Getafe (Real Madrid B) and the Mini-Madrid Derbi

By: Corey | October 30th, 2009

Real Madrid vs. Getafe
Santiago Bernabeu Madrid, Spain
10/31/09 18:00 (1:00pm)
Jornada 9

I say Real Madrid B not as a derogatory term of course, because I <3 (heart) Getafe like many of us here on the site do, John being singled out as the most unabashed supporter. It is worth pointing out that 5, possibly 6 former Castilla players will line up for Getafe on Saturday in the Bernabeu, where they should all get a round of applause. And Getafe's trainer is none other then Real Madrid legend and Castilla collaborator Michel. Its a big family affair on Saturday to say the least. Ohh, and Getafe's president is a Real Madrid socio…. cant deny the love for our neighbors to the south.

Getafe takes the metro up to the Bernabeu for a mini-Madrid derbi at a time where Real Madrid finds itself in need of a convincing win not to get the press or fans off its back, but to restore some belief in the title charge this season. Defeat to a third division side will do that to a team. There is so much swirling around this game that its tough to really put all in to one post. But I am a little late today so you have to excuse my barely putting any of it in. School is hectic right now, and Im looking for a job to which means I am constantly going to info sessions during my spare time. Its a tough economy, what you gonna do?

Getafe Team News:

I want to break down Getafe, I really do, but in the interest of time I will do a quick run down. We are familiar with these players and Michel’s tactics anyways, being Getafe closet fans.

Miguel Torres recovered from a knock that kept him in solitary training until yesterday, and Kepa Blanco has also returned to normal training after an injury setback has kept him out of the season so far. Michel has also recovered David Belenguer and Pedro Rios, both who also have no minutes this season, so his group is getting a little bigger and a little more competitive for places.

I cant find a published squad list anywhere, just the news that Belenguer has returned to the team, so Ill just give you my starting eleven.

————-Ustari———–
Torres—-Cata—Mario—Mane
——Celestini—Boateng——-
Pedro Leon—-Parejo—-Albin
————Soldado———-

The only changes I could see are Manu for Albin, Adrian Gonzalez for Boatend and Belenguer for Cata Diaz because he has played every match this year. Other then that, Michel has a pretty set lineup to work with.

Michel on returning to the Bernabeu.

Real Madrid Team News:

SQUAD LIST:
Goalkeepers: Casillas, Dudek
Defenders: Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Albiol
Midfielders: Gago, Diarra, Kaka, Lass, Xabi, Van der Vaart, Granero
Forwards: Raul, Benzema, Van Nistelrooy, Higuain.

So much for the Castilla players training with the first team. As you can see, Lass returns to the squad despite not being at training for almost a week…. This match will be a little weird for Pepe after what happened last year. Lets hope we dont have a repeat.

Guti is dropped after his flair up that was neither confirmed nor denied I suppose. Im not one to judge because I have a bias towards Guti, and both player and coach are denying it. Metzelder and Drenthe are also dropped after some horror defending in the Copa. Would you really want to play the next match after such shenanigans. Especially at home? Pellegrini is protecting his players, or in the case of Drenthe and Guti, sending a clear message of ‘enough is enough’. You be the judge, but I am going with protection, because neither would have started anyways.

Ruud makes the squad list to everyone’s delight, meaning we might see a selection of our two best striker at the moment. Marcelo will be at left back, where Pedro Leon will torment him. Pellegrini really is tempting the fates it seems. Everyone is calling for Arbeloa at left back, but I just do not see it happening. Pellegrini has a strange fascination with rotations, but he does not like playing people out of position. He will stick with Marcelo it seems.

This is a must win, because the team has been shit the past two weeks. Pellegrini’s job is most definitely not on the line, but another loss to add to the bad run and it could be (shouldn’t be but thats the way Marca likes it). I was thinking of calling for his head after the Alcorcon debacle, but how was that his fault? He put a decent lineup out there against a third division side and they got hammered. Look not further then the toothless players on that one.

Granero was interviewed about Pellegrini’s sticky situation.

Pellegrini talks about Guti, the pressure and rotations.

My lineup is as follows:

————–Casillas————–
Sergio Ramos—Pepe—Albiol—Marcelo
——-Granero—Xabi—Lass——-
—————Kaka————–
———Benzema—Raul———-

I might be vilified for saying this but lets face it: Kaka has sucked big time during this barren run. He was given the chance to be the focal point of the attack and he never showed up. He didnt play in the Alcorcon game, but then again would you have known he played in the other two games, or even the Sevilla game? Forgettable performances. Same goes for Benzema, who’s suckitude begins from Jornada 1 of the season. Maybe its playing with Raul, or maybe he really is not good enough yet for this team. But Pellegrini can only give him so many chances to do something before he has to start Higuain. In the San Siro, I want Pipita.

The midfield looks fine by me, except Lass needs to get his head together and stop bursting forward. He is a defensive midfielder, he should rarely be further up the pitch then Xabi Alonso, otherwise why dont we just use Xabi as the DM since he is sitting back anyways? Pellegrini either needs to fix this or needs to stop telling Lass to move forward, because the boy is confused about his place in the world right now.

I want to see a win, and a comprehensive win at that. But that would be down playing Getafe, who can be brilliant when they want to. If Pedro Leon is on, and the Castilla boys want to put on a show, then we will have a tough game on our hands. But Getafe has been miserable on its travels except for the opening day win against Racing. Its a short trip, but its still an away game, so Michel needs to pump so psychological voodoo in to his lads domes to get over the away day jitters.

We did not record a podcast this week because we have switched up our meeting time and some of us, no one being named, forgot to meet. It was not me. Its tough to coordinate when Mark is 12 ahead of me and Kevin, and Adam is 6 hours or so ahead. It means I may be sitting down for dinner, Adam may be getting ready for bed and Mark is waking up super early before work to record. Please appreciate the circumstances and we will return next week. There sure was alot to talk about this week too…

Game will not be on GolTV, and I am not entirely sure why, but it seems that the other team in Madrid got the pick of the week with a trip to San Mames for new coach Quique Sanchez. Good luck with that one Pathetico. Anyways, streams abound on the internet, so if you find a good one leave it in the comments. I have not done a live blog in a while, but this match will not be the next. Probably next weekend’s trip to Calderon will get me in a live blog mood. See you back here at game time for confirmed lineups and in-match comments.

HALA MADRID!

CONFIRMED LINEUPS: