Real Madrid 2-1 Alicante

By: Corey | January 3rd, 2008

So we have progressed into the next round of the kings cup, I believe we take on Sevilla next? Just a guess, I havent checked the table yet. I missed the game, I was at work slaving away selling calenders to 80 year old women. But I saw the highlights on FSW so I have a general idea of what took place. I will as usual for cup games I will defer the review to realmadrid.com:

The first match of the year at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium was very important for Real Madrid’s interests this season. The Whites haven’t had a good run in the King’s Cup in a very long time and want to win the title. The round was to be decided tonight due to the 1-1 draw achieved in the first leg. Alicante once again proved to be a worthy opponent with a very offensive style that looked to suprise their rival at all times.
Real Madrid’s starting line-up was rather unusual and had a lot of new faces: Dudek was on goal, Sergio Ramos and Heinze played as centre backs, and Michel Salgado and Marcelo took full back duties, giving the team a more offensive quality.

Cold night
Under the intense Madrid cold, the first few minutes were clearly dominated by Real Madrid, but Alicante pulled off a couple of suprising attacks. The first chance of the encounter came from a header by Gago on the 3-minute mark that was easily saved by Ricardo. Soldado took a shot just moments later, but the keeper once again grabbed the ball. Higuaín also tried several times, but was unlucky.

The goal finally came in the 30th minute from a shot by Robben -the Dutchman’s first as a Real Madrid player-; Higuaín crossed the ball into the box and Robben scored with a semi-volley shot.

The match grew even colder in the second half, which hardly saw any chances on goal. Alicante kept looking to score and they finally suprised everybody when Borja finished off a cross by Álvaro from inside the small box.

Despite the scare, Real Madrid kept trying to net a winner and Gago missed the best chance of the game, sending the ball to the post from inside the area. Alicante had Real Madrid against the ropes for several minutes and even had chances to win the game and go through to the next round, but Guti made use of his genius and netted an impressive last-minute strike from outside the box; his shot curved beautifully into the goal, giving the Whites a ticket to the Last 16 round of the King’s Cup.

The emotion typical of King’s Cup encounters was palpable during tonight’s clash. Alicante, who made an excellent impression in the first leg, were confident throughout the encounter and had options of making it through themselves. They were a very surprising side and the Bernabéu crowd gave them a standning ovation at the sound of the final whistle.

MATCH REPORT
2 – Real Madrid: Dudek, Salgado, Sergio Ramos, Heinze, Marcelo (Miguel Torres, 60’), Gago, Robben, Guti, Balboa, Soldado (Saviola, 60’) & Higuaín.
1 – Alicante C.F: Ricardo, Malo, Catalá, Tito (Ricardo Cavas, 79), Álvaro, Cañadas, Alan, Joan Tomas (Capi, 57’), Germán, Azkoitia & Borja (Luis Gil, 67’).
GOALS:
1-0, 30′: Robben.
1-1, 62′: Borja.
2-1, 90′: Guti.
REFEREE: Bernardino González Vázquez. Booked Azkoitia (55’).
HIGHLIGHTS: Second leg of the King’s Cup Last 32 round. Before the match, 22 children from Real Madrid Academies displayed a banner that read, “Just Causes: Social Integration for Immigrants.”

Very well, a win is a win in this competition, I am not looking for dominating displays even against lower division teams. Here is Rocky “The Fucking Man” Balboa’s post match interview:

Javier Balboa scored Real Madrid’s goal in the first leg against Alicante and had many chances to score again in the entire fixture with them last night. The youth system player sees the King’s Cup as his chance to get more playing time and he wants to make good use of it.

You played in both King’s Cup games. What did you think of them?
I think I did well. I was lucky enough to score in the first leg and to play the entire game at the Bernabéu. The coach had confidence in me and I think I played well.

Are you satisfied with how much you are playing this season?
I honestly expected to play more, especially because of how much I played in the preseason. I am nevertheless proud of what I’ve done whenever I’ve played.

Why was it so hard to win last night?
We didn’t play badly, but we lowered our pace in the second half. It’s natural in this competition. Other sides also had trouble because their rivals did their best to make it through to the next round. We had several chances on goal, but missed too many. We did find it hard to win, but the important thing is that we made it to the Last 16.

Does it bother you when people question the quality of the team’s substitute players?
I don’t actually care because I don’t get the feeling of being treated as a substitute player in the dressing room. We are a 25-man squad and the season is very long. We are all important, but it is natural for some to play more than others.

How do you see your future?
I don’t think about leaving the Club at this stage. I want to stay here all the season because there are many games left and I think I can be useful to the team.

The coach says the team shouldn’t be too excited despite having a seven-point difference with Barcelona. What do you think?
It is always nice to be leaders, but the situation was completely the opposite last year and Real Madrid managed to come back to win the League. We can’t afford to make any mistakes and we must take things step by step.

I thought he would play more too. Actually, I thought everyone would play more, my only gripe right now with Schuster is that he doesnt not rotate one bit. He sticks with the same team all the time, and it can get a little flat. I do no want to see Rafa Benitez type mass rotating, but I would like to see the likes of Balboa, Soldado, Metzelder, Gago and Robben getting more chances to play. So far only Baptista has cracked the starting eleven which im pleased with, and I am not saying all of these players have to start, just get the occasional sub appearance or start. They all offer things tactically, I would especially think Balboa, Soldado and Gago would be able to be used in different permutations, but maybe this exposes the lack of depth in Bernadine’s tactical know-how?

Bernadine’s Post Match Presser:

It seems your players like to assert themselves. First it was Baptista and now it seems to be Guti…
My players try to make my life as hard as possible, and that’s good. I’m happy because they’ve returned from their holidays in good form and they used this match to do things well and to earn a victory that will be good for us before the match against Zaragoza.

You had many chances, but only managed to qualify right at the end…
We suffered until the very end, but we were also very forgiving. I think we could have scored the winning goal before, but the important thing is that we won and that’s that.

Did you ever think about the necessity of having to play in overtime?
It was a possibility, but I thought my team would be capable of finishing off the game in the last 15 minutes. I wasn’t nervous.

What did you think of Alicante?
I think it is obvious they aren’t really a Second Division B side. We’ll see how they do on Sunday in their League. I’m sure their players were in better form against Real Madrid because it motivates them to face a team like this.

Did you fear not going through to the next round at any time?
I was completely sure my team was going to win. It wasn’t necessary to win this way, with a last-minute goal, but their keeper had a great performance again. He saved every single shot except for Balbóa’s in the first leg, and he did the same here tonight.

What did you most like about your team?
I liked it a lot because it did a very good job. It had many chances. I would have naturally liked to have scored more goals because the match would have been very different -we would have been more relaxed-, but I liked all of my men out there tonight.

What did you think of Guti’s performance?
I am very happy for his goal, which was probably the hardest after all the chances we had before it came. He did a very good job; all of our attacks went through his feet. I think he’s had a good start to the year.

Here are the highlights of the match:

Real Madrid – Alicante 2-1
Uploaded by freesoccer

Both shots where nice, Guti’s much better then Robbens’. For some reason I cant find a complete clip with Alicante’s goal by Borja, but I did see it, it wasnt bad either. A win in the books, and Elisa said, the treble is still on!

Grapevine
- Arjen Robben and Royston Drenthe will not be signed by Roma, obviously, this winter as they dont have the scrilla to back up what they want. Shocking.

- The transfer of Sebastian Pinto has been confirmed by his father, and Sebastian will train with the first team but play with Castilla for the remainder of the year. He may get a first team shot, but with 14 goals in a three year career, I have to ask, WHY?

- Along with the same news I reported yesterday, here is some Higuain comments:

To be honest, these are difficult games to win,” he said. “It is the chance of a lifetime for a Segunda B side to play at the Bernabéu and they use everything they have.

“The important thing is that we made it through. We now have to think about Zaragoza. There’ll be time to think about the next round later.”

“It was important for us to win in order to show that the holidays haven’t affected us. We played a good game and we knew how to finish it off, even if it was in the final minutes.”

“I personally felt very comfortable and happy because I played in my favouriote position, as second striker,” he continued. “The coach had confidence in me throughout the encounter and allowed me to play as I wanted.”

- Kiko Casilla, ex-Real Castilla keeper who is now with Espanyol B, may be in line for a move to Arsenal to replace Jens Lehman. Arsene Wenger’s has a double boner for him because he is Spanish and young, just like Cesc, Fran Merida and ALmunia way back when he moved there. Good for him, he probably wont play though, cause Fabianski is better then Almunia in a couple of years anyways. Casilla is a prime target because Asenjo, Valladolid keeper, looks set to move to Barca to replace Jorquea. But Barca also like Canizares, but Flamengo wants him. Theres also Cavallero, and Nicolas Pennateau of Valenciennes, and so many more wonderful options!

- Sergio Ramos wants a pay raise in the wake of AC Milan rumors, but he jsut signed a new contract in July, so what to do. Well, seeing as he has a smoking new biddie to take care of, and he is an excellent player, future captain and Madrid idol who I occasionally dream about, id say give him what he wants.

- Ever Banega is on his way to Valencia, because Real does not need another Gago.

- Coutinho, who I thought we had already bought a year ago, is still with Vasco, the young prospect factory at the moment in Brazil, and Man U are snooping around along with Benfica. I dont even care anymore, this kid bores me with his comparisons to Messi and Kaka. Dont be compared, be your own player.

And training is open to the fans today, gettin ready for Zaragoza this weekend. I will have the preview of that match tomorrow, Adios.

Looks Like A Wet Dog