The Curse is Broken

At last! Oh thank the good lord at last! It took us nearly two decades but we have finally taken the Riazor. No Ronaldo. No Higuain. No Problem. Sorry the post is a little late. I was celebrating the victory. This was the first time I had ever personally experienced this Galician triumph and it was everything I dreamed of and more. Benzema with a brace. About time! Kaka, though goaless, I thought was lively and much better. Those are question marks that turned to check marks against Depor. Let's hope we can keep them there. I even guessed the starting line up, good omen?

It was such a great triumph. I don't want pick out the negatives but it must be done. I can't ignore them. I just want to get them out of the way. Moan of the match goes to Marcelo. Everyone was on key except him. He is never sound defensively but he wasn't even acceptable on the offensive end. I can't even blame Ramos for giving away the penalty because Marcelo had it taken off him in his own end. We should have never even been in that situation to begin with. He needs to improve. To continue with the negatives, I was so let down not to see one Castilla player at all even though we had a a firm 2-0 lead on the match during the primary substitution window. It looked like we were about to get a chance to view a cantera player for a few seconds but the final whistle blew before he could make it on to the pitch. One sub? All Drenthe did was get fouled. That is just dissapointing. Especially because around the 55th minute the standard of play dropped and a change was needed. First half was a lot prettier than the second half. We had 14 shots first half compared to Depor's 3, 2 of which we blocked and 1 of which was off target.

I'm not going to rain on the parade. Why should I? It rained at the Riazor all match. When I look at the hero of this match, I think Guti. Guti Guti Guti. He was awesome. He looked inspired. I'm not just saying that because of his breathtaking assist (which I will get to in a second) but he was sparky, he really carried the team. He must have drawn half a dozen fouls by himself. As for his assist, what class! We always knew he was inventive, we knew he has incredible vision but this even surprised most of us. He is in one on one with the goal keeper. He draws him in until the keeper goes to ground. WITHOUT LOOKING he heels the ball straight back into the path of an oncoming Benzema who tucks home a much needed confidence boosting goal. It was nothing short of a masterpiece, a goal I will never forget.

Another huge positive, is we are starting to show our team depth again. We had spells during the first half of the season where team depth shown through in dark spots and it continued to do so during the Deportivo match. I know many people didn't want to see Raul start but I thought the golden boy put in a very good shift. Yes, he should have scored from the chance early in the first half but he worked as hard as the 22 year olds and I felt his presence in the squad regardless if he scored or not. I was happy to see him donning the armband once again. Well played. Speaking of depth, Pirata is starting to make himself more of a statement everyday. It's not that fact the Granero is proving himself good enough for the white shirt but he is putting some heat on the whole midfield because he is making a valid claim for a starting position. He popped up and got the early goal which is always a huge bonus when playing away from home and a mega bonus when at the Riazor. Kaka, still not on his best, but much better I tought, he created havoc. He wandered freely which made him difficult to pick up for the Deportivo defenders. He constantly pulled them out of position. He provided the ball to Guti which ultimately lead to Benzema's first goal. Him and Guti could prove to be a deadly combo. Think about it. If Kaka can pull defenders out of place and Guti can use his vision and defence slicing talent to play tantalizing balls into the holes left by misplaced defenders, we could be in some serious business.

Karim Benzema! Finally. The striker has Guti to thank for the generous gift. This "regalo" did more for the number 11 than people might think. It gave him the goal we have all been waiting for from the kid, but it was more than a goal. It was world of pressure of the Frenchman's shoulders. He needed the confidence boost badly. On top of that goal, he got one at the end of the game, after the pressure had amounted from Riki's penalty that Casillas was unlucky not to have done better with. This too will help out Benzema's form. Nothing will help cure bad form like two goals that helped your team win at a ground they haven't done so at in nearly 20 years. He must have slept well Saturday night.

It was nice to break the curse, and it was a big deal to Madridistas everywhere but sadly it was just a game that kept pace with rivals Barcelona. They beat Gijon 1-0 at Gijon where Madrid only managed a goalless draw earlier this season. Madrid have two very winnable league matches ahead of them with Espanyol at home next weekend and last place Xerez away the fallowing matchday before meeting Lyon at the Stade Gerland on the 16th of February. Barcelona have a notably more difficult task with Getafe at home and then having to travel to the Spanish capital to take on Atletico while we are at Xerez. We can pray for but not expect dropped points from the blaugrana.

Yes, the curse is broken. Instead of saying Madrid have not won at the Riazor in 19 years, I can truthfully say Madrid have not won at the Riazor in 1 day. It feels good. Let me know what you think and thanks for reading! Hala Madrid!

Bobby