Athletic Bilbao: Eternal Rival
By: Corey | October 23rd, 2008
One of the oldest rivalries in Spain is reignited on Sunday, 4pm eastern time at the Santiago Bernabeu when Athletic Bilbao comes to town. This game, much like the Madrileno derbi last weekend, is steeped in tradition with these rivalry games dating back to the 1920s and 30s where Bilbao was one of the premier teams in the contry, winning Copa del Reys like it was their job. Many already know of Bilbao’s Basque-only policy, something that while noble in its focus on homegrown talent, has really hurt the team in the modern era.
Bilbao, like Barca and Real, has never been relegated in their existence. That is a stat that the Basques are all to proud of, and they should be, as its very difficult to go the entire span of the leagues existence without a slip-up year. As I had previously mentioned, their Basque-only policy has enamored the team to its community, and has left a prevailing sense of identity to the club, which its players fiercely defend. So many great Basque players have represented Bilbao, as well as Spains national team, and so many of those great Basque players never wanted to leave their team despite offers from other, more high profile clubs.
But while my adoration for the club is one thing, they are in fact a rival like Barca or Atletico. Basque seperatist politics often comes to the forefront when the team takes on Real, a symbol of the united state. While I dont buy into these metaphors anymore, these feelings still simmer under the surface across Spain. The regional diversity of the country leads to so many conflicts, and when these two teams clash, the tensions boil over. The modern era has taken away some of this tension, especially at the Bernabeu, where most of the cosmopolitan crowd has lost touch with the past. But this game still has significance, and Real will be on the field to win it for their fans, not just for the 3 points.
Atheltic Bilbao Team News:
I have a working knowledge of Spanish. I can siff through Marca, AS, Sport, etc. but I dont know Basque. Luckily for me, Athletic has its very own English-version website, and I have to say, it might just be better then Real’s site. And from here I gleaned a few things, one that the match referee will be Alfonso Alvarez Izquierdo, from Barcelona. He has officiated 4 games so far this season, and has done a decent enough job.
I also learned that Javi Martinez and Joseba Exteberria have fully recovered from their injuries and will be fit for selection on Sunday. Ander Murillo is still out with a hernia, and a youth team member has joined the squad and played against Barca at left back, Mikel Balenziaga, and did quite well. I dont know if he will retain his spot against Real, but I dont see why not, as Ander Murillo is still out. His central defensive partners are Amorebieta and Aitor Ocio, the one with the strange hair cut. He had a notable career with Sevilla before returning home with Bilbao. Balenziaga is a relative unknown at this point, but Ocio is a good player, committed and unrelenting. He is equal parts pace and positiong, and is very physical. He is good in the air, but not great 1v1. Look for Higuain to skin him a few times.
Amorebieta is a very physical center back, with a touch of skill only a few center backs possess. Not skill like doing step overs and a rabona, but he reads the play and anticipates well. He also can take the ball clean off your foot, which is his real skill. Liverpool have been interested for awhile. At right back they have the excellent Iraola, who is a Spanish international because of his solid play. He wont let who ever plays on the wing get much of a sniff unless he is already chasing.
With Javi Martinez fit, I expect him to partner Gabilondo in the center of the pitch. I dont think David Lopez is a La Liga caliber player, although I am sure he would disagree. Javi Martinez is one of the players I really hope real signs. He has been playing steadily for Bilbao now for years, but he is still only 20. He has over 60 games under his belt in 2 years, which is really impressive enough, but he is a all-around midfielder with the tools to succeed at the highest level. Gabilondo is another player with alot of top flight experience, and at 29 is probably settled in at Bilbao for the long haul. He played for Sociedad for many years, including their push for the title and subsequent maiden Champions League voyage, which seems like it happened so long ago.
Martinez will be the real threat in the midfield that Gago/Diarra and Ruben will have to keep an eye on. Pablo Orbaiz also is lined up in midfield as the defensive midfielder, and he is of course and ex-Spain international. He has had a torrid time with injuries the past few years, but he looks to be back to his best. He will be cleaning up whatever Garmendia and Martinez cant deal with, particularly Sneijder. Garmendia played in the middle against Barca, and unless David Lopez is put there, he will look to keep things tighty with Martinez and Orbaiz. David Lopez can probably exploit Marcelo’s mental lapses, but then again Yeste can play wide right as well and would make it an even bigger headache for Marcelo,
At left midfield may be Gabilondo, or it may be Suseata. Not really sure, it seems that as it is an away game Suseate is to risky a pick. Then again with Exteberria again fit, he could start behind Llorente and push Yeste wide, but Im gonna assume Yeste starts behind Llorente and Exteberria comes off the bench for an added spark. Ion Velez is a striking option from the bench, and as you can see, Bilbao has plenty of options. Joaquin Caparros has all the players he wants for the season, the problem is I feel like he often does not utilize them correctly together, whether it be the defensiv choice of Gabilondo on the left or not playing with two out and out strikers.
Real Madrid News:
Guti and Diarra are back to fitness and were in training today. This is good news because since De la Red was rested at such a strange time, our midfield was how do you say, garbage against Juve. Sneijder can not do the same job that Ruben can do, while Gago is still not as effective as Diarra is in breaking up attacks and putting pressure on the midfielders. Gago did very well against Atletico, but he was underwhelming against Juve. Then again, he did not have much help, when Sneijder and VdV looked so incompatible as midfield partners, despite their excellence for their national team.
Much debate has been made over the performances of Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Gago perticularly against Juve. Sergio Ramos was terrible, no ifs, ands or buts about it. His form, like Iker’s, has been erratic at best, and we often see him play his best when he returns from national duty, but then it drops off again. I feel that he is very distracted by off field matters, especially the interest from Man City, Chelsea and Milan. Gago played well when he had the ball, or more specifically when we had the ball, but this is not the only aspect of his game. When we didnt have the ball, he was less impressive. Although he had little help, Diarra often does not either, and he marshalls the midfield 9 times out of 10. Gago was soundly beaten by Sisokko, while Nedved was allowed far to much space because Gago could not keep a tab on any one player.
Pepe was disaterous. Error prone is the only thing that comes to mind. He was responsible for both goals, first pushing up field to defend Amauri, when he had no reason to. By staying on Del Piero and following his run, Amuari had little to do excpet take a long distance shot. Of course he could have moved forward to create a chance, but this is all hypthetical. The higher percentage move was to stick to Del Piero, which Pepe did not do, getting nut megged with a through ball which was slotted home. As I have said before, he is to eager to rush forward and make a tackle. He is also all to eager to slide in on someone, but this time he didnt when that would have blocked the pass!
While laying the first goal solely on him is tough (very rarely is it one players fault for conceding a goal!), the second was his doing. He good tackle to rob the ball in the corner led to a wayward pass up the right channel, except that it never made it past the top of the box, where Nedved didnt even intercept it. He controlled it easily as it was right to him. He then lofted in a ball that Amauri had no problem heading home. Pepe’s saving grace here is that it was also Heinze’s fault, as he was not covering Amauri. When Pepe rushed out to the touchline to get the ball, Canna moved short, to the near post. This means the left back pinches in and the right back moves slightly up field. Ramos stood still, while Heinze sort of languished in the box. The cross came in and Heinze was not marking Amauri, in fact he didnt know he was there until it was to late, and he flapped at the ball, putting it beyond Casillas.
Schuster needs to take this in to consideration. The defenses ability to clear crosses has always been poor. Heinze has been found culpable yet again in the CL as it seems he cannot pick up a man if he has to pinch in to the near post. He was at fault for Danny’s goal against Zenit, now Amauri’s goal which lost us 3 valuable points. Heinze has been pretty bad as well lately, which has to make you rethink whether he is really a step up from Marcelo in the high pressure games. I am starting to think he is not.
I would like to see this starting lineup, as it gives balance to the team, something we lacked against Juve.
————Casillas————-
Ramos—Pepe—Canna—Marcelo
Guti—Gago—De la Red—Sneijder
——–Higuain—–Raul———
First things first. Ruud is suspended for the match after the red card in the derbi, so the strikers that start are pretty obvious. Robben is without a doubt not fit for the full 90 minutes. So why risk his fitness with a start? Knowing he is fragile, you must treat him that way, which means several substitute cameos before he has proven to be fit again. But he will provide a great spark off the bench. I also dont want to see Van der Vaart on the field, as he has been pretty much useless since Sporting Gijon. Sneijder has been doing well enough to merit starting, while De la Red has been in a very consistent, solid form since the start of the season. This midfield in my opinion is solid enough to allow for increased attacking play and ball retention. The lack of natural width is the only problem.
That width I hope will come from Ramos and Marcelo getting forward often. With De la Red and Gago in the center, there will be adequate cover defensively for one of them to move further up the pitch. I also think Higuain does well when drawing out wide for a ball, something that Raul almost never does, and something that while Ruud is decent at, Id prefer he didnt have to do. Getting Guti and Sneijder to play wide though is tough, but you will see Ruben moving towards the right often, while Sneijder can be counted on to track back minimally on the left.
I think the introduction of Robben could be helpful for the team if they are struggling. Van der Vaart also could provide a spark if Guti is not at his best. Alternatively, if Robben is to be risked, then a midfield of Sneijder—Gago—De la Red—Robben is possible, as Guti may not be ready for the full 90 either, much like Diarra. Guti’s range of passing takes the burden off say Sneijder to conduct play from a deeper position, allowing him to move further forward and use the space between lines. Ruud also benefits from precise balls to his feet from Guti, while outside passing to Higuain is improved. Guti can also be counted on to do some tackling, not without fouls bein called. Id like to see Guti, but my guess is we wont.
I wish we never loaned Garay, because boy would he be great to plug in next to Canna right now. Pepe needs to sit and think about his play, not go out there and commit the same erros. Putting Heinze in is not exactly better then Pepe, while I feel Metzelder does not have the trust of Schuster. Metzelder might actually be fine in this game, as Athletic’s forwards are not balls of pace, and the Llorente matchup would be intriguing. Then again, I fear Yeste running at Metzelder, its bad news bears all around. Look for an improved performance from Sergio, if Torres was not injured he would surely get a run out.
EDIT: Also, Real Madrid Castilla’s Santiago Villafañe and Real Madrid C’s Nacho Fernández were invited to train with the first team today and spent the entire session, including a practice match, under Bernd Schuster’s orders. Villafane is of course an Argentine import from Boca Juniors who has been making steady progress this year after a decent debut season last year. Nacho Fernandez however I do not know much about, so hopefully more info on him in the future.
Game is on Sunday at 4pm eastern time, the late game, should see a gameblog from Steve, if not I will be watching and have some comments during the match. As for the scoreline, I am gonna predict a 3-1 win for Real. Being in the Bernabeu always rises the game of the players, but against such a historic rival, the chanting will be immense. The traveling Basque fans (maybe 500, they arent welcome in these parts, as vice versa for Madrilenos in Basque country) will cheer on there team amidst the roar of the Madrid faithful, but with Bilbao playing so poorly, even this game of heightened expectations wont pull them out of their duldrums. HALA MADRID!!!!!
<3
DURRRR!
Category: Team News
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Comments
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Great preview Corey, and I love your suggested line up. Let’s hope that for once Schuster listens to you.
I always look forward to this match up, though perhaps a bit more so when it’s played in the San Mames, where the atmosphere is truly battle-like.
The fact that Exteberria is fit again will make things much more difficult for us, but so much the better.
Hala Madrid!
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United States
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so diarra still ain’t fully fit ??? i thought his was a minor injury.same 4 glassboy but then, well we all no his story. i thought gago was very good against juve. yeah sissoko overpowered him but we all know that gago is not arnold. diarra has been paired with de la red this year and that has really helped as de la red helps out with the defense too giving us a double pivot.while gago had wesley nd vdv for company against juve nd those two didn’t do shit in defense. the main reason for our defeat lies with those two nd d backline.
as for pepe , he seems to have one gud nd two bad games.but he still is better than the other options we have there.when he plays well, the guy is the best defender currently in spain.we definitely need a LB if marcelo doesn’t improve.Posted from
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Thanks John, I do hope Schuster listens to me for this match, considering how poorly the midfield played against Juve. That being said though, the main reason was because of a lack of width, something Robben would give, so maybe it would be best to start him over Guti.
realrock- no one really knows if Diarra and Robben are fully fit or not, but my best guess is no, because if they are injured for a week, then they need double that of training befor they can play a game again. Sub appearance are always best for niggled players, but sometimes circumstances permitting sometimes playera are thrust back into the lineup, i.e. Gago against Atletico.
As for Pepe, physically speaking he is probably the best defender, but his mental lapses have cost us alot of goals. He is very inconsistent, not just from game to game, but from one minute to the next in a game. If he can find some sort of consistent form in a game, where he only makes a mistake or two that does not end up costing us a goal, then he will be one of the better defenders in La Liga, but he is not the best, there are far to many solid center backs in head of him right now.
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I was going to (basically) say the same thing about Pepe. If you cut out, like, 7 minutes of game time from the Juve match, his highlight reel would be steller. It’s just that when he funks it, he funks it big time.
It kind of reminds me of Rafa Marquez (Barce) of the two seasons previous (not including this season). He’d be solid the whole game, but you could count on one or two major errors that would put the defense in a scramble to recover, half the time resulting in goals.
Let’s pray that Pepe, like Marquez, learns to cut that element out of his game.
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corey this is a little bit off-topic but just thinking about our lack of width really annoys me, and i keep thinking back to balboa…any news as to how he’s going over there?
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we absolutely gotta win this match.this season its gonna be tough.i watched the first half of farca’s game yesterday nd must say it was awesome. the cules have assembled a gr8 team nd d others r doing well too.seeing that barca match absolutely convinced me that we need some highly talented guys who can also b gud team players. the amount of talent in farca’s ranks is to put it simply staggering.ofcourse i also think an injury to iniesta or messi would throw them a bit off track coz the talent is in the first XI.
we have no dearth of talent either but its high time now that we get our act together.nd we need a high quality winger without doubt in the winter window.no ifs or buts about it.if we wanna win nething,we must buy a winger.ramos’ interview just put it down in stone for me.his primary task is defending nd we can’t expect him to do everything on the right. nowadays we r playing like the barca of rijkaard era.mostly we go down the center nd sometimes left with attacks rarely coming frm out wide on the right.so calderon nd mijatovic should get their heads out of their asses nd use the few grey cells they have in getting us that winger. we can still win but its gonna be a lot harder than last year.
as for next year , put bids in as soon as the window opens.infact i believe we need both a right nd a left winger.glassboy is never gonna b rid of injuries nd drenthe,in my opinion, is never gonna cut it for us.so we need a LB(lahm, i would say), a CB(agger,thiago silva),right winger(Cristiano,?,?),left winger(?,?,?) nd if we can get one,den a striker.right now there is a chance that tevez might become available.nd while we were running like headless chickens for villa,y didn’t we take a look at negredo!! if CRon ain’t captured , i would like ribery.or(although its a long shot) ajax’s miralem sulejmani.that guy is something.
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Just so you guys are aware, Sergio Ramos made some comments to AS yesterday regarding the lack of a right winger in the squad and how it is effecting the team as well as his play. Bernd was not happy about this, you can read his reactions to the incident here: http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202753236623/noticia/Noticia/Schuster_press_conference_2008-10-25.htm
This is a troubling thing, as Real players should never be expressing their displeasure to the press, even if what Ramos said is true.
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Real madrid can count themselves very lucky to get three points from this game. It ended 3:2 in favour of Madrid. The defence was horrid! Ramos was benched coz of his statement made and so Salgado started with Pepe and Heinze in the center and Marcelo on the left. Let me just say that Salgado was the best of the defence. It all started very brightly for madrid with Sneijder taking a long range shot in his own half, the keeper way off his line was beaten but the shot was narrowly wide. Moments later Higuain was was played through and he put the ball in the net but was wrongfully called offside. Not long after Sneijder found himself in tons off space on the left with the keeper to beat he drove a left foot shot past the keeper to make it 1:0. Soon after some nice it was 2:0 when VdV back heeled a ball in the path of Raul who dummied two defenders when he stepped over the ball for Higuain to cooly slot home. We were cruising until Heinze let his man in behind him to slot home for the visitors. >
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Soon after that the ref gave a controversial penalty for a foul on Llorente. Ive seen the replay over and over again i dont think there was a foul. But the ref who really had a bad game saw something. Iroala slotted the penalty away and it was 2:2 at halftime. After the break madrid went looking for more goals but were unlucky hitting the woodwork twice. First from Higuain and then from Heinze. Then after some good work from Gago who intercepted the ball from the opposition and played a nice ball through to Higuain to slot home and get his second of the game. 3:2 to Madrid and Higuain now hungry for his hatrick. He was played through again one on one with keeper to beat but again wrongfully called offside. The game could of easily have ended in a draw with Llorente hitting the woodwork with a long range shot that had Casillas well beaten. But Madrid eventually got all three points to move third place in La Liga, a point behind leaders Valencia. Thats just a post game review for those who never saw the game.
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I know there wasn’t a live game post going on so i thought id put something up. Im sure Corey will post something later about the game.
Posted from
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I never thought I’d say this, but yesterday Salgado was amazing, he played exceptionally well, and I’m very happy for him, because even though with his reduction of playing time he’s been totally professional about it, and I thank him for that.
The match was very exciting, really liked Gago, Robben, Sneijder, and Higuain. Heinze was terrible, Raul too. I think Schuster has to take a stand, and start playing Higuain and Ruud more often, because Raul is giving us nothing at the moment.
The ref was horrendous, this is the same ref that Schuster criticized last year, and I’m only waiting to read what he has to say about him after this match. The penalty was nonexistant; the goal, and the second one on one against Higuain were absurd; he should’ve sent Marcelo off and he didn’t; but hey, just another Ref in la liga.
I never like to believe that Villar (the head of the Spanish Federation, and the one who designates wich Spanih Refs get to go to the world cup, champions league, etc) has it against us, but it’s worrisome the amount of bad calls we get against us. To illustrate my point, this is what’s happened in the last three games: three penalties in our favor against Espanyol that were’t given, one against Atletico Madrid; yesterday’s penalty awarded to Athletic; and four valid goals, three against Atletico, and one yesterday against Bilbao. We’re not playing 11 on 11, we’re playing against 15 each time we go out….
The whole Ramos thing is just stupid, as Corey said, the players know better not to say those things to the press, and if Sergio Ramos does it, well, he’s just an idiot who needs to man up and shut up. If you have something to say, you say it in the locker room, not outside.
Take care everybody, and sorry for the long post…
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Very memorable game – hope they aren’t all as tough as that one.
I have to complement all the players because this looked to be a really tough match (also the officials seems to be working hard against us).
Very entertaining game, but the ref had a nightmare. I thought he was going to completely lose control at more than one point.
Gago, Salgado, Higuain and Sniejder were very effective, but everyone else played well also (couple of mistakes from both centrebacks though)I was suprized to see Lorente present such a problem for the defense.
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It’s great so see Higuain improving so much – add a little more consistency to his shooting and he’s going to be a real force.
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Like everyone else, I’m pleased with the result…3 points is 3 points no matter how you get ‘em, and we needed to win to keep pace with Valencia and Barca (and leapfrog Villareal, Sevilla). However, I think we can all agree that our defending is really poor right now. I was content with Salgado’s play. I think he was the leader on the backline with Canna out, but I will say that his lack of speed would have cost us dearly against a better opponent.
Another point, I like what I see when Marcelo comes forward, but I don’t think his head is really into defending. As a result, he’s often caught out of position while pushing up. I think mentally, if he can wrap his Brazilian “score first” brain around the notion of smart positioning, he has the potential to be a very solid left back for Real Madrid.
The dutchmen had all their class on display today, however I still don’t like that midfield combination. It’s pretty damn soft. I don’t think you can just throw Gago out there by himself and have everyone else be an attack-minded player. Is Diarra still hurt? De La Red? Just not a very solid group of defenders out there yesterday, but you know what…we still won, so that’s always a counterargument.
I hate to say this as I believe Raul is the a true gentleman and probably the kind of player we’ll be talking about 50 years from now, but he needs to hit the bench. It’s almost like he’s invisible out there, he “floats” through the game. Although I believe his intensity is there and I know he’s working hard, he just seems to disappear this year. He could have been set up on Higuain’s 1st but Higs took it and rightly so. He made the great dummy run to set up the goal which was nice. Anyone else’s thoughts? It’s clear to me we are very thin up front (and Van GOL out yesterday contributed) and I understand that Saviola is like poop on a stick. I love Raul just as much as any Madrid fan. He’s the greatest Madrid player I’ve ever seen. I just want to know what everyone else thinks…
Great game for Higs, if this kid could shoot just a little bit more accurately, he’d have 10 goals by now. Hala Madrid!
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I look forward to the day when Raul’s place on the team is more like Salgado’s: a leader in the locker room and from the bench who steps in when we need him. At this point, I still think his performances this season warrent more playing time than that, but come next year…
I just need to point out, again, Gago played his role brilliantly. He was there providing cover for the defense (again, he’s no Diarra, but still) and guiding the ball back towards Sneijder, who showed his skills as an offensive organizer. Those two make an awesome combo. De la Red is going to have to fight for a spot again, but I’d still be thrilled to see a Robben, De la Red, Gago, Sneijder midfield.
Posted from
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i think Raul is frequently under valued. Everytime he has a bad game some of the press ask for his retirement. Whilst it’s true that he has less pace now, there is no doubt in my mind that there isn’t a smarter, harder working and more motivated player in the squad.
With the current squad he deserves to be rotated with Higuain or VN. Clearly if another decent striker were signed then maybe Raul’s place would be challenged even more.Posted from
United States
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