The First of Two Make or Break Matches

Sorry if this prematch thought preview is coming to you all a little late. I'm coming off an epic Thursday night. (For those who have gone or currently are attending college, you know what what I mean) However, I'm sure everyone I was with last night was getting a little annoyed at the fact that I kept talking about this fixture. Real Madrid vs Sevilla in Fortress Bernabeu. The first of two whopping fixtures in a few short days. Real are currently two short points behind their rivals and can't afford to fall three more behind with the way Barcelona is playing. Our players escaped the international midweek unscathed by injury and we performed well on the world stage collectively (minus Lass, looked poor for France. But Hey, it's hard to look good against Spain at the moment). Ramos and Higuain both starred against very established national teams each having themselves a goal a piece. Kaka played 90 minutes against the Republic of Ireland in Brazil's 2-0 win. Ronaldo played a half in Portugal's 2-0 victory over China. Van der Vaart came on as sub to torture the U.S. (sigh). This further shows me that I want him to play a bigger part in these up coming fixtures.

The squad has been named (not Castilla players) for the home match against the team that beat us 2-1 at the Sanchez Pizjuan earlier this season. Madrid's only goal came via Pepe who we all know is tragically absent for the rest of the season with a devastating ACL tear. It's a big one. Barcelona are not likely to drop points and we essentially have to win a big game just to keep pace at the moment. Their toughest fixtures don't come until the last few weeks of the season (excluding El Clasico). One of the most important issues that I wrote about last article is do we rest players? It's been a ritual for Champions League teams to sit important players the weekend prior when the European competition is on the horizon. However, Sevilla are in the Champions League at this time and even though they aren't playing on Tuesday or Wednesday due to the new format, they should still beat treated as the Champions League team they are. Like I always say: "With great power comes great responsibility" (again, Uncle Ben from Spiderman) Players like Ronaldo, Kaka, Higuain need to play because we need them to play. Simple as that. We know fatigue is setting in but we don't have a whole lot of options when we need three points. Obviously we can help plug in players who were not called up for internationals. Even though Benzema and Drenthe are still injured, Granero, Raul, Guti, Diarra, Gago, and Garay all weren't too busy this week except for a 3-1 win over Castilla in which two of the first team's goals were scored by Castilla players filling in for absentees.

We fell to the Rojiblancos earlier this season but we are a much different team now. We were also Ronaldo-less when we traveled to Andulusia. I know that sounds like we depend on him but I had to include cause anyone with a couple brain cells knows he's a major factor. I'm not saying we NEED to have him on the field. I've constructed just a line up of my own this week. I'm totally baffled to what Pellegrini will do. The one question I have is do we give Xabi Alonso 90 minutes? He is suspended for the Champions League clash against Lyon so we don't have to worry about his fitness but do we need to get some high pressure practice without him. It is clearly visable that our creativity and pass accuracy percentage in midfield drops when he is on the pitch. We are boosted greatly by Guti who has been included in the squad list. You should remember from the 2007-2008 season in this exact fixture, Guti tore apart Sevilla with some master vision and master class passes that lead to three goals. Also in my memory of many thoughts I remember a Guti back heel just as magical if not more divine as the play at Riazor against Sevilla at home to Zidane that resulted in a goal. Don't remember? Look it up. Classic.

If you haven't noticed by now, I decided that we're just going to half to tough this one out. We can't rest players. Someone said to me the other day "You can sleep when your dead." I just kinda smiled and applied it football. Not to say that's always the correct option but in this case, I think it pertains. I chose a Marcelo-less back four. Although he had a pretty decent game against Tenerife, his defending will be no match for Navas who was sprightly after coming on against France in the second half this week. Navas is a must go for the World Cup this summer. Anyways, this also the back four we will most likely see against Lyon. Grab a seat Marcelo. I opted to have both big Diarra and Xabi Alonso playing in holding midfield. Most people I know I'm a fan of the single pivot rather than tho double pivot but like I said above, we need Xabi Alonso because it would be stupid not to play him but we also need Mahamadou to get some game time before he faces his former club before our Do or Die on Wednesday. I sat Granero. As much as I love him, he hasn't been himself lately. Maybe starting off on the bench will motivate him to make a difference when coming on. I replaced him with Guti (I already explained why, btw.. big Guti fan if you couldn't tell). Obviously the evil genious can't play 90 minutes here and expect to play a major part agains Lyon on Wednesday. His body can't take. Not to mention he is coming off an injury. So Granero can replace him sometime in the second half. No surprises other than that. Ronaldo, Kaka, and Higuain just have to be the counter attacking trident we saw against Tenerife. You might notice I didn't say Van der Vaart. This is the only player I want to rest. I think he can tear up Lyon. Agree?

As for Sevilla. What can we say? Big forwards, good service. It was brought to my attention that we will have to be efficiently offensively to survive defensively. We'll have to score because we will probably get scored against. It's just the nature of how it will be. If we don't get scored on, I'll be the first to brag about it but I'm just saying with Kanoute and Negredo both of size it will be an aerial battle all match. That's one of the reasons I chose Garay at center back, good header of the ball but him an Albiol will have to keep a better eye on people in our own area than we did against Tenerife. Arbeloa will have his hands full with Navas. That's a bit worrisome for me. As much as I've grown to like Alvaro, his defending still scares me. He was questionable at best against France. Ribery gave him issues and he fouled a good bit. Also his ability to defend the one-two is poor. That being said, I think he is a good defender but has some stuff to work on, way better than Marcelo though. Renato isn't bad player either though. We'll have to keep and eye on him.

Alright everyone. I am going to hop in a much needed shower and then head back to my hometown of beautiful Erie Pennsylvania for my spring break. Although I'll hardly be relaxing with our fixture list. If we win hear, the pressure will starting getting to Barca. They play Almeria who has been pretty respectable in the last few games. Hopefully the Blaugrana slip up. They ALMOST did against Malaga (another sigh).

Hala Madrid!

Bobby