Real Madrid 4-2 Sevilla

By: Corey | April 26th, 2009

A Picture Says A Thousand Words

Real Madrid stormed to a 4-2 win over Sevilla today at the Sanchez Pijuan to clip two points off of Barcelona’s lead atop the La Liga standings. A game of many faces it seems, Sevilla and Real went back and forth with bouts of great play, but in the end it was Real who came out on top with the better of the finishing. Real now enter El Clasico only 4 points behind Barca and with the game at the Bernabeu, it should be a cracker.

MATCH INFORMATION
Stadium: Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Spain
Attendance: 45,000
Match Time: 13:00 ET
Official(s): Alfonso Pérez Burrull (Referee)

MATCH STATS
Sevilla FC Real Madrid
Shots (on Goal) 11(5) 12(6)
Fouls 19 18
Corner Kicks 4 1
Offsides 1 3
Time of Possession 59% 41%
Yellow Cards 4 2
Red Cards 0 0
Saves 2 3

LINEUPS

Sevilla
Palop
David Prieto
Escudé
F. Navarro
Adriano
Jesús Navas
Renato Goal 16′
Romaric
sub Maresca 80′
Duscher
sub Luis Fabiano 61′
Kanouté
Perotti
sub Capel 66′ Goal 81′

Real Madrid
Casillas
Sergio Ramos
Cannavaro
Metzelder
M. Torres
Marcelo Goal 93′
Gago
Lass
Guti H.
sub Javi García 79′
Higuaín
sub Van der Vaart 86′
Raúl Goal 45′, 64′, 67′
sub Huntelaar 69′

There was so much ebb and flow in this game that at times it was infuriating and at other times it was a joy to watch. The infuriating part was probably the first 25-30 minutes of the match, where the home side came out very strong and basically ran circles around Real. You expect a home team to have a little more energy to start the game because of their fans, but Sevilla made Real look like a second division squad for more then half of the first period. Infuriating it was mostly because what Sevilla did, and they did it well, was something that I thought Real would have been more then prepared to handle.

Sevilla attacked down the wings like men possessed, and it was beautiful to watch, as full back over laps and tricky moves by the wingers created space and chances time and time again. Sergio Ramos and Miguel Torres were over run countless times by the electric Diego Perotti and Jesus Navas (one of my personal favorite players) were allowed either to much space, or were already moving at such speed that our full backs had a tough time handling them. Fernando Navarro did not over lap as much as Adriano did, which was probably a good thing because Adriano was incredibly dangerous when he did push up, often catching Torres in two minds as Marcelo was not diligent enough in tracking back.

Perotti was surely the star of the first half though, as he tormented Sergio Ramos and to an extent Lass with some quick feet and a lot of pace. He would use the outside of his boot for the cross that allowed Renato to glance a header into the net, while Adriano put in a few balls that often were not given the proper finish. Renato also combined well with Kanoute, who himself missed a glorious chance when dragging a shot at the far post wide. Perotti had a break away as well, being sent clear only to fire at Casillas when the whole goal was begging.

Real were on their heels, and it looked like it would be a long day at the office for the Merengues. Cannavaro and Metzelder actually did a pretty good job of dealing with Kanoute, often standing strong when he tried to go past him, but letting him drift deep to collect balls and the lay them off. You dont want Metzelder half way up field trying to strip Kanoute, it just spells disaster. Sergio Ramos really made a hash of the whole game, both defensively and offensively, and it was a pity because you would think the local boy would want to impress. Torres had a rough first half too, but he slowly got better as the match progressed.

After scoring and missing a few great chances, Sevilla seemed to take the foot off the gas, maybe because they were a little tired or maybe because they were instructed to slow the tempo down? I really dont know, but Real came back in to the match meekly, playing some balls through the midfield and Guti beginning to click with the forwards. Gago and Lass were able to push forward a bit and get a hold on the midfield, while Marcelo was finally free to move up the flank instead of half-heartedly helping Torres defend. Metzelder became dominant in the air at important times, although he backed off for the shorter balls, allowing Kanoute to control at lay off, usually with Cannavaro close by to watch.

Real had two great chances both from the feet of Higuain as he was twice sent in by Guti, but both times shot in to Palop in the left channel as opposed to squaring or hitting a chipped cross into the middle for a wide open Raul and Sergio Ramos on the first attempt, and Raul again on the second. Higuain was full of purpose and energy, and even had a pretty poor tackle during the Sevilla’s siege of the Real goal that he somehow was not carded for, but he had an off day. His finishing and decision making was not great, but his work rate was top notch and he always had a trick or two for the Sevilal defense. This years most improved player methinks.

When Real began to assert themselves more towards the end of the first half, it became apparent that while Real had no formal “crack”, Guti’s through balls and running at the defense would be enough. Prieto and Escude often were forced to step to Guti, allowing him to play in other players although the connection never quite clicked. Guti it must be said was outstanding today. He didnt put himself about much until the end of the first half, but when he did it was class. He caused the Sevilla defense a lot of danger simply by being able to put the ball on a dime where needed. He was being fed by Gago and Lass too, which showed they were winning over Romaric and Duscher in the center.

And then it came. Off a cleared corner kick, the ball fell to Lass who was back in his own half covering. He play a fast ball towards Higuain, who flicked the ball on with his heel (beauty of a pass) and it trickled out wide where the on rushing Metzelder beat Navarro to the ball and put a ball into the box that landed right on Raul’s foot. El Capitan made no mistake from in close and just dinked it over Palop for the 1-1 goal. At the time I was happy we scored, and glad we were showing more initiative after such a poor start, but it was hardly a deserved goal looking at the run of play in the first half. A cruel blow to Sevilla sure, but we were back on track. That goal would give the team all the confidence it needed heading in to the locker room.

After the break, Real continued to press hard and although they did not have the majority of the possession all half, they did more with it now. The first chance fell to Higuain, who had a great ball after Marcelo’s determined run and battle with Adriano to win the ball. Higuain shot poorly when he had a late run from Raul at the back post or he could have stood on the ball, giving himself time to pick his spot. It was not his night. There was a lot of back and forth from there, with Sevilla and Real getting bogged down in a midfield battle for close to ten minutes. Guti was moving forward with purpose and had a really good chance to put Higuain in but the Sevilla defense covered well. Escude and Prieto were shackling Higuain well, but it was to be the other striker on the pitch who would cause them more trouble.

A broken play came to Torres, who had ventured forward for one of the first times in the match as Real’s confidence grew and grew. Higuain seemed to intentionally flick the ball over to Torres, but when I saw it looked like it was not on purpose. No matter, Torres did not take a touch and instead hit the ball on the volley into the center, where Raul was able to slice at it, lobbing it up and past Palop into the far corner. The technique needed to execute such a shot, with Escude dragging him to the ground is just phenomenal. The fact that the cross took a deflection in mid-air meant Raul had to readjust t hit it, and that he did. Its hard to question Raul’s place in the team when he provides you with incredible goals with decent service. Two crosses from two defender for goals it must be said, so why is it our midfield cant provide him with that kind of service.

This was a stunner for Sevilla, who looked out of it after that. There was to be a final nail in the coffin though. Higuain played a rather ordinary cross into the box that Palop claimed rather easily, but he did not have full control over the ball and it spilled towards Raul, he got a touch on it to guide it into the net. The ruthless finisher strikes again for el tercero, with an opportunistic goal mouth scramble, but it really took the wind out of Sevilla’s sails. After that Sevilla attacked more, and had more purpose to their game but it was a tall mountain to climb. Jimenez made some peculiar substitutions, with both Duscher and Romaric coming off for Luis Fabiano and Maresca respectively, but neither had much of an impact on the game. Fabiano actually made Sevilla’s attack worse to my mind.

Diego Capel was the spark the home team needed, but for all of his running at the awful Sergio Ramos, he was not getting the help he needed from an over run central midfield and a quiet Jesus Navas on the opposite flank. Capel’s goal was more an error on Sergio Ramos, and an inexplicable one at that, but Sevilla had pushed Real deep so it was a deserved goal none the less. The home crowd thought that it might be time for a comeback, but Sevilla really did not create to much more danger before Marcelo was released one on one with Palop and he cooly slotted home to but the game on ice. A great win, and more then 10 minutes of strong play from Real this time out, but the slow start and I mean really slow start will be cause for concern for Juande Ramos.

Such play against Barca will be severely punished, and against Sevilla it should have been too. But neither Kanoute nor Perotti was able to capitalize, and Real pushed back harder once Sevilla’s dominant period was over. As far as an away performance, it was solid and at times there was good passage of play. I just hope for more over the full 90 minutes against Barcelona. I dont even hope, I expect it, otherwise we will get worked pretty hard.

Match Highlights

Juande Ramos presser here.

Manolo Jimenez presser here.

Raul presser here.

MARCELO
“My goal was nice, but what’s important is that we took three points. There are many games left in the season and we have to fight hard to win the title. We won’t achieve anything if we don’t fight.”

“It was a tough game, just like we expected. We managed to score and we won. We must continue to play like this in order to win the title. I think the team is united, and that’s important. The match against Barcelona will be very tough; no game is easy.”

TORRES
“The team worked well. It was a complicated game, but we were brave. I believe I can do better, but I am very grateful for the minutes the coach is giving me. I try to use them as best as I can.”

“Today we saw the best Raul there is. He is a unique player and proved so in a very important game”

I have read a few posts that say Torres is no more then a squad player and should be gone this summer, but I completely disagree. He is not a natural left back, but he looks so much better then then Heinze ever has. He had a rough start to the game, and he was quick to admit it , but after the break Navas was silent, and that was mostly down to Torres keeping him under raps. Adriano overlapping gave him trouble still, but thats normal. He had a great second half, and I am glad he is getting a chance to show his stuff. He will only get better the more he plays.

Real will have a day of rest tomorrow before returning to training on Tuesday in preparation for El Clasico. I am going to start working on a preview of the game tomorrow as it is rather important, and I will be sure to catch Barca’s Champions League semi against Chelsea this mid-week too. This team has fight in them, and we can never count them out. HALA MADRID!!!!

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

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Real Madrid 4-2 Sevilla

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