Quick BATE Review

A 1-0 win was good enough for Madrid to qualify for the knockout phase of the Champions League on Tuesday night. Coupled with a Juve-Zenit draw, it leaves Madrid 2nd in the group behind Juventus with only 1 game left to play. It will see Zenit come to the Bernabeu with little to play for, as they have parachuted into the UEFA cup for a crack at defending their cup. So the CL closes out until February for us, with the Zenit game being a chance to hopefully see some lesser used players and gasp…some Castilla players??? I fondly remember seeing Balboa, Jurado, Javi Garcia and Soldado against Olympiakos a few years back, one of my favorite games ever.

Lineups

BATE Borisov
Veremko
Khagush
Sosnovski
Yurevich
Kryvets
Volodko
sub Sivakov 67′
Likhtarovich
sub Skavysh 72′
Stasevich
sub Nekhaychik 48′
Kazantsev
Bliznyuk
Vitali Rodionov

Real Madrid
Casillas
Torres
Sergio Ramos
Pepe
Heinze
Sneijder
Gago
Drenthe
Guti
sub Van der Vaart 81′
Raúl Goal 7′
sub Javi García 88′
Saviola
sub Bueno 91′

Save for a formal review, againt time being a factor, I will just give some general thoughts on the match. First off, Casillas had nothing really to do all game, but his inability to deal with crosses confidently is always concerning, especially against an English team in the later rounds. Defensively we did fine, but then again BATE is not the offensive powerhouse that would test us anyways. Heinze flopped around the pitch, often caught out defensively even though he is not as offensive a back as Marcelo, and was on the ground more often then not. To say I have lost my patience with half of our defenders is not an understatement, and I would not regret seeing Heinze leave even in January. Surely Chema Anton is a better option at left back?

Ramos and Pepe did well, they kept the BATE forwards pretty quiet, nipping out a few half chances, but their success was mainly due to Gago playing an excellent match. His progression has been slow, but then again the kind of inherent skills, or “intangibles” need to be the “water carrier” are something that comes with experience. Claude Makelele was born to do it, even when he first began his career with Nantes, but most of the time players have to learn the trade. Gago was excellent today, and lets hope he continues in this vein of form. I can only imagine how great Gago and De la Red could be partnered together.

Torres was okay, he is not much of an attacking presence as we know, but he never moved past the half way line, severly unbalancing our attack. With Higuain on the field, he tends to drift to the right to pick up some of the slack, but with out Ramos on the right (lets not even get into a proper right winger) our play is so unbalanced. I dont really expect Torres to carry the load all himself, so something must be figured out.

Guti had some good passes, he keeps the ball moving and he draws alot of fouls which always helps. But he seems to me mucked down with Sneijder next to him as he has more of a defensive responsibility then Sneijder. Guti on form is one of the best, to bad he has not really been on form as of yet. And yet we have still gotten through most of the season pretty well without that incredible passing. An over reliance on Sneijder right now has seen our attack look very predictable. I like Sneijder, but he is not a playmaker for me. He is an industrious guy, but he does not have the creativity to make things happen like Guti. VdV probably has more of it then him, but Sneijder gets stuck in while VdV just sort of fouls people. I think using Sneijder so far forward is a bit of a detriment when we dont have a mobile striker like Higuain.

Drenthe, what can you say. He looked good, then he looked bad. When all of the attacking goes through you, its kind of hard not to put in a decent display. He cant really outwit a defender with the ball at his feet, and is more of pace and power to get around them. He is not a proper winger for me, and I dont know if he ever will be. His crossing is pretty miserable, and when he does put a decent ball in Saviola makes a mess of it. Saviola was miserable, missing all chances that came his way and just looking like a complete waste of space. Raul did well, took his goal well and worked hard, but I just dont see the old Raul ever returning. The old Raul had more skill, more pace and more swagger to him, this one just runs his ass off. I dont know, it seems like the beginning of the end.

Van der Vaart did a good job, but he was brought in to hold the ball and knock it around, kind of like Javi Garcia, who just helped Gago keep things tight in the midfield. Bueno didnt get more then three minutes, which makes no sense because Saviola was so god damn terrible, but who knows what Schuster is thinking these days.

Raul:

I’m happy – this is a major win that means we can face the last match in a relaxed style and forget about the Champions League until February,”

“We’ve now managed two victories in three days.

“We do need to improve our standard of play but this has given us confidence.”

We are pleased with the result and because we are on to the next round. We scored early and had to suffer at the end for the hard-earned won. Mission accomplished.”

“BATE are very used to this kind of weather and they tried to use it to their advantage. We will now be more relaxed when hosting Zenit and we can forget about the Champions League until February.”

“I am happy that the goal sent us throug to the Last 16. We need to continue working hard and improving.”

Schuster:

“We had talked a lot about qualifying against BATE because the last match of the group stage is right after we play Sevilla and before we travel to Barcelona. Playing with it all on the line would have been very hard. Qualifying allows us to focus on those two important league matches.”

“The match against Recreativo Huelva wasn’t spectacular, but it was effective because we defended well and managed to keep a clean sheet. Today what mattered was the first half, during which we were absolutely perfect. We had the opponent boxed in near the goal and we defended far from ours. We were pacey when moving the ball, but our best work was without the ball, which has been an area we have had trouble with this season.”

“You saw the snow that fell today. We knew how important it was to concentrate on the match. Playing in this weather is possible, but you have to be mentally prepared for it. We warmed up longer than usual and all the players were well prepared. We started off great and being cold was never an issue.”

“During halftime we talked about this being one of those matches that we needed a second goal to close it out. We didn’t manage to score, which is why we suffered more than necessary. Teams feel they are still alive and do whatever they can to score the equaliser. It’s something we need to work on for future matches.”

Torres:

“The victory and points are all that count, but we also kept them from scoring. We scored early and knew how to hold on.”

“Teamwork was the key to qualifying. We need to focus on working and improving. We cannot relax.”

“It had been a while since I played. I played at home against Recreativo Huelva after several weeks of training with the team. I feel a lot better after playing two straight matches.”

Pepe:

“The win is what counts. We capitalized on our first half chance and that’s all we needed to qualify. We played well, and although we struggled a little in the second half, we withstood the pressure and didn’t concede a goal. It was hard to play in such cold weather, but we still managed to start strong and score early. That was one of the keys.”

“We knew how important a match it was and we didn’t want to lose focus. We were a little tired in the second half but the team held strong in defense and was very serious. We had chances to score the second but they didn’t materialize. We are through to the next round and are now able to host Zenit knowing that our job is done.”

Gago:

“We wanted to qualify and we did. We won thanks to Raúl’s goal and great teamwork. The team show a lot of heart and played well. I feel good physically and mentally. The team is on the right track.”

“This Real Madrid has great players. We’re on the perfect path to success. We didn’s suffer too much because BATE barely had any scoring opportunities. I am pleased with the win, which allows us to focus on the league and Saturday’s match against Getafe.”

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

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