I Am 21

By: Corey | February 28th, 2008

Yes, today is my birthday, and I have turned 21, and am of age. I will be drinking in my Real jersey tonight dont you worry. Enough about me, on with the preview!

Real Madrid at Recreativo Huelva, Estadio Nuevo Colombino Saturday 2pm eastern time

Real travels to Spains oldest club for a CL warmup but also a vital tie in the La Liga race as Barca visit Atletico and have the possibility of dropping points to our dreaded neighbors. I wont cheer on either team in that tie, but since Atletico seems to be a Barca boogey team, anything is possible. But we most focus on the task at hand, a Recreativo side languishing in 17th place, two points above the relegation zone and 18th Deportivo. To say Recreativo need the 3 points as much as we do is an under statement.

Recre have been a Jekyle and Hyde show this year. An important 2-1 win against Espnayol and a 3-2 win against Depor coupled with a 1-1 draw with Valencia see them on a high as of late, but they have had taken only 2 points in January which saw them drop down the table significantly. They, like all La Liga outfits except Levante and Depor, posess some quality players that should enable them to beat the drop. To be honest, the three relegation canidates right now seem logical and it would no skin of my nose if Levante, Murcia and Deportivo went down.

Huelva Team News:

Huelva’s main threat is the under rated Florent Sinama Pongolle, who is their leading scoring despite being hampered by injuries this season. He is listed as a game time decision but I think will play, he did against Valencia. Javi Guerrero is still out though which is good cause the two of them are a good tandem. It looks like Huelva coach Manolo Zambrano could use the young Porteguese talent Varela on the wing in place of Javi Guerrero. I always thought Varela had some talent when he was at Sporting Lisbon, but he didnt get much of a chance with Nani in his way, even Pedreienha who is younger then him. He has done reasonably well for Huelva, he is quick and could cause us some problems.

On the defensive end, possible Madrid target Martin Caceres has recovered from a tummy ache and will be available for the match. Poli and Beto remain injured, so Caceres’ partners in defence look like Iago, Quique Alvarez and either Dani Batisuta or Edu. The midfield boast the talented playmaker/goal scorer Carlos Martins, an interesting Porteguese player also signed from Sporting. He leads the team in assists with 4 assists to Guti’s 15! Anyways, a midfield of Carlos Martins and Gerard, flanked by Varela or Aitor and Zahinos since Jesus Vazquez is out for 3 weeks. Upfront will be Camunas with Pongolle, oh and of course, the Italian Sorrentino in goal. What is with the influx of Italian keepers to Spain this year?

Tactically, they play a 4-4-2, but with injuries they may push Martins out to the left which would make the team look more like a 4-3-3. They are a little on the cautious side because they are looking for points, but being at home and considering Real’s recent troubles, they will come at us no doubt. The perfect test before Roma I say, come on boys show what you’ve got!

Real Madrid Team News:

Here is the training report for the week:

iPepe and Robinho return

I kid you not, iPepe is a straight copy and past from the Real website, some from now on thats how we refer to him.

The team had the day off yesterday, but Pepe and Robinho decided to go to Valdebebas to put the finishing touches on their recoveries in the gym with the other injured players. Both men rejoined the squad this morning, tackling the same exercises as their teammates.

The Italian and Spaniard are working very hard to make it to the match in Huelva on Saturday. They were niggled in the previous encounter and, like Pepe and Robinho, used their day off to do extra recovery work at Valdebebas. Today, both men trained with recovery expert José Luis San Martín in the gym and on the pitch. Guti ended the session back in the gym, while the Italian preferred to watch his teammates train with Valter Di Salvo.

The first to take the pitch besides Guti and Cannavaro were Míchel Salgado, Sneijder and Marcelo. The fullbacks are putting the finishing touches on their recoveries also and will rejoin the squad shortly. On the other hand, the Dutchman will have to work on his own for two more weeks.

Metzelder had an operation on one of his feet 13 days ago and stayed in the gym doing specific exercises with Ruud van Nistelrooy today.

The fifteen remaining players divided into three groups and worked on pressurising, steals, fast ball movement and passing. They still have three more days to polish up their game for the encounter with Recreativo Huelva.

Alright, so besides Sneijder and Metz its looks like everyone will be available for the match. Of course Robinho and Pepe may not be risked, but I would like to see them introduced as subs to get some game time before Roma, but in Pepe’s case, if he is not 100% fit leave him in the stands. Marcelo and Salgado are also gonna be available, maybe probably, although we all would like to see Salgado never play again. But these added options in the defense and midfield will allow Schuster to play his best players, not just his most fit ones. And of course I expect Canna and Guti to be fit for the Huelva game, they had minor niggles.

That was yesterdays training report, as of today all players are fit for the match, although Ruud was in the gym again today so who knows about him. And like I said, dont rush Pepe or Marcelo if they arent ready. Robinho is good to go though. As for a lineup

————Casillas————–
Sergio—Canna—Heinze—Torres
Guti—-Diarra—-Gago—-Robben
———-RVN——Raul———-

Bench will have such illuminaries as Robinho, Pepe, Marcelo, Drenthe, Soldado and Baptista. Saviola, Salgado and Higuain in my humble opinion should be left out, while I dont see Balboa making the bench unfortunately. Oh, and Dudek will be on the bench, they should right his name on a seat like a designated parking spot. Not much change in the lineup, I feel a few changes for the Roma game are bound to happen, win or not against Huelva. A win is a must to stay on top of La Liga and to stay confident for the Roma match.

As for a result, with Huelva struggling as of late, I could see us winning 2-0 or even 3-0. Its about time we win a game, the squad looks pretty relaxed for the game based on training today so I feel like they are ready to do some work on the Huelva boys. I will be watching the game on Saturday if I can wake up, this weekend we are having a party on Friday and Saturday night for my birthday so its gonna be interesting. As always, Steve will be liveblogging unless his flat mates decide to sing to a tv… haha. HALA MADRID!

Lots and Lots Of Good Training Pictures, Enjoy!

Balboa and Robinho Have A Laugh

Guti Looks Like A Dirty Hippie

I Have This Feeling Robinho Has Taken Drenthe and Balboa Under His Wing