La Liga Deciding Fixtures

Okay, So it's only February 22. But with a La Liga title race this close, it's about time I took a look ahead. There are still 15 match dates to be played but there are certain fixtures that could decide which out of the obvious big dogs will triumph or falter. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona are in control of their own destiny. They are only separated by two points because Real took advantage of Barcelona's crumble to Atletico Madrid. Probably the only time where both Madrid based clubs celebrated for the same reason. Essentially if Real Madrid win the rest of their games, they are Champions. Same goes for the Blaugrana however because the two giants still have to play each other at the Bernabeu where Real Madrid are not only unbeaten this year, but they've taken three points from ever match at their fortress. Last time the two met, los blancos missed the opportunity to go 4 points ahead of their rivals because going into the match at the Nou Camp was the only time the Merengue lead the title race. Real lost that match 1-0 to a lone Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal despite having more than enough chances to put the game in their favor.

Madrid would like to think they've played the toughest part of their schedule already. Los Blancos have already visited challenging grounds like Camp Nou (Barcelona), Mestella (Valencia), Sanchez Pizjuan (Sevilla), Reyno de Navarra (Osasuna) , Madrigal (Villarreal), San Mames (Athletic Bilbao), Riazor (Deportivo), and Molinon (Sporting Gijon). These are notoriously the toughest grounds in Spain that Madrid have to visit. Real still has the challenge of going to the Island to play Mallorca in the ONO Estadi. It proved a struggle for the Galacticos. We've only taken a measly 11 points out of a possible 24 from the away matches listed above. However there is an upside. With those matches behind us, those squads have to travel to fortress Bernabeu in this latter half of the season. Madrid tend to find the net at relative ease in La Casa Blanca which has attributed to them being La Liga's top scorers after the 6-2 thumping of Villarreal this weekend. Los Blancos have racked up 59 league goals compared to Barca's 57. However, the Blaugrana have let up 4 less goals this campaign which gives them a 2 goal better goal differential. So enough with the stats. Let's take a look at so crucial fixtures starting with the match they both have in common.

El Clasico: Real Madrid vs Barcelona - Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - April 11

Ultimately this is the big one. Like I said If Madrid win all the rest of their matches they'll be holding up their 32nd La Liga title. Barcelona's Sergi Busquets already said to the press that the title will be decided in this match. It's the six pointer at the top of the league. If Real and Barca win all their matches up until this point, it will surely a vital factor. If Madrid were to win at this point, only for the second point this season would they climb above their rivals. The gap would only be a point but nonetheless Real would be 1st. If Barcelona were to win in the Bernabeu (which they so painfully destroyed last season) they would extend their lead back to 5 points. Barcelona have won the last 3 clashes between the sides but he match always has an entertaining twist to it. Real Madrid could put their stamp on not only La Liga but the world by snatching 3 points because Barca are currently considered by many to be the best team on Earth.

Real Madrid Crucial Fixtures

Real Madrid vs Sevilla – Estadio Santiago Bernabeu – March 7

A Ronaldo-less Real Madrid crashed in Seville to 2-1 earlier in the season. Casillas had what some people are calling the save of his careers where he crawled across his 6 yard box to deny a point blank shot after the ball was squared across the mouth of his goal but it just wasn’t enough to propel Madrid to victory. Pepe had Madrids loan goal. Navas and Renato cheesed for the Rojiblancos. Jesus Navas looks increasingly dangerous in every match, reeking havoc on the wing. It will be a return home for Alvaro Negredo as Deigo Capel, Adriano, Luis Fabiano, Freddy Kanoute and company look to take us down again in just two weeks time. Real Madrid vs

Atletico Madrid – Estadio Santiago Bernabeu – March 28

Many (including myself) hate putting Atletico in the same sentence as ourselves, let alone a challenge, but the Madrid derby is always going to be a high pressure game. Atletico haven’t been able to beat us since they returned to the first division in 2002 but they’re always up for it. Madrid even went out in front 3 goals to none at the Calderon and Atleti still pulled back 2 goals and a series of good chances late in the Match that had every honest Madrid fan a little shaken up and relieved to hear the final whistle. After all this is the same team that beat Barcelona 2-1 a little over a week ago.

Real Madrid vs Valencia – Estadio Santiago Bernabeu – April 18

The 3-2 win for Madrid at Mestalla earlier this season was a thriller. Higuain lead his side to victory despite Los Che drawing level on 2 occasions and the loss of defensive leader, Pepe, to a season ending ACL injury. You can never count them out with David Villa on top. He was highly coveted by Madrid in the summer, but when almost assured plans fell through, Los Blancos opted for Karim Benzema instead who played a part in putting Valencia away in the fall. This will be a stern test after El Clasico has been played. If Madrid beat Barcelona, choking on Valencia would be a real shame.

Real Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao – Estadio Santiago Bernabeu – May 9

I simply put this game in here because I’m still upset about this loss. Even though Bilbao beat us 1-0 in the Basque Country, we were clearly the better side. After they went above 1-0 via Llorente in the 3rd minute, they never had another shot on goal. Madrid hasn’t lost in La Liga since then but I am craving revenge.

Barcelona Crucial Fixtures

Barcelona vs Valencia – Camp Nou – March 14

These two teams played to a thrilling (yes, I said thrilling) goalless draw at Mestalla earlier this season. I say thrilling because I’m a Madrid supporter and Valencia should have beaten the Blaugrana despite missing star striker David Villa. Juan Mata and David Silva asked plenty of questions of the backline. One of them (I forget which) was in the six and volleyed the ball right into Valdes with a whole goal just gaping and begging to be scored on. Nonetheless I was happy Barcelona dropped 2 points there.

Villarreal vs Barcelona – Estadio Madrigal – May 2

We skipped all the way to May where Barcelona will play the first of two vital late season clashes away from home. This one is against Villarreal who came back to draw Barcelona 1-1 at the Nou Camp earlier this season. Barca is always expected to win by their fans as well. I watched that match at home in my living room screaming for the Yellow Submarine, much like I screamed against them recently against Madrid. Villarreal was robbed of at least one penalty against Barca and perhaps deserved a win. Barcelona already knows they’ll have to play better to beat the Submarine at their place.

Sevilla vs Barcelona – Estadio Sanchez Pizjuan – May 9

Just a week after the Villarreal test, the Rojiblancos will be standing in the champions way. Sevilla already managed to knock Barcelona out of the Copa del Rey this season but were smashed 4-0 at Camp Nou just a week later. The fans in Andalusia will be lively after the nail-biting and heated affair that occurred last time the two teams met in Seville (Barca’s Copa del Rey exit). Barcelona has a lot of away pressure to withstand at the end of the season. If Madrid can take full advantage of El Clasico, it’s a possibility that the all-mighty Barcelona may crumble under the weight of their own expectations in the final half month of La Liga play.

Unlike Madrid, Barcelona have to travel to most of their most challenging games this spring. It’s up for grabs. Us as Madridsitas would love to outreach the Blaugrana in race for the finish. This is looking to be as good a title race as the 2006-2007 where Real Madrid came from behind to beat Mallorca 3-1 on the final match day to win La Liga on the head-to-head rule. Everything will unfold in coming weeks. Who knows, maybe there will be a slip up where it’s least expected. I didn’t put Mallorca vs Madrid in the mix there but that too will pose a threat to our title campaign. Will the Mighty Madrid take the title? Only time will tell.

HALA MADRID

Bobby.

Frustration at its Peak: Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Real Madrid

To say that I am disappointed, sad, angry, frustrated, or let down are all understatements. I really don't know where to begin, so expect an unstructured rant-like review. You have to give props to Bilbao though. They executed their game plan perfectly. Banged and crashed until they got a goal early and then sat back and just defended with 10, and a lot of times 11 behind the ball. The worst part is Madrid must have been in on the plan because they gladly let it happen. This will be sure to add to an already blazing political/football fire. The rivalries burn on...

Madrid didn't even complete a pass before Athletic scored the only goal of the match from a free header the Lassana Diarra so kindly flicked on from a corner for Bilbao's none other than Llorente, who nodded the ball at ease past Casillas and into the net. San Mames erupted like volcano. Perhaps that was the sound of an alarm clock for Real Madrid. Los blancos decided maybe it was time wipe the sleepys out of their eyes and decide to show up. Too little too late though. If you want to be a championship winning team you have to wake up before you walk out of the tunnel at least. Real went on to dominate the rest of the match. Shot after shot was peppered away by Biblao's goalkeeper, Gorka Iraizoz, who must have went to church twice this week because he was blessed, no less than inspired by the lord today, easily my man of the match.

I wouldn't be so crushed about this game if we would have played as poorly as we did at Osasuna, but Madrid had 31 shots. The football was crisp, it was inventive, there was lots of energy, desire, but there was no goals. Madrid had 71% of the possession. We plugged away time after time only for the ball to be recklessly slashed or bombed away by a red and white striped player. They weren't even clearing balls up toward Llorente, the target forward, most of the time. They were just shooting missiles over our back line for the center backs to collect and restart the attack. After the goal was scored in the third minute, the Basques never even had another shot on target. Bilbao just frustrated us to the point of no return. You could clearly see the fluster on Madrid's faces, particuarlly Ronaldo who tried to take matters into his hands a few too many times. He even let the crowd get to him when he faked throwing a ball toward them.

I'm contemplating sending Pipita a "Get Well Soon" card, but then I changed my mind and went with a "Get Well Now!" card instead. Benzema was just absent today. He had his one effort that dinked off the post but other than that, I think Raul played a bigger part in the match and he came on in the 77th minute. As for other poor performances, I can't help but point the finger at Marcelo, shocking. He just got bullied by big Basque players all match. He looked like a marble in a pinball machine bouncing off everything he got near. I would have made the Guti for Marcelo substitution much earlier. For as soon as Guti came on, he created a unique combination which lead to one of our better chances. It was nice to have Ramos back in the line up. He had some buzz about him today. Lass... not so much. I've seen much better performances from him. Other than that. I really don't have much to complain about the players did well minus the opening three minutes. Kaka perhaps is still just a step behind. Maybe should have done better on that half volley from inside the area the went just wide of the near post and definately should have done better with the square ball accross the box.

Here is where I saw an issue. Bilbao fouled us 20 times. I would have to say at least 90 percent of those fouls were in the attacking half considering that's were about 90% of the game was played (for you math geniuses that's 18 fouls but of course this is an estimate). That gives us 18 set plays to work with. Now add another 9 corners to the equasion. That's 27 set plays that we we got nothing out of. At the beginning of the year, defending set plays was a big problem. Now it may be the attacking set plays that we should be capitalizing on that present a problem. I can hardly remember us scoring from a set piece situation in La Liga other than Garay's winning header at Valencia. Hopefully I have overlooked some. I didn't like free kick play with Ronaldo to Xabi Alonso. your at the edge of the area. Just have a go. Although that same play did work for Guti and Sneijder against Atletico Madrid a couple years ago; it didn't have the same result tonight. The Ronaldo run over and Guti shot was better, at least that one was on target. I was in a grim mood after the final whistle, only to hold back frustration tears when Barca smashed Sevilla 4-0 in a slow boring game that seem to drag on. Sevilla looked awful. Five points back looks mighty depressing from my angle.

In the end, I waited for this match all week and was mortified at the result after seeing the quality of play that Madrid produced. It just kills me to know that if we would have been awake for the first 3 minutes, we would have at least taken a point despite our lack of scoring. A team that looks so promising also looks so frustrating because of the expectations us Madridistas hold our players too. However, if you want the best, you can't expect anything less.

Bobby

Reaction to a Winter Wonder: Real Madrid 2-0 Mallorca

I was unable to see the match yesterday, sadly. I was traveling all day and was only able to get updates through various text messages. I wasn't the one driving so it's not like I could just check my phone every 10 minutes to see what was going on. I checked like every 10 seconds instead. However, my nerves settled a little bit when I got the text "Marca Pipita!" from a friend shortly after the match had started.

I wish I could analyze the match but having not seen it would make things rather difficult, wouldn't it? I did see the highlights and read the match reports. It appears that through the snow, Madrid dominated the match. There were a couple chances here and there from the islanders from what I understand but, correct me if I'm wrong, it could have easily been 3 or 4 to none.

I hate to see Benzema left out of the start XI so often but with the formation we are running and the form the Higuain has been in, there really isn't any other choice. Higuain has been just brilliant. In our two goal game, he had a thriller of his own and an assist which sat very kindly for the Pirate, Granero who smashed his volley in from close range. He was unfortunate not have another goal. The goal keeper made a tremendous save on a bullet he fired from around the edge of the area.

I was very much under stress when I got the text that told me Van der Vaart had gone off through injury, but my smile was salvaged when I heard that Granero would be the one to replace him. I've been an enormous Granero fan since his first few minutes back in a white shirt. This boy is so promising. I hope his playing time increases with the temporary absence of Van der Vaart. As to what VdV's injury actually is, I'm unclear. Goal.com reported that Madrid confirmed he would be out of action for 3 weeks with a hamstring tear but the Real Madrid official website contradicts those reports. Realmadrid.com says "the Dutchman has a strain on his left calf muscle."

I was a bit puzzled on that note though. I expected the young Granero to start the match which left me pondering my spare time in the car as to what the line up and formation was for the early kick off. I tinkered with it over and over in my brain until finally coming to the conclusion that it must be a 4-2-3-1. I believe i was correct. However, I must admit I was unsure who was sitting along side Xabi Alonso. It was an interesting choice in Gago. I've never hid my feelings about Gago. I never thought he had the quality to be a starter at this club. Because I missed the match, it is impossible for me to rate his performance but if anyone else would shed some light on the subject for me, I'm all ears. Goal.com gave Gago a 7/10 and mentioned that he distributed the ball simply. He doesn't look a bad player when does that. It's when he tries to over-do it, he gets himself into a bit of trouble.

Nice to see Kaka was back in action. I know he had the assist to Higuain's goal. Other than that, I can't tell you anything else about his performance (again input would be great here). There was a rare Guti spotting as well! He came on for Xabi Alonso late in the match. I was hoping we might get a glimpse of the veteran despite what people may think about his personality. Xabi Alonso's niggle is said to be nothing serious , just a bruise.

It is quite amazing that I'm this far into a reaction article and I haven't even mentioned Ronaldo's name yet. It's not that I thought he played poorly. I can't tell you how he played. He'll obviously be disappointed not to have scored. He always is. I saw that he had a few chances. Things just didn't go his way yesterday. Happens to everyone.

In the end it was a great win, a vital win, that keeps us at pace with Barcelona, who spoiled my day yesterday. I was just receiving a text that read "...barca is on espn and they look terrible, its still 0 0 though," when Messi, who ultimately scored a hat-trick, put the Catalans up at Tenerife. It eventually ended up in a slaughtering at 5-0 but from the highlights, Tenerife should have gone up at least a goal if they took their chances before Barca woke up.

Real Madrid have a difficult trip away to Bilbao next weekend. There is always a new test for los blancos but I'm convinced that we can rise to the challenge every time. Barca will have to try and do what they couldn't earlier in the week and that's beat Sevilla at the Nou Camp. Plenty of action to look forward to in coming times. That's all I have for now. If anyone would put some insight to crucial details I may have missed, you are more than welcome too.

Bobby