Liveblog: Real Betis v Real Madrid

Hala Madrid! The 24th matchday sees Los Merengues travel to Real Betis, the other team in Sevilla. After last week’s 7-0 demolition of Valladolid, you can bet that the team is riding on a high, and they’ll be like sharks circling around the green and white of Betis, who stand at 16th place in the Liga table, but only 1 point above Deportivo in the third relegation spot.

The match will be broadcast at 19h00 GMT on Sky Sports 2 here in the UK, and yours truly will be home to liveblog. Fellow viewers and commenters will be most welcome, especially my buddy Apollo who is in Winnipeg this weekend. Hey, it’s not like there’s anything else to do up there, right? While you’re at it, check out Corey’s preview of the match.

This week’s injury list has a couple unfamiliar faces - Robinho and Sneijder. Robinho picked up a stomach muscle injury in last week’s contest and he might be fit for next week’s Champions League clash against Roma. Sneijder though fractured a rib in training this week and reports are that he’ll be out for a month. Pepe, Saviola and Heinze remain on the list, with Metzelder likely to be out for the season after undergoing surgery on Wednesday for his plantar fasciitis.

Schuster will be keeping an eye on the midweek fixture in Roma, but I think a couple guys coming back from the training table could use a match to get their form back. All things considered, this is how I think Schuster will line them up tonight: Casillas, Salgado, Ramos, Cannavaro, Torres, Diarra, Guti, Balboa, Robben, Raul, Ruud.

I think Schuster would be wise to rest Baptista for the Roma match, and giving Balboa a run out would be good against lesser Liga competition. It also gives us a lot of width with Robben on the other wing, so Guti should have loads of options to spray around his delightful passes. I’d also think that Diarra will see the pitch instead of Gago, though it’s just a feeling. Drenthe, Higuain and Gago would be the likely subs.

Alright, I’m gonna get some grub, see you back here in 6.5 hours!

PREGAME: Betis has their top lineup pretty much in… Mark Gonzalez, Pavone and Edu are all in.
PREGAME: Madrid counters with Casillas, Salgado, Ramos, Cannavaro, Marcelo, Baptista, Gago, Guti, Robben, Raul and Drenthe. The Dutch youngster gets a surprise start.
PREGAME: Also surprising to see Ruud on the bench, but I anticipate he’ll get a run out in the second half just to get his legs stretched before the Champions League match.
2min: Baptista wins an early free kick… Drenthe starts on the left, Robben on the right wing.
3min: The Beast goes for goal, Ricardo with a diving save… Real with a corner.
3min: And the corner goes wasted, no shot on target.
5min: Now Betis with a free kick… a little too far away for a direct attempt, over 30 yards from Casillas’ goal… and it’s WAY over-kicked, the cross skies over the crossbar.
7min: GOAL!!! Drenthe with his second goal in 2 weeks! On Madrid’s first attack of the night, Robben bursts through on the right, squares for Baptista but he’s just a bit too early and tumbles on his attempt, but no one is marking Drenthe who swoops in the finish up. Real Betis 0-1 Real Madrid.
8min: I think it was Sergio Ramos with the nice through-ball for Robben… just a great goal.
11min: You know, I think this is what Madrid had in mind when they bought all these guys in the summer. Incredible loads of pace on Robben and Drenthe, and their attacking ability down the wing is amazing. It’d be interesting to see, when everyone’s healthy, how Ruud plays with such fast wingers, cuz he’s not exactly a burner…
13min: Nice attack by Betis… Gonzalez blazes past Salgado down the wing, but the cross is a bit behind Edu, i think… and the ball comes back to Capi or Pavone, who tries to spin and shoot, but Salgado makes a great block.
14min: Ooh… A bit of a broken attack by Real… Raul is offside, so he doesn’t go for the ball, but Drenthe does and his pass back through the 6-yard box is dribbled by Raul and his marker into Ricardo’s arms.
16min: Raul still has it… dribbling and weaving past 1… 2… 3 defenders.
21min: The problem with playing without Ruud is that you don’t have a forward who’s good in the air… so set pieces like free kicks and corners aren’t as dangerous. You can’t always bring up Ramos and Cannavaro because that exposes you to the counter.
23min: Oh! Guti puts Robben through, but he has to shoot with his unfavoured right foot and the shot is over the cross bar.
24min: Betis just doesn’t have the same skill level to challenge Real at this point. It’s not even like the first 20 minutes against Valladolid, where they were taking the fight to Real last week. Gonzalez and Edu are good players, but the rest of the team is not up to par. There’s nowhere near the same feeling that Betis is actually threatening Casillas in goal.
25min: Guti is looking like he’s on today… another ball for Robben, this time over the top, is good, but Robben gets hacked down in the process. Free kick… and Guti hits the wall.
26min: Now Robben and Drenthe have swapped wings… Schuster’s plan was to do this a lot with Robinho and Robben, but Drenthe seems to do pretty well on both wings too.
29min: A bit of sloppy defense by Real, but Marcelo does a great job to make a stop on Edu one-on-one and win back possession.
30min: I don’t know why opposing teams don’t read the brief that Almeria wrote a couple weeks back. Play Guti hard, deny him time on the ball, and you can cut off service to the forwards. Betis is doing the opposite. Guti has loads of time to advance and make plays.
31min: The bad thing with Robben is that he’s SO left-footed. That means when he plays on the left, as he is now, he can make his runs and cross the ball well, but if he cuts inside, he can’t really shoot.
32min: GOAL! Betis claw one back with Edu heading it past Casillas. Capi overlaps with Gonzalez on the left, loses his marker, Gago, and his cross ends up on Edu’s head, right in between Ramos and Marcelo. No chance for Casillas. Real Betis 1-1 Real Madrid.
34min: Hmmm, Madrid has had a few threatening runs, but it seems like Baptista, Raul and whichever of the wingers is off the ball are having communication problems… not knowing who is going for the ball or when…
36min: GOAL! Gonzalez swaps sides with Edu, who does a great job battling Salgado, and finally gets a cross in, almost exactly where he scored, and Gonzalez heads the ball past a helpless Casillas. Marcelo really needs to wake up when marking those guys. Real Betis 2-1 Real Madrid.
38min: Yellow card for Gago.
41min: On replay, the gap between Ramos and Marcelo is where Betis are attacking. I dunno if it’s deliberate, or if that’s just where they normally play the ball, but the 2 Betis goals were almost identical crosses, both times finding the space between Ramos and Marcelo, with the Brazilian always behind his man.
42min: Marcelo was booked for something… a challenge on Pavone, I think. He’ll miss the next match.
43min: Ahh… Guti swings a good ball in, but there’s no one other than Raul in the box. Him and 3 defenders.
45+1min: That’s it for the first half. Wow. What a swing in momentum.
HALFTIME: Well, Madrid was dominating for the first half-hour, but it really did look like they started coasting after the first goal.
HALFTIME: I think they thought, it’s Betis, they suck, we’re playing Roma midweek, we’ll chill.
HALFTIME: Marcelo looks horrid. He still hasn’t learned how to stick to his man.
HALFTIME: Ugh, an extended replay on Betis’ first goal… Guti loses possession but expects a free kick so he stops moving. The ref doesn’t agree and play goes on while Guti stands around and doesn’t track back. I guess you gotta take the good with the bad with him.
HALFTIME: Marcelo… every replay makes him look worse. The first rule of being a fullback should be: don’t lose the outside man! And he does, both times.
HALFTIME: I don’t know why Torres doesn’t start ahead of Marcelo EVERY TIME, if there’s a choice. Torres is just so much more sound defensively.
46min: No changes for either side.
46min: Drenthe’s pace wins a free kick for Madrid… but it’s cleared with ease by Betis.
49min: Madrid doing better on possession now… they seem to have a bit more urgency in their play now, as they should…
53min: Edu just undressed Salgado… AGAIN.
53min: Pavone gets a chance after more sloppy Madrid defense, but Casillas makes a great reaction save.
54min: Arzu gets a yellow card for pulling down Guti.
57min: Oh, a good chance for Real on a crazy fast counter… Baptista tries to finish with a shot just outside the penalty area, but though it looks like it goes off a Betis defender, the ref gives a goal kick…
59min: Ruud comes on for Drenthe.
60min: Capi goes off for Sobis… Capi pulled up lame in the last minute or so.
61min: Salgado is having a bad night against Edu… this time he gives away a bad foul.
62min: A giveaway leaves Cannavaro facing a 2-on-1, but he wins the ball back from Pavone, I think… great play.
64min: Marcelo blows a chance… he goes wide and gets the ball from Robben but his crossing attempt goes WAY off… Ugly.
64min: Madrid has 63% possession so far.
65min: Robben gets a yellow for dissent… that was dumb.
66min: OH! Ruud hits the left upright with his low shot, after beating the offside trap…
68min: Higuain is gonna come on… hmm, for who?
69min: It’s Baptista who gets sacrificed… I guess Schuster wants more presence up front, trusting Gago and Guti to distribute the ball…
71min: Good movement now from the Real forwards, but Gago is a tad late to the little 1-2 with Ruud and his shot goes out for a goal kick.
73min: Ugh, Real are dancing around with the ball, working both sides of the penalty area, but they can’t get the final ball into the box…
74min: Now Sergio Ramos gets booked, for bringing down a Betis attacker.
75min: Juande comes on for Pavone.
76min: It’s opened up a bit now… Higuain makes a good run with the ball, and tries a 1-2 with Raul, but the captain’s touch is too heavy and goes out for a goal kick.
76min: Balboa looks like he’s going to come on…
78min: Raul goes off for Balboa.
80min: Poor corner taken by Real… Not sure who took it but it was terrible.
82min: Balboa gets his first touch, gets doubled up on the wing, but there’s no outlet and he finally gives it up…
84min: Betis are somehow keeping possession in the Madrid half… Edu gets a chance, but his shot goes over the goal.
85min: Real’s running out of time… and it’s not looking like they’re making much progress in breaking through the Betis defense. This is not good.
87min: Another corner for Madrid… but they’ve been terrible at the first 8 or 9 of them… ugh, another crappy one.
88min: Edu goes off for Cappa…
90min: Wow, 6 minutes of extra time.
90+1min: Balboa is not having a good time on the pitch… he’s given the ball away at least 3 times.
90+2min: Melli picks up a yellow with a hard foul on Ruud.
90+3min: The free kick is outside the penalty area, maybe 25 yards out… Ruud takes it, hits the wall, and then his hurried attempt to swing it out wide to Robben is too sudden for the winger.
90+4min: Another yellow card, this time to Rivera… not sure for what.
90+5min: It’s getting really chippy… Marcelo v Gonzalez, Ruud v Melli…
90+6min: And it’s over…
POSTGAME: Ugh, that was not pretty. Somehow, Betis pulls out a massive upset, keeping Madrid’s lead over Barca to 8 points. Barca have the chance to close to 5 points in tonight’s late match.
POSTGAME: This was Madrid’s second straight loss on the road… are the cracks starting to show here?
POSTGAME: I can’t believe the home form and the away form are so different… Real surely should be able to impose their will on a team like Betis, right? What the hell is going on?
POSTGAME: Methinks there was too much focus on the Champions League clash with Roma… everyone forgot that they still had to play Betis.
POSTGAME: It’s not like Real were playing that bad, i suppose… there was loads of possession, but finding a way into the penalty area after getting into the final third of the pitch was difficult for Los Merengues.
POSTGAME: Raul led the line but without a true right-footed winger, swapping Robben and Drenthe always left one of them a bit impotent.
POSTGAME: Ruud’s absence didn’t seem that bad last week, but without his movement and positioning today, Real really struggled to find open space in front of the Betis goal.
POSTGAME: Strangely, I thought Baptista should’ve done better, playing in the hole behind Raul, but his runs always seemed to clash with someone else… never did see him get a good chance.
POSTGAME: Ok, I need to get to a friend’s place for dinner, so a quick rundown of the players…
POSTGAME: Casillas didn’t have a chance on either of Betis’ goals, and was otherwise pretty good. There was a bit of a botch job on one Betis cross, leading to an opportunity, but the defense that time was able to clear.
POSTGAME: Salgado had a pretty miserable time against Edu and Gonzalez. He was able to fight pretty well for possession in close, but in the open field, they would waltz right by him. Ramos had a somewhat mediocre night. With Marcelo on his flank and no one else to mark, he should’ve been able to track those goalscoring crosses better. Cannavaro was pretty good, covering well for everyone whenever they would venture forward. Marcelo was brutal, just awful. No need to elaborate.
POSTGAME: Gago was alternately good and bad, occasionally mixing in a really great pass with terrible giveaways. He’s hot and cold like that, a bit like Guti. I suppose that at least with Diarra, you know what you’re getting. We saw about 70% good Guti, 30% bad Guti. When he goes looking for the free kick, whether by standing still with his arms open or by rolling along after a challenge, he just puts us at a disadvantage. Baptista was a bit shackled, I think. The idea was for him to play the attacking midfielder, but with Robben and Drenthe often coming in from the wings, it got a bit crowded in the middle. He never really was able to do much on the ball.
POSTGAME: Robben, as I said earlier, is painfully left-footed, so on any given play, he’ll do well, but is then challenged to do something that doesn’t come naturally, whether it’s to cross or to shoot. Raul was decent, but he had a pretty heavy touch and didn’t do so well controlling the ball when he had it. Drenthe did well to score but other than his pace, didn’t really have much to offer for the rest of the match. He got subbed early though, too bad for him.
POSTGAME: Ruud came on, and on his first touch of the ball had a chance. He still shows his skills on holding the ball up, maintaining possession in the offensive half, but he had little help. Higuain looked a bit tentative, getting into some decent positions but then trying to finesse a pass instead of taking a shot. Balboa had a pretty bad time, didn’t show much on the pitch outside of one good run up the right where it took 2 defenders to strip him of the ball. He gave away the ball far too much for a Madrid side that needed to keep it during their last 15 minutes of desperate possession.
POSTGAME: Another thing I don’t think I wrote enough on was the crappiness of Real’s corner attempts. Not a single good one. And pretty crappy free kicks too, even from Guti. Surprising, given the general ball-striking talent on our team, but that area alone should’ve given us a dozen more good chances and they were wasted.
POSTGAME: Well, Real only have themselves to blame for this one, it wasn’t pretty to watch. alright, i’m out.

Category: Liveblog, Team News

Tags: Liveblog, Real Betis, Team News

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