Real Madrid - Athletic Bilbao: 4-1: Another Remontada

Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabeu
Gameweek: 19















Starting Line-ups:

Screen-cap from: WhoScored.com

So I start off this review by inserting a cheesy build up here where I lie and add how Real Madrid bounced back from the Clasico defeat and rallied after being 0-1 down in 13 minutes to win the match 4-1, blah blah blah. Truth is, I don't consider this as bouncing back from the 1-2 defeat at home because apparently the Clasico is another ball-game for Real Madrid since last season, and the problems of the Clasico are the problems of the Clasico. Anyway we are not here to discuss about the Clasico we are here to discuss about the attitude that has been missing from the Clasico, that attitude of not losing hope and winning matches despite going a goal down.

Everyone knew this match wasn't going to be easy especially when the away team were on a six match unbeaten run in all tournaments and hadn't conceded a single goal in those six games either. And it started off that way, aside from a tame shot from Granero with his left foot and a cross by Marcelo that was spilled by Gorkha Iraizoz, Real Madrid hadn't done anything of note before Athletic broke on the counter and Javi Martinez's cross was brilliantly turned in with his right foot by Fernando Llorente.

Before Real Madrid had woken up and scored the goal, quite a few interesting things happened in the game. Granero was in his "If I score a goal I will get noticed" mode and had taken three shots (all on target but fairly tame)—the only three shots that were on target for Real Madrid in that time-frame. Kaka hit the side netting. Cristiano crossed and created the same situation from which Llorente scored but Benzema who was on the end of this cross made an absolute mess of the finish.

Then it happened; De Marcos was freed up by a sweet chipped pass from Iker Muniain after he had sucked in every defender and even Iker Casillas. De Marcos had the goal at his mercy. But he misses, he misses in front of an open goal, giving Real Madrid a lifeline. Real Madrid finally woke up, Marcelo came charging down in attack, played the final one-two with Benzema, found his way in the box and slotted home brilliantly with his left foot to equalize.

The game became more interesting after Real Madrid equalized and it became a fairly eventful match. Both the teams exchanging attacks, attacking and countering each other, was fun to watch.

Mesut Özil turned on his silky skills and was causing trouble for Athletic, even got De Marcos booked for pulling him down after getting nutmegged. Kaka too had brought his A-game, even made a Zidane-esque rouletta turn and was a constant source of headaches for the Athletic defense with his runs. Fernando Llorente missed a glorious opportunity to put Athletic 1-2 up. Kaka brought down in the box, a definite penalty but not given. Iker hurting himself after coming out from the box, covering for his defenders were some of the events before the referee called for half-time.

The match restarted for the second half and inside 35 seconds Kaka had won a penalty for Real Madrid, Ituraspe bringing the Brazilian down. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and slotted the ball in the left-corner, Iraizoz despite guessing the right direction was never going to stop that, and Real Madrid were now in the lead 2-1.

This was not the first time Real Madrid had taken the lead after going a goal down in a match, the qualities are all there, that amazing attitude that despite going a goal down they keep coming at the opposition like a machine until they win. And that was it, Real Madrid never looked back after taking the lead.

Granero had finally settled down and was doing the right things instead of taking shots from distance, he was winning the ball back and distributing it immediately and effectively, even started a counter after winning the ball back and had an decent game, even looked solid defensively—which is not his playing style mind you. Granero had a total of 42 touches in the game, completed 28 passes with 96% accuracy—highest in the match.

At the 61 minute mark, Fernando Llorente was taken off for Toquero (reason being that Fernando was just back from injury). The big man was a constant threat and was causing Raphael Varane all sorts of problems, even Sergio Ramos had difficulty dealing with Llorente sometimes but he managed to control Llorente. After Llorente was taken off I heaved a huge sigh of relief, I knew then that Athletic Bilbao will be easier to tame. No disrespect to young Iker Muniain who had a brilliant game but Fernando Llorente was the real goal threat, with him off I was fairly confident no one could score against Real Madrid, and what do you know it turned out just like that.

It had only been a few minutes since Fernando Llorente was taken off, Real Madrid hit on the counter, Mesut Özil was one on one with the goalkeeper and was hacked down in the box by De Marcos. Benzema slotted in the the ball but the whistle had been blown, no advantage played and a penalty was given. De Marcos who was already on a yellow was shown the red and rightly so. Athletic Bilbao down to 10 men and looking at the possibility of going two goals down.

As usual, Cristiano steps up to take the penalty, and sends Iraizoz the wrong way this time, 3-1 it is, game over surely. Just after the goal Karim Benzema—who didn't have such a good game.....who am I kidding, he was poor in the game, his finishing and final ball were all off, was fairly invisible too; was subbed off for Gonzalo Higuain.

Gonzalo Higuain had an amazing chance to put Real Madrid 4-1 up after he had rounded Gorkha Iraizoz but hit the post after some brilliant covering by the Athletic defense who had recovered well by covering the goal and leaving very little space for Gonzalo Higuain to aim at from a tight angle.

Lassana Diarra who was brought in to replace Granero had a truly awful game after coming on, Muniain made a complete fool of him. Muniain nutmegged, bridged and always got past Lass too easily. Lassana Diarra had a sparring with Toquero too, where he kicked Toquero with the ball nowhere near, Toquero did kick him first but this is no way to react, if the referee had seen that, it would have been a red card.

Aside from a wonderful Özil backheel in the box, a remarkable run from Marcelo down the left wing, and stallion like run from Sergio Ramos from the center of defense, nothing else is worth reporting before the Callejon goal five minutes from time.

Real Madrid had hit on another counter, Özil to Higuain who played a sensational ball from near the halfway line to Callejon who slotted home from a very very tight angle after his first touch was a little heavy (deliberate perhaps to beat the defender on pace). And that was that, 4-1, three points in the bag.

The scoreline might be a bit too harsh on Athletic Bilbao as they weren't really as bad as the scoreline who will probably be thinking what if they hadn't missed their chances. But in all honesty the three points were completely deserved by Real Madrid who created clear chances and took them. A good morale boosting victory, just what was needed after the depressing week.

Hala Madrid!

Keeping It Real—Why Promoting a Canterano Might Backfire

Joselu: Scored on debut

"Ten youth teamers debut this season"—Just as the last match of the season in Liga BBVA had ended for Real Madrid with a 8-1 victory over Almeria; Real Madrid's official site ran a post with the above mentioned headline, to remind us all of the greatness of Jose Mourinho—the big risk taker who despite having the pressure of winning every trophy invested in not two or three but TEN youth teamers.

What Real Madrid's official site wanted to convey didn't sit well with me, this post of ten youth teamers debuting was a way to please the fans who have been wanting to see the youth teamers with the first team, wanting to see another Raul, another Casillas, another De La Red; this post reminded me of what these debuts meant for Jose Mourinho—another way to please the fans.

I won't deny it, never have, never will—I'm not the biggest Jose Mourinho fan (but still I'm glad he is continuing with the team because he marked an amazing season with the club.). So there, you can use this against me, say that my hate for Jose Mourinho is the reason I see this as a way to please the fans. But you can't change the facts, can you?

Juan Carlos, Mateos, Antonio Adan, Pablo Sarabia, Alvaro Morata, Alex Fernandez, Nacho Fernandez, Tomas Mejias, Jesus and Joselu made their debuts for the first team this season according to the post, but lets not count Alex Fernandez because all he got was a little above 30 seconds at Racing and not single touch of the ball. So that means only nine canteranos properly debuted this season.

What makes me question Jose Mourinho's actions, and say that all these debuts were just to please the fans is because out of these nine, only two players have made more than one appearance—Adan and Nacho. Not counting Morata as despite the Levante tie in Copa del Rey being dead and buried, he only got a substitute appearance.

Sarabia: Impressive on debut

Had Mourinho been genuinely interested in using them, surely more canteranos would have gotten more than one appearance and Nacho wouldn't have been the only outfield player to get a start and play a full game; especially when Pablo Sarabia impressed in the 30 minutes he got to play against Auxerre and has been performing brilliantly for the Castilla week in and week out.

Many of these canteranos in the beginning got in the team because of Jose Mourinho's helplessness. Mateos was given a professional contract at the start of the season because, Pepe and Garay were out injured, and there was no back up in central defense.

Adan got a start because Casillas wasn't called up for the game and Dudek broke his jaw, then later Dudek's injury saw Adan make more appearances. I think you catch my drift, by the end of the season, Mourinho had realized what the impact a canterano appearance makes on the fans, still Nacho's start was more due to suspensions.

I'm not saying, I'm not thankful of Mourinho to start so many canteranos, but I'm not particularly thrilled about their future if they were used as a tool to make the fans happy. The last player to get promoted to the first team was Mateos, he was loaned out to AEK Athens in the January transfer window. I'm sure had he stayed here longer, he wouldn't have notched up 90 minutes in a season.

Talking about Mateos isn't fair, because surely there was no way he would have started over Carvalho, Pepe, Garay or Albiol. But we can definitely use Sergio Canales as an example; Canales was supposed to be going on loan this season before Jose Mourinho himself requested to keep him with the squad for the season.

We all saw what happened with him. If Sergio Canales—who had a decent season in La Liga before joining, wasn't trusted by Mourinho to get enough minutes, I don't see a way how the canteranos who play in Segunda B can gain his trust if they are promoted.

The way that Jose Mourinho has acted, promoting the canteranos is not an option that will be any good for the canteranos, because once they get promoted officially they are no longer eligible to play for Real Madrid Castilla, which will mean they're most likely to notch up 300 minutes a season at most, if they're lucky enough.

Will they be used like Higuain?

I won't complain about the canteranos getting 300 minutes if they are sent in crunch situations, like Gonzalo Higuain was when he was new at Real Madrid, during the time when the scores were level or when Real Madrid were behind; he was sent in to get a goal, get a result; that is positive reinforcement for a young player.

But how the things have gone so far, these 300 minutes will most likely come when the game's result is beyond doubt; which will hardly help build any character, they'll never be ready for the first team like this. It's better they stick with the Castilla or join another La Liga club with a buy-back clause, because that is a strategy that seems to be working.

I feel that I am being a little too harsh on Jose Mourinho, it's not exactly his complete fault that he doesn't trust the canteranos, it's a little too hard to put the blame on him when you know what kind of pressure to succeed is on him.

The man who has to be blamed for this is none other than Florentino Perez, had he not sacked Vicente Del Bosque, there wouldn't have been a period of instability at the club, and the managers would have taken the risk to give chances to canteranos.

Hala Madrid!

Real Madrid-Barcelona: El Clasico (1/4): Points Worth Noting

Pepe to Messi: "Are you crazy?"

Last night Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid brought an end to the winning streak of Pep Gaurdiola's Borecelona....err....Barcelona in El Clasico as well as their streak away from home.

Jose Mourinho's men fought hard, were the better team, created the better chances despite being "outpassed" and "outpossessed," earned themselves a draw with 10 men on the field. It didn't help that the referee was, as usual against them. This draw as stated by Marca's headline, "feels like a win".

There are always many match reviews available on the internet of such games and it's always better to do something different, so that's why I have decided to discuss point by point the things that happened in the match which were worth discussing.


Barcelona's Football is as Negative as it Can Get

Barcelona had 76% possession of the ball according to ESPN Soccernet, and as far as I remember the commentator repeatedly reminding how Barcelona had completed more than twice the number of passes than Real Madrid while having an orgasm. The bias of Mediapro's commentator didn't enable him to watch the match properly as he was praising Barcelona for playing square balls and back passes while lined up at the half-line unable to create anything worthwhile except for a good showing for number of passes completed.


Keeping possession while attacking is 'good attacking football', but keeping possession for the sake of not giving it to the opposition should be considered as a negative tactic, just like taking the ball to the flag or rolling in defense is, people need to get rid of their bias towards FC Barcelona.


The Trivote Worked Wonders/Pepe is Amazing in Midfield

Bassam of Real Madrid Offside and I have had a discussion about using the trivote many time, we had Granero as our choice with Khedira and Xabi Alonso, but after Granero was suspended both of us had agreed on Pepe as the third man in the trivote over Lass; Lass got injured we got our wish, and it turns out what we wanted was the right thing all along. We wanted Real Madrid to close down spaces, press high up the field and not give time to Barcelona's midfielders time to pick out passes that can open up defenses. Pepe did just that; he hounded the Catalan midfielders down, won tackles in the middle of the park, and helped start many of Real Madrid's attack; hands down the best player on the field.

The trivote should be used again in the remaining Clasicos without any change or bringing in Lass, Lass just isn't the same as Pepe. Pepe's much more cleaner and disciplined than Lass.


Dani Alves & Adriano Were Kept Quiet


After watching a few Barcelona games, I had realized how important Dani Alves is for Barcelona. When going forward, Dani Alves always bombs up the field making dangerous runs, getting into good positions and getting involved in many attacking plays with quick one-two passing. Due to the compact shape of Real Madrid and breaking quickly on the counters, Dani Alves didn't venture forward in attack too much and that made it one less player to deal with while defending. Not only Alves, the left-back Adriano didn't make many attacking runs either.


 Full-Backs Can't Be Red Carded


Yes, that's right, according to the fourth-official in the game, full backs can't be red-carded. In the press-conference after the game, Jose was talking about how Alves should have been red-carded for a second bookable offense when he brought down Marcelo in the box conceding a penalty and that's when he said:

 "I asked the fourth official why there wasn't a second yellow and he told me it's because he's a full-back."

All these times, all these times when Sergio Ramos got red carded, all he had to say was, "I'm a full-back b****!" and he would have stayed on, I ask for the Spanish FA and the UEFA to apologize to Sergio Ramos for giving him red cards in La Liga, Copa del Ray and Champions League.



Neither Ozil Nor Di Maria Should Start The Next Clasico


Both Di Maria and Mesut Ozil have been immense for Real Madrid this season but none of them are suitable to start the El Clasico just yet. Di Maria has got the nerves and Ozil is not someone who can keep up the same intensity over the 90 minutes.

Last night Di Maria's touch and control deserted him many a times, the same Di Maria would have latched on to those similar balls and would have tore up the defense of some other team but he just couldn't keep the ball close to him and always ran into trouble. Di Maria just isn't ready mentally.

Ozil was brilliant when he came on last night, dribbling past defenders, passing the ball well, getting involved in the play. The problem with Ozil starting is that in order to last the 90 minutes he will stop pressing in attack and will not track back, and the success we had in shutting out Barcelona's midfield was the fact that everyone put in their defensive shifts properly, even Cristiano Ronaldo was tracking back helping in defense many times. If Ozil switches off we have a problem.

Picking someone to start out of the two is a little difficult, so I'll just go ahead and put the weirdest idea in your head about starting Benzema and Higuain along with Cristiano Ronaldo

But as far as Jose Mourinho goes, I know he'll start Ozil. Won't be a bad idea if Ozil does a complete job and puts in 60-70 minutes and then Di Maria comes on in his place as an impact substitute.

 I nearly predicted the correct line-up (The mistake I made was picking Higuain over Benzema) nearly 12 hours before the game on Twitter, let's wait and see if I predicted the correct line-up this time as well. Best of luck to the players for the remaining Clasicos! Hala Madrid!

Should Real Madrid Give Any Priority To La Liga? [Guest Post]

Note: The following post was supposed to be done as a debate post but Saheli (@riverscollide) did such a wonderful job writing this I decided it was better to publish it as her post, keep in mind this was supposed to published on Sunday April 3, I screwed up and delayed the post.

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Last night I observed the difference between my mentality of a Madridista and the mentality of a Cricket Fan. With Real Madrid, I've always adopted an 'it ain't over till the fat lady sings' attitude and with the latter, it has always been 'oh crap, India is going to lose' even before the start of the second innings. The way things unfolded last night, I’m beginning to think a swap of mentalities is in order.

Needless to say, Real Madrid's performance was quite dreadful, with Adebayor being the biggest flop of the day as he missed countless chances. Subsequently, Barcelona’s 1-0 win away at El Madrigal means that they're now eight before ahead of us with eight games left to play in the league. Mathematically Barcelona are still not champions, but a conversation with Deepak made me think, is it time to give up on the league and focus instead on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey final instead?

For Madrid, April is a make-it or break-it month with six extremely crucial games left to play. We will first host Tottenham on 5 April for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter finals. Next, we will travel to San Mames to play Athletic Bilbao in the league, followed by the return leg of the UCL at White Hart Lane. Following that, there will be two intense encounters with Barcelona – once at the Bernabeu, and once at the Mestalla for the Copa del Rey final. The month then rounds off with an away trip to the Mestalla to face Valencia.

Out of the three competitions, realistically we have a chance of winning two. At this juncture, it is safe to assume the outcome of La Liga is out of our hands: it is Barcelona's title to lose. Based on last night's display, we realise exactly how much we miss Xabi Alonso's creative spark in the midfield. We have played and won without Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, but last night was a testament to our lack of creativity in the midfield. Perhaps creativity is a wrong choice of word; rather we lacked a midfielder who could control the game, like a conductor conducting an orchestra.

Real Madrid have already confirmed that Ronaldo, Marcelo and Benzema will be available for the clash against Tottenham. Gonzalo Higuain clocked in more than twenty minutes last night after being out for more than four months. So it is safe to say we will have a relatively full squad with the exception of Kaka and Gago. Now the question that arose in my conversation with Deepak is this: is it time to let go of the league and focus solely on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey?

My short answer is yes. Let me elaborate with a long one.

It is true that once we stop pursuing the league, Barcelona will be able to breathe a sigh of relief. But if the last three years have taught us anything, it is this: Pep Guardiola is a pragmatist. He will not stop pursuing the league until Barcelona have won mathematically. This will not happen in April – since Barcelona will play only three games. Right now Barcelona have 81 points, compared to Real Madrid’s 73 points. There are still 24 points up for grabs for both sides in the league.

Assuming Barcelona wins all three of their April league games, and Real Madrid lose all three, they will extend their lead by 17 points. Only then will it make them champions by the end of April – based on the assumption that Madrid has to lose all three of their league encounters. However, if Madrid doesn’t drop all nine points in April, Barcelona still have to play two more games to win the league title. Confusing? Yes. Bizarre? Ditto. Bottom line is this: it’s highly unlikely that Barcelona will be able to win the league by the end of April.

So technically, Barcelona will still be fighting on all three fronts. Whereas if Real Madrid decides to forfeit the aggressive pursuit of the League and instead focus on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, it would mean resting key players like Ozil and Di Maria during league games.

I am not saying that we should throw away the remaining games; more on that later. Mourinho did say before the Gijon match that he can’t rest the key players because the La Liga hinged on the outcome against Sporting. Now that it is over, I think Mourinho should shift his focus onto the other two competitions. This way, our starters would have played less minutes prior to meeting Barcelona than their starters.

The counter argument is that if we lax our pursuit of the league title, Barcelona can also do the same. And yes, we know that Barcelona reserves are more than capable of winning games by themselves, like they did last night, without either Xavi or Iniesta in the squad. Compared to their second string team, I think it is safe to say, based on last night's display, our second string team sucked. We still do not have the cohesiveness that Barcelona have built up over the season.

However, we should not concern ourselves with what Barcelona will or won't do. We should focus on ensuring that our starters are in their top forms for the two (or maybe four) crucial encounters against the Catalans. Barcelona are not unbeatable and neither are they invincible. Their players tire as much as any other La Liga players. Right now, our aim should be to field a fully fit team for the games against Tottenham and the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona.

I am not suggesting that we throw away the league and let Barcelona wrap it up before April. Instead, I think this will be a perfect time to bring on the canteranos and expose them to the first team. Morata, Alex, Juan Carlos, Juanfran, Sarabia have all tasted first team action this season – and they've been on top notch form with Castilla. With Castilla's playoff position more or less secured, I’d love to see them get some playing time.

This will be a win-win situation for us: it will take the pressure off our regulars and it will also give us a glimpse of what our future is like, since it is my earnest desire that one day we will build a team around our Cantera. Apart from the Canteranos, this will be a good time see which of our reserves should stay and which of them should go: Canales, Pedro Leon, Garay etc; by playing them against Bilbao and Valencia. As for El Clasico, I expect Real to field a fully fit team since it is a matter of pride and we want to ensure a repeat of 6-2 does not happen again.

However, given that we'll be facing them again in three days, it is time to prioritise. Do we want to defend our honour at the Bernabeu or do we want to win the Copa del Rey to ensure we do not finish trophyless this season? For Barcelona it is a win-win situation – they either get to humiliate us at our own turf or they win the Copa del Rey. For us, it’s time to sort out our priorities.

To wrap it up, we can pursue the league but it might backfire terribly on us and leave us trophyless at the end of the day. Because pursuing the league means devoting resources away from Champions league and Copa del Rey to focus on something that is almost a lost cause. It is a simple division of labour – pursuing the league means Ozil, Di Maria et al will be playing more minutes, thus risking them to either fatigue or injury.

Of course this doesn’t mean that we're going to easily win our Copa del Rey and the potential Champions League Semi-final ties against Barcelona – at least we will go into the respective games with a fully fit squad.

Mourinho has beaten Barcelona before with Inter and that victory came after two group stage defeats against the Catalans. We should also keep in mind that this is the first season that these new signings and Mourinho are working together. While expectations are sky high at the Bernabeu (and sometimes quite unrealistic to be honest) and among Madridistas, as long as we put up a good fight, losing to them won't be the end of the world. My only wish is that we do not throw away the encounters like we did in November: now that was just plain embarrassing.

Injury Update: Cristiano Ronaldo Out For 10-15 Days! Okay, Everybody Remain Calm!

Real Madrid hosted former coach, Manuel Pellegrini, and his Andalusian side, Malaga, in a match where only one team showed up. A hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo, a brace from Karim Benzema, and singular goals from Angel Di Maria and Marcelo were enough to extend their perfect home record with a 7-0 win.

That wins means that Real Madrid still has a 100% home record. Maximum points have been collected at home. However, the win still means that they trail by seven points behind a Barcelona side that came out with a 1-0 victory over Valencia the night prior to this game.

As a side note, Manuel Pellegrini admitted after the match that he had rested some of his first team players for that game because they had played on Monday, and will host Osasuna on Sunday. Apparently, he was complaining about the same thing that somebody else had complained about just some days ago, and was almost crucified for it. It really is a "hypocritical" world we live in.

However, in all the hullabaloo that was the 7-0 thrashing, Cristiano Ronaldo had to be taken off the field and into the dressing room because of an injury he sustained when he completed his hat-trick for the night.

The team's official website then came out with an announcement this morning:

"A magnetic resonance done at Sanitas La Moraleja Hospital has determined Cristiano Ronaldo has a Grade I muscle injury on the left biceps femoris muscle. The player will miss 10-15 days. His recovery is being monitored."

This new development now means that the Portuguese will definitely be out of this Sunday's clash with Racing Santander, and could even possibly miss the second leg tie against Lyon two weeks from now. Bad news.

It doesn't come as a complete shock, however, considering how many minutes he has played this season. Jose Mourinho has put so much trust in the Portuguese winger this season, that before the match against Malaga, he had played a total of 3771 minutes out of a possible 3780 minutes in this season. He also happens to have scored 43% of the team's goals.(He has scored 28 goals his season according to Marca). That's a lot for one player, and one could have easily anticipated this injury a while ago.

That said, with or without Ronaldo, the team should be able to produce results. Now Mourinho is tasked with the duty of tweaking the squad/formation a little to adapt to Ronaldo's absence.

I'd hate to be in his shoes now, but with the number of squad members on the team (25), there should be quite a few options. He could do a like for like replacement, and give Pedro Leon a shot on the wings, or move Ozil to the wings, and slot in Kaka in the middle. Or he could switch to a 4-3-2-1 formation, and play with three central midfielders and a lone striker. He could even go for a 4-2-2-2, with Adebayor and Benzema in front.

Also, Fernando Gago has been reported to be out for three weeks due to a knock he had during training. This is particularly interesting because Lassana Diarra is suspended from the trip to Racing on Sunday, and Sami Khedira is still out due to the injury he sustained against Lyon. This leaves Xabi Alonso as our only natural defensive midfielder. The team has played with at least two holding midfielders so far this season, so this could be a game were Estaban Granero will be trusted to partner Alonso.

On the whole, we will be seeing a lot of changes to the line up in the coming week. It will be interesting to see how Jose Mourinho approaches the next few games, but I do hope Ronaldo gets back in time for Lyon match. That might just be our most important match of the season.


Speaking of Ronaldo, if you're a La Fabrica enthusiast, and want to know about our future (and hopefully better) Ronaldos, read Deepak's piece on how they've fared so far.

 
I would also like to welcome our newest writer, Pamela. She has agreed to help us in keeping the blog active.

As always, you can follow us on Twitter: @Muna_092 , @rmcanterano and @Pamela_.


Hala Madrid!

Muna

The Impact Of Alberto Toril On Real Madrid Castilla

After Allejandro Menendez was sacked as the manager of Real Madrid Castilla, Alberto Toril the former Real Madrid Castilla and Espanyol player was promoted from the Juvenil A to coach the Real Madrid Castilla.

That move of promoting Alberto Toril seems be the one of the wisest decision the club has made in a while, and it shows with Alberto Toril stacking up 8 wins in 8 matches.

Alberto Toril having worked with and led Pablo Sarabia, Alvaro Morata, Alex Fernandez and Daniel Carvajal to a triplet with Juvenil A, constructed the squad around them and relegated players like Pablo Gil, Raul Goni, Mandi and Raul Ruiz who were signed from other clubs by Allejandro Menendez to the bench.

Alberto Toril even promoted Victor Merchan and Denis Cheryshev to the Real Madrid Castilla, and also brings 17 year old Jese Rodriguez—who is tipped as a great talent who's style is considered a mixture of both the Ronaldos (R9 & CR7), to the Castilla sometimes for a few appearances.

The philosophy of Alberto Toril is clear, he doesn't only want to win, he wants to win in style, which is clearly visible in his last interview to RealMadrid.com after defeating Cacereño 2-0 in the last game at home. He said:

"Estoy contento con el resultado, pero hemos perdido el estilo de partidos anteriores y hay que recuperarlo."

Which loosely translates to:

"I'm happy with the result, but we lost the style of previous games and we have to recover."

People who follow me on Twitter, know that I am a self confessed Alberto Toril fan, and why shouldn't I be? The man transformed Real Madrid Castilla from a mediocre mid-table team which was rotting away in tenth, eleventh or twelfth position to a team, which is not only sitting pretty in promotion play-off places but is also looking like a prime promotion candidate.

Here's a few stats to show the magnitude of the good work Alberto Toril has done for Real Madrid Castilla since taking over.

Attacking Flair With Defensive Stability

When Alberto Toril managed only his second game, which they won 5-0; the official Real Madrid site had a line which made me chuckle, "Castilla becomes friends with the clean sheet again."

Under Menendez, the Castilla managed to score 21 goals in 19 matches where they failed to score in 7 matches. The Castilla of Alberto Toril has already outscored the Castilla of Allejandro Menendez; playing 11 fewer games, they have scored 27 goals in 8 matches.

The biggest improvement under Toril isn't the free-flowing attack, but the rock solid defense. Under Menendez, the Castilla conceded 24 goals in 19 matches and kept only 6 clean sheets (2 of them are from 0-0 draws), while under Toril the Castilla has conceded a mere 3 goals in 8 games, and have kept 5 clean sheets in 8 games, which is just one less than what Menendez managed in 19 games.


Away Games: From Toothless To Ruthless

Real Madrid Castilla under Allejandro Menendez won only 1 of their 9 away games, and drew 2 games, collecting just 5 points out of a possible 27. Under Alberto Toril, Real Madrid Castilla won 4 of their 4 away games, collecting all 12 points.

Under Allejandro Menendez, Real Madrid Castilla managed to score only 5 away goals and failed to score in 5 of their 9 away games. The turnaround in fortunes was visible from the first game as Alberto Toril's whose first game in charge was an away game to Coruxo which the Castilla won 4-1. Since then Alberto Toril's team has scored 10 goals, and have scored in every away match.

The defensive ability away from home has improved under Toril as well. Under Menendez, the Castilla conceded 14 goals in 9 games and could only manage to shut out their opponents 3 times (out of which 2 games were 0-0 draws). While under Toril, the Castilla has conceded only 1 goal in 4 games, shutting out the opposition 3 times.


Home Games: Strengthening The Fortress

Under Allejandro Menendez, the only source of points on the board for Real Madrid Castilla was home games, and despite that the home record under Menendez isn't even close to impressive, collecting just 19 from a possible 30.

In the 10 home games that Allejandro Menendez managed, Real Madrid Castilla only managed to stack up 6 wins, drawing 1 and losing 3. While Alberto Toril has managed 4 and won all of them.

The most shocking stat at home is that under Allejandro Menendez, the Castilla only scored 16 goals (failing to score on two occasions) in 10 games which is 1 less than what the Castilla has managed in just 4 games (17 goals) under Toril.

Despite Alberto Toril setting out a more attack minded team compared to Allejandro Menendez, Castilla under Toril has conceded only 2 goals (0.5 goals conceded per game) at home keeping 2 clean sheets in the process, while under Menendez the Castilla leaked goals at the rate of 1 goal per game, conceding 10 goals in 10 games, and kept only 3 clean sheets.


Conclusion

The change in fortune is all due to the fact that Toril promoted players from within the academy instead of signing players from other clubs like Menendez did. I have pointed it out time and again that this generation of La Fabrica which includes Carvajal, Alex, Sarabia, Morata and Jese is one of the most talented generations to come out from La Fabrica in a while, Toril having worked with them, realizes that and that's why Real Madrid Castilla is now finally playing to it's full potential.

Due to the recent results the canteranos of La Fabrica are getting noticed by everyone. And by everyone I do mean everyone, many scouts from big and small English clubs and other Spanish clubs have been spotted watching the Castilla games.

Not only this, Alvaro Morata is finally scoring the goals that Jose Mourinho ordered him to score during the winter break to get into the first team, and is now "being promised" a spot in the first team at the start of next season by Jose Mourinho. Although I still doubt the "promise" of Jose Mourinho. But on the other hand Mou is speaking about him, that means Moratito is finally grabbing his attention.

Although it may be a little to early to say, but I think with his philosophy of 'not just winning but winning with style' and ability to bond with the players (like Alex Fernandez said in his interview), Alberto Toril might just become the manager of Real Madrid's first team in the future. Boy, I sure hope so.


Hala Madrid!

Ruben De La Red Retires, But Will Coach In The Academy Next Season

Ruben De La Red has terminated his contract as a player with Real Madrid (which was due to expire in June 2012).

When Florentino Perez arrived at the club, he had promised the canterano a role in Real Madrid if he cannot be deemed fit to play. As I reported earlier Ruben De La Red was at the verge of getting his coaching diploma, so it was looking likely that Ruben would retire soon enough and become a coach.

No update on weather he's completed the coaching course or not is available, but it is claimed by Marca and Sky Sports, that Ruben De La Red will coach a branch of the academy, whether it's the Castilla, Real Madrid C, or Juvenil A; hasn't been made clear.

In the remainder of the season, Ruben De La Red is allowed to work with either Jose Mourinho (Real Madrid) or Allejandro Menendez (Real Madrid Castilla) to pick up some coaching techniques.

I sincierly hope that he sticks around with Jose Mourinho because Menendez is a tool. I have a slight suspision that Menendez will be moving on next season and De La Red might just get the Castilla job.

I seriously hope he does, so that after Jose Mourinho moves along De La Red can jump in the main team and guide them towards a Champions League trophy and becomes the youngest ever manager to win it........sigh.........I wish. Best of luck for the rest of your life Ruben, the world missed out on one of the greatest players, but I wish you become one of the greatest managers. Hala Madrid!

Real Madrid-Ajax: 2-0: Take a Bow Mesut Ozil

Midfield Maestro

After being booed by the fans for the uninteresting and unimpressive style of football against Osasuna at the weekend, Real Madrid set off in their quest for "La Decima," facing four time champions—Ajax.

The jeering by the fans seemed to have worked as the style of football presented to the fans at the Bernabeu certainly improved against Ajax, the speed of play isn't "Real Madrid" yet but the defense has been super solid.

Sergio Ramos had picked up a knock just before the game and Alvaro Arbeloa had to step in, Jose Mourinho, dropped Karim Benzema and gave the start to Angel Di Maria, Mourinho started the match with a 4-5-1: Casillas, Arbeloa, Carvalho, Pepe, Marcelo, Khedira, Xabi Alonso, Di Maria, Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo and Higuain.

Martin Jol's Ajax were missing their captain—Luis Suarez and central defender—Jan Vertonghen through suspension, they too lined up a 4-5-1 with El Hamdaoui the lone man upfront: Stekelenburg, Van der Weil, Alderweireld, Ooijer, Anita, Enoh, Emanuelson, De Jong, De Zeeuw, Sulejmani and El Hamdaoui.

The pattern of the game was set in the starting minutes of the game, Real Madrid dominated the game, took a lot of long shots and wasted a lot of chances. Despite the horrid finishing there were a lot of positives for Real Madrid in the game.

Goooool del Pipita!

Goals:

1-0: Anita (OG): 31': The first goal was scrambled in from a corner kick taken by Xabi Alonso, the goal was first given to Gonzalo Higuain, but after a few replays the goal was called an own goal by Ajax defender Anita.

2-0: Higuain: 74': The second goal was a result of some brilliant play between Ozil and Di Maria, Ozil was set free in the box by a pass from Di Maria, Ozil set himself up well, took a good shot only to be denied by the brilliant Stekelenburg, but the ball came back to Ozil, who this time played the ball across the goal for the waiting Gonzalo Higuain, who taps the ball in.


Match Notes:

• Despite Angel Di Maria showing flashes of brilliance in the game, he had troubles getting past defenders. He also lacks a passing brain, taking a shot whenever he saw the slightest of opportunity instead of passing it to his teammates in better positions.
• Cristiano Ronaldo has something wrong in his head, he was very selfish and very wasteful, he too like Di Maria took unnecessary shots. Plus it wasn't his day, he missed a simple tap in after Higuain played the ball back to him.
• Gonzalo Higuain is an odd creature, when he hasn't scored his first of the season (or for 3-4 games in a row) he looks dull, sulks and moans a lot, but when he does get his goal, he starts looking amazing and sharp and there is a glow on his face, if you haven't noticed. Such was the case yesterday, he came to life after scoring Real Madrid's second.
• Mesut Ozil was once again the man of the match, brilliant performance from the German playmaker earned him a standing ovation from the crowd at the Bernabeu.
• 3 MATCHES, 3 CLEAN-SHEETS
• Ricardo Carvalho is just the person Real Madrid needed in defense.
• Needless to say, the finishing has to improve otherwise it will come back to haunt Real Madrid.
• Marcelo is amazing, was more than a handful for the stand in Ajax captain—De Zeeuw, even got him yellow carded. It was a decent showing from him at left back defensively, if he can keep this up and improve his defending, we will be looking at one of the best left backs in the world.

Quote Of The Game

"Sooner or later a few teams are going to suffer for all the chances we create." - Jose Mourinho

Highlights:

 

Statistics:

	Real Madrid	Ajax
Shots (on Goal)	35(14)	8(1)
Fouls	7	7
Corner Kicks	11	3
Offsides	3	1
Time of Possession	64%	36%
Yellow Cards	1	1
Red Cards	0	0
Saves	1	13

The trimmed version of this post can be found on my Fan vs Fan blog—Paseo Castellana.

Is Marca Correct? Alvaro Morata To Start Against Osasuna?

Alvaro Morata

The recent news in Marca claims that the 17 year old striker we all know and love—Alvaro Morata will make his debut against Osasuna, and not by coming off the bench, but by actually starting the game.

News of Alvaro Morata making the bench against Osasuna wouldn't have been a surprise because he has been a regular in the training sessions with the first team and also the fact that Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo are injured, leaving Jose Mouriho with only striker for the Osasuna game.

Call me a skeptic but I do not believe Marca, I do not believe that Moratito will actually START against Osasuna despite all the bull-crap that Marca has to say about Jose Mourinho in favor of playing two strikers at home (Santiago Bernabeu).

Marca really really really really really don't like Manuel Pellegrini and they haven't even tried to hide that fact over the duration of the last season and even now when he's gone.

They have stated how Jose Mourinho is much more awesome than Manuel Pellegrini and how Jose "thinks" more about La Fabrica than Manuel ever did, by stating that Juanfran, Mosquera and Marcos Alonso only got a few minutes and that too by the 28 gameweek and how Jose Mourinho will start a 17 year old canterano in just his second game of La Liga. (link)

If you look at the transfers made this summer you'd know that Jose Mourinho has done more harm than good to the canterano's chances in the first team. The difference in treatment give by Marca to the two managers is evident, and this supposed news is just a way to make Jose Mourinho look better.

Now I'm not saying that Pellegrini was amazing in giving chances to the canteranos, but Jose Mourinho is no better, because it's just circumstances that are forcing him into using the academy, you've read it all summer, if he'd had it his way, he would have signed a third striker instead of looking at the academy.

Please don't state Mateos's rise to the first team as a sign of Jose being better for the academy because Mateos's inclusion in the squad is also circumstantial, if THREE central defenders hadn't got injured do you think Mateos would have got a professional contract?

Because of what has happened so far under Jose Mourinho, I can only see as far as a 4-5-1, with Gonzalo Higuain the lone man upfront, Angel Di Maria and Pedro Leon on the wings, Sergio Canales or Mesut Ozil as the attacking midfielder and Xabi Alonso & Sami Khedira the anchor-men in midfield, and no room for Morata.

But with that being said, circumstantial or not I am really happy that Alvaro Morata has got his chance to impress, and I hope that he makes a lot out of this circumstance, even if it's an appearance from the bench.

I know I'm not wrong but still I would love to be proven wrong by Jose Mourinho for the sake of Alvaro Morata! Hala Madrid!

Possibble Formation Of Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid

I ran out of ideas for more posts after completeing the Mesut Ozil post, so I asked people for ideas on the blog's Facebook page, I decided to go with the idea of one "Real Madridista" for this post, because most of them seemed to agree with his idea.

Considering the players Jose Mourinho has at his disposal at Real Madrid, it is obvious that he will make them play offensively, despite the no-brained opinion of a clown by the name of Gerard Pique.

Real Madrid will probably use a formation which is hard to explain through the conventional formations. It is much more dynamic, it keeps on changing, like the resonating structures of Benzene.

Lets not get into Resonance, Benzene or Organic Chemistry because I suck at it and I only know the basics, okay, lets talk football.

For the sake of the post, I have chosen a team of: Iker, Sergio, Carvalho, Albiol, Marcelo, Xabi, Khedira, Leon, Ozil, Cristiano and Higuain. I have kept out the players who are injured (barring Raul Albiol). This team should not be taken as the final team, it is just for the purpose of explaining and reasoning how Real Madrid will play, it might be that Arbeloa plays at left-back and Di Maria starts over Pedro Leon.

• 4-3-3

The reason I believe that Jose Mourinho will apply this formation is because this is the formation that he has applied in most of the pre-season friendlies and also the fact that he purchased two wingers.

You can see Cristiano Ronaldo on the right wing, but Cristiano won't be just on the right, his mobility is what makes the formation so versatile.

Cristiano will move from the right wing to the left, then behind the striker and will also pop up as a striker. Pedro Leon (or Di Maria) will keep on switching between the wings giving Sergio Ramos or Marcelo a chance to bomb on forward.

Ozil will take up the role of the playmaker operating behind Higuain and will also be swapping places with Crsitiano Ronaldo and Pedro Leon.

Some expected Sami Khedira to play a sweeping role in midfield tucking in just ahead of the back four running and winning balls, but that is not the case. In the pre-season friendlies, Khedira played ahead of Xabi Alonso, winning the ball forward in attack. We have all seen Sami's stamina in the World Cup and know that he'll be back helping in defense as well as attacking, the role that Pellegrini had for Lass last season (the job which Lass sucks at).

Xabi Alonso will sit deep, winning balls along with Khedira in the midfield. Xabi is probably the most important player in the team, he is the one who is supposed to distribute the ball to the attacking players, as we saw in the Bayern Munich game, when Xabi Alonso (Xabi didn't have a bad day, he was just tired) is struggling the whole attack suffers.

• 4-4-2 Diamond or 4-1-2-1-2

The diamond formation was used by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea too. Jose Mourinho might even start with this diamond formation.

Even if he doesn't, the shape of the formation will change during the game and it will be a diamond at some point in the match with Cristiano Ronaldo joining Higuain as the striker.

Ozil will take the top of the diamond and Xabi Alonso and Khedira will take turns to be the lowest point in the diamond, Pedro Leon will join on any one side of the diamond.

The width will be provided by the full backs—Marcelo and Sergio Ramos.

• 3-5-2

I was intrigued by Jose Mourinho's claim of using a 3-5-2 formation with Real Madrid when needed. At first I couldn't figure it out, I was thinking along the lines of a Higuain-Benzema partnership, and Cristiano Ronaldo on the wings, but it didn't even convince me. I thought Jose might be kidding because Cristiano doesn't like to track back, and for this formation to work, he has to!

But after a few pre-season games, it became clear that it will be a Higuain-Cristiano pairing if the 3-5-2 is applied. The photo I have used shows the formation changing into a 3-5-2 during the game, where Marcelo will take the role of the left-sided winger. If this formation is to be applied when Arbeloa is playing left-back, substitutions will be made.

I do not believe that Real Madrid will start a game with a 3-5-2 but the 3-5-2 will defenitely be a "Plan-B" against stubborn, defensive teams who just want to sit behind.


Hala Madrid!



I would like to thank my friend Mary, for helping me out in this post, I had lost confidence on this post, and she is the reason this post is published, thanks Mary. :)

Official: Real Madrid Agree Ricardo Carvalho Deal With Chelsea

Real Madrid have agreed terms with Chelsea for the transfer of Ricardo Carvalho, according to AS & Marca, the deal is believed to be around the region €8 million. The terms of the transfer haven't been disclosed yet.

The transfer is a bit of a shocker as Jose Mourinho had denied the signing of Ricardo Carvalho just a few days ago in an interview by saying that he won't sign Carvalho due to his age.

More on the transfer soon.

Bienvenido Ricardo! Hala Madrid!

Sources: Chelsea FC Official Site, Real Madrid Official Site (Spanish)

LA Galaxy-Real Madrid: 2-3: The Gonzalo Higuain Show

Pedro Leon scored his first goal for RM

Real Madrid have ended their two match tour of North America with a win and with the same scoreline. Real Madrid defeated LA Galaxy 2-3 at the Rose Bowl in front of an audience of 89,000.

Line-Ups:

Real Madrid: Dudek (Casillas: 46'), Sergio Ramos (Arbeloa: 46'), Albiol (Pepe: 46'), Garay, Drenthe (Marcelo: 46'), Lass (Gago: 46'), Mahamadou Diarra (Xabi Alonso: 46'), Granero (Cristiano Ronaldo: 46'), Di Maria (Pedro Leon: 46', Alvaro Morata: 88'), Van der Vaart (Canales: 46', Alex Fernandez: 90'), Benzema (Higuain: 46')

LA Galaxy: Ricketts (Perk: 46'), Berhalter (Leonardo: 63'), Franklin (De la Garza: 63'), Gonzalez (Jordan: 76'), Dunivant (Lewis: 70'), Juninho (Klein: 63'), Stephens (Cazumba: 70'), Birchall, Donovan (Kirovski: 63'), Mathis (Bowen: 25'), Buddle (Magee: 46')


 Goals:

• 40': 1-0: Dunivant: Horrible set-play defending from Real Madrid allowed Dunivant to put the ball in the goal after a lot of confusion.
• 45': 2-0: Landon Donovan (P): Drenthe kung-fu kicks Juninho, gives the penalty, Donovan sends Dudek the wrong way and slots in coolly.
• 52': 2-1: Gonzalo Higuain: Gonzalo Higuain gets a sublime pass from Cristiano Ronaldo, Pipita scores in between the keeper's legs and the comeback is on.
• 62': 2-2: Gonzalo Higuain: Pipita recieves the ball back in the box from Gago, after Garay's header is saved and cleared out of the box, Gonzalo Higuain switches from the left to the right foot and curls it from the outside of his right foot, sublime finish.
• 71': 2-3: Pedro Leon: Gonzalo Higuain combined with Sergio Canales and started the move, brilliant return back-heel pass from Canales sets Higuain free, Perk saves, the ball falls to Pedro Leon who is outside the box, remontada, Pedro Leon scores his first goal for Real Madrid.

Highlights:

Post-Match Interviews:

Jose Mourinho: "I liked the team's mentality" (Source: Real Madrid Official Site)
Sergio Canales & Pedro Leon: "Mourinho is very professional" (Source: Real Madrid Official Site)



Injury Update: Pepe

Kepler Laveran Lima Ferreira, "Pepe" finished the match against the LA Galaxy with discomfort on his left soleus and has possibly sustained an injury. Further tests are pending.

(Source: Real Madrid.com)

Notes:


I don't like the kick-offs so early in the morning, and I hate it even more when I miss one half of the game due to that, but after reading a lot about the first half, I'm glad I missed the first half, if I had seen it, it would have been a very crappy start to my day. Don't worry though, I won't be so off about the first half in this post, as I know quite a bit about that half now, thanks to the highlights, the comments on Real Madrid Offside, AS, Marca & Defensa Central. I like to give researched information to my readers.

• Set-piece defending was awful in the first half, quite unlike a Jose Mourinho team, might be due to the fact that Sergio Ramos and Raul Albiol have only joined a few days ago and might still be in vacation mode. And also the fact that Drenthe can't defend.
• Royston Drenthe can't defend, the kung-fu kick on Juninho that resulted in the penalty is one of the many examples of that. I can't defend Ricky anymore, he has to be sold, not loaned like I advocated previously.
• Rafael Van der Vaart can create, and he needs someone to finish the chances he makes, Di Maria and Benzema need to improve their finishing.
• Granero's ideal position isn't on the wing, neither is it as a playmaker just behind the striker, he will be much more suited in a withdrawn central midfield role just ahead of the defensive midfielder.
• Cristiano Ronaldo is for the lack of a better word amazing, the Cristiano Ronaldo that passes the ball to his team-mates is a treat to watch.
• Gonzalo Higuain is a phenomenal forward and those who said Pipita isn't Jose Mourinho's type of striker have to start eating their words because Jose Mou has been nothing but full of praise for the Argentine's link-up play and smart forward runs.
• Sergio Canales is ________________. (Fill in the blank with your favorite adjective that you use to describe someone who is awesome!). I can't get enough of him, I want to see him play again and again, he was one of the reason I didn't want the match to end!
• I have a very strong feeling Pedro Leon will start over Angel Di Maria when the season starts.

Next on the pre-season schedule, Bayern Munich, European timings, I won't miss this. I hope Real Madrid give a better performance defensively in Germany. Hala Madrid!

Club America- Real Madrid: 2-3: The Era Of Jose Mourinho Is Here

Sergio Canales is a crack!

Squad Number Changes:

• Cristiano Ronaldo # 7.
• Karim Benzema # 9.
• Esteban Granero # 11.
• Sergio Canales # 16.
• Angel Di Maria # 22
• Pedro Leon # 21
• Xabi Alonso # 14.
• Antonio Adan # 13 wore the # 13 shirt, didn't see what Dudek wore so might be they shared the number for this game.
• Jerzy Dudek #25 [Edit: Thanks to DyDy]
  

First half squad: 4-3-3 / 4-5-1
Dudek (GK), Juanfran (RB), Garay (CB), Pepe (CB), Marcelo (C) (LB), Lassana Diarra (CM), Gago (CM), Sergio Canales (AM), Cristiano Ronaldo (RM), Pedro Leon (LM), Benzema (ST)

Second half squad: 4-3-3 / 4-5-1
Adan (GK), Nacho (RB)—Morata (Sub: 84'), Garay (CB), Pepe (CB), Drenthe (LB), Lassana Diarra—Tebar (Sub: 69') (CM), Mahamadou Diarra (C) (CM), Granero (AM), Cristiano Ronaldo—Alex Fernandez (Sub: 84') (RM), Angel Di Maria (LM), Higuain (ST)


Goals:

• Sergio Canales: 34': Great link-up between Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema sees Benzema in the box, who slides the ball right for Sergio Canales to score. 0-1
• Gonzalo Higuain: 63': Brilliantly wighted pass from Cristiano Ronaldo frees Gonzalo Higuain who doesn't fail to score. 2-2
• Cristiano Ronaldo: 80': After having a brilliant game, Cristiano Ronaldo signs off with his characteristic free-kick.

Highlights:

Post-match Interviews:

Jose Mourinho: "Real and I have similar winning DNA"
Sergio Canales: "I am never going to forget my debut"

Notes:

I was hoping to do a better post than this, even tried watching the game, watched it but was distracted by my family members, power cut saw me lose 20 minutes at the start of the game. But I did manage to see all the goals live and let me tell you the goals that Real Madrid conceded were not good, poor defending, I was disappointed. Mourinho will definetly be furious over that.

The attack was brilliant as usual, don't understand why Karim Benzema drifts wide all the time when he is supposed to be the lone man up-front, he was almost always on the left wing, his link-up play was brilliant though. Sergio Canales was magnificent, I love him, defenitely a steal at just €4.5 million (+ €1 million for bringing him one season earlier).

Between the two new wingers, I liked Pedro Leon better, Angel Di Maria can do better, or I hope so.

Cristiano was just plain awesome, I don't know why people say he can't pass, because boy can he pass! They'd make more sense by saying he doesn't want to pass.

The most delightful thing was the contribution of the canteranos in the game, I was most impressed with Juanfran, an attacking winger who looked right at home in defense, Marcelo should take notes. Nacho who replaced Juanfran in the second half looked comfortable too. Tebar, Morata, Alex Fernandez all got a run in, I wanted to see more of them, but it's a start all right.

I'll be catching the LA Galaxy game and will do a proper review for that! Hala Madrid!