Wow Madridismo

Real Madrid 4-2 Olympiakos

What a game. I was very disappointed with the first half display, seeing as how we had a man advantage. Raul’s goal was typical predatory fashion, but their goal, scored by Galletti, was a perfect example of why I dont like Michel Salgado, he didnt close down Djordjevic and bam, were all tied up. Olympiakos came for a draw, it was pretty obvious when the put Lua Lua up front on his own and 2 defensive mids and Djordjevic in the center of the park. Djordjevic is a good player, but he is also a diver and a little bitch, so when Guti close lined him in the gut, I laughed for awhile and was glad no foul was called, he got what he deserved.

Robinho sucked all night, and then…he became incredible. What was with that? He was all flash and no substance as usual in the first half, and showed little care in the game when he went into the locker room. But he started dancing in front of the Olympiakos defenders, and they were more then willing to hack him down. This happened on a couple of occassions, once when their really was contact and Robinho was shown a yellow for diving. Did the ref suck tonight, yeah, horribly. Because a little later Robinho danced and dangled and was tapped on the shin as he approach the six yard box, but he went to ground rather dramatically and the ref bought it. There was contact yet again, but it was nothing that meritted such a fall. Robinho was pumped though and from their on he would run riot.

First Half

Real started with this formation, which I was slightly surprised with considering Robinho’s antics and possible fine:
—————–Casillas—————–
Salgado—Sergio Ramos—Metz—Marcelo
Robinho—–Gago—–Guti—–Sneijder
———–RVN—–Raul—————-

The first action was Robinho robbing an Olympiakos player and sending Ruud away. He had a shot which was saved but Raul was trailing the play and converted the rebound for number 59 in the CL all time. A perfect start to the match, but 5 minutes later Olympiakos were level, with the Galletti goal I mentioned earlier. Nothing special, just efficient finishing after a decent counter attack. The real incident of the match came in the 13th minute, with Torosidis getting sent off with a straight red for a last man situation. A rough call, sure sure, but the ref followed the letter of the law here, although id have to say he was pretty poor all night.

After those opening exchanges it was all Real barring a Lua Lua shot that went into the side netting. Robinho played a crappy ball in which was cleared to Guti who blazed a shot just wide, while Sneijder did little with two free kicks and two shots from distance. Robinho was played in by Guti but his shot was straight at Nikopolidis when all he had to do was lift it over the on rushing keeper, while Raul was inches away from a header and the ref blew the whistle for half shortly after that.

Real did not play particularly well, and seeing as how they had a man advantage they should have been more dominant. The ball was being dinked around outside the box but we lacked a cutting edge. Guti and Gago did reasonably well, but seeing as how they were under no pressure after 13 minutes you can not judge Gago by this game, he simply had far less to do with a man advantage. But what he did do was pretty good, I still would prefer De La Red though.

Second Half

Second half started off miserably, with former Real center back Julio Cesar side footed the ball into the net off a free kick from Djordjevic, who had “been fouled” earlier by Marcelo. The goal should never have happened becasue there was no foul, Djordjevic is a cheat simple as that. Cant really tell who was at fault for the goal, looks like they were trying to hold a line a little to long and it cost them. Gago and Sergio Ramos had men, but Julio Cesar was left unmarked, so maybe Metz should have dropped back to cover him? Not sure, it all happened very quickly.

That was a cruel blow to Real, who knew that Olympiakos were gonna park the team bus in front of the goal now. Real pressed hard and Lua Lua got a chance that Casillas saved comfortably from. Real’s chances were pretty poor, nothing was really being created that was worth a finish to that point. Then Robinho cut in from the left where he jinked then cut in some more and Patsatzaglou stuck a leg out. Penal! Nope, the ref, sucking as usual, gave Robinho a yellow which was clearly the wrong call. RVN and Robinho argued to no avail and this seemed to spur Robinho on, with fire in his belly.

Soon after that Higs came on for Salgado and he played the ball centrally to Guti and ran towards the box, taking his marker with him. Sergio Ramos strolled forward unmolested and received a ball from Guti which he lofted to the farrrr post where Robinho was unmarked and headed down into the ground and past Nikopolidis for the 2-2 tally. JOGO BONITO ROBINHO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL. Well it wasnt really that pretty, but I was jumping around and screaming when he converted. He of course ran off to do something like this :

He then ran over to Schuster, Portugal and some other guy and gave them hi fives, which to mean signalled he appreciated their support and was not going to let them down after his infractions. Good, looks like the kid is maturing a bit. A little while later Robinho sent a ball in that RVN and Raul both went for, and Ruud squirted a shot by the open goal that Sneijder just couldnt get to. The pressure was building in the Bernabeu, and Raul Bravo was taken off to a standing ovation. Ehh, whatev.

Robinho then was isolated on the wing and did a few step overs and jukes before he was pretty much at the byline. He went forward and was tapped on the shin and went down dramatically, but the ref gave the Penal as a make up call. Wasnt a penalty, then again the first incident was, even steven then. But no, Ruud blazed over the bar with Nikopolidis going the wrong way and it looked like we would settle for a draw. Ruud is pretty reliable on penalties, seeing as how he took over for Raul who is also reliable. May rethink that one, remember he missed one against Lyon at home last year too.

Some more chances, Djordjevic being stopped by Casillas, while Guti’s worm burner was easily stopped by Nikopolodids. And then more magic from Robinho. Ruud took possession at the corner of the box, where he stepped forward then cut the ball back for an unmarked Robinho he moved into the box and dinked the ball over a challenge and into the net for the 3-2 tally. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL ROBINHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. This accurately describes my excitement at this point, as I scream and jumped and kissed the badge on my jersey. Madridismo was alive and well.

Schusters reactions, which you will see in the highlights video, were he kicks then throws his arms in the air are great. Robinho then performed a nice elastico and was cut down again, this time Galletti. Then Casillas came up huge, flying through the air to deny Kovacevic. Incredible save, breath taking. Robinho the blazed down the right before centering to Balboa he swiveled, placed his feet then fired into the right bottom corner for the 4-1 tally. Congratulations to Babloa for making an appearance and scoring, that should get him more playing time. Also, Miguel Torres got into the game, coming on in the 87th for Raul, so congrats to him too.

A good highlights video, its better picture quality then the stream I watched live! And the stream I watched, the commentator sounded like Borat which was hilarious. Ohh the things you do for the love of the game. We had 70% possession and 29 shots, 10 on goal while Olympiakos had 15 and 8. Not bad for a man down, they did play well and may have deserved a draw, but Madridismo was alive and well tonight. Robinho was incredible, man of the match obviously, while Casillas was second with a couple saves that kept us in the game. Ruud, Sneijder and Salgado were less the good tonight, but lets enjoy the win, hopefully the team can play with this kind of spirit this weekend against Deportivo. Heres an additional segment, Post Match Commentary Grapevine, because I strive to please you readers:

Post Match Comments Grapevine

- Andres Guardado spoke of Real Madrid’s approach to sign him up for the Castilla team last year and even though he turned it down he still wants to play for Real like his idol Hugo Sanchez: “It was a strange approach because they wanted me to play for Real Madrid Castilla,”

“It was shortly after Roberto Carlos said he was leaving and they wanted to find young players to see who could come in for him.

“At that time, my club did not want to sell me because they saw my future in a Spanish first division team and fortunately Deportivo came in.

“It was just something that can happen in life and now I have to prove that I could play for Real Madrid one day.”

“In Mexico, our all-time idol is Hugo Sánchez who for Real Madrid in the Bernabéu and the the dream for every Mexican player is to appear there,”

Well, you are only 20 so last year you would have been 19, and I can see why they would want you to start off with the B team. Most big clubs do that with young talent, but he clearly realized he is better then that and signed for Depor. Will he come in the future, I have no clue?

- Raul Bravo had this to say about tonights game. “Robinho is incredible, he was playing his worst match since he has been at Real Madrid, the fans jeered him, but then he changed from position to the other flank and looked like the same player who came from Brazil. He totally changed the match,” he stated.
.

“I didn’t know how the fans would react, but I leave happy. I was born here, and what the fans did was very nice,”

Im indifferent to Raul Bravo.

- Marcelo had this to say about tonights game: “We scored quickly. They even played a man down, but thank God we won.”

“We worked hard to take the lead in Europe and we did it,” he smiled. Now we have to do it all over again this Satuday against Deportivo.”

“No worries about the penalty,” he smiled. “We’ve got his back even though he missed.”

“Robinho was incredible. I even noticed it from the pitch. He was very excited before the game and today we saw the real Robinho.”

- Gonzalo Hig’s had this to say “We’re the leaders in both the League and Champions League: what more can you ask for?”

“We have to work hard to keep on track until the end.

“We always manage to win when I come in in the second half. I’m thrilled that that’s the case. It’s great as long as we keep winning.”

“Olympiacos are a great team,”

“It was a hard-fought match, but we came out on top.

“Winning tonight was important because we are still top. We remained calm, we thought out our plays, we created scoring chances, and we finally won.”

- And finally Robinho had this to say about his play last night to Marca: “I’m very happy with the way that I played, but the key thing is that the team won,”

“I am extremely proud.

“I dedicate my two goals and my contribution to Schuster, who is confident in my work.”

And had this to say about his late night partying and returning late from Brazil:

“In Brazil, when we play and win, some players go out. Some guys just don’t want to go home after that, after winning and putting in five goals.

“But it’s already an issue in the past.”

However, he was sorry for being late back for training and, thus, the Liga fixture on Saturday.

“In Brazil there were flight complications, but we did have a duty to be,”

“We didn’t actually know that we were playing on Saturday; we thought it was Sunday. Had that been the case, we’d have returned and played well.

“I hope that it will not happen again.

“If I’m going to be late then I do have an obligation to the club. I’ve spoken with the boss after the unfortunate late arrival incident, and we’ll hope for it not to repeat itself.”

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

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