Guti is, to me – priceless.

Post-game Thoughts:

Pipita should’ve been allowed to play the whole game. He would’ve gotten a goal; I’m sure of it. At the very end is when it opens up for us, it seems, and with one of the runs that Raul had, if only he had a little more pace? He would’ve had it! I love Raul but . . not at the expense of Pipita. He looked so good in that Zurich game. Then he has to sit out for one game and now . . ? Ugh, my nightmare is his crestfallen face as he came off tonight. And now he has to sit on it again and brood for another whole week? While we do this rotation thing and Benzema starts the next one? It just kills all momentum, and I hate it. I would leave if I were him. Seriously.

But other than my favorite Argentine, everyone else had a tremendous game!

Gago looked much better in the second half. In the first half I cringed whenever he ran in for a tackle, half-expecting a yellow card to follow. Surprisingly, the ref was kind to him. But in the second half, he looked more confident, and especially in the absence of Guti, began providing some nice balls through the midfield. Keep it up, bb – you’re the only one with long hair these days on our team! We need you out there!

Sergio looked AMAZING at times. OMG, the real Sergio is back, the one that we all fell in love with! So, so strong, steady and calm, knowing exactly when to put out fires and when he can run up ahead, tackling away balls SO CLEANLY, saving Lass’s hide on that one dazzling slide on Nilmar, stealing away that ball that led to Ronaldo’s opening goal – I half expected him to be rested since he just came back, but then Arbeloa went out injured and Garay too and it’s Sergio who saves the day! I think that’s why I loved this game so much. Whenever he has a good day, I do too.

Kaka – I don’t know. I’ve never seen him play for AC Milan, so maybe someone else can enlighten me about him? He is supposed to be the attacking midfielder here, the new “Zidane” – but Guti outshined him by far in this game. He seems to attack a lot though he’s not a striker, he seems to pass well but they’re just not on the same level as Guti’s, at least not in this game. Maybe I’m slightly biased, but I’m still waiting for him to show me why he cost 67ME. I don’t care if you don’t score goals, Kaka – but I want you to dictate the pace of our game. Give us an identity. Be the eyes and ears of Pellegrini out there on the pitch. He’s been good so far – but not brilliant. Yet.

This was a great game to watch, Villarreal played their heart out with 10 men for most of it. And they matched us stride for stride for the bulk of the second half! I really hope they do well, and get wins after this. The way they played football, so beautiful at times – will we play like that, Pellegrini? We saw glimpses of it here. Say yes. Tell me – that that will be us in a few more months . .

A mesmerizing game, where we won it, almost lost it, then won it back, full of frustration and teamwork and brilliance. We have the sexiest front four in the history of the game, bar none. No arguments! I will watch those four watch paint dry – haha, srsly! And Pipita . . oh, Pipita makes everything right.

Arbeola, Pepe, Albiol, Drenthe
CR9, Lass, Xabi, Kaka
Raul, Higuain

2:00 Drenthe with a tremendous run up the left wing! Now if only his crosses can improve too . .

4:40 They’re butchering our boys! Damn, Ronaldo gnashes his teeth as the ref waves play on.

8:35 ACK! Almost a goal for Zurich, if they got any power on it! But it was a backheel, so Iker was good for that.

9:20 Then immediately, we attack the other way, Kaka releasing Pipita who SHOOTS!!!!!!!! Diagonal shot parried by the keeper, I love the Spanish commentators on FSE who call him “Pipita” rather than the English ones who are always so formal.

12:30 LOL! PIPITA! It looks just like a normal clearance from the back – except there’s Pipita sprinting full bore onto it! Followed by a defender, natch, who puts an arm across his chest and Pipita’s simply trying to dislodge him from his body, and of course the defender falls down all hurt. The foul is called on our boy, who yells and flips the linesman off (using two fingers though – a polite version)! Hee! Wow, look at the cheekbones on that defender.

24:00 Man, Ronaldo! I hear you. This Zurich side is pretty damn tough to break down. They are of course parking the bus in front of goal, so even as we move it side to side, they are not budging. Raul and CR9 are both spending plenty of time in our own half, helping to defend, while Pipita is running crazy after defenders with no whiff of the ball. Finally we get a free kick, and what do we do? Send it over the bar, hopelessly, just like Xabi’s been no good either on his corners. And seeing that – Ronaldo turns and scratches the side of his head angrily, manically, like a little boy! Haha, he makes the funniest of faces!

25:30 They’re trying to kill our Kaka! D:
And our Ronaldo. Jeez – WTF? Pepe with a superb ball all the way out to the far left wing for him, LOL his defender falls trying to get it! Ronaldo gets it and runs, runs like the devil, and they have no choice but to crowd him and cut him down. Xabi PUNTS!! But its blocked off the back of a defender, and now we get a free kick, 25 meters from goal.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOL GOL GOL!!! Fantastic ball, superb, magnifique, a missile! The keeper tries to get a hand on it, but it whips in just under the bar, just half an inch in, the precison of which shocks me. And look at how EXCITED HE IS!!!!!!!!! How he pumps his fists, as if he’s won the lottery! Haha, it’s contagious! I love it!! 1-0.

33:00 GOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A BEAUTY OF A GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!! Ohmygod! Cristiano! Pipita! RAUL!!!!!!!!! Bang, bang, bang, finally we evade those pesky white shirts, and author such a beautiful goal, so simple, and yet requiring all of our teamwork.

Just when I was cringing at how we cannot break them down, how Raul and Kaka and Pipita are tracking back so much only to get a tiny touch on the ball before tapping it back to sender, our back 4 seeing more of the ball seriously than our front 4 – just then, it is Pepe again, who knows Cristiano best. He skips up the right wing and hoofs a pinpoint perfect cross for him, right on his head, his Portuguese teammate jumping so high to snap that ball forward into Pipita’s path. Higuain sees Raul running and distracts the keeper into coming out before returning it sideways, right onto the feet of Raul, who arrives just in time to tap that in! Surrounded by THREE defenders, all of them gawking at our speed and precision! Haha! And there is the beauty that you are trying so hard to prevent, Zurich. 2-0!

36:22 We’re picking it up! And the supreme control and talent of Cristiano is pretty amazing to see. He looks much more comfortable out there now, doesn’t he? Here he is, getting a pass from Kaka just on the edge of the penalty box with THREE defenders whirling in on him, and he juggles that ball up to waist-height to save it, get it into a position where he can shoot it – then when its blocked? So calmly backheels it to Lass behind him! How did he know?? WOW!

38:20 Pipita offside?! DAMN, he coulda scored! Replay shows he was just a hair offside, just leaning that way – blah.

45:00+0:30 GOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PIPITAAAAA!!!!!!! Aww, you finally got your Champions League debut goal! And what a goal, all your own!

And the desire of Pipita is astounding. Either that, or they stopped defending? Aha. We are doing that thing again, one-touch backwards, that is starting to get on my nerves. I know we aim to keep possession, but . . !! Anyways, all we need is that one break, one crystal-clear path. And here it is: Raul and Higuain, so full of understanding, the ball comes to Raul who instantly releases it to Pipita, who’s got a defender on him and taps it forward for himself but actually his defender impedes him, holds him back, puts his body in front! NOOO!

But Higuain doesn’t care – he simply goes around him, it should be impossible because his defender is in front of him but suddenly the defender’s behind him, he’s sped on by! WOW! Did that dude forget to defend?? Haha! But Pipita’s desire for goal is outrageous, he’ll run down every ball, I had no idea a goal was even possible from that angle but he’s already scored, already fooled the keeper and rolled the ball into the back of the net! Magical illusion! He’s amazing! How many touches has he had, only a few? And he makes one assist and one goal out of them??? HOLY COW!!

And Raul comes to hug him like there’s no tomorrow. Like he’s won the Champions League final for them. Awwww, I LOVE those two! They are so good together. 3-0, can you believe it?

Second Half:

48:16 KAKA loose in the box!! Shoot it, bb!!! Damn! They fouled him, no? YES – replay shows a trip of his leg.

52:00 F*CK, XABI! Injured?? Oof, that’s got to hurt, the replays show how he was trying to save the ball by sticking a leg out, just as the other player charged in on him. The knee?? The ankle?? He’s limping . . :*( The assistant makes a gesture to the bench – and Gago, long hair flying behind him, goes to pull off his warm-ups. See, Gonzo? Gago didn’t cut his hair!

56:15 Ok, they’re getting away with murder here??? Raul’s still mad! WTF? he says. They pulled him down twice, the first one I can understand because we got the advantage but the second??? Where they bodily wrapped around both his legs to bring him down? WTF was that, ref? After seeing Xabi getting injured, I’m suddenly afraid for all our boys. 3-0, let’s just be safe and come home, guys. No need to play all out.

59:00 Gago finally on for injured Xabi, who’s long been icing his ankle on the bench. We had to play with 10 men for about 4 minutes there.

61:30 Oh, oh, RAUL! You had the net right in front of you!! You had to shoot wide? But ohmygod, how I love our front four! They are SO SEXY together, they are really getting the hang of each other!!  They know how to move and play off of each other now, and its like a maze, a game of chess, how each one moves and creates space for the other. Ronaldo’s nutmeg through TWO defenders for Kaka? His subsequent pass to Pipita, who dummies it back for Raul? Who was perfectly positioned to rifle it into the wide open net in front of him? Gah, that he misses almost doesn’t erase all that comes before it! The “almost” of it still lingers, sparkling. They’re gonna take us far . .

62:00 PENALTY????? DID HE EVEN TOUCH HIM?!?!
F*ck. Pepe tries the offside trap on that pass but it doesn’t work, which releases the Zurich player ALL ALONE racing into the box with only Iker to beat. Poor Iker has no choice but to try to grab the ball, taking out the player as well. The replay isn’t conclusive, but that looks like a dive to me. Damn!

And they score. WTF, they tried to freak out Iker, faking and faking in front of the ball until the very last second to shoot, Iker too late for the high ball. 3-1, but I’m mad. >:

64:30 WHAT?!?!?! WTF is going on?? Suddenly we lose all composure? Gago slicing in to take down another player in the box, almost another penalty? Then off the corner – they score on a header!! #*&$@%$*#&$(#%@*##!~ GOL for Zurich, Iker looking helpless, and all of a sudden its 3-2?!

Ohmyf*ckingGOD.

We just gotta score another one. 3-2 is ok, but two goals in 2 minutes is making my head spin. We just gotta score another one, guys!

66:34 Guti on for Pipita.

75:00 SHOOT IT, RONALDO! SHOOT IT!!! Ack, why doesn’t he shoot? He’s turned so nice all of a sudden, arriving like a steam train in front of goal, with only 1 defender on him and the keeper to beat – then decides to wait? Tee it up for Raul? Who, LOL, has to aim for the heel of the clueless defender in front of him, who made no effort to block that shot even, but blocked it anyways? Ay ey ey . . ah, at least Guti’s corners are better than Xabi’s.

76:50 Wow, the ref is just complete bullocks today. How are we to collect yellow cards like happy meal toys – while they only have 1?? While they keep nipping at Kaka’s heels and bringing him down with no reprimand for it? While they can keep tugging Raul down onto the grass and he has to argue and argue and still we get nothing, nada? Let’s just end this game as soon as possible, this is making me nervous.

81:00 See?? How is that a yellow card on Lass? Just a normal foul, no wonder Lass is pissed.

83:00 GAGO JUST OVER THE BAR!!!!!!!!!!! Oh so close!

85:00 I’m not sure I agree with pulling Pipita and leaving Raul out there. He’s been great so far, yes, but he doesn’t cut an imposing figure in the box for players like CR9 to cross into. We need Ruud or Pipita . . and is Benzema injured?? How come he was the hot new thing in the preseason but suddenly when we need a fresh striker for another goal we don’t even look in his direction?? Something I don’t know about?

86:20 AAAAAGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Guti! Raul! Cristiano! Cristiano – run run run! Get that ball back! Guti! Cristia-nooo!! Just an inch too short, otherwise it would’ve arrived back on the boots of Ronaldo and into the net! That’s what I mean!! We need someone with Ronaldo’s speed and size to wreck havoc in the box! Damn, Zurich is hanging on by the skin of their teeth, aren’t they? They are just SO DAMN LUCKY TODAY! While we are the very definition of UNLUCKY! Tons of goals missed by just one inch, seriously. Right here, another inch and Ronaldo would’ve had it. Just like another inch and maybe Gago’s shot would’ve gone in, or Rauls’ without being deflected off someone’s goddamn heel . . !!

87:20 Guti taken down! Free kick . . can Ronaldo do it again? *giggles* at his stance right before the free kick, legs apart, a huge heave of breath to clear his lungs, as if he needs to get into a certain zen to concentrate his powers.

And WHAT POWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you see that shot?? Like a cannon – like something out of a movie, the hit so clean that you barely see the ball move or rotate while in flight. And the power behind that shot, enables the ball to spike the roof of the net when the keeper punches it, rather to get it out but it stays in.

AND HIS JOY!!!!!!! SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!  4-2, we are safe, finally, and it’s all YOU, Cristiano! Hmm, why the grim face, Raul? Did the keeper hit the ball at your head??

90:00 GUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOOOLLLL!!!!!!!!! OMG, that’s my favorite one of them all!!! Ahahahaha! Serves you right, to leave him all alone!  Kaka with laser eyes, such vision to pick him out! And they are so busy with Ronaldo that they’d forgotten about good ol’ Guti, who flies down the right flank, blond hair laughing behind him, alighting at how far out the keeper’s come and the gaping hole that is the net. And it is so simple, so beautiful, I am *squeeeeeing* as the ball arches in the air and chirps before nestling into the back of the net, all spins and giggles.

Oh, how it feels! All that frustration suddenly released, all their kicks and parking the bus and stupid 2 goals in 2 minutes – all of that, erased! The game’s over, and what a goal to end it! 5-2, and good night, Zurich.

Man of the Match: Cristiano.

End:
What a game! I feel drained, almost. From that high of 3-0, to the horror and confusion of the 3-2, to nerves and anger at them kicking our players and our horrid luck in front of goal – to Ronaldo’s superb free kick that calmed everything down and restored order to the universe.  And then Guti’s icing on the cake! An amazing game.

I’m really starting to love Ronaldo. He’s just . . so eager, so emotional, you know what I mean? I LOVE seeing that in players. He wants to win, and I love how he expresses that, no matter if he’s being angry at himself for fluffing another free kick, or laughing and hollering with joy at a superb goal to ice the game. I still remember Guti last year, spiking the ball in the Juv game, and how hard he fought. Ronaldo’s exactly the same. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, and some ppl might call that “prima donna” – but I say no. Sergio’s like that too – Pipita – and that’s why we love them. They’re young, for god’s sakes. And ohmygod, sooooo talented.

And in this game, we saw the full gauntlet of emotions from him. Ronaldo, he acts like he should never make a mistake, he should never send anything over the bar, and haha, if I could produce perfection on a free kick like that then I would too. And then when he gets it right? When he scores? OMG, the world smiles!!! The sun breaks through the clouds, I feel like we’ve won TEN trophies, and he breaks into that big, goofy smile of his, laughing and pumping his fists and running around like a little boy with the newest X-Men collector’s comic, and yeah, I love that. I love when a player wants to do his best for the team and keeps at it all game long. We needed him tonight, and he was the difference. Man of the Match, for sure. 

And hee, Pipita! I was amazed that he got to start this game, when I was sure he’ll be “rotated” to the bench b/c he played 75 minutes in the last one, just 3 days ago? But this is how it should be. He got his first Champions League goal today, but more than that, he showed just how much understanding he has with Raul and the rest of the players. He was always running, always hunting for the ball, and just great awareness all around to create that assist and then get his goal. Not just any goal – but the game-winning goal. That’s right, Pipita, if it had stayed 3-2 you would’ve been the hero. Go show them. Show them that you deserve your place on this team of superstars.

That’s what I thought: AS is saying the ref invented the penalty on Iker! ESPN agrees that dude dived. Goddamn gave us SIX yellow cards too – including an utterly laughable one on Lass – while only two for Zurich. Can we appeal?

Get well soon, Xabi. Did they get their 2 goals because you left the game?  Pepe thinks so:

Pepe: “We felt Xabi’s absence. We were maintaining a very high level, but noticed a change when he got injured, he is a key player for us. After that we managed to reorganise and kill off the game.”

Today is like the best day EVER! Not only did Real win 5-0 away, SO IMPRESSIVELY (in the 2nd half anyway), but my new favorite player, Alvaro Negredo, found a beautiful new home at SEVILLA, my instant #2 favorite club in La Liga now! Over the last couple of days I’ve sort of fallen in love with this guy – he is our future Number 9 for Madrid. He looks more like a gentleman caller than a bad-ass footballer – nicknamed the “wild animal” – and hopefully he’ll help Sevilla do well in the CL this year before rejoining our ranks once Ruud retires. Oh, oh, and Barca lost against EPL pretenders Citeh in their own stadium and trophy cup game, no less, 0-1. LOLOLOL!!!! Whatev – on to REAL!

Lass, Metz, Albiol, Marcelo
Pepe, Xabi
Ronaldo, Kaka, Granero
Benzema

This is gonna shorter than usual, since streams can’t be freeze-framed, unfortunately. <3

2:40 GOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!! GRANERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a beautiful back-heel by Kaka! Releasing Granero – perfect, perfect – he has eyes on the back of his head! And Granero finishes with aplomb – it is too easy for him. 1-0, just like that!

Dammit, then it goes downhill. We’re being dominated off the ball. It is Dortmund’s centennial, after all, the crowd filled to the brim with yellow and black shirted supporters. So it’s in their blood, for sure. When we attack – we are wayyyy too slow. Not decisive enough. This is a bit of a new formation for us – 4-5-1 – are we too crowded in midfield? We want to play 1-touch – but we can’t. We have no idea where to go, how to move. Very, very frustrating to watch. Also, both CR9’s free kicks dips straight to the keeper – perrrrfect. *sighs*

33:00 WTF, CR?? Sergio or Gonzalo would’ve taken on those defenders head on and steamed ahead! How else do you think Pipita scored those 2 goals against Toronto? But he is just so timid tonight. He’ll do a step-over or two – then lose heart and send it backwards to a teammate. His free kicks, too, are tame. This run would’ve been a GREAT counter – but he stopped and sent the ball safely back?? C’MON!!!!!!!!!!

Kaka has lost two major balls now at the sideline, RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR OWN GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Both losses resulted in DANGEROUS attacks and almost goals by Dortmund. WTF?

The problem in our midfield now is that players don’t move into positions – they WAIT for the ball before moving. This slows us way down and teleports every move for the opposition. So now Kaka once again loses a ball that the opposition can see coming before he even does, moves faster than he, and tackles it away. POOF! GONE! #*&@dnflkandlfkiwdu?!?!?!

45:00 ROBBEN’S ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come rescue your team, plz!! Robben on for Granero. Good idea to swap for a winger, we kept losing balls along the wings.

47:30 ROBBEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMFG, how happy he is!!! What a ROCKET of a shot! And goes to slap high five to? Sneijder deep in the bench! Awww! Poor Sneijder – being told he won’t play and essentially forced off to Inter. It was off a corner from Kaka – a Dortmund player headed it backwards – right into the path of Robben, who simply rifles it first touch, such power! 2-0!

69:00 YAY, PIPITA’S ON! He hugs Benz, then comes to join the fun.

73:00 GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BEAUTIFUL!!!! Kaka running, running, running, to Robben who tries to beat the keeper, can’t but gets the ball back, sets it up perfectly for a flying Higuain, who beats the defender at the goalline for the GOAL! Fast, decisive, and dead-on – that’s our Pipita! 3-0! Man, I love it when Robben and Higuain combine – they’ve got such a good understanding that their chemistry absolutely crackles.

76:00 PENALTY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Robben tripped and brought down in the box! He gives it to KAKA! GOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4-0! Haha, I love this sharing of goals! And Kaka, finally, gets his sweet first goal for his new team, and beams into the heavens.

77:00 Kaka off for Raul, Metz off for Garay. And Christoph gets a hearty round of applause – so amazing to see.

89:00 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RAUL! WAAAAA, WHAT SKILL! WHAT A SHOT! Seriously just one touch and that’s all he needs to beat the keeper with a razor-sharp shot into the net, such diagonal sting! WHAT QUALITY! Ronaldo, can you do that? You’ve had, what, 5 tries? Raul does it with 1. ONE.

And you can see just how much experience and instinct Raul has. MUCH MORE THAN BENZEMA at this point. Benz ran around today like he had no clue. I don’t want to criticize him, but to compare him to Raul? OH MY! They show the replay, Higuain is level with the last defender, Raul a bit off further back, behind him – sneakily so that no defender is right by him. As the ball flies forward – Higuain moves horizontally to take a defender with him (not sure if by design), but RAUL! He lasers in on that goal as if a homing missile, knowing exactly where it will fall and sprinting towards it, way faster than any defender and beating TWO to it, then deftly turning his body to both hold off the defender and move his hips towards shooting that ball diagonally into the far right corner, eluding the keeper who had come out in panic. Absolute whale of a shot, all cunning and beauty, all by himself, and worthy of the final cherry on top. LOL, when Hamburg beat Dortmund 4-1 they called it domination, what will they call this now? 

5-0, and thank you Dortmund. Your fans were amazing!

Post-game
Man of the Match is without a doubt Arjen Robben. Up for sale all thoughout the preseason – including and up to just a few days ago when Perez continued to ignore Pellegrini’s praises for him and demand cash for his expensive spending and bank debts this summer – I thank God that nobody came in to swoop him up. He played Ronaldo off the pitch tonight. Yes, his impact was that immense.

And it’s not the first time. Remember the first half of the DC United game, when Pipita and Ronaldo played together to no avail? The young striker looked unfamiliar with Ronaldo’s movements and thus unsure where to go. Sometimes CR9 can look like he’s in his own world, with no real clue or desire to link up with the rest of the team. Obviously this will come with time. But when he came off for Robben in the 2nd half of the DC game – instantly, that understanding was there. That chemistry – you can never buy chemistry. Those two combined for a brilliant goal – and even Pipita’s first one, Robben knew how to take a defender off him.

Today, again, the first half was terrible. Aside from that opening minute brilliance when Kaka engineered that jaw-dropping back-heel to an alert Granero – the rest of the play was slow, unimaginative, and even overpowered, as the Germans looked buoyed by the crowd, and we kept losing possession, esp along the wings. Maybe it’s because we missed Lass in DM? At halftime, I would’ve liked Xabi to come off, I still have no clue what he’s doing here – but it was Granero who came off for Robben (not Granero’s fault, he was everywhere as always). And instantly, like magic – the goals started pouring down!!!

The thing about Robben is he looks far more confident and direct in his approach than Ronaldo does in open play. Maybe Ronaldo is playing it safe, maybe he’s feeling the weight of his transfer tag (the Zidane Syndrome, as Marca calls it) – but it was Robben, repeatedly, who took the attack straight at his defenders and got by them, rather than do unnecessary step-overs and pass it back, in order to link up with his teammates and make it flow.

How many chances did he give us? COUNT’EM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First it was his goal off the corner, making it 2-0. Then that alert cut-back for Pipita, 3-0. Then that dart into the box for the penalty that he kindly gave to Kaka, 4-0. There: 1 goal and 2 assists, and you are still not doing him the justice of how much he impacted the game. All in one half too! Oh, Arjen – if only you could stay healthy, you could seriously give Messi a run for his money.

And Raul. Ahh, ahh, Raul. He is who he is, after all. The captain. The goalscorer. The record-breaker. 18 goals last season, and already 4 in this preseason, including this beauty tonight. What more can you say? 5-0, like that. 

I am just amazed, once again, at the stunning amount of QUALITY that we have now. And Sergio is still AWOL! Imagine having him back??? Him linking up and overlapping with CR9? But to bring Robben, Higuain, and Raul off the bench, is just . . GAH! Almost criminal. PLUS Ruud. PLUS M. Diarra. PLUS Gago (9 assists last year!). Ronaldo still finding his groove yet. Benzema still looking green and tentative at times. Freaking amazing. Wait til you see us gel! Wait til we get the hang of it and start putting speed and movement into our one-touch passing game . . watch out, world!!!

Sergio Ramos, the boy of many nicknames, has just picked up a new one: “EL ANTIMESSI”. LOL!

So says yesterday’s Marca cover. And today’s gameday Marca cover screams: “MISION IMPOSIBLE?” Sergio’s on both covers, which is perhaps Marca’s way of suggesting that, win or lose, the outcome will be decided by the titanic clash between Madrid’s best defender vs Barca’s best attacker.

A week ago, I shuddered at the thought of Real Madrid having to go into Camp Nou to face the high-flying, high-scoring Barca. Seemingly invincible, the stories coming out of Catalonia painted the picture of a team running amok, scoring at will, and turning one respected La Liga team after another into nothing more than shooting practice, beating Sevilla 3-0 and Valencia 4-0. Many laughed at the thought of this game being a classic at all and predicted 5-0 for the slaughter of los Merengues. Hell, even Real Madrid’s own coach at the time said it was “impossible” to win – right? How can this be anything but mission impossible???

For this game could not be showcasing two teams more on the opposite ends of each other. Barca is top of the table and has won every single game in recent memory in style. They’re the top scoring team in all of Europe. Hell, they even had the luxury of resting all first-teamers during the midweek Champions League game, coming into this one completely fresh.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid is limping along, with currently 9 players out for various injuries, having suffered 20 serious injures in total, and slipping to 5th in the table, 9 points behind Barca. They’ve leaked in more goals than anyone else in the top half of the league. And every single first-teamer played in the Wednesday Champions League game vs Zenit. Oh, and if you’re looking for criticism, pressure, drama, and upheaval, look no further, because this is only new coach Juande Ramos’ second game on the job. Welcome to life as a Real Madrid fan!

But AS hit back by throwing all that out the window. We don’t say “impossible” here at Real Madrid – and if you do, you get fired.

AS invoked the spirit of the Spanish tennis team that went to Argentina for the Davis Cup final – sans world #1 Rafa Nadal. The premise is mind-boggling. If you just think about it – how can you take away such a talent – and still go on to win?

But they did win. And we can too. In a game of such epic proportions, the best players rise to the top. Madrid won’t stay down in the dumps for long – our players won’t let it. Iker. Sergio. Raul. Guti. You can take Van Nistelrooy away but we are still lucky to be left with such talent. Will we find our redemption today? Will this become – the turning point of the season?

And look – Juande Ramos is nothing but creative! The biggest threat from Barca is Messi, so what do we do? Slide Sergio over to left-back. The better to contest – no, the only one, capable of contesting – the world’s #2! AND Dani Alves motoring from RB! How did AS describe it? “Real Madrid needs to cover its weaknesses. Only the most agile [defender] can hope to check Messi . . all others, pray.”

Well, then – let’s PLAY!!!!!!

Our lineup – wow, Sneijder’s back so quick? Oh no – are we rushing him?

Salgado – Metz – Canna – Sergio
Gago – Guti – Sneijder – Drenthe
Higuain – Raul

2:00 They are attacking the right flank repeatedly, intent on finding Salgado out. I didn’t think we’ll be under fire already! My heart sinks. Yes, they’re gonna dominate possession. And by dominate, I mean – DO-MIN-ATE. Real Madrid hasn’t even had a meaningful whiff of the ball. Higuain is backing up into our own half to play DEFENSE! Ack! And we are already fouling – a heavy whack to Messi’s ankles by Guti. Thank God there’s no card – yet.

5:30 SHIT! Look at Messi!! Turns Sergio inside out and already a shot on goal, as Iker dives to save it. If they had another shirt inside the box to pick up the loose change like Raul did in the Zenit game, we would’ve been down 1 already. This Barca team is scary stuff! One Sergio’s not gonna be enough on the left wing – we need TWO!

11:30 This is nuts. We’re having NO possession at all. No matter what we do, the ball just ends up at Barca’s feet. How???? How can they play like they have it velcroed to their boots? Here we are, slip-sliding on the wet grass, passes not always connecting – but their red-and-blue shirts are everywhere, everywhere the ball needs to go! We defend and they get a corner. They mess up the corner and we punt the ball far, far away but Puyol or Marquez picks it up on their backline anyway. We have no one to even counter-attack, because we are being forced to sit all 11 behind the ball. When Guti plays a pass that doesn’t have enough weight on it and it gets stolen – I wanna scream: Guti, run your team! Run your team, pleeeease!!! We’re being slaughtered here! LOL, look at Juande with his eyebrows burrowed in worry. So cute, and such a change from poster-board Schuster!

18:00 FIRST TIME we actually get the ball in our own attacking half! OMG, we’re supposed to attack? You mean – this isn’t some elaborate defensive exercise from hell?

And then, a few seconds later – Guti with his very first killer throughball!!! WAAAAA!!!!!! He finds Raul perfectly, releases him from the shackles of his defenders. Oh my God, that exquisite arrow of the ball simply takes your breath away, and reminds you that, if allowed to play, we are still very very good . . except, of course, Raul was offside. By miles. Sigh.

21:00 Yellow on Metzelder.

25:00 DRENTHE!!!! OMG, you finally beat Alves! Go, Go, GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! You’re 1v1 with the keeper – SHOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WTF??????

I canna – I cannot believe this. Any credible striker – any – would’ve buried that one. Their keeper had come miles off his line, in a desperate attempt to stymie our runaway counter-attack – Raul with an amazing diagonal ball that found Drenthe leaping over the sliding Alves into paradise, into an open field with the Barcelona goal totally alone and defenseless and gaping. Any striker at all – Pipita, Raul, maybe even Saviola – would’ve tapped it around the keeper before burying it in the back of the net! A chance like that, may only come once in a lifetime.

But Drenthe??? What does he do? He gets scared and kicked it directly AT the goalkeeper!

Whaaaaat . . . imagine what Robben would’ve done? Remember his sterling goal against Zenit that got voted #1 of all the CL group stages by ESPN? This would’ve been even better. This would’ve opened up our goal-scoring account on Barca’s home turf, going up 1-0, and driving their fans crazy mad. This would’ve given us a confidence like no other. This would’ve shut up all the critics.

Because right now? I have zero confidence. ZERO.

27:45 SHIT. Yellow on Sergio for tackling the ball away – but going through Messi’s legs to do it. Damnit, Sergio – you have to save those kinds of tackles for when the boy gets inside the box, when it becomes dangerous!!!! NOT here! NOT in the 27th min! Ugh . . I deeply fear that before the game is over, we will be reduced to 10 men . . and next up is Valencia!!

29:40 Possession so far: 71% Barca, 29% Real – and I’m pretty sure 50% of that 29% is simply trying to defend. Wonderful.

35:30 Who is this coming on? #35 . . ? Oh no. Sneijder. He’s walking off like he’s either reinjured something . . or . . well, he must’ve reinjured something. He looks terribly worried. But why not bring on VDV? Who is this Palanca kid?? Are we so thread-bare on the bench that we’re bringing on kids I’ve never even heard of before? Oh no.

40:00 Yellow on Marquez for trampling over Higuain, but Guti and Raul are not happy, pointing out that play should’ve continued as Real was running the other way. Great, now our chance to spring a surprise is over.

41:00 Yellow on Drenthe! Damnit! He switched onto Messi to protect Sergio from his yellow, and now again for a minor tackle away from any threatening play, Drenthe is booked. Now who becomes the Anti-Messi??

45:00 “Real Madrid halfway done!” Phil says cheerfully as the whistle blows for halftime. What do you mean, halfway done?? I feel like Barca is the only team playing today, and Real Madrid’s job is simply to contain them and hope for a 0-0 draw? That is NOT the way we play! WTF???? I really, really hate Barca. Watching Puyol simply stroll through a wide open park from his central back position all the way up to about 30 yards from our own goal is not OK. It’s not fun. I realize we have no other choice, given our patched-up lineup here, but . . well, should we simply take pride in saying we survived this defensive test, and say goodnight if we do get the 0-0 draw? Is that the best we can do here? *sigh*

I know we want to play real football . . I know we were built for that, that its in our genes. But, well . . just seeing the dirt on Iker’s elbow, the mud caked all over Salgado’s shorts . . it’s just not possible today. It’s fucking like watching Spain play. And it’s JUST NOT ANY FUN!

Second Half

47:00 YAY IKER!!!!!!!! Oh, thank God for you! You’ve finally decided to return to form in the one game that counts, eh? Bravo!!! Damn, our defense is actually pretty good today, no?

49:00 Higuain ALMOST!!!!!! Damn Puyol pressuring him! Haha, Valdes lifts him up to his feet, as Puyol thanks his lucky stars.

56:00 Higuain AGAIN! Except – what happened?? He gets up VERY angry, and throws up his hands and twirls around in a fit when the ref denies him a foul! C’mon, ref – Pipita’s a big boy, I promise you he’s NOT the diving type! AND the replay shows Marquez bodily coming out to throw him off the ball! WTF????

64:00 Ok, you know what? I’m much, much calmer now. All that battle cry and we need to play good football and not negative football has gone out the window. Damn, we’re doing a GREAT job defending! Against Sevilla they started scoring, what, at the 20th minute? At Valencia, guess when they opened up their scoring account? Yep, the 20th minute. But here they are not even close. Two or three scary strikes, sure – but Iker’s been all over them – tremendous!!! And hell, even Metzelder and Salgado are looking spiffy! Drenthe’s doing better against Alves too. Sergio’s watching Messi like a hawk. Raul and Higuain are always tracking back to help defend. Hell, if it ended like this, 0-0? I will consider that almost like a victory!

67:00 HUGE SCARE inside the box! I have no idea what’s going on, but the ball stays near the vicinity for way too long, someone heads it back towards goal, a Barca player pounces on it – and then Iker is punching it out, except he’s falling over the Barca player – ACK! Until Salgado finally hoofs it clear! PHEW! The replay shows how top form Iker is in today. The corner from Xavi so nearly finds Puyol’s head, the captain already turning his head towards goal – but for Iker to punch it out!!!!! YAY!!!!! Nearly punches Puyol square in the face too! Then the ball is pinged around and back somehow, and Iker must punch it out again – except he falls over!!! Ohmygod! Seconds later, Messi has picked up the spoils, and takes a whack that goes so narrowly wide. Getting up from the wet grass this time – Iker looks enormously relieved, tugging on his black turtleneck to be able to breathe better. GOOD JOB, IKER!!!! Keep it up! I’d almost forgotten how good you are! ^^

68:00 OH FUCK. PENALTY????? SALGADO YELLOW?!

Damnit damnit damnit!!! Sergio Busquets’s laughing and giving a high five to a teammate for the reward! The ball flying into the box and Salgado roughens him up, throws the youngster tumbling to the ground, as the ball bombs in to no one in particular, and thumps out of bounds. Goddamnit, I hate penalties. So you can’t score the right way, can you, Barca? You need a penalty to score?

Here comes Eto’o, stepping up to the plate. Iker, so good all game long, faces his ultimate test. Salgado, meanwhile, is still protesting his innocence along the sidelines, as Canna laughs. I have the TV on pause right now, and I so, so want to keep it on pause, forever, to never play it so I would never have to watch this penalty being taken. Please, Iker, please – do you have your magic still? Can you save us?

OHMYFUCKINGGOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH OH OH SAN IKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE MY HERO!!!!!!!!!!! JESUS CHRIST, YOU ARE GOOD!!!!!!!! NO, NO – GREAT!!!! WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT YOU???

Heh, and to all those rumors that Juande would sit him in favor of Dudek? GTFO!

And he doesn’t just save it. He palms it out wide, so that Eto’o can’t retrieve it, so that Drenthe can flag it down and keep it away from giving them a second chance. Oh my beautiful God! Iker, my baby – you are Real’s hero. You are man of the match, for sure. Even if the whole team gets injured, so long as we have you . . !

Haha, Eto’o!!!! Tried to get revenge on your former team, did you? NOT! LOLOLOL!!!!!!!!! *sticks out tongue*

Oh my – my heart’s still pounding!!!! This should give us a HUGE boost! Go chase the ball, boys! Run run run! We’ve played stellar defense for nearly 70 minutes, its time to play some FUTBOL!!!!

70:50 Phil: “Half the starting lineup either on the shelf or in the hospital. Real Madrid, bubbled up and rubber-banded, somehow they’re holding it together.”
Ray: “Well – ”

And then I don’t even hear the rest because Messi has the ball, Messi has now thundered into top of the box, Messi gives it to Eto’o who has room to turn and SHOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IKER AGAIN WITH THE SAVE! OMG, MESSI! And Iker gets up to deny him TOO!!!!!!!!! AND somehow slams it off Messi so it’s not a corner! Someone get this man a trophy! “Tell me this kid’s not the best in the world!” Ray roars while jumping out of his seat.

71:45 Guti is pulled for . . Javi Garcia?? Damn. Poor Guti, not able to run his stuff today – he does not look happy.

74:00 Iker??? OH, SALGADO! Thank God for you! Too scary! A long ball punted forward for Henry into the right corner, Iker races out when he sees Salgado can’t get there in time, trying to play as a 5th defender! Just doing everything today! He does well too, using his body to shield Henry away from the ball to allow it to go out – except he falls down in the tangle and the ball STAYS IN!!! OMFG! Then in the next second Salgado is sliding in resolutely to tackle that ball OUT, where it belongs! HURRAY!!!!!!!!!! LOL, Salgado’s socks now match his shorts in being totally gray instead of white and covered with dirt and mud. Been really throwing his weight around today!

76:00 Higuain is pulled for VDV. Well, our goal-scoring chances have just diminished by 2/3. Its all Raul now. I will settle for the 0-0 then, happily.

77:00 Palanca WITH A CHANCE! OMG, wouldn’t it be the most unlikely thing in the world for the youngster to get a goal in Camp Nou in his very first start?? Beautiful 1-2 with Raul, who releases him perfectly – and when Palanca shots, my heart’s in my throat, thinking, thinking – this could be IT! But NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! That Valdes has to save it again! Uses his body to deflect the ball, so it flies up high into the air . . never to be seen again.

78:00 Sergio with a run!!!! Go, Sergio, GOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Damnit, FOULED?! And then the cameras don’t show us who fouled him or what happened?? Hmmph!

Too much is happening! Barca keeps on coming, and now every ball is even more dangerous, because the difference in the teams is starting to tell. They are still as fresh as daisies, while we are starting to tire, our midweek game against Zenit for 90 minutes while they were sitting back eating popcorn rearing its ugly head. Dani Alves – how many times have you honestly seen him defend?? Because he doesn’t have to! Jesus, can you remember the glory days when we had the luxury of fielding Sergio up the flank, letting him run up and down as he pleases to open up the middle and feed the forwards for their runs? Well, that is what Alves is having fun with now, and Sergio must sit back and defend against him! AND deflect his shot painfully with his cheek/shoulder/arm! UGH!

82:00 HOLY FUCK! BARCA HAS SCORED. 0-1.

And the replay shows it was Sergio who Puyol outjumped. Gee, I wonder why? Sergio normally does so well in the air – when have you seen him being outjumped? Yet, here . . Puyol looks like a jackrabbit compared to him. *sighhhhh*

Our boys are tired. There is no way around that. And it hurts so much, to finally see the inevitable. They had to score. They had to, see. Its just not physically possible, for our starters to play 90 minutes in midweek, and then expect us to be top-notch coming in here. We were brave, though. We held them scoreless for 82 fucking minutes; 82 wet, tough, endless-chasing-and-deflecting-and-defending-together minutes.

But now the floodgate’s loose. Puyol outjumps Sergio to the ball, heads it in Eto’o’s direction, and Eto’o has the easiest job of all tapping it into the net. Hell, he doesn’t even get enough force to punt it directly into the back of the net, as Palanca desperately tries to run in and scoop it up before anyone notices. Haha – good try, Miguel! But I think, yeah, they’ve noticed. It’s a goal. Puyol dives happily onto the wet turf. Eto’o storms out of the box and sweeps along the sidelines with his shirt off, screaming and yelling to the gods.

And Iker. Oh my god, Iker. His face is so sad, so disappointed . . its not your fault, bb! Its our collective responsibility. Sergio failed you too. Whoever was guarding Eto’o failed you too. You thought Puyol would head it home but instead he heads it to Eto’o. Well . . let’s play on. Let’s see what happens next.

86:00 Good lord: 73% Barca, 27% Real. Um . . no comment.

89:00 Yellow on Iker? Good grief, ref, why? Just because he came out to have a few words with you, in defense of Gago?

90:00+0:45 Messi scores, on a lightening-fast counter-attack by Barca. And Canna leaps into the net to try to save it from going in! Is he ok???? Did he hit his head on the post?! Ohmygod, Canna, I LOVE YOU for trying! Its not your fault your legs weren’t quick enough to stop them! 0-2, and, well – whatever. I don’t care anymore. The score can be run up by them all they want, in my mind it will always stay at 0-1. We are NOT worse than them by 2 goals. 1 goal, ok. You get possession like that, 73%, I’ll hand that to you. But we played our hearts out today, and 0-1 down to Barca on the road is no shame. Let’s just play these last few seconds out, go home, and take a nice hot shower. Valencia next week should be much easier – and then its Christmas break!!!

What’s that song the fans are singing in the end?

Man of the Match
Iker Casillas x 4394873049384093489382.

Post-game thoughts
This was a bitter defeat. It really, really hurts. And I know I shouldn’t even be disappointed, since everybody was predicting Madrid to not only lose, but lose horribly. What were the predictions: 0-4? 0-5? The second I saw the match open and Barca refuse to lose the ball I knew we would be in for a hell of a fight. Then, when we finally got our chance to attack – with 18+ minutes gone by??? Guti walking off shaking his head? Putting on youth teamer Palanca for never-healed Sneijder?

But when Iker began saving all those insane balls – man, that really gave me heart. And when the backline held strong and dug deep and kept defending, defending, and defending some more, as if we weren’t the worst defensive record in most of the league? It gave me even more hope. With such newfound resolve and unity, I knew that if we could walk out of there with a 0-0 draw, that would’ve been a true metaphoric victory for us. I mean, just a week ago we let Sevilla score 4 goals in the Bernabeu!! And here we were, defending with a clean sheet, against the very best team in the country. (or so says the points table)

So when that tap by Eto’o went in . . and then Messi . . it erased all our hard work that came before it. People will look at that 0-2 scoreline and say haha, Barca >>> Real – but they don’t know the half of it. That’s why it’s so bitter. They were not 2 goals better than us. Really, NOT. We were able to take everything they’d thrown at us, and parry back – and only at the very, very end did we surrender. A mistake by Sergio . . no time to react by Iker . . who was marking Eto’o? . . and the damage was done. It just felt . . so awful. If only we could’ve held on for 8 more minutes . . if only we had the firepower, and the legs, to bomb forward and attack their goal for an equalizer . . if only it had been Robben rather than Drenthe on that scintillating run towards Valdes . . if only the gods had spared us the injures . . if only.

But even through all this hurt – I love this team even more. I loved them when they were winning, of course. But you know what I’ve just realized?

I love them even more when they’re not.

When they’re up with their backs against the wall, and missing half their teammates. When they have to go into Camp Nou and face the rampant Barca after just 2 days rest (which of you La Liga officials is responsible for moving up the date from Sunday to Saturday?!). When Sergio must play LB because Heinze’s out and Marcelo’s suspended and anyway who else can possibly keep Messi in check?? Yes, all that. All that makes me want to fight for them, to root for them even more. Even through the losses – because in each loss, you learn something more, something new, that snuggles its way into your heart.

Like today. Today, when they put on such a disciplined defense – truly defending as a team – just like the Italians do it! Wow! I’m clicking through the pictures, and all I see are our pristine-white shirts and shorts soaked to the core with mud and dirt, while the Barca players were essentially dirt-free. Maybe it’s the color of the uniforms, but . . it says a lot right there about how hard we played, how we left nothing on the table.

I was too selfish when I said earlier that I wanted to see attacking football, and none of this negative stuff. It’s actually the mark of a great team, of a cohesive team, to understand what is needed rather than what is desired, and to change their normal game strategy in order to adapt and hold down the fort in enemy territory. That they did it under such immense pressure and criticism and so little time with Juande and everything else against their favor says tremendous things about this team. I loved their attitude, I loved their effort, and Canna trying to negate that goal already in the net and Palanca trying to scoop it out too made me both laugh and cry. This team deserves far more than the 0 points collected in these 2 last La Liga losses. But I hope they know they’ve gained something in return too: unbridled appreciation from their fans. Well, at least this fan!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Iker. For being such a lion in goal today, and making every single one of their shots look ordinary. The biggest games, brings out the best in the biggest players, don’t they?

Thank you, Salgado, for staying with Henry, even though he was fresher than you, faster than you, and younger than you.

Thank you, Sergio, for staying on Messi like glue, and shutting him down for much of the game.

Thank you, Gago, for being everywhere; Higuain and Raul, for tracking back to help defend; Guti, for making every single possession we had count; Metzelder, for being so alert; Sneijder, for trying to play, for wanting to play, even though you clearly weren’t 100%, or even 80%; Drenthe, for your tireless runs (oh, how much would you be reliving that nightmare of the almost-goal??); Palanca, for being fed to the wolves – and not blinking an eye; Canna . . oh, Canna, for that final flying leap in the end to try to save that Messi goal!! My God, my heart leapt out of my throat seeing that, I didn’t care about the 0-2 scoreline!!! But to see you try! And then to see you bang your head against the post and fall down in pain! (well, thank GOD it wasn’t your head! Haha, you’re too smart for that, aren’t cha?)

I truly, truly have not seen a better defensive effort than the one we gave today. Damnit, we made Barca look ordinary and increasingly frustrated for 82 solid minutes! And for that, I want to thank Juande Ramos. Can you image a Schuster team being this defensively sound? Or playing this well together?? Haha, Bernd – its “impossible” to win in the Camp Nou, is it? Well, after today, I can tell you:

Barca is NOT invincible.

Not by any stretch of the imagination. Hell, except for one set-piece mistake and one very, very late counter-attack, given the huge gap in freshness and health between the two teams – we could’ve drawn. And if Robben could’ve played? If we even had half our injured players back? We could’ve truly made a game of it.

As it were . . we made them sweat through all 90 minutes. And San Iker has been returned to us. Bravo, boys! Our toughest game of the year so far is over. Now there’s just one more game vs Valencia – and then reinforcements are coming!!

HALA MADRID!

WHAT A GAME! 3 penalties, 8 yellow cards, 1 red card, 7 goals, and ALL 4 RM GOALS BY ONE PLAYA????? How is that possible?! OMG, the drama never ceases at Real Madrid, that’s for sure!!

Ok, here’s how it all went down:

I was surprised this game was switched to Saturday instead of Sunday. Li Liga, make up your mind, plz? But when Saturday came, I realized that they had done me a favor. God, did I need this game. Due to this stupid economy coughing and sputtering all over the place, being sucky overall, shredding employees right and left and then killing the rest of us by asking us to do 2 people’s jobs, I was so tired by week’s end that I slept til noon, then actually had to be woken up. I even refused to get up, until I realized that I was starving, and the game would start soon. Well, maybe I’ll tape it, I thought. But no . . once I turned on the telly, I was hooked. The first image they showed was Gonzalo Higuain. Plus, Sergio was playing! He’s not that hurt, after all! YAY!

And so, I snuggled into the sofa, and allowed my boys in white to take me on a journey that made everything I did during the past week completely melt away. Bah, what is a little hard work . . when compared to this game?? Hala Madrid!

Lineup:
Sergio – Canna – Heinze – Marcelo
Sneijder – Guti – Gago
VDV – Higuain – Drenthe

0:30 Ray Hudson describes us as a “wounded animal”, and “you know what wounded animals do, Phil – they attack.” Ooooh, I love that word. That’s exactly what I want Real to do! Malaga is not bad themselves, being currently 8th in the table. Well, except they let in 4 against Barca. So, if you add “wounded animal” + Barca’s margin of 4-1, I hope that equates to a GOALFEST!!!!!!!

5:30 Oh crap. This is SHOCKING! I’ve barely finished my lunch and they’ve already scored????? 0-1? A melee in front of goal! Marcelo lets #18 Eli by as if he was a rampaging T-Rex! WTF?? “Marcelo needs to be horse-whipped!” Ray Hudson screams. I agree!

Eli has just danced around Marcelo as if he was a tree. Heinze tries to slide in for the doorstop. But no! That guy continues to dance around half our backline and then lures Iker out hurriedly to defend as well, before slamming the ball off the post and then picking it right up in stride while our midfield, too, lunges in, to no avail – because he’s already beaten them to the loose ball, picking it up and with a simple touch of his foot, so simple he seems to be sleepwalking while everyone else was running blind-folded, he slips it diagonally into goal as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Barely 5 minutes in and already a goal, and not for the home side? The wounded animal has just been kicked yet again. And by the Anchovies no less! (no, really! That’s Malaga’s nickname!) Oh, this one hurts baaaaaaad.

7:00 Right afterwards, it is Sergio who reacts first, as always. Pissed off that our wounded pride has been sullied, he takes the ball from Iker with only 1 goal – to drive it up as far as he could. And how! Even when a Malaga winger zeros in on him, he doesn’t care, he doesn’t slip it back, as he usually does, he doesn’t give a crap about “saving possession”. He only cares about creating this revenge goal, and as the winger flies in to challenge, Sergio quickly taps it forward for himself, full of confidence. The winger is beaten with laughable ease, Sergio dumping him unceremoniously to the ground before he roars on, the goal looming larger and larger in his eyes, his run carrying him all the way up into nearly the opposition’s box.

And when the defense finally tries to pin him down, he turns deftly to slip it to VDV, who says thank you and now takes over – cutting into the middle, getting everyone involved, the ball pinning back and forth between them in a jealous bout of possession to keep it away from the Anchovies, so much is our desire to equalize, and equalize fast. Guti, Marcelo, Higuain, Gago – they were not to be denied. This is what should’ve happened against Juv. This is our payback.

7:40 GOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew it!! Guti to Marcelo with the smasher against the goalie, then Higuain in the right place to whip it home! 1-1!

This goal, truly, was born of teamwork, of movement and skill. Everyone was involved, everyone, including Sergio who initially brought it up, VDV who switched it to the middle, Gago who tries to win it back, and of course Guti who slips a beautiful ball forward for Marcelo, their one-two played perfectly for his redemption, the little chastised Brazilian gunning forward to knock it square into the keeper, but oh yes – he spills it! Right into the path of Higuain! And our lone striker does not disappoint, hammering it swiftly into the empty net.

Oh, the crowd goes mad! The announcer screams their names! But the players themselves, though happy, know that they have only equalized. And so their celebration is a quick one, Pipita hurriedly picking the ball up from the net and jogging back to center circle, accepting high-fives and pats on the back along the way, but looking more eagerly towards the restart than anything else. Wow, what an attitude! I love it!

9:55 Sergio is a leftie? As he slips a ball with his right foot to Iker to clean up, Phil says: “A leftie, but it works.” Who else is a leftie – Miguel Torres, right? And Cesc?

10:00 Sneijder with a walloping shot! VDV with the pickup! But gah, into the side netting!

17:25 NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Malaga does it again???? 1-2?! What happened to all our intent and purpose and desire?

The entire backline is to blame for this one. Canna for letting them square away from him. Sergio for letting that pass through. Heinze and Marcelo for letting #25 Baha slip through their grasp, neither of them recognizing the danger until he’s already run away from them, Heinze just a step too slow but that one step is what cost us the goal. Poor Iker couldn’t even react before the ball was already spiraling into the back of the net, and Baha slides on the turf in elation to celebrate with his pals. This is the Bernabeu, for Christ’s sake! This is our home stadium, our castle! Does that mean nothing anymore??

23:50 OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!! ALMOST AN OWN-GOAL BY MALAGA! Ok, well, it wasn’t that close, but still! Great job, Sergio! A couple of lightening crosses forward into the opposition’s box, and now he takes matters into his own hands with a wicked shot that the Malaga defender must head away! But it sails so close to the goal, flashing for a brief second as if for the far right corner – before it goes out! Corner!

27:50 What a pass by Guti! For Higuain! The ball tears right past 2 defenders sticking their leg out for Pipita suddenly 1v1 with the keeper! ACK, he had to smother that one! Crap!

28:00 DAMN, Sergio was solely concentrated on the ball and not on the challenger with his cleats raised, so he takes one through his ankle and rolls onto the ground as if he’s been shot. The ref, however, calmly handles the situation and doles out the free kick, ignoring the hisses and cries from the crowd. Our ensuing free kick so nearly connected with a RM player! But just a tiny bit off, and into the hands of the keeper, who ruins everything.

35:15 PENALTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS!!!
Handball on the very, very tiptoe edge of the box to stop the shot by Higuain. Immediately the buzz heightens around the stadium, and the ref is looking a bit beleaguered about giving the penalty, but he does pull out the yellow card. Guti, even, goes to comfort the condemned defender #3 Weligton for the handball. Acting all captainy – so great! Then, then – YES! WE GOT IT! A PENALTY! THANK YOU LORD!

And Higuain, who looks so reluctant when he’s seriously deep in thought, steps up to take it. There is no Raul today. No RVN. The 20 year old is our only hope. 80,000+ pairs of eyes are on him – and millions more across the globe. And he even stutters – pausing just ever so slightly in his run-up, as if still choosing a direction? Damn! So that the keeper guesses right – and almost saves it! BUT NO! WE GOT IT! The ball squirmed past under his arm and into the back of the net! WE’VE EQUALIZED YET AGAIN! 2-2! YAY!!!!

And again, Pipita roars and pumps his fists, and then promptly grabs that ball away from the depressed keeper to hurry back towards the middle, to eagerly restart the game. Haha, do you have somewhere else to be, bb? Celebrate a little more, won’t you?

39:00 WTF, IKER?????? Take your time with the ball back from Heinze, won’t you? Instead, he doesn’t even pause to restart, just kicks it right back to Heinze, and suddenly the Argentine has to fight for it back against a swift-footed Malaga winger coming in to challenge?? #@*$&%*?&!!!! OH, that’s a great tackle! CLEAN! “A tremendous tackle,” Ray praises! But the ref doesn’t think so! He calls him for a foul! And Heinze, so incensed at this injustice, immediately runs up to the ref to appeal, with his hands cupped together in the shape of a ball for emphasis (or is that to choke the ref’s neck?), begging and pleading and screaming that it was clean! Please!

But the ref scowls, and yep, whenever the ref gets ticked off, they can do whatever they want to correct the situation – like, pulling out a yellow card! YIKES! C’mon, that’s way too unfair! Why can’t they, ever, admit they’re wrong? Poor Heinze can’t believe it, and captain Guti comes up to try to stop the yellow card, to no avail. So. They get a freebie kick. Eh.

OOOOoooh, and that one so closely sailed over the top of the bar! SO dangerous! PHEW!

41:00 Higuain gets a yellow for . . grabbing the guy’s arm. Are you kidding me, ref?

43:00 WWWWWWWWWHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTT???????????????????
A RED CARD????? ON SERGIO RAMOS???????!!!!!!!!!!!!
OH, I NEVER!

Maybe Sergio has a bit of a reputation. Or maybe this ref needs his eyes checked. But he goddamn APOLOGIZED, ref! What more do you want from him?????!!!!!!!

Ok, here’s what happened. Sergio’s defending against #18 Eli on the right wing and semi-fouls. Fine. Whatever. Eli’s on the ground, but there’s no whistle, so he’s allowed to play on. The ball, meanwhile, is threatening to roll out of bounds. So, in his eagerness to get to the ball – Sergio steps on him. Square in the chest. Eli screams out loud, and Sergio immediately wheels around to apologize, putting his hands out in that universal “I’m sorry” language, and coming to check on the player.

But then the ref goes bonkers! He rushes over and raises the red card. The red card??? NO WAY! In fact, with all the players now gathering and the replay being played, I barely see the red raised – but on the screen it says “Tarjeta Roja”, which I know means “red.” And from Sergio’s expression – oh my God. He doesn’t even argue, just gives the ref an exasperated look, and turns hopelessly away. There is tremendous disappointment written all over his body, even though he tries to hide it in his face, tries to hold it in from the rest of the world already on his case from the last 2 weeks of hell. As he walks off . . his eyes are down, his hands listlessly taking off his hairband and wrapping it around his wrist. Behind him, they argue on, the entire team trying to plead his case, not giving up even after the fact, with Gago, Sneijder, and Canna the most animated, probably because they are the only ones who hasn’t gotten a yellow or a reprimand yet today.

And the crowd: what are they chanting?
The card was just insane. And you know what? I don’t even care. I don’t want to argue anymore. Sergio’s played his heart out in this game, with a bruised foot too – making so many great runs up the right flank that’s helped the team. I don’t mind, with the score 2-2, for him to get a rest.

So now Guti has to defend the RB spot. Ah good, there’s the halftime whistle!

Second Half:

2:00 Well, there’s Salgado and his dramatics again! So Sneijder’s sacrificed. And every little touch, falls him like a dagger, with Michel clutching his face, his chin, as if the worst wrong has been done to him. Very nice to sell a couple fouls, though.

10:00 My interest in this game has plummeted dramatically. Now I barely care. And RM is playing like it too. When deep injustice has been done to your team – and I feel it has – then you lose heart. You feel its not worth your while, that no matter how much you put into it, it won’t ever return it back to you. So. My guess is this will end 2-2. And that is just woeful.

18:10 LOL, so cute! Guti does so well to slide in for the tackle on Nacho, but that guy, a fresh sub just come on, manages to backheel the ball right before the contact is made! So Guti gets the man instead of the ball! Free kick. Damn, this spot is so dangerous, deep inside the right corner by the flag, that Guti can only throw up his hands and fall back dramatically onto the grass, laughing at it.

23:10 OH NO! WE ARE DONE.

ANOTHER PENALTY????????? This time Gago being the culprit, too desperate to stop the ball and shoves Duda off it, right inside the box. So of course, here comes the card, and here comes the pointing to the spot for the pen. Christ. Gago protests, but the ref does not care. “There’s no need!!” Ray exhorts on Gago’s push. Canna was coming over. Iker was ready. Really, Gago!

So now Iker is our last line of defense. And he’s not enough. #10 Apono rifles the shot into the roof of the net, as Iker guessed the wrong way, and its now 2-3.

I am speechless. This is such a nightmare! Oh, Real . . what is wrong?

25:00 YYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HIGUAIN HAT TRICK!!! 3-3!

A kiss for Pipita!! What an amazing little Argentine we have! And now my soul is cleansed. My hope is restored. That shot was wicked good, so far out was he, 25 yards? But that is enough. Give him an inch of space, and he absolutely rifles that shot into the far left corner of the net, a perfect shot, a shot deserving of his third for the hat-trick. Oh my God, how good it feels!!!!! I LOVE YOU, PIPITA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And now he celebrates! YEAH!!!! Lookit how he yells, throws his fists!! God, we needed this!

And now Real has woken up. They’ve shaken off this gloom that was Sergio’s sending off, and now they’ve taken heart from Higuain’s strike. The slate is wiped clean once again. 3-3 now. Marcelo’s error is gone. Heinze’s error is gone. Gago’s error is gone. Even that injustice that is Sergio’s red card is momentarily erased, and we are once more the masters of the universe. Well, at home anyway! OH YES! Look at that! Real’s MAD! They’re pissed off, bb! The crowd’s roaring them on! That’s the way to play, boys!! ALL OUT!

27:50 Saviola on for Drenthe. Eh. I am actually sad to see Drenthe go!

30:00 WOW, GUTI! Thank you!!!! Wonderful, amazing, all-out tackle by the captain to win the ball back from a dangerous Malaga attack, sliding in with every ounce of energy left in his body, then whips the ball forward for VDV! All in one motion! We have so few bodies upfield right now that it looks like its for naught, for nothing – yet, yet all we need is TWO! VDV curls a mean cross ahead for Higuain, so audacious – the Argentine can’t quite get to it! SO CLOSE! OOOOOOooohhh! What happens????? A PENALTY?????????? AGAIN? I mean, YES! Wonderful! Haha! I can’t believe it! What game is this??!!! Barcelona? Villareal? The CL final?? How can this game against little ol’ Malaga be this exciting???? *giddy dance!*

Replay: ooooh, Higuain dived! Did they even touch him?? Two defenders on either side of him, running with him – but? Was he pushed? Well, its hard to tell . . but he does seem to dive, perhaps trying to get the header when he realizes its too far out? “The diving swan!!” Ray laughs when its replayed. “He bought one!” Ah, well! This avenges everything then! Very fair, this ref! DD

AND ITS SAVED?!?! BUT WE GET THE REBOUND! GOAL #4 FOR PIPITA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!! GOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4-3! We can rest easy now!

Wow, this is such a soul-cleansing game like no other! This entirely erases away the bitterness I felt when Sergio Garcia took that penalty v Iker in the Betis game, only for Iker to save it, but then he poaches the rebound to fire it past Iker for the goal. I had spat on him then, but now we do the exact same thing. Higuain, perhaps a little nervous, perhaps a little tired, telegraphs his strike and in fact tries the exact same thing as last time, running up from the left and striking it to the left. The keeper reads it well and saves it well – but as always, spills it!!!! Higuain wastes no time correcting his wrong and slotting it home, past the desperate lunge of the keeper, and runs off to celebrate goal #4. Oh, and the winner. This is the game-winner, very likely. 4-3. Oh, thank god. I can breathe again.

And this celebration is the sweetest of all. All of them piling up on him, laughing, crying, hugging. It really is all Gonzalo Higuain. Lots of help, of course. But you have to bow down to this 20 year old boy from Argentina. Without him and his brilliance, his speed, his industry – we would have no answer for Malaga. RVN’s hurting. Raul’s beat. Saviola, um – is not worthy of La Liga. But we’ve got a blossoming young striker here. 4 goals, all his. Oh, and Guti. What a tackle! What a pass! What vision! Thank you VDV too! Ray cannot stop raving about Pipita. “Tireless Spartan, gladiator that is Higuain! And tip your hat to the captain, Guti, too!” Oh yes. When the chips are down, their talent comes out after all.

36:00 Now its Malaga’s turn to be mad. I even feel a little sorry for them – that last penalty was a little dodgy, after all. So the counter-attacks begin to come to blows, the shots like cannon, both sides hell-bent on getting/stopping another one. Iker is called on for a couple saves. And as Malaga forces a corner, Phil exclaims, “just a run of the mill season match!” Indeed!

37:50 Diarra comes on for VDV. Now we want to protect our lead.

38:40 Look at Guti with his steely tackles! Another good one! Though they get a throw-in off it, he couldn’t quite do the magical double that he pulled off earlier, this one being just for survival. Ray is just floored. “Richard the Lionheart, down there, is Guti!” he roars. God, my love for him grows more and more every game! Him and Higuain both! Gah, Guti . . doing everything he can for the team, always!!

45:00 Oh no! GUTI! Are you hurt?? Why won’t they stop play for you?
He once again makes a fantastic tackle, just stands his ground – then, on one knee, trying to get up – falls over. AAAGGHHH! “Fatigue,” Ray says sympathetically. Awhile later, he is up on his feet. Oh, thank god!

End We win!!!

Man of the Match
Higuain – 4 goals!!! Matched Di Stefano’s record for a single game! Not bad, huh?

Post-game thoughts
WOW. What a firecracker of a game! We really, really needed this win, and my hat’s off to Higuain to get it for us.

Real Madrid, somehow – has a way of burrowing into your soul. I’m serious. It takes so much time and effort to follow them . . but then when things go right – when they give it back to you – its all worth it. I woke up this morning groggy and tired, and now I’m laughing and singing along to the radio. What could be better?

This team fights. There’s no other way to put it. When things are going well, they fight against the media for making stuff up, for criticism that they took their foot off the gas, whatever. When things are going badly – like now – they have to fight even harder, even longer, in order to win, in a way that makes you want to curse them and hug them, all at the same time. This is what being a team is all about.

“We win together and we lose together,” Guti said after the last game against Juv. And there is no better reminder of that than this game right here. Look at Marcelo making that mistake in the beginning of the game, the one that Ray screamed to have him punished for it. Then just seconds later, the culprit himself is pushing forward, creating a beautiful one-two with Guti that releases him for the shot on goal, which ended up being spilled out for Higuain to slip home. 1-1. We make another mistake, this time by more players, when they go ahead 1-2, on a wonderful assist by Duda and an alert run by Baha. Again, we have to fight back. And again it’s a team effort, our buildup in the box leading to Guti letting Higuain have it, and he knocks it just past the defender who reaches out with his arm to stop it. Penalty. Pipita strikes it, 2-2.

Then Sergio’s red card. We had to go a man down. 10 v 11, for the entire second half! And for the first 18 minutes or so, we suffered. Yet when Gago pushed Duda and they got that penalty – we forgot all that. We couldn’t lose – we refused to lose. If that is not pure fight, pure white blood in my veins, then I don’t know what is! Higuin, again and again! Mistakes made by our back line, cleaned up and atoned for by our front. We win, and lose, together. Guti’s lightening passes, just incredible. Higuain, running and running, scaring the heck out of them. Marcelo barging forward. Sergio too, in the first half. Heinze arguing so passionately, Gago, so adorable and yet so tough, and Drenthe, too, looking better and better.

This victory belonged to the whole team, even though it was Pipita who got the credit, and that’s why it feels extra special. Yes, we have major players who are hurting. Yes, we’re going through a rough patch. But there is a never-say-die attitude about this team that I love so much right now! Hope does spring eternal! Hala Madrid!