El Derbi Madrileno

With the title race in so close contention, all eyes are on the April 11th mega clash between Spain's largest titans, Real Madrid and Barcelona. The match will surely be the most decisive factor in a title race that is tighter than a fish's asshole, and that's water tight people (stole that off my coach). However, there is another derby among us. Last season, when Real Madrid was going into the Christmas break, we were 5th place in La Liga, below one of our most hated foes, city rivals, Atletico Madrid. One of my Barcelona friends took a shot at me and told me "How could you ever say you're the best team in Spain when you're not even the best team in Madrid." Personally, I've been so insulted in my life. Pathetico Madrid? Please. They haven't beat us in a decade and there are those who are say this Derbi isn't only about who gets the bragging rights in city for weeks to come after the match but a lot more to it. It's been said that Real is the Royal club, the club of the crown, the middle class and up ward. It provides a demographic of a wealthy and proud people in the North of Madrid, Chamartin. Whereas Atletico have been seen as more of the working class of people in the city. My friend provided me with a video I thought all of you might enjoy. To give you some more insight to the match. It's more than a match. It's what separates mediocrity from greatness. Guess which one we are?

http://partofthegame.tv/#/videos/series/1428/



How'd ya like it? Just a little background and insight to this massive match. We call them Pathetico but they are the only Spanish club still competing in all three competitions this season. I guess you can't really call that an accomplishment to still be in La Liga because you can't get knocked out but they're in the final of the Copa del Rey, and still bumping heads in the Europa League where they are too face Valencia in the next round in an all Spanish affair. After a slow start to the season, the Colchoneros have clawed their way up the table and currently hold the position of 8th on the table, still scraping to get back to a European competition for next season. Like Casillas said, Atletico are unpredictable. They tied Chelsea earlier this season 2-2 in the Champions League and then go and flush out a result like 1-1 vs Tenerife and a 2-0 loss to Malaga but hand Barcelona their only defeat of the season. You never know what you are going to get. When we went up 3-0 at the Calderon this season I thought it was game over but they pulled two late ones back and Casillas bailed us out of a draw if not a travesty called a loss.


Kaka proved his worth in his first Capital derby with that magic shot that broke the deadlock only 4 minutes into the game but won't feature in this edition of El Derbi Madrileno because he is struggling to get over an injury. His misfortune has almost come as a blessing in disguise for Van der Vaart who has found some hot form in the Brazilians absence. Ronaldo will get to play in his first city derby. Let's hope he is more well behaved in this city derby than in the Manchester derby. I think he was sent off at least twice against Manchester City. So behave yourself Ron. Lassana Diarra was not fit enough to make the squad list so maybe he can sit on the bench and reflect on his poor performances because he's been nothing short of not good enough. I hope Gago can hold the rebirth of form he's been gifted by the good lord. He just has to remember to keep it simple. Garay is a bit of a glass man for me. I'm beginning to realize that. He'll be missing the match due to a new injury (sigh). Ultimately that means Ramos will play center back along side Albiol, Arbeloa on the right and Marcelo can put his defending to the test. Drenthe and Benzema are sill injured. Will we ever see Benzema again? Here's the line up I picked out for the match.

Like I've said above, you never know what you are going to get from Atletico. They have players that do damage. Forlan was last season's Pichichi winner. Everyone hypes up Aguero who was spectacular when Atletico beat Barcelona but I think he is a little overrated. D Simao is always a dangerous face. It's not like I want to admit they have some pretty fine talents but to ignore some of their key players would be pure stupidity. don't get me wrong, Aguero is a very good player but If I had to pick him or Pipita, definitely Pipita. Atletico's awful defending is what has let them down time after time this season and with the way we've been scoring at home, we should be able to crack this. In their last 16 visits to the Bernabeu, our striped neighbors have only won once. Tragic for them, humorous for us. Messi didn't score on Wednesday so Higuain and Ronaldo have made up two goals a piece in the race for Pichichi. I would really love to see everyone talk about Messi all season only to have him be outscored by Pipa when it's all said and done.

We need the three points obviously with the title so tight. While our other Rivals will be squaring up against Mallorca who have won 12 of 13 matches at home, we still are to face the Islanders at their place but we'll take it a match at a time. It's always a better match when it's a derby. Three points, La Liga, and bragging rights are all on the line and I want them all!

HALA MADRID

Anything Barca Can Do...

Hey everyone. I apologize for not being quick with the pen as of late. My school work has engulfed me and spit me up time after time this week. I'm mentally drained. That being said I do what ever it takes to watch at least a little bit of every Real Madrid match if all possible. I started watching the match of a crappy online feed in my Cultural Studies of Media class. Quietly hiding behind my laptop, and swearing under my breathe whenever I was unsatisfied with what was going on or the feed froze. And even though my class ended 20 minutes into the first half, I raced home to shoot on the TV before I had to leave a training session of my own around 40 minutes. Miraculously, through the terrible feed and the gaps in which I missed, I managed to see all four Real Madrid goals! Real Madrid 4, Getafe 2. If someone were to tell me that Real Madrid would score four goals at the beginning of the day, I'd take it. Two goals from Pipita, two goals for CR9, a blunder from our wonder keeper, and another lucky deflection which lead to the Getafe goal based on the highlights.

I've been tuning into the footballing world as much as I can lately but I have been hiding under an academic rock all week. I did notice Kaka didn't make the squad list still (sigh) and Lass also had to pull out (yesss, sorry but he's been an absolute flop lately and it's starting to bug me). In light of little Diarra's absence, I think we've seen some what of a renaissance of Gago. He came on at the weekend against Gijon and was solid and also played fairly well today. Definitely moved way up the line on the pecking order for defensive center midfield on my list. I might even slide him into one of my sliding line up. I can't believe I'm actually saying that. But what's good for the club is good for the club. Also judging off the first half alone, I thought Van der Vaart was also great. He had the assist on both of Pipita's goals and has just been a driving spark behind the team in a past few games. It's truly impressive how two of our midfielders who have been a total selection question in two different parts of the season just burst back onto the scene. Van der Vaart and Gago have both been pretty much on their way out of Madrid. The Dutchman in the summer and Gago as recent as January. The Argentine probably would have left if City had not been total amateurs about the transfer. We put them in the same midfield today in the absence of players like Lass and Kaka, who are ranked as much better players in the footballing world, and VDV and Gago play just as good if not better than our big buys. Interesting.

Ronaldo broke the dead lock with a sublime free kick. With all the rain and choppy online screen no bigger than a game boy screen, I couldn't tell if the handball was in or outside the penalty area. However, it wasn't like I was concerned though with CR9 and VDV over the ball. Ronaldo simply sublime from about 19 yards out. It was fallowed by a loud whisper cheer. Attracted some attention but I don't care if anyone knows. It doesn't get much more top corner than that. The Getafe keeper must have just been exhausted first half. He faced an absolute onslaught first half. He definitely should have done better with Ronaldo's second goal but a cracker of a goal nonetheless. A couple step overs and a bullet from a sharp angle. It doesn't get any prettier than that. I flew out of my see with a "Wow!"

Casillas, common man. I love you to death but that was stupid. An to get mad at Parejo for scoring? I would have done the same thing. It's not like the tackle was dirty. It was solid and he capitalized on your mistake. Rolling around on the ground isn't going to make things any better. Ask Ronaldo.

I really can't tell you much else because I didn't see the whole match so comments will be extremely valued. It's a college Thursday night and I have a reason to celebrate now. I'm over the hump and ready to have some fun.

Hala Madrid!

Bobby

Three Points The Hard Way

Always pissed off before pleased. If it wasn't the awful Real Madrid play in the first half, the annoying TV commentators set me off. That guy must hate Real Madrid. How many times did I have to hear "bunch of individuals." Whatever, it's still three points in the bank and a world of topics to be talked over as Real Madrid battle back at the fortress to win 3-1 over Sporting Gijon. Plenty of action though! Down a goal, and then up a goal in the blink of an eye. Controversy and chaos. Ronaldo plays with a block of ice in his hand to reduce swelling on a little bump on his precious face? Crazy. This puts us three points above Barcelona but they haven't played yet. Zaragoza will be awaiting the blaugrana's arrival. Goals from Van der Vaart, Xabi Alonso who got his first goal from open play (immediately fallowing the corner), and another for Pipita!

I guess it takes a strike of lightning to light a fire under our asses to get us going. A questionably offside David Barrel creeped in untouched and smashed the ball into the roof of our own net, stunning the Bernabeu faithful and the shirts in white at 53 minutes. My heart sunk. Barrel, a former Madrid product, was brave enough to celebrate by signing his name on the pitch. It was quickly erased. Before I could even get upset or angry, we equalized and our tempo shot into the sky like a Chinese firework! I thought to myself when our own goal was penetrated that maybe just maybe this will provoke a response. It did. Ronaldo's dipping free kick, 2 minutes later, caused a lot of trouble for Colinas who fumbled the rocket onto a platter for Rafael Van der Vaart who trapped it with what looked like a volleyball bump before thrashing a left footed volley into the net. I'm a biased supporter but that was definitely a handball. Am I going to complain? No. But let's just say we'll call it even for Xavi's dive against Espanyol. Goal for a goal right? Another two minutes later, after winning a corner Ronaldo jumped higher than the cross bar to win the initial header which found Xabi Alonso at the far post to nod past the line from close range. And just like that, we're on top.

I make it sound glamorous but it was far from. The first half was abysmal. I take no credit away from Gijon who were very well organized defensively in half number 1. We created next to nothing and Ronaldo was a tad bit selfish (and I don't often call him that). What did we do to solve the problem? Lass out, Guti in. I said it at half time to my friends watching the match with me. I told them that had to be the change. I think Lass barfed up the ball every time he got it. Just dreadful. For those of you that chose to grade our players, please fail Lassana Diarra for me. I said it in the preview, no Lass. Didn't listen to me did you Manuel? He clogged everything up, ran into dead ends, fouled, and did things he shouldn't be trying. How many times must he be told? Another lacking performance from Granero as well. The one shot he took has even landed yet. He needs to improve. Xabi Alonso wasn't his great self today, aside from netting the winner. Just a step off. Gave it away too often. Our best holding center midfielder of the evening was (I can't believe I'm gonna even say this because it's against what I so avidly preach) Gago. He came on, kept it simple. He didn't play tag, running from player to player fouling. Everytime he got it, he just distributed. Well done. When he does that he looks a very good player. Guti I thought was instrumental after coming in. Helped connect everything. He was composed and his all seeing eyes opened up attacks for us. Liked him.

Man of the Match you ask? Van der Vaart for me. Kaka will have to work to break back into my Real Madrid team. Tremendous outing from the Dutchman. He's really finding good form. His goal probably should not have stood but none the less, he got one when we most needed it. But how bout that back heal? Cracked a wide smile on my face. He was lively and upbeat throughout the match. He almost scored an acrobatic header earlier in the first half but I felt like he was the driving force behind Madrid today. Put Ronaldo in the passenger seat. Ronaldo had an off game for me. I mean he was involved. His free kick caused the rebound that VDV scored from and he also won the header from the corner that Xabi Alonso scored from, but he took some shots he probably shouldn't have. He was little to obvious on trying to draw that penalty. Coughed it up a few times trying to do some fancy stuff. He won't be pleased. And neither will his make up artist who has a bump to try and hide for the cameras (:]) Don't get me wrong, I'm not picking on him. But with a player of his caliber, you have to expect more. And for future refference, leave the ice on the sidelines...

Let's turn our focus to the back line. No Albiol? Mystery to me. If anyone can clear that up for me, I'd love to know. Really kind of mucked things up I think. Garay was not good at all today. The whole back line was leaky and here's what I think. Without Albiol, Ramos has to play center back. He likes to play the left sided center back but so does Garay. Garay must have felt out of place on the right or something because he looked very uncomfortable. I thought Marcelo made a few good tackles actually but spent most of his time attacking as usual. Arbeloa, eh so-so. But none were good. Especially Ramos, the gladiator didn't have a dominating game. He almost gave up a goal single handedly by casually scuffing a routine pass back to Casillas. Our prize keeper saved the day though. Well done San Iker. We dominated the match completely our a defenders still managed to give Gijon some pretty damn good chances.

Always glad to see Pipita net one. Took it beautifully too. Scurried away from some defenders and caressed the ball past the goal keeper with his left foot into the corner. Another one for Higuain. Another one toward Pichichi. Catch Messi buddy, catch him.

A win is a win. Another ugly job but 3 points nonetheless. Puts us on top for the time being on points and adds two more goals to goal differential stats. And as my girlfriend put it when I text her about the result, "good now you won't be bitchy." Haha that's a good way to put it. The season long home winning streak continues!

Hala Madrid!

Bobby

Daniele De Rossi? Why? & The Canales Front

So it's late at night and go on to peruse the latest football news via the Internet and ultimately, against my greater judgment, I end up on Goal.com to see what they may have plagiarized or muckraked off any not creditable source. We, Madrid, seem to be the media frenzy already, usually in a negative way. More people want to see us fail than succeed so they decide to toss as much flammable ingredients to the fire as possible. I have one word for these people, "haters." Simple as that. Anyhow I came across an article on Goal.com about Daniele De Rossi to Real Madrid?

Uhhh wait... So I tried clicking the article and it's under maintenance so I'm hoping someone hacked their system under the influence of some foreign chemical unbalance and decided to sabotage the website by publishing the link (highly unlikely). I went to Catholic school (even though I'm not Catholic, long story) as a youngster but I would pray to several different gods just to make sure this didn't come true. De Rossi?

Wait! The page decided to load and it is a measly 5 sentence article... pathetic again from Goal.com. Why would you even publish that on your top stories? It is true that President Perez is a fan of de Rossi (one of the few bits of information available in the article) and tried to sign him in his first presidency and that Calderon was also interested but the price tag was a little hefty. But in all honesty where would fit another defensive/holding midfielder with Xabi Alonso and Lassana Diarra amongst the squad and a returning Mahamadou Diarra this week sometime because Mali was knocked out of the ACN. Don't forget Gago is still lingering around somewhere too. Sure, De Rossi has a pretty nice long range shot, but Xabi Alonso has been known to score from midfield. It's gonna take a little more something special that what De Rossi possess to get me even vaguely interested. I've been really down on him ever since he threw that awful elbow into Brian McBride in the last World Cup. Not to mention he would cost a fortune and already stated he wanted to finish his career at Roma. I know Kaka said he wanted to finish his Career at Milan but De Rossi is certainly no Kaka, despite what people have been saying about the Brazilians form lately. For me, it would be an absolute ludicrous decision if it ever amounted to buy him.

Let's switch gears. It's no secret that ever since Sergio Canales superb double performance in Racing Santander's 2-1 win over Sevilla, all eyes have been transfixed him. The teenager has said that at the moment he wants to wear the green and black. However, that's not enough to stop the super sharks (big clubs) from circling around the tank waiting for their chance to attack this fresh young talent. Santander president, Francisco Pernia, has spoken about the issue and mentioned that big clubs including English outfits, Manchester City and Chelsea, as well as ourselves, and several other big clubs have revealed interest. He seemed in favor of the loan back idea that the boy's father has considered. In which a club will buy Canales and then loan him back to Santander for a set period of time, most likely 1 or 2 seasons. Then after that period is up he joins with the club that bought him. This is what Real Madrid did with Garay for those of you who are unaware.

"Madrid don't give money away so when they call Racing, that's because they are in some way interested in going down that road," -Pernia

Hopefully the opportunity so sign this kid falls into the right hands and by the right hands I mean our hands. Giving him two years back where he is comfortable and getting regular first team time will develop him into an even hotter commodity. And by the time his loan spell is up, he will be ready to tackle a bigger task. At Madrid we can put him on a trampoline aimed in the direction of greatness. It's the perfect place to create your legacy for any Spanish player (and by Spanish player, I mean a player that actually considers himself as Spanish and regualry speaks Spanish. Im not trying to get under anyone's skin here...Barca, Bilbao, Depor and others... easy now). He is a Santander native. However there is connection between the northern Spanish city and Real Madrid. King Alfonso XIII, who granted Real Madrid it's "Real Corona" (royal crown) loved spending his summer holidays in Santander. For those of you who didn't know, Santander also has a corona on it's logo. The king even built the Palacio de la Magdalena as his Santander residence. Hardly football related but interesting.

These were just a couple thoughts I had while suffering through my spells of insomnia. It's about 4:15 am. I have class in a few hours. Goodnight readers. Hala Madrid.

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