Bilbao Review

By: Corey | October 27th, 2008

That was some game.

Match Information
Stadium: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Spain
Attendance: 80,000
Match Time: 16:00 ET

Lineups

Real Madrid
Casillas
Míchel Salgado
Pepe
Heinze
Marcelo
Gago
Robben
Sneijder Goal 13′
sub Diarra 83′
Van der Vaart
sub Guti 65′
Higuaín Goal 29′, 64′
Raúl
sub Saviola 93′

Athletic Club
Iraizoz
Iraola Goal 45′
Aitor Ocio
Balenziaga
Amorebieta
Orbaiz
David López
Yeste
sub Susaeta 88′
Etxeberria Goal 35′
sub Garmendia 61′
Gabilondo
sub Casas 86′
Llorente

Match Stats
Real Madrid Athletic Bilbao
Shots (on Goal) 20(6) 15(5)
Fouls 15 16
Corner Kicks 7 6
Offsides 3 2
Time of Possession 54% 46%
Yellow Cards 4 3
Red Cards 0 1
Saves 3 3

Game Reaction:

EDIT: These are my notes from the game. I dont usually post my notes, but I thought it appropriate following such a hotly contested affair. They may be a little hot headed and angry as they are my initial reactions to events, but I will post them anyways to show how one reacts during a game.

Real played well for the first portion of the first half, with some decent passing and such. An early chance saw Higuain sent through and he slotted home for a nice goal, only for the assistant ref to flag for offside. This was such a bad call, It makes me wonder why technology still has no place in these types of decisions. He was a step behind the Bilbao line, it was obvious he was onside.

Sneijder scores a beauty, with a wondeful through pass by Heinze that is twisted on by Sneijder before taking a touch and blasting past Iriazoz. Surprised that was not called back for offside too, the Bilbao player was only 5 yards behind Sneijder playing him on side!

Sneijder hits the post and the ball bounced clear. Nice work on the left wing (I said in my preview that Higuain worked the wings well for a striker) as Higuain dances clear before playing a slow pass into the box. The Bilbao player (Iraola?) gets a slight touch on the pass, pushing further into Sneijder’s path, and then he snaps a quick show on the ground. Worm burner goes past Iriazoz but cannons off the post and out the other side before the play is broken up. Great chance for the second goal. Its all Real as Gago is cleaning up the knockdown Llorente is winning so easily off Pepe.

Then Atheltic respond. A couple of nasty challenges and a brief injury to Pepe allowed Bilbao into the match. A ball was threaded forward, and Yeste slid studs up into the ball, tipping it into Exteberria’s path, where he lifted it over Casillas. Heinze should have gotten to the ball quicker, but it was really a strange play that you cant really account for. The Bilbao players celebrated, but they would soon have more to be happy about. Their coach, Chaparro, began to scream unintelligably at Bernd Schuster on the sidelines, something about ref decisions. You could make out his gesture to Bernd, claiming that the ref was in Madrid’s pocket. Bernd reacted perfectly by covering his face and chuckling, as it was a pathetic moment for the Bilbao coach.

Eventually, Chaparro’s claims would unravel. Some rough play from Pepe on a headed clearance gave a free kick to Llorente. While not totally unwarranted, Llorente made the most of the challenge, claiming an elbow to the face, while the contact was a forearm on Llorents shoulder in to his neck. This would not be forgotten either, as another free kick was given away outside the box. While setting up the defensive package, Pepe gave Llorente a shove, before the ball was ever played. Llorente continued his run, where he was met by Heinze, who cleared the ball with minimal contact, Llorente having run in to Heinze. Somehow the ref pointed to the spot, another terrible call. Llorente threw his arms in the air as he went down, theatrics at its finest, what a bullshit penalty. You should be ashamed Llorente.

I dont like to complain about the hand that your dealt. But I can not stand for this. The penalty call was dubious, there was no contact to warrant it. If the penlaty was called for the push before the ball was played, then the ref should have blow earlier and talked to both players. Was the ref intimidated by Chaparro? Maybe. Was this just one of many shocking calls against us, yes. Many of shocking calls regardless of which team they went to. Robbed of a goal and now forced to concede another, it hardly makes sense when people complain of favoritism towards Real.

What bothered me most is that after Iraola converted the penalty, he walked over to Marcelo and give him a little tap on the cheek, while a few Bilbao players insulted him. This was of course due to a previous infraction where Marcelo had upended Exteberria. This was also after Gago and Exteberria argued at length about the aformentioned Pepe-Llorene aireal challenge that started things off, with Exteberria calling for more severe punishment for some reason. The Bilbao players were dispicable in their actions, taunting an oppossing player like that right in front of the ref. Of course the ref did nothing about it, and play resumed. Like coach like player it seems, Bilbao not endearing themselves to the already hostile crowd.

Marcelo then was involved in a challenge on Exteberria that culminated in a yellow card. It was retaliatory sure, and it was worth a yellow. I would have preferred Marcelo have not done it, but if Bilbao will stoop as low as to dive for penalties and taunt players, then this is what you will get. Ref should have sent Marcelo off though, he got wound up by the Leones, be more professional!

Second Half:

The first bit of action in the second half saw Robben dance down the sideline before cutting in, where Higuain ran onto the ball and side footed it off the crossbar. Extremely unlucky yet again, with that being the second time we hit the woodwork.

A little later, Heinze would hit the crossbar after a scramble in the box off a corner. That would be a third wood work hit, further compounding Real’s misery with their shooting today.

Higuain scores! A great little through pass from Sneijder is latched on to by Higuain and he keeps the Bilbao defense (Ocio proving me right about being slow as balls) and side footing past a helpless Iriazoz. The offside trap has not worked for Bilbao, and if it were not for some dodgey offsides calls (more to come I am sure) then it could be 4 or 5-2.

After Higuain scored, Guti was introduced and there was more chatter from the Bilbao bench, with Schuster and Pedro Jaro protesting to the 4th official to quite them down.

A dive by Yeste after Salgado lunged in just outside the box led to a scuffle where Pepe duffed the ball into the limp Yeste before being shoved over by Llorente. The ref at this point completely lost control of the game. The free kick was deflected, but soon after Diarra would be introduced to keep things honest and let the Bilbao players know that no more bullshit would be tolerated. Bit before Diarra got on the field, Amorbieta slides in dangerously from behind on Higuain. It was late and showed no intention of getting the ball, and he was shown a straigh red.

Diarra calms the midfield down, and with 10 men and Exteberria and Yeste off, Llorente is the last of the inspiration. Orbaiz chops down Higuain, and is shown a yellow. The game has gone stale, and save for a few flashed chances, its a win for Real not without controversial circumstances. Boy what I would give for a free shot at Chaparro.

Now that was a game.

Player Ratings:

Casillas: 6 – Didnt have much to do besides save a penalty, but thats asking alot of a keeper. He may have narrowed the angle a bit on Exteberria’s goal, but it was such a fluke play that there was little he could do. Anonymous for most of the match, which I guess is a good thing.

Salgado: 8 – What a performance from the veteran. When I posted the thing about Ramos’s comments, I immediately thought ‘Ramos benched + Torres injured = Salgado’ and cursed our luck. But he was outstanding, our best best defender tonight. Not that Gabilondo really challenged him, but he was excellent. If he plays like that every game he can start more often. I think he will probably get the start in the Copa del Rey midweek now.

Pepe: 6 – He was dominated by Llorente in the air, and couldnt get the ball off his foot quick enough when he brought it down. He needs to work on being clever in the tackle and stealing the ball instead of clattering into people. Because Llorente is 1. A big boy who doesnt go down easily and 2. A diver who goes down easily when he needs to.

Heinze: 5 – He was at sea most of the game. I dont know, I find it hard justify a role in the squad other then what Metzelder does, which is practice and thats about it. Couldnt compete in the air just like Pepe, but he didnt have any self-sacrificing tackles like Pepe did. A nice through ball for Sneijder’s goal is a nice bonus but it doesnt save him.

Marcelo: 7 – He is not timid anymore, as he got under Exteberria’s skin well enough to put him off. Culpable for Bilbao’s first goal, but he then kep things quite on the left for the most part. He ran Exteberria into the ground resulting in an early sub, not to mention laying him to waste with a fierce tackle. If you want respect in this league, that is how you get it. Needs to cross better though, he was free a couple of time but his cross went no where.

Gago: 9 – 49 for 61 passing, and 7 steals total, with more then a few nice tackles. He certainly wasnt over loaded like he was against Juve. He faced up the double pivot pretty well, but given that Bilbao hit alot of long balls to Llorente, he was doing more waiting for a knockdown then defending players running at him. Good game though, you can see the distinction between his style and Diarras’ finally.

Sneijder: 8 – Ran the midfield with Gago today. Why he couldnt do that againt Juve is really down to the quality of the opposition, but then again he did well offensively against Juve, but here he coupled his duties well. Well taken goal and should have had enother, making his case that he may not let De la Red have a look in (much to my chagrin…)

VdV: 4 – Useless tonight, as he has been for the past month. I dont get why he is started when he does absolutely nothing. I like him, but he needs to start playing with some sort of purpose, because right now he is a waste of a player in midfield. Surely Guti or De la Red takes his place in the next league game.

Robben: 8 – Was all over the field, terrorizing the lead footed Bilbao backline. More then a few times he was able to make space for others, like when Higuain hit the bar. He is the only width we have, but if he could stay healthy we really wouldnt need any more.

Raul: 3 – VdV does not have a past history, so my criticism is rough. Raul does, so my criticism is usually toned down. But I can take it any longer, he is invisible on the field. He needs to be dropped once Ruud comes off his suspension, because he offers little. VDV could be given his role behind the forward to maybe spark some form out of him, but Raul definately does not merit a starting berth, even if he is the captain.

Higuain: 9 – Not because he had one dis-allowed for offside, or because he nailed the crossbar with a curling shot. But because he had an incredible oppurtunity to seal the hat trick with his head, and elected to chest the ball right to Iriazoz. Other then that, he was great, and is quickly winning his doubters (me included) over. His finishing still needs work, but the more game time he gets the better it will be.

Guti: 7 – Good return to action for Guti. He marshalled the midfield a bit when introduced, but in the end he is not one to get stuck in. His passing helped Gago focus more on his defensive duties, but it also kept possession for us a little more easily to kill off the game. Almost had a goal but his shot was charged down.

Diarra: 6 – Calmed things down when they could have boiled over, but like Guti, a good return to action. Gago played well though so he will find himself on the bench next game.

Saviola: Who?

Schuster’s Post Match Comments:

Bernd Schuster prefered not to comment on the referee and said his team was superior throughout the match.

Are you worried about having conceded so many goals?
I am because we made many mistakes.

On Saturday you said you didn’t remember this referee. Did you remember him tonight?
I don’t need to remember him.

Mijatovic said he’s worried about refereeing decisions against the team…
We all are.

Does this victory taste better thanks to the results earned by other teams?
It’s always hard to play a match immediately after a Champions League clash. This victory is very important thanks to the results earned by other teams. It doesn’t matter how we won; the important thing is to be in the top positions of the table.

Have all doubts surrounding the team after the Turin defeat been cleared?
You were the only ones who had any doubts, not us. A team doesn’t change in three days for losing or winning a game. We weren’t worried about that defeat.

Ramos didn’t play. Was it a tactical decision or a punishment?
Everything but a punishment.

Do you think his absence influenced the final score?
Decisions made by the referee hurt us and were detrimental to our game. Our opponent benefitted from this. We were nervous after the incomprehensible penalty. It was good that it happened before half-time because we were able to start all over again. We were better throughout the match and we should have finished it off earlier.

Has it surprised you to hear Cristiano Ronaldo say he will play for Manchester United next season?
It shouldn’t surprise me because he is the one who decides where he should play.

Compare that with what Chaparro had to say post-match:

“It’s impossible to know what it’s like to win against Madrid.”

“You can take it however you want it to mean.

“The referee was out to make sure we finished the game with ten men. Both teams could have had players sent off… yet it was only Athletic,”

“I believe that we played at a very high level and I hope we can keep that up for the next game.”

Then add in a sprinkling of bullshit…

Mijatovic’s Bullshit Post-Match:

“I am heppy with the team’s performance and with the final score. We played very well in the second half. Nevertheless, I am not going to hide my preoccupation with the refereeing decisions that have been called against us in the past few weeks. I’m worried. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t want to say much about it, but I don’t like this situation.”

“Higuaín’s disallowed goal was not offside, the penalty was very strict, so was Marcelo’s booking… That’s without mentioning how it was against Atletico and Espanyol. Referees hurt us in all cases. It seems people don’t want Real Madrid to win their third consecutive league title. We want this to change.”

“We prefer to believe this is just mere coincidence, but too much has happened in just a few games. The only thing we can do is move on. It seems it’s easy for referees to call something against us when in doubt. We’ve talked about it and we now express our worries. There are many games left.”

“This week has been tough because of our defeat against Juventus and the little time we had to prepare for tonight’s clash. Regarding Sergio Ramos’ comments, I’d like to say that players sometimes don’t think about the message they have to deliver when they speak; we all make mistakes. Nevertheless, the coach’s decision to bench him had nothing to do with what he said. Míchel Salgado is a hard worker who also deserves to play. Many of our men play in many games, so we decide to give them time to rest.”

Comment away folks, I will do a little preview of the Copa del Rey match later.