Liveblog: Real Madrid v Deportivo La Coruña

By: Steve | January 25th, 2009

Hala Madrid! Well kiddies, I’m back with a liveblog after a too-long hiatus. Real Madrid host their Galician rivals tonight at the Santiago Bernabèu, and it’ll be shown on Sky Sports 1 at 20h00 GMT for those of us in the UK. For those who are watching elsewhere in the world, remember to come here during or after the match to post your comments!

Corey’s written up a preview of the match, so check that out, it’s chockful of good stuff. I won’t go into any more predictions or info, I’ll just be back in 4.5 hours to give you my thoughts.

1min: and we’re on! that was quick. No sooner did the Sevilla-Racing match end than this one started.
2min: Dunno who’s on the pitch yet… they haven’t put on the starting XI. Looks like Lass and Gago in the double pivot though.
3min: First shot on goal by Sneijder after some good buildup play from Robben.
4min: High challenge on Gago’s ankle… looks bad but no card! Unbelievable.
5min: Great start by Real so far. Good spacing, passing is good…
6min: OH! What a chance! Raul just gets his touch knocked away after a great play by Robben and de Guzman clears before Gago can get there.
7min: Some vintage play by Raul so far. Right place, right time… he’s just lost a bit off his pace though, so his separation isn’t as good as it used to be.
7min: Wow. Depor is stacking 9 men in the box. Not gonna get many clear shots that way.
8min: Madrid is playing some strong possession football, based on crisp passing and constant movement. That’s the way to do it without a superstar ballhandler.
9min: First yellow card on Julian de Guzman for a cynical challenge from behind on Heinze.
10min: So from what i can see… it’s Casillas, Ramos, Pepe, Cannavaro, Heinze, Gago, Lass, Robben, Sneijder, Higuain and Raul.
11min: I’m very impressed with Lass so far. Range of movement, passing is good, tackling and interceptions are good. I would not be surprised if Mahamadou can’t get back in the side when he’s healthy.
12min: Oh! Loads of room for the Depor attacker, but a poor touch and a strong stance from Casillas results in an easy save. Man, that really ought to have been a goal.
14min: Great cover by Cannavaro way out on the left wing. He’s awesome, I don’t care what anyone else says.
15min: The thing about Lass is, at least he can dribble himself out of trouble. Did you see that last play there, where he gained possession, went forward, was surrounded by 3 defenders then backed off and passed to the outlet behind him? Diarra wouldn’t have done that.
16min: Free kick for Real out near the right corner flag…
17min: Meh, not a great kick in by Sneijder… Gago had a slight opportunity after the clearance but the self-volley setup was too high and he had to rush the shot.
17min: Wow, it’s like, too many options! Robben carries it in front of the penalty area, has Heinze on the wing, but cuts it back for Higuain who tries a pseudo-bicycle kick and puts it wide.
19min: It’s been all Real so far… so much possession but only a few chances.
20min: A couple corner kicks for Madrid, but no shots on target.
21min: Ooh, a really close offside call on Depor… looked good to me actually, but Casillas came racing out to nick the ball away. That high defensive line may yet cost Los Blancos.
23min: What?!? Yet another bad tackle by a Depor defender, this time on Higuain, and yet again, no card.
25min: Wow, really good possession by Real, but the final ball is tough to find cuz Madrid don’t have a good frontman who can hold up the ball. Ruud’s the only one with those skills, and he’s out for the season.
27min: Good counterattack by Deportivo, but it’s an early shot easily saved by Casillas.
31min: Cannavaro completely took Lafita out of that play. It was a good pass by Valeron, but Canna had the angle and just didn’t let the Depor attacker near the ball. Great play.
34min: Ouch. Bodipo stretches for a ball and pulls his left hamstring. Goes down like a ton of bricks. Depor will need a new forward to replace him.
35min: No idea who is gonna come on… no Depor player has their warmups off yet.
36min: Robben’s switched to the right wing for the past couple attacks. Either side, he’s a dangerous, dangerous man.
37min: Oh! Robben is just waltzing his way through the Depor defense. Of course, he can’t do it by himself, so by the time he’s past the third defender, he’s crowded out from the ball. That’s twice in the last two minutes he’s had his way with the defense. Real need to support him better and put some guys nearby to pass to.
39min: Gago leading Madrid with 34 of 38 passes made accurately. Valeron is the one for Depor.
39min: If you looked just at possession, you’d wonder how it’s still 0-0.
40min: GOAL!!! And just as I said that last bit, Lass delivers a great ball into the box and Raul is in the right place and the right time, and gives it a little head nudge, and it’s Real Madrid 1-0 Deportivo La Coruña.
42min: Ooh, another debatable non-call on Higuain, just on the edge of the box.
43min: Robben gets nicked for offside, and it’s inconclusive even on reply. Not sure how you’d expect the linesman to get that correct in real-time.
45min: Great clearance by Cannavaro! Man, when he’s healthy, he is our best centreback, no doubt about it. The best instincts on the squad.
45+1min: One minute of extra time, a bit surprising considering how long it took for Bodipo to leave the pitch.
45+1min: Ooh, good chance by Depor, with Felipe beating Ramos inside, then crossing for substitute Riki, but Casillas and Pepe are there, the keeper punching it away.
HALFTIME: Well, that’s it for the first half. Real lead by a goal but I think they’ll be disappointed not to have more.
HALFTIME: They’ve had a majority of the possession, but very few chances to show for it. That said, I don’t think Juande Ramos should change a thing. It’s clear the lads are doing well enough as it is, and as the Depor defense tires out, he can introduce Huntelaar for the last 20-25 minutes for fresh legs and get that insurance goal.
HALFTIME: We do need to get a second goal though… I don’t trust any one goal lead.
HALFTIME: Great comments so far, guys. I don’t think Sneijder has been terrible, but he’s not great in the “half-court” offense. He’s at his best on the break, where there’s lots of space around him. Haven’t noticed Heinze muff up that bad, but I do agree that the forwards haven’t been getting a lot of service.
HALFTIME: Higuain has had some touches on the ball, but he’s dropped a bit deeper to get them, and we’ve seen Gago and Lass both push up to play a more offensive role. The problem is, I don’t think van der Vaart gives them any different a look than Sneijder.
HALFTIME: Just a note for Nothing, the cule in Kuwait who loves to stir up shit in our forum… Higuain may go to ground fairly easy, but there was at least one instance that I mentioned above where there was contact on his plant leg. He embellished a bit and the ref let play go on, but it’s not like a whistle there would’ve been undeserved.
HALFTIME: Anyway, I don’t expect any changes yet, maybe a bit later if we don’t look like we’re getting chances for that second goal.
46min: And we’re underway for the second half.
47min: Wow. Great run by Ramos up the middle, but he should’ve sent in Raul earlier.
48min: Depor have only won twice at the Bernabeu, out of 38 visits.
50min: A free kick for Madrid after a push in the back on Robben… and nothing doing.
51min: The second half has started out a bit slow…
52min: Ramos! A very long-distance attempt, and it’s not even close.
54min: Ooh, some sloppy play from both teams, but Real still get a half-chance… Ramos again attempts a shot from 30 yards out, but at least this time he skids it across the face of the goal. Too bad Raul can’t stretch enough to get there.
55min: OH! Great ball in by Raul, trying to hit an onrushing Sneijder but it’s slightly behind the Dutchman and he can’t backheel it in.
56min: Robben goes for it from 20 yards out, misses the near post. He’s like Higuain… they both need to work on their finishing.
58min: Oh! Another chance for Robben! He cuts into the box from the right wing and unleashes a shot from his favoured left foot from 17 yards that misses the far top corner. He could’ve passed it off though, but I knew he was gonna shoot from when he cut in.
59min: Oh! A chance for Depor! Filipe takes a shot from 25-30 yards out and it JUST barely nicks the crossbar. Dangerous.
60min: Depor get a chance but Valeron’s shot is deflected before it reaches Casillas, and the keeper manages to keep the ball out despite the attacker right in his face.
61min: As predicted, Sneijder is coming off for van der Vaart.
63min: Oh come on! Heinze gives up possession just too easily there. Doesn’t even try to get the ball back, he just stands and looks to the ref for help.
64min: Ugh, Higuain needs to learn when to shoot. He takes it from long distance too often, then when he’s in the box, like he was there, he takes a touch too many and then has the ball cleared out for a corner. Should’ve shot it earlier.
66min: Argh, Cannavaro gets called for a foul because Heinze gave up possession and couldn’t recover his position in time.
67min: Awful cutback pass by Higuain for van der Vaart. Wasn’t even close. Too bad too, screwed up a 3-on-3 counterattack.
68min: OH! WHAT A SAVE! San Iker is back! Stretches full out to his right to save Lafita’s shot.
69min: Great pressure by Raul to force the Depor defender to clear the ball for a throw-in.
70min: Did you see how deep Higuain is playing now? He’s a midfielder.
70min: Lass gets called for a cynical foul on Lafita, yellow card.
71min: Another change for Real… Huntelaar on for Higuain, and Drenthe on for Raul.
73min: Strange taking off Raul and Higuain… Raul being only one goal away from tying Alfredo di Stefano as all-time top scorer for Madrid…
74min: WHAT?!? vdV shoots and it’s deflected by a Depor defender but the ref indicates goal kick? WTF? This is horrid.
76min: Juande must not like what he sees when Heinze goes forward, that’s the only explanation for bringing on Drenthe. Either that or he’s just hoping that Drenthe’s pace will cause problems.
78min: Real just seem to have let their foot off the pedal a bit in the second half. The sharpness isn’t there anymore… it’s just getting sloppy.
79min: Pepe earns a yellow card for a dodgy challenge. Still though, not even sure if he made any contact.
80min: Ugh. Drenthe makes a nice play to cut off his defender from the long ball, then slips trying to make the cut in from the left. Weak.
80min: Antonio Tomas earns a yellow, didn’t see what happened.
81min: Sergio Ramos needs to work on his touch too… that was a lazy pass, in addition to some poor crosses from the right in the last 10 minutes.
82min: Depor are making their last changes… Juan Rodriguez on for de Guzman, and Mista on for Lafita.
83min: AHHH! Another horrible offside call! Robben is denied a sweet chipped goal because the linesman got it ridiculously wrong.
84min: Haha, that idiot Riki. Gets called for offside on a quick free kick. There’s no way he couldn’t have seen that he was offside, being way out on the right wing.
85min: Has Huntelaar touched the ball yet? There is no dispute for me, if we have to choose between him and Lass for the Champions League.
86min: Robben earns a corner after taking the counterattack into the right corner… vdV to take.
86min: And it’s cleared away. No danger to the Depor keeper.
87min: Heinze and Drenthe force Riki to go for the near post, and the shot is wide.
88min: Ugh, another poor touch by Ramos to lose possession. This second half has been ugly.
89min: Decent buildup by Real, but first, a poor touch by Drenthe who stops the ball on his stepovers, and then Gago elects to shoot from outside the box and it’s deflected a bit.
90+1min: 3 minutes of extra time.
90+2min: Oh! Robben streaks half the length of the pitch on his own, leaving defenders in his wake, but he runs out of steam and can’t muster a decent shot on goal, shooting it right at the keeper.
90+3min: AHHHH!!! Another chance for Real… Robben skips past a couple defenders then cuts it back for vdV who appears to not have expected it and it’s cleared for a corner.
90+3min: Ooh, a last chance after the corner, with Robben spinning away from a defender and shooting across the face of goal. The ball pops out for vdV who can’t put it away with 3 defenders on the line.
90+3min: And we’re done.
POSTGAME: The Sky commentators are saying this is a poor Madrid squad, not built for the kind of open play that the Madridista faithful like to see. I think we’d agree with that.
POSTGAME: Los Merengues started well enough, but they lost their shape in the second half, and it got sloppy.
POSTGAME: We’ve got fullbacks who think they’re wingers but don’t have the touch for it, we’ve got (nominal) midfielders who are really just attackers, we don’t have a proper centre-forward but we’ve got about 3 or 4 support strikers except we play two of them in support of… no one.
POSTGAME: Then again, a win is a win, and we go back to being 12 points behind Barca, firmly in second place.
POSTGAME: my back is killing me, so I’m gonna go lie down. No player grades today, I’ll let Corey do that in a match review.
POSTGAME: It’s been fun, let’s do this again sometime soon. Later skaters.