Liveblog: Villarreal vs Real Madrid

Hala Madrid! Well, Madrid fans, hope springs eternal, and with the Barcelona-Athletic Bilbao match on Sky Sports 2 at the moment, I’m optimistic that the Madrid match will actually be shown. Woohoo! That means you’re all in for a treat, as I’ll do my best to liveblog the match, despite the house party going on at my place and me being a bit buzzed with a few caipirinhas and a couple beers… whatever. This is for all four of you waiting around you computers for this. Stay tuned…

8.04: woohoo! we’re good to go.

8.06: Cannavaro and Metzelder the centrebacks… Drenthe and Ramos the fullbacks. Diarra and Guti in central midfield, Robinho on right midfield, Sneijder on the left, Raul in the hole behind van Nistelrooy. Bring it on!!!

8.07: A moment of silence for Antonio Puerta.

8.07: And we’re off!

8.08: Casillas parries an early shot from Robert Pires. Good save.

8.10: Sneijder shoots over the top of the Villarreal goal, a few feet too high.

8.12: Madrid is looking a bit disorganized… Villarreal is really playing with good pressure.

8.16: Argh. Metzelder headed it out for a corner even though Casillas was right there… Grrr… Communication guys!!!

8.16: Villarreal corner… And Casillas with a great catch. Guti breaks out but gets cleanly tackled.

8.18: Ooh, Rossi comes in behind Cannavaro and gets booked for his efforts.

8.21: Snap! Great through-ball by van Nistelrooy to Robinho, who beats Sebastian Viera but the shot goes off the far post. That was SO close.

8.22: Real Madrid corner… Sneijder taking the kick, and it’s headed away to safety.

8.25: A Villarreal giveaway leads to a great cross by Sneijder but van Nistelrooy was offside by a couple yards.

8.27: A Villarreal free kick about 40 yards from the goal… just beyond the heads of the attacking Villarreal forwards, into the hands of Casillas.

8.29: Ohhh!!! A lead pass to van Nistelrooy was just a bit too far forward and he couldn’t do anything but knock it straight into Viera.

8.31: Another Villarreal free kick (they have 3 so far, to Real Madrid’s 0)… a pass across the box, and a shot that skies over the goal.

8.32: Real Madrid corner… and it’s intercepted by Villarreal. Damn it.

8.32: 25 minutes in, and Villarreal must have the upper hand in possession and are taking the lead in the play. Real is so far content on counterattacking off set pieces…

8.34: Madrid’s not keeping the ball, but they have 2 good chances to Villarreal’s 1. so stats aren’t everything…

8.35: Villarreal had yet another free kick, and it went nowhere as Raul closed in and blocked the kick from Marco Senna.

8.37: Robinho is having an easy time getting around his man, they should be playing up the right wing more.

8.39: Guti has no ability to stay on his feet. It’s so frustrating.

8.42: The Sky commentators just mentioned about Miguel Torres, and how he’s unfortunate how he’s lost a place in the first XI… very true, he came in last year and played really well, especially at leftback. Now he’s only third-choice at any position.

8.42: Ooh… a push from a Villarreal player on Diarra has narrowly avoided a WIDE open net for Tomasson.

8.44: Argh. A good buildup of possession and touch passes only to be let down by a bad cross from Ramos. Crap.

8.46: Goal!!! Raul scores a goal, a great example of those instincts of 5 years ago. Sneijder with a great lob pass over the defense, and Raul sneaks in behind to chip over Viera. Real Madrid 1-0.

8.48: I was just writing about how Guti is so inconsistent, because he gave away the ball while Real had possession close to the box… but the buildup after getting the ball back led to the goal, so… well, he better get his head in the game.

8.49: Great tackle by Metzelder, just getting his foot in front of the shot from Tomasson.

8.50: AHHH!!! A 4-on-3 break, Robinho leads up the left wing and his cross gets tipped off Viera’s fingers into no-man’s land. Damn.

8.50: Villarreal are taking it right back to Real, a pass from Casorla right through the box without a touch.

8.52: Drenthe beaten on the left side, and the pass goes out to Rossi who shoots into Casillas’ hands.

8.53: And the first half ends with Villarreal applying some real pressure on the Real Madrid goal. Casillas is steady though, picking up where his defense isn’t.

9.05: So far, a decent result, with Madrid up 1-0. Schuster’s team is getting a lot of pressure from Villarreal, who are controlling the pace of play and dominating possession up until the box. Inside the box, Villarreal are having a really hard time getting a good shot, nothing’s been solid except Rossi’s try which went straight to Casillas. Madrid had a couple other really good chances, namely van Nistelrooy’s too-strong first touch, and Robinho’s shot off the post. If Calderon is expecting the beautiful game, he’s not getting it.

9.08: Second half underway… ooh, a great shot from Tomasson that Casillas parries over the goal. The corner gets knocked over top also.

9.10: Free kick for Real, just outside the Villarreal box, to the left of the Villarreal goal…

9.11: Goal!!! Sneijder curls the free kick right against the near post and it ricochets into the goal. Shades of Beckham, from Beckham’s number successor too. Real Madrid 2-0.

9.12: Goal!!! Ruud van Nistelrooy puts home a classic poacher’s goal after a fantastic pass from Sergio Ramos. Gorgeous. Real Madrid 3-0.

9.13: Wow, 5 minutes into the second half and Madrid’s come out guns a-blazing. The Sky commentators have it spot-on. It’s not that Villarreal have played bad, but Madrid’s finishing has been absolutely clinical.

9.14: A great defensive play by Sneijder, covering for Drenthe after a mistimed tackle, led directly to the possession that Madrid scored their third goal. Sneijder is all that and a bag of chips.

9.17: Great pressure from Madrid now, coming out from the second half. And Villarreal are making some substitutions already. Josico off for Mati Fernandez. Rossi off for Guille Franco. They’re going for broke - bigger offensive players.

9.19: Madrid’s playing with far better possession now, making crisper, cleaner passes.

9.22: That’s the biggest difference between the English Premier League and La Liga. Spanish teams usually give you space to play whereas English teams would be coming up close to challenge passes and dribbling right away. Villarreal is playing a sort of bend-not-break defense that clearly isn’t working.

9.23: Raul getting subbed for Gabriel Heinze. Not sure where Drenthe is going now, probably on the left with Sneijder moving inside more.

9.24: A Villarreal free kick… cross gets headed just outside the post. Lucky for Madrid.

9.27: Madrid are playing much better, keeping possession, though it’s a bit of keep-away from Villarreal. Madrid hasn’t demonstrated the leaky defense from recent times, but I’m not convinced yet that it’s any better.

9.28: Jon Dahl Tomasson is getting some real good looks and runs. He got nicked on an unintentional handball, but he’s been dangerous. Metzelder is marking him.

9.29: Madrid is playing the pressure defense that Villarreal should be playing. Villarreal needs the ball to score in order to get back in the match and they’re not doing it.

9.29: Villarreal making their last substitution, Pires off for Cani.

9.30: Real Madrid 3-on-2, Robinho carrying it in… and his shot gets deflected for a corner… which doesn’t go anywhere. A bit chaotic, but no end result.

9.31: Drenthe bursts up the left wing and plays a great cross that’s just a tad too far for Ruud. That would’ve put this match to bed.

9.32: Villarreal putting on some pressure now, but Madrid hasn’t given up any dangerous shots on goal.

9.33: Los Blancos are getting a bit lazy on D, Villarreal are keeping possession right outside the box. Capello would be going mad, except you know he doesn’t care anymore. Schuster, get your boys back in the game!

9.36: Goal!!! Sneijder puts away a goal off a great side pass from Guti. Outside of the right foot, just out of the reach of Viera. The play came off a stupid play by Villarreal from their free kick - it hit Drenthe in the back as he was walking away, Madrid took possession and the ref said play on. Great counterattack. Real Madrid 4-0.

9.38: Looks like Schuster might be making some substitutions…

9.39: Great passing by Madrid. Sneijder, van Nistelrooy, Guti… even Diarra.

9.40: Double substitution for Madrid. Gago on for Diarra, Julio Baptista on for Sneijder.

9.41: Baptista’s first touch almost goes for goal… his pass goes right through the 6-yard box and just misses the far post.

9.43: Goal!!! Guti strikes a beautiful curling shot that goes around Viera’s right, from a great pass from van Nistelrooy. Villarreal had only 3 defenders back because they’re pressing so hard for a goal, leaving them open to Madrid’s deadly counterattacks. Real Madrid 5-0.

9.44: This is the same Villarreal team that destroyed Valencia last week, away at Valencia too. Damn.

9.45: Marco Senna vents some anger with a shot from long range, maybe 35 yards, that goes over the net. Gotta hit the target, mate…

9.45: Here’s a great stat: only 3 shots off-target for Madrid tonight. That says it all.

9.47: Funny, Sneijder is off, so we’ve got a midfield of Baptista, Robinho, Guti, Gago and Drenthe, which really only differs from last year by Drenthe (and Baptista maybe, who was on loan, but he was here before) and the style of play is way different from last year. Maybe Schuster is doing some good there at Valdebebas…

9.48: Tomasson shoots straight into Casillas’ gut. Hard shot, but you’re not gonna beat Iker with that stuff.

9.49: Madrid is just toying with them now, walking up the field and doing all touch passes. Villarreal is obliging by giving Madrid space to do so. Sad. The yellow submarine has thrown in the towel already. If I was Sebastian Viera, I’d be mad as hell.

9.51: The only Villarreal players who seem to be trying are Viera (who couldn’t really be blamed on any of the goals, except maybe van Nistelrooy’s, but 1-on-1, you expect the striker to score) and Tomasson. Maybe Cygan too, he’s been left on an island by the midfield.

9.53: Drenthe bursts up only to shank the shot way off. He really needs some more seasoning…

9.53: And that’s it! Final score, Real Madrid 5, Villarreal 0. Barcelona, be forewarned, we too can play beautiful football.

Alright, that’s it. Corey will probably have a review up tomorrow, but damn, that was as dominant a performance as I’ve seen in a while (well, since yesterday, I saw Liverpool crush Derby County 6-0). But still, the clean sheet, the limited chances they gave to Villarreal, the high tempo to the second half after a lethargic first period… awesome. This is the potential of Los Merengues.

The difference between the first half and the second was night and day… First half was Capello and defensive touches and counterattacking, second half was about possession and clean passing, a bit like Total Football from days of old… Well, if Schuster can get his band of merry men to play like this from the start of every match, Madrid will be fun to watch. Thanks to Haran for keeping me company, hope more of you can catch the liveblog next time.

Category: Liveblog, Team News

Tags: Liveblog, Team News, Villarreal

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