What A Game!

By: Corey | February 22nd, 2009

Match Information
Stadium: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Spain
Attendance: 80,000
Match Time: 14:00 ET
Official(s): Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Referee)

After being disappointed to miss out on the 4-0 thrashing of Sporting last week because I was on vacation, I was treated to an incredible display of attacking football from a team that you would have thought could not muster much more then the odd brilliant flash a month ago for a 1-0 win. But a brilliant 7 goal first half saw a poor Betis side swept aside in astonishing fashion. All of the superlatives in the world cant describe the joy of watching the match, so I will let the Spanish papers do that for you:

AS:
“Madrid assault La Liga”

“Fabulous display in the first half”

“Great football and six goals in the first 45 minutes”

Marca:
“Galloping towards the league title”

“Madrid destroy Betis with six first-half goals, cut into Barça’s lead and enter into the home stretch of the season like a rocket. Juande has payed close attention to every detail in designing this team.”

El Mundo:
“The chase is on”

“Madrid earn their ninth straight win and reduce Barcelona’s lead. The Whites use speed and mobility in their best football.”

El Pais:
“Madrid earn the right to believe”

“Juande’s team trounces Betis with a superb first half and is only seven points off the lead.”

“[Lass] is an impeccable midfielder. He is never out of position and his physique allows him to roam every zone on the pitch.”

La Vanguardia:
“Blowout by Madrid”

“[Raul and Huntelaar] scored a brace each in the best match of the Juande era.”

While the papers use some rather overblown verses to describe the match, it really was a joy to watch. Especially when compared to the dull games we were seeing at the beginning of 2009. To say that because we thrashed Sporting and Betis means we are in the title race again still seems a bit presumptuous, as strong performances against top of the table teams will truly indicate how far we have come as a team. But this game, along with the Sporting match, shows that Juande is slowly but surely turning the team into a well oiled machine. He started at the back, made every thing tight and solid, and now we are moving forward and scoring while still maintaining that defensive posture. I like to see progress, and I am very pleased with how the team is playing. Every match gets a little bit better, and thats a mark of a good coach.

Real Madrid
Casillas
Sergio Ramos Gol 46′
Pepe
Heinze
Marcelo
Cannavaro
sub Sneijder 47′
Lass
Gago
Huntelaar Gol 15′, 24′
Higuaín Gol 7′
sub Robben 47′
Raúl Gol 36′, 42′
sub Guti 47′

Betis
Ricardo
Nélson
Melli
Fernando Vega
Damiá
Mehmet Aurelio
Mark González
Arzu
sub Juanma 82′
Juande
sub Monzón 55′
Emana
sub Rivera 63′
Oliveira Gol 30′

Match Stats
Real Madrid Real Betis
Shots (on Goal) 21(13) 8(1)
Fouls 11 19
Corner Kicks 2 2
Offsides 3 2
Time of Possession 65% 35%
Yellow Cards 1 3
Red Cards 0 0
Saves 0 7

For a match recap, go here. So the match started brilliantly, with some tight passing and a spark around the stadium with the fans anticipating a good match. And they were not to be disappointed. It started off with Sergio Ramos looking extremely motivated, probably because of his Sevilla roots, and making a series of aggressive, yet well timed tackles on Betis players to win the ball back. The goals started to flow soon after, with a great Heinze ball being knocked on by Raul where Higuain was able to round the keeper and tuck the ball away. With Higuain on the right, he is able to drift around, avoiding a proper marker when he is in the center of the box, which is what allowed him all of the space for the first goal. The problem is he is not a proper right midfielder, so he leaves alot of space defensively and does not give alot of width like Robben would. He also gave the ball away creating dangerous situation when he did track back, often passing the ball right to a Betis player. Still, it was a good performance from him, but I would not want to see him on the wing against Liverpool, thats for sure.

Marcelo had a lot of pace and drive in his runs, and showed some great skill on a few occassions, but he often was found wanting when it came to a finished product. He was to duff more then a few shots that were decent chances but he did not really pose a threat to Betis. Heinze was more of a threat then Marcelo was, but this is also because Heinze can cross the ball better then Marcelo, and he showed that off today with a secondary assist and a great free kick assist. With Marcelo in front of Heinze, it allows him to move forward more freely, which he did pretty well. He is still shaky at the back, but his attacking was full of purpose today. Heinze had a great game, Marcelo had a decent game. Again, I liked what I saw, but not against Liverpool please.

Next up, Pepe and Canna were not really that troubled, but Canna struggled none the less. Canna and Casillas were the only two to have bad games. Canna was withdrawn to avoid any further troubles, but Casillas had a stinker. Pepe may have gotten the old ‘wobbly legs’ when Olivera danced around him, but Casillas really should have saved his shot for the goal. Maybe he was unsighted by Canna, or maybe he just lost concentration because at that point Real was cruising. I dont know, but after that he still looked unsure, with that awful pass right to Olivera which should have been a goal. Luckily we escaped from that and ran back down the field to score. I hope he plays better against the Pool, but knowing Casillas, it should not be a problem. Canna on the other hand, if he is found that wanting against Olivera, then Torres will rip him apart.

Lass was Lass, excellent as usual. Best signing of the past two years after only a month and a half? I think so. Gago had a great match too. He was better then usual offensively, and he made alot of great interceptions and tackles, and had a killer through ball to Raul for Raul’s second. If Gago plays like that more often, then Parejo and Sneijder are gonna have a tough time getting into the team. Guti came on and looked pretty good for having been out so long. His through balls were precise and he moved forward with purpose. With him playing just in front of Gago it did not yield more possession to Betis, the key being Guti maintains possession better then Gago and Lass win the ball back. That is on a good day though, we all know Guti can be down right dreadful some times.

Sneijder was invisible again, and thats worrying. He should be on the bench against Liverpool for sure, but the problem is he wont provide much of a spark of the bench either. We have two under performing Dutch men now though, not three, after Huntelaar had a good game too. Two goals on two scrappy chances, although the second chance was scrappy only because his header was well saved. He should have put the ball back across goal, but be it as it may, he still scored. He was in and out of the game, but like Raul, he scores when he gets the chance. His chance for a hat trick was unlucky, but it showed me that he is progressing nicely. To bad he cant play against Liverpool, but thats Pedja’s fault now isnt it.

Raul was great for the second straight game, which was pretty exciting. Two great finishes, a nice assist to Higuain, and he was very involved in general play. In the end, it was just a great performance by the team, and I was very pleased. Robben looked a little off the pace, but he will take a week or two to get back to where he was, so he might be a little out of sorts for the Liverpool game. But with the play we demonstrated yesterday, we definitely are the in form team going into the match. I am confident about the tie, but I dont want to be to confident though. We still have a lot of work to do, both in the league and the Champions League.

Higuain:

“The team is very happy with its performance. The final score is proof of the hard work. We played great football and deserved to win. The first goal completely broke down their defensive game plan because it came so early. No one thought the match would unravel the way it did. We know we have several finals coming up and that we’re doing well.”

“It’s time to start thinking about the next match. The Champions League is up next and we need to maintain this rhythm. It’s great to cut more points off the lead, but we must continue focusing only on ourselves. We need to remain strong with important matches on the horizon, the first being that against Liverpool.”

“Wednesday’s game is another final. It will be a very difficult match against a great team that does well under such pressure. But Madrid is Madrid and that’s a plus for us. We will do our best and hope to have the upper hand heading into the return leg of the tie.”

“Raul’s two goals are only scored by great players. He will score many more. Fans need to come support us. We’re going to leave everything on the pitch and I am confident we can give them a win against Liverpool.”

Pepe:
“We are very satisfied. We needed to have a first half like that at home. We played very well and the whole team was up to the task. We need to stay on track if we’re to accomplish our goals.”

“When I heard the crowd cheer after Espanyol scored their first goal at the Camp Nou, I had to ask what was happening because I hadn’t a clue. Then I found out they had scored. It was a great night because of the atmosphere. I am happy because the fans are happy.”

“It’s important that Barcelona stumbled, but there are still a lot of matches to play. We must maintain this rhyth, and take one match at a time.”

“Liverpool shouldn’t fear us. They should respect us, just like we do them. We’ll have the crowd on our side on Wednesday and we’ll capitalize on that. We need to be determined. I will be happy if we score half as many goals as we did tonight, but it will be a very different match.”

Huntelaar:

“I am happy to have scored two more goals for this team. That makes three, but I need to score many more to help this team win matches.”

“I am pleased that Barcelona lost and that we managed to cut into their lead. We’re seven away. We’ll have to see what happens in upcoming weeks.”

“We played very well, especially in the first half. The whole team played well. Scoring is great, but I don’t want to stop now.”

Juande:

“We are getting closer, but I never said that the league was a foregone conclusion. There is still a lot of competition to be played and points at stake. The team hit a bump in the road during the first half of the season, but I think all teams take their foot off the gas at some point. We managed to chip another three points off, but there’s still a substantial lead.”

“The team shares all duties. It has grown a lot and every players has improved. There is a lot of talent here, and it must be put at the team’s disposal.”

“You may think Betis didn’t do anything, but don’t forget they were coming off a win against Sevilla and a draw against Barça.”

“In regard to Lass and Huntelaar, we had to pick one or the other, and because of the team’s needs we determined Lass was more appropriate. That is what the decision was based on.”

“We only knew about what was going on at the Camp Nou because of the updates on the scoreboards. We didn’t have radios on the bench. We were only focused on and concerned about our match.”

Raulina!!!!! (from Cesar during the match)

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

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What A Game!

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