Behind Enemy Lines

Real Madrid are set to take on French Club, Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon for short) on Tuesday at the Stade Gerland where Les Gones can brag to be rather secure. The meetings between the two sides have never swung in the favor of Los Blancos. For two season in a row, 05/06 and 06/07, Madrid was placed in the same Champions League group stage as Lyon. For those of you who know the format, understand there would have been 4 matches between the outfits in that time period. Madrid didn't win a single match of the four and failed to even score in France at all. Madrid lost in Lyon 3-0 and 2-0, frustrating days to be a Madridista to say the very least. The return legs at the Bernabeu proved to be better results, both draws, but still disappointing. Real will be looking to put the past behind them and put on a performance in the country to the Northeast. This is a special Real Madrid team who has already broken the club personal best record for number of points at this time in the season and even triumphed at the Riazor breaking a 19 year curse. The squad has unimaginable potential with its limitless talent. Big money spending this summer has brought in the best of the best with primarily this competition in mind. To be even more specific, this stage of this competition. Speaking of curses right? Real Madrid has failed to progress past the Round of 16 in the Champions League for the last five seasons falling to Juventus, Arsenal, Bayern Munchen, Roma, and Liverpool in that order. Last year was the most terrifying exit yet where Los Merengue were thumped 5-0 on aggregate, losing 1-0 at the Bernabeu, and a tragic 4-0 in Liverpool ( I could go into the story of the other 4 defeats but it hurts bad enough just to mention it). We need to emerge from one of the darkest periods in the club's European history in a desperate drive to reach the final in the capital city of Spain and the fortress of a ground we call home, Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. All of this in pursuit of La Decima (the tenth).

Let's take a look at some key facts. When Madrid so unconvincingly played Lyon a couple seasons back, Lyon was in the heart of their 7 year reign as champion of Ligue 1. OL won the crown every year from the 2001-2002 season to the 2007-2008 season. This season, things are different and on paper, Madrid's line up is far superior to Lyon's (but in actuality that means nothing. This is football, anything is known to happen). Last season they finally handed the title over to Bordeaux and handed their leading goalscorer, Karim Benzema over to us for 35 million. Not only was Benzema Lyon's big gun but the top scorer in the French league last season too. Benzema is fighting fitness rather optimistically to make the trip to France on Tuesday. However, Karim isn't the only former Lyon player in our team. Mahamadou Diarra was part of the Lyon side that thrashed us 3-0 in 2005 but the fallowing season scored a goal against Lyon for us in the 1-1 draw in Spain.

After a slow start to their 2009-2010 campaign, OL have climbed back into 4th place, only 6 points off of leaders Bordeaux (at 2:40 AM Sunday). Lyon's leading league scorer is former Porto striker, Lisandro "Lilo" Lopez, with 9 goals, fallowed by Bafetimbi Gomis on 7 goals who was picked up from St. Etienne this summer. But, the front men arn't all we need to worry about. Aly Cissokho, who was also signed from Porto after a failed move to Milan is a pacy individual who can serve dangerous balls into the box from the flanks. Also the Bosnian youngster Miralem Pjanic is one of the hottest up and coming stars in Europe and a threat from midfield.

In the Champions League this season, Lyon haven't been beaten at the Stade Gerland and only conceded 1 goal there in the group stage. This comes up against Real Madrid's impressive away record in the Champions League (definately not La Liga) this season. Real are unbeaten in their travels and already trumped French outfit Marseille, who are only a point and a place behind Lyon in Ligue 1 with a game in hand (again very early on Sunday morning) 3-1 in France earlier this season.

Real Madrid's two biggest signings this summer know one or two things about knocking Lyon out of this competition. In the 2005/2006 Champions League, Kaka and AC Milan bumped OL out of the Quarter finals. In 2007/2008, Ronaldo and Manchester United sent the French crashing out in this stage of the competition and went on to lift the trophy against Chelsea in the Moscow final.

It seems like for the first time in practically forever, Madrid might be able to start arguably its best XI. Benzema will most likely miss due to injury but many, including myself, would rather see Pipita as the starting striker leading the line. Guti is expected to recover from his ankle injury and any question marks about Albiol and VDV have been erased because they were able to rest against Xerez. The only real question that I cannot answer is how many holding midfielders we will go with. Pellegrini has been switching back and forth between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-1-3-2 for the last 4 matches and personally I think we do better with the single pivot (aka the 4-1-3-2 because of the one holding center midfielder, which allows us another forward). So I designed 2 starting line-ups I'd like to see with the two different formations:



I'm much more in favor in the single pivot because it allows us to attack better with more combinations up top and more players in area to aim for on crosses from Ramos and Arbeloa thundering up the flanks. Kaka now has two forwards to sit behind like he does for the Brazilian National Team. Also with my 4-1-3-2, I can allow Ronaldo to work off Higuain, leaving the right midfield open for Granero who has been great lately. If we go with the double pivot, Granero might not see the field and Lass, who has been not himself or impressive at all (if I'm being nice) will be on instead.

I developed a checklist starting from with the most important things we need to take away from this match.

1. Obviously a win. That way we can take the tie back to the Bernabeu where we have been exceptional (minus AC Milan) this year.

2. Away Goals. The away goal rules always ousts somebody every season. With our players, not scoring is unacceptable. We can put a dagger in their hearts before the second leg if we can manage 2 or 3 goals on tuesday.

3. A clean sheet. If we can tuck'm away at one end and keep'm out on ours, we'll be in fabulous shape.

4. Stay out of yellow card trouble. I know one or two players are in danger of yellow card suspension. I just can't tell you who off the top of my head, Lass maybe?

It should be an interesting tie. I'm more confident about this round of 16 match than I have been with all the rest for the last 5 years. It's a must win, a do or die. If we don't progress pass this stage, it will be eyed as a disaster for the club. All the players on the team have continued to state that we can win this competition. Don't let us down after you've hyped us up. I wanna rip the Champions League crown right off the head of Catalonia with a thick chunk of hair. Hala Madrid!

Bobby

Good scoreline, Lacking Performance

Madrid managed to scrape up 3 points with 3 goals against bottom of the table Xerez but it wasn't the Real Madrid performance that we all wanted to see with Lyon on the horizon. It took los blancos about an hour to break the Xerez lock and it was an unlikely goal from an unlikely source, Arbeloa that banged down the door when Xabi Alonso found him in space. To that point in the match, I wasn't impressed with the former Liverpool defender's performance but with that goal he did two crucial things. 1.) He scored the winning goal. It's hard to do anything more important than that. And 2.) He lifted the pressure of Los Merengues' shoulders. It's not as easy as one may think to beat the last place team when you are Real Madrid. Here's why.

Everyone is up for it when Madrid come to town. There is a mental aspect about the whole minnow versus giant matches. If you're the giant. You are expected to smash the minnow and put on a blinding performance. This can get into a lot of teams' heads. They over do it and try to do things out of their element rather than think of the match as any other match. I think Real Madrid had a case of that today. Especially Ronaldo in the first half who took too much responsibility amongst his heroic shoulders and was disappointing in the first half. Madrid was lucky not to be down a goal or two in the first half. Lackadaisical defending lead to a couple clear chances that perhaps a better team would have surely scored. Madrid should have definitely had a penalty when Granero was taken down in the area in the first half and then another one when Pipita's on target volley was blocked by the hand of a defender. Can't get them all I suppose but I was desperate for a goal at that point and frustration was an understatement. The fouls, the misplaced passes, the referee decisions all created a first half to forget. The foul stat at half time was something absurd like Real 13, Xerez 3. I'd personally like to express my anger at Goltv for putting the La Liga match on a Gameboy sized screen in the bottom right hand corner for 25 minutes while Bayern Munchen vs Dortmund finished up. That's just poor broadcasting.

Let's get into some personal performances. Arbeloa's goal did open the flood gates but he wasn't his regular self today. He picked up a booking he didn't deserve but was shakey on most other offensive occasions. I'm sure he'll bounce back. Marcelo at left back never impresses but that's all I'm gonna say there. Lassana Diarra really needs to improve if we are gonna play a double pivot. I personally am in favor much more of the single pivot, which gives us an extra forward but Lass has got to be better. Too many times he was the culpret for a wayward pass or giving the ball away in the center of the pitch. Pipita was quiet. There was so much hype about Higuain in the midweek after his stunner vs Espanyol last weekend that everyone was a little disappointed not to see him do more. I guess you could blame some give aways that ultimately resulted in poor performances on the rough condition of the pitch. Hardly the pristine, lush grass of the Bernabeu but still can't use an excuse like that.

Raul didn't really make an impression after coming on but the other two subs did. Surprisingly Drenthe noticeably lifted the play when he appeared. He was unlucky not to score. His crisp strike was cleared off the goal line. Big Diarra made a rare appearance and other than the off target long ball he played shortly after arriving on the field, he was solid.

Ronaldo and Kaka were both stories of two halves. Both were off beat in the first half but instrumental in the second half. They proved our summer spending useful by teaming up for 2 goals. Ronaldo bagged another two for the season while the Brazilian tallied two more assists. After being played in toward the end line by Granero, Kaka lifted his head and played a flawless ball across to meet the gelled hair of Ronaldo. The header was a cerebral thunderbolt that rooted the goalkeeper. Great Goal. Kaka then again showed his brilliance as he used a sweeping slide tackling technique to pull the ball away from the charging shotstopper, loitered with the keeper at his back for a few seconds, only to then slide the ball across Ronaldo who tucked the ball passed 2 defenders into a gaping goal.

But we accomplished some important things today.

1. We proved we can turn around a bad performance and grind out a result. Something the Madrid has never historically been used to doing.

2. Ronaldo is back on form for Lyon.

3. No injuries from what I can see were picked up.

The job is only half done though. We have to hope our city rivals can take points off our national rivals tomorrow. That would help us out immensely! Not a pretty match but a pretty 3 points to return back to the capital with. Madrid's away form needs to improve despite the win. HALA MADRID!

Bobby

To Rest or Not to Rest?

It would be a disgrace for Real Madrid not to take 3 points at bottom of the table Xerez on Saturday. The Andulusian side only has a pathetic 2 wins from 21 one games. Madrid smashed the lowly outfit 5-0 earlier in the season where Ronaldo scored in what I believe to remember the second minute. I decided to take a different approach to the preview because without overlooking the La Liga fixture this weekend, we have to keep half an eye on Lyon on Tuesday. Don't get me wrong, it is essential to beat Xerez. For the first time in a good number of weeks, Barcelona have a difficult task infront of them because they visit our cross town rivals with a very skewed back line. The blaugrana is missing Pique and Marquez due to suspension and Dani Alves and Abidal missing with injuries. Pep Guardiola has already hinted at youngsters but it is almost without question that we will see Gabi Milito in a once-in-a-blue-moon appearence and rare spotting of Maxwell who transfered from Inter Milan this summer. Puyol will obviously be part of the wounded defense, but with a back four that hasn't played together, or played hardly at all, will they be able to handle players like Aguero, Forlan and co. who scored 4 against Racing last week in the Copa del Rey? We can only hope not. So I decided to go down the roster (excluding the Castilla players who in my opinion should get a call up to this match because I'm not sure which of them if any Pellegrini will summon) and state whether or not I think they should play a part and how much of a part they should play with the Champions League in mind.

1. Iker Casillas - It's an easy one 90 minutes. I don't know the exact figures but Casillas has hardly missed any La Liga matches in his career. He should be on.

2. Alvaro Arbeloa - With our preferred back line (Ramos-Albiol-Garay-Arbeloa) all healthy once again. I think they should all start to get reaquainted (if that's even the right word) or some extra practice before traveling to France.

3. Pepe - Without say, out for the season.

4. Ramos - The Spanish international has done a fine job filling in for the injured Garay at centerback in recent weeks but I think he should get some time back at right back before the Lyon test

5- Gago - Because of the whole Manchester City fiasco, and the fact that we've recently been working with only one holding midfielder, I think Gago is pretty far down the pecking order to play Saturday despite the opposition being Xerez

6. Diarra - I don't know if Big Diarra will see the pitch with one pivot point but he's above Gago for me, always has been.

7. Raul - Last 2 matchdays Raul has been a worthy stand-in with Ronaldo and Higuain absent from the line up. This time it's Benzema with the injury bug and with Raul's minutes limited nowadays, I think he should get atleast 90 minutes. People say that his legs won't carry him that long. That's a lie. Guti is a year older and played 90 against Depor in the midfield. I'm sure if Raul was told he's gonna he 90, he'd be thrilled and work his back side off the whole match.

8. Kaka - Surely I think Kaka can rest. I don't think we need to start him. Maybe give him 20 or so minutes in the second half to keep him fresh but with the way he played last weekend, we will surely need him against Lyon. I don't think he needs to play.

9. Ronaldo - Usually I would be against giving Ronaldo a great deal of time with the Champions League around the corner but because he has missed the last 2 matches, keeping him sidelined for another might not be a great idea. He's a big player for los blancos and we don't want him getting stale, then thrown into the mix from the go in a big match. Give him 60 minutes from the start. That's more than enough time for CR9 to find form. Hell, last time it only took him 2 minutes to score against Xerez. That could be 30 goals for him on Saturday ( I'm only kidding).

10. Lass- If we are playing the single pivot I would split the time at holding midfielder between Lass and Xabi Alonso half and half, maybe give Lass a little less time. Lass wasn't impressive last game and he must know it. Give him a little confidence booster against Xerez.

11. Benzema - despite how he is feeling from his injury, leave him in Madrid. There is a very small percentage he will return against his former club but we don't wanna hurt those chances even more by risking him against Xerez. Easy decision.

12. Marcelo has recovered from his bout with a stomach virus, which caused him to miss training yesterday. He trained without incident today and I'd start him in the midfield on saturday with maybe the long lost Drenthe subbing in for him at half.

13. Dudek - Second best to Iker, will not play.

14. Guti - The evil genious has been instrumental lately and could be the guy that tears appart Lyon. I know this, Guti knows this, and Pellegrini knows this. I vote to give Guti the day off because of his aging legs so he is fresh and fit for the french.

15. Drenthe - Drenthe hasn't seen significant time in a long while. It would be good for him and good for the team if he could get it in for atleast 30 minutes. He is auxillery relief at the moment but I still rate him a useful player and there is no better chance to chance for him to gain confidence than against Xerez.

18. Raul Albiol - Start to finish at Centerback

19. Garay - Same as Albiol. He needs the minutes having missed Depor and Espanyol

20. Gonzalo Higuain - Pipita is arguably our most important player. He already showed last weekend that his form hung out with him the entire time he was injured and that it was never lost. I definately wouldn't give him 90 minutes but he needs some time having only played 15 minutes last match.

22. Xabi Alonso - Often times doesn't get the recognition for victories but is secretly the glue that holds the Real Madrid foundation in place. (Just ask Liverpool). Although The job against Xerez should still get done without him. I like him for the first 45 minutes.

23. Rafael Van der Vaart - Happy Birthday! Anyways, he should play because I said we can rest Kaka. He played the long ball that ultimately lead to Pipita's goal last game.

24. Granero - Fabulous in times of player absense. I can see him playing 90 minutes. He has been great. Keep the starting spot and should play a place against Lyon.

I'm not even going to try and get into Pellegrini's head for this match. Him and I don't often times think on the same plain. However, I conjured up a line up fallowed by my planned substitutions, given everything goes according to plan.


Okay. I'll get to my selection after I list my substitutions.

45' - Drenthe for Marcelo
60' - Lass for Xabi Alonso
- Higuain for Ronaldo

Before you start picking me appart let me explain. Above I mentioned I wanted the back four to play together because they haven't in a while so no surprise there and no surprise with Casillas obviously. Xabi Alonso will play the first hour because we have still just converted to the single pivot and I want him to have one more go at it before we try it out against Lyon. I don't want to kill the guy so I have Lass who desperately wants and needs to improve from his last performance. Marcelo is a better winger than defender that's for sure, and I think we can agree the same with Drenthe so I have those two splitting the match for Drenthe's sake of playing time and because we need to rest Marcelo. Chances are the young Brazilian will play more of a part on Tuesday than his Dutch colleague. Ronaldo needs to get back in the swing of things before the trip to france so I am giving him an hour hard work. Higuain who only played 15 minutes last match will fill in for him at the same time I'd like Lass to replace Xabi Alonso. This still gives Pipita enough time to spread his wings for a bit and some more game time before the trip.

I don't expect everyone to agree with this. I never do (lol). However, this is what I think. I'm interested to hear what other people have to say. You might even change my mind. It's happened before. I would be severely pissed if we don't win against Xerez. Hala Madrid!

Bobby

The Wonder that is Pipita

"Van der Vaart smacks a long ball up field toward Higuain. OH WHAT A TOUCH! He's past his defender, he's past Kameni, he's scored! The substitute has made use of his 15 minutes and has every Madridista in the Bernabeu eating out of his hands once again, as if he was never injured. Magic. Pure class." Now this isn't an actual quote from a TV commentator but if I was narrating the match live for viewers, those would have been my exact words. Simply breathtaking from what some people call, the next Raul.

Born in France, Bread in Argentina, and Groomed by Real Madrid. The combination of these ingredients has created one of Europe’s best strikers at only 22 years of age . His name? Gonzalo Higuain AKA Pipita. "Ronaldo 80 million, Kaka 59 million, Benzema 35 million, Pipita... Priceless." -from my last post. I came up with that (pretty good right?) just moments after the numero 20 tallied the third goal of Real Madrid's thumping of RCD Espanyol in the dying minutes when he came on as a second half sub for Karim Benzema. With all the high profile signings this summer, it was a doubt that the young Argentine would establish his place in the starting lineup but he has silenced critics, and amongst the big names is Real Madrid's leading scorer this season. In La Liga, Pipita has 12 goals in 15 appearences. I read a funny comment on goal.com from a random commenter that made sense to my surprise. Usually all the commenters on that site are just bias fans with some bragging to attend to. Here it is:

"Higuain scored 12 goals in 15 apps in la liga, while Ibrahimoivc (46m+Eto'o) scored 11 goals in 18 apps. I wonder how many goals Zlatan would have scored in la liga if he didnt have players like messi , iniesta , xavi and alves assisting him ... Pepita The BEST !!!"

I chuckled when I first read it but there is one part of the message that I would like to ignore. The "I wonder how many goals Zlatan would have scored in la liga if he didnt have players like messi , iniesta , xavi and alves assisting him" part. Because no striker, not Higuain, not Jesus, not Batman would score goals without teammates. But, I've had this Higuain vs Ibra argument many times with people I chat football with in my own community. Of course, here in the States many people don't fallow the sport to my level and are biased toward big names and youtube highlight reels so it's hard to explain the true nature of the argument but the stats can back me up. Higuain is easily my pick, call me bias, don't care. Pipita is younger, has more of a career ahead of him at age 22 opposed to Ibra's 28 years of age. Higuain is a notorious hard worker, where as Ibrahimovic is a bit lethargic for me. He runs mainly when he has a chance to score but other than that doesn't do a lot to win the ball back once it's gone except foul. Ibrahimovic is very cocky. I dislike his personality. Listen to this when asked about a move he did against a Liverpool defender. "First I went left, he did too. Then I went right, and he did too. Then I went left again, and he went to buy a hot dog." Some find it funny. I find it arrogant and unprofessional truthfully. Higuain is humble, passionate, and team orientated personality. But I didn't write this article to compare the two. This is Higuain's write up, not Zlatan's.

So let's start from the beginning. Let's take us back to a dark, stormy night on December 10, 1987 in Brest, France. The wind was howling and the rain shot sideways against Stade Brest 29's defender, Jorge "Pipa" Higuain's swerving taxi as he rushed to the hospital. Three sounds rang out into the storm. The first was the abrupt turn of a door knob as Pipa burst into a small hospital room. The second was a loud crack of thunder accompanied by simultaneous flash of lightning that stunned the eyes of everyone awake. The third sound was the cry of a newborn child. Suddenly, the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the bright moon created a ray that shined directly in the window of the room on a boy, the boy known as Pipita. Okay, that's not how it happened. I don't really know how that night went about but that's what I picture when I try to fathom how the legend of Pipita began.

Between 2004 and 2006, Higuain made 39 appearances as a teenager for River Plate, scoring 18 goals and setting up teamates with 16 assists. After Gonzalo scored a brace in the October 2006 El Superclasico, River Plate manager, Daniel Pasarella stated that Pipita was "destined for superstardom." Shortly after, Madrid bought the promising prospect from the Argentine giants for 13 million Euros. Reports now say that the Real Madrid striker has tripled his value. He made his debut for los blancos against Real Zaragoza on January 14, 2007 where he had the crucial assist in a 1-0 win. Real Madrid has praised the Argentine international because he has a habit of scoring goals in big matches. His first ever Madrid goal came against none other than cross town rivals Atletico Madrid away which set the match level at 1-1. He scored the La Liga clinching goal deep into a match against Osasuna in Pamplona. Los Meregues were down 1-0, Robben equalized in the 88th minute and Pipita thrashed home a wicked volley two minutes later to win the league. Last season, the boy scored 4 goals against Malaga at the Bernabeu in an edge of your seat, back and forth match that ended 4-3. At this point in time Pipita, at such a young age, in all 120 games he has participated in a Madrid strip, has 49 goals and 18 assists.

El Numero 20 is quickly becoming a legend around the Capital which he calls a second home. He has such a long career ahead of him at only 22. He already stated he would love to finish his career in white and I'd love to have him. Real Madrid is currently renegotiating his contract. As far as international duty, he had the option to play for either France or Argentina but opted for his South American routes. He has recently just kicked off his full international career with Argentina, scoring on his debut against Peru in a vital World Cup Qualifier which ended 2-1 to Argentina. It took Maradona long enough to call him up. When you are the leading scorer for Real Madrid and don't get a call up from your national team, something is wrong. I don't rate Maradona at all as a coach. Can he not see his resources? Front line Higuain/Milito/Messi. It's on a platter... but don't get me started. Pipita has been a vital part of this squad so far this year and I tip him to continue a big contributor in games and seasons to come. I hope that this season he can leave his stamp on the Champions League too. Hala Madrid y Viva Pipita!

Bobby

Pluckin' Feathers: Real Madrid 3-0 Espanyol

Real Madrid cruise to another 3-0 victory despite key absences once again (cough Ronaldo cough Garay). I wasn't sure certain players would make the squad list like Guti and Arbeloa because of their fitness difficulties in training this week. I was delighted to see them both in the XI. It was a very one sided match. Los blancos looked comfortable and in demand the entire time. It's beginning to become routine that Real Madrid are missing players. At this point in time it seems like nothing can stop los blancos. The home record is unscratched and unlike the last match at fortress Bernabeu against Malaga, this was quite a performance. We jumped on the opposition right from the start with the Ramos goal and we coasted throughout the rest of the affair. The score could have easily been much greater but Kameni was inspired between the posts. I've seen him play before and his ability to read shots, partnered with his quickness makes him a top class goal keeper. I'm surprised a bigger club hasn't picked him up. Easily Espanyol's best player.

There isn't a lot to pick apart. I usually start with the negatives but where do I even look for them? I suppose I could say that after Benzema's two goal game at the Riazor, I expected him to find the net again. He looked a little selfish especially on one or two numbers-up counter attacks but other than that, he didn't play badly. I mean all strikers have to a little selfish. Marcelo was again not his best defensively but we all know he makes a much better left winger. Hopefully with the contract extension in mind, Madrid have decided that the midfielder Marcelo is far more useful than the defender Marcelo. I didn't think Lass raised the level of play when he arrived as a second half sub. He was disappointing. I've seen much better days from him.

I called for a performance from Raul and by my standards I think I got it. Okay, he didn't score. But he sure as hell had chances that he created for himself. His troubling header forced a diving save out of Kameni which ultimately lead to Kaka's goal. I can say without remorse that he was better of our two starting forwards yesterday. I wish he would have scored, it would have been a testament to the way he played, especially first half. Also Kaka looked great. That's the Kaka that we've been looking for. Hernia problem? Didn't look like it against los periquitos. He was very lively. He deserved his goal. He is a true poacher and I hope Pellegrini is now convinced that he is better in behind the strikers than he is a winger. Granero? Another assist. It seems like he always delivers. Him and Ramos teamed up for the first goal and again almost for another piece of cheese off a corner. It will be a shame if he isn't in the starting line up next week. Impressive once again.

People have always questioned Madrid's defensive capabilities, but we're really starting to silence critics. I never really felt threatened by Espanyol. Albiol and Ramos we're rock solid. Ramos is such a good center back, I can't make up my mind where I like him better. But if Garay is healthy I still think he needs to play centrally, moving Ramos to right back once again where he stampedes up the flank and a more solid Arbeloa to left back.

Ronaldo 80 million, Kaka 59 million, Benzema 35 million, Pipita... Priceless. He's back ladies and gentlemen! He inadvertently showed Benzema up by doing in 15 minutes what the Frenchman couldn't do in 75. Just a fabulous goal. The touch the Argentine took to bring down that ball bamboozled the defender. It even fooled me at first, but by the time I realized what he had just done, my jaw had already hit the floor. Then he went on to dribble around the agile Kameni and tuck the ball into a gaping goal. He really is a marvel. I just can't wait to see him action again. Welcome back my friend, welcome back.

Barcelona as many know, won their match against Getafe 2-1 at the Camp Nou so Madrid's win meant nothing more than keeping pace with their rivals who sit 5 points prettier than us at the moment. What fascinates me about the Barca match is that they had two central defenders in Pique and Marquez (who was sent off with a minute or two to spare. So it's not like they were playing with 9 men all match) sent off. That will surely put a dent in their back line as they travel to the capital city to take on our cross town rivals next week. You can never depend on Atletico for anything but if they can at least make a draw out of the meeting, it will be appreciated without a thank you. Whereas we will have to take on relegation struggles, Xerez away. That should be an unquestionable 3 points, but we might look to rest players with Lyon away looming that Tuesday afterwards.

So Espanyol was successful battle. Fun to watch. Even at the end of the game it looked like some of our technically gifted players were trying to put on a little circus act for the fans. Three points, well earned. No bad performances but there is always room for improvement. Well done. Hala Madrid.

Bobby

Los Periquitos Flying to the Bernabeu

Real Madrid are expected to pick up three points at home against visitors Espanyol this weekend. When the squads met in Barcelona on the second match day of the season, the end result was 3-0 to los blancos with goals from Granero, Guti, and Cristiano Ronaldo who will miss the return leg at the Bernabeu because he will be serving his second game suspended of the two match ban he received for breaking the nose of Malaga's Mtiliga. Real Madrid City has served as much as hospital as it has as a training facility for Los Merengues in the past two weeks. When someone returns to being healthy, another player goes down. Injuries are part of the game but Madrid has suffered much worse than most this season. Arbeloa ,who has really started to come into his own, pulled out of training due to some knee pain and is unlikely to participate Saturday. This hampers the team because the back is already missing components such as Pepe, Metzelder (who I am beginning to think has a cureless illness), and Garay, who continued to work out in the gym. The midfield saw the return of Lass, and Van der Vaart to the squad today along with Diarra who joined in yesterday. However, the team lost golden heel Guti to the gym that sucks in players like a vacuum as of late. I am unclear to what exactly Guti's reason for gym work is. I also read a depressing article on goal.com that reported Kaka will battle with the nagging hernia injury for the rest of his career but he is set for the match against Espanyol. Of course, everyone is more than pleased to see that Pipita is back in business. He joined his teammates with Diarra.

Los Periquitos are a Barcelona based team who boast to be the first club to be founded by only Spanish football fans in 1900. They also looked down upon clubs that were founded by "expatriates" who established clubs like Barcelona (can't argue with that). The club is missing some key players. Raul Tamudo and De la Pena are amongst the wounded. De la Pena is set to miss up to 3 months and goes under the knife next week sometime to repair what I believe is an ankle injury. I've been wrong before though. Espn's Soccernet described it as a "lower leg injury." Japan and Espanyol midfielder Nakamura was amongst La Liga's worst players list goal.com published a few weeks ago. The former Celtic player, at the time was said to have only 7 shots, none on goal. He struggles to find his way into the line up at times. That's a shame. However, he does have 1 assist in his defence. But the most missed player of this team without a doubt is Dani Jarque. Rest In Peace.

With Sergio Ramos already filling in at center back for an injured Garay, and his right back replacement, Arbeloa, now too on the casualties list, the right side of the defence is looking for a filler. Although Lass is primarily a midfielder, he has played right back for the team before and did an exceptional job for playing out of position. Another option could be use a Castilla player. Why not? I know Pellegrini ALMOST used one against Deportivo but this is Espanyol, who are not having anywhere as good of a season, and we are at home. The fans would love nothing more than to see someone like Mateos or even Marcos Alonso get the chance to take on los Periquitos when they visit the Bernabeu. However, I don't think Pellegrini will start a Castilla player. I wish he would but you never know. He has called them up to training all season, put them in the squad list but they fail to break onto the big stage. Real Madrid's official website stated that "Pedro Mosquera has become a common sight around the first team’s training pitch and participated in today’s session." If Lass is at right back and Guti isn't healthy enough to make the return to the squad, Mosquera might be tipped to see midfield time, especially if Pellegrini runs the 4-2-3-1 he usually runs.

Now with the injection of Pipita in the squad, will he make the start? You can find my feelings on that in my last post toward the end when I talk about the strikers. Pellegrini hinted that he would be playing a line-up similar to the one against Deportivo. In that game, he went with a 4-1-3-2. This is what I predict Pellegrini will conjure up this weekend, fallowed by what I would do with Espanyol arriving.



Sorry about the small font. I'll fix that up for next time. Like I said, Pellegrini said he would be choosing a similar line up to Depor, so I think he'll stay with the 4-1-3-2 that he used in La Coruna to break the curse. Those of you with more gifted vision will notice the one change. I suspect Pellegrini will get Pipita in the line up as soon as possible to get him firing on form again for Xerez and the even more crucial Lyon in matches to come. I know your gonna think I'm crazy but I vote Raul as starter. Here's why. Higuain only returned to training on Wednesday, only 3 days before the match. His injury may be healed but his fitness (as in cardio) is certainly not where it was 3 weeks ago. I definitely want him to feature, as an early second half sub for Raul but I don't want to hurry him back. He is an important part of this team so we need to take the atmost precautions not to rush him back when he isn't as up to speed as others. When you're not fit enough, that's when you get hurt. I know the majority of fans have frowned at the Raul starting idea but for this game, with Pipita just coming off an injury, I think he should get the start for a second game in a row. It's Espanyol, not Sevilla or Valencia. Hell, he should have scored against Depor if it wasn't for a fantastic reaction save. He can still do a job for us. I wear my Raul jersey on days where I don't think he'll get to play. It's depressing to know a lot of people don't have faith in him anymore. That's my view. Hate it if you'd like. As I mentioned earlier, for more on my full striking plan for the next 3 weeks in my last post.

All personnel aside, Madrid have to win this match no matter who is wearing the white shirt. Barcelona are unlikely to slip up against Getafe at home and we must keep pace. Hala Madrid! Vamos Los Blancos! Keep the Bernabeu undefeated.

Bobby

Pellegrini Selection Headache To Come aka Bobby's Chalk Session

Selection Headache? What Selection Headache? We're scrounging for players. We had 4 Castilla players in the squad list for Deportivo and the world's most expensive player is still out another game with suspension. The only player that even returned to training today was Gago and we planned that he'd be at Manchester City by this point. Exactly! (Huh?) At this point your probably a bit confused (wtf Bobby...) but let me explain. The match against Deportivo showed some crucial team depth and not only did we win at Riazor, we put on a performance. To go even further, not only did we put on a performance, we did so with a stretched line-up. Anyone notice that we played more covincingly against Depor, who were then in 5th place, than we did against Malaga who are low in the table. The catch is that against Malaga, which was a home game, we fielded what is arguably our best XI. Or is that our best 11? It poses a lot of questions. Goal.com put an article out this week about if Real Madrid plays better without Ronaldo. Should Granero be a starter? What happens to two-goal Benzema when Pipita recovers? Is the Lass/Xabi Alonso a good center midfield partnership? Are we playing the best formation suitable for this team. When everyone is available, who gets bumped to the pine? Can we alternate players with the Champions League on the horizon? Let's take a look.

Where do we start? How many questions did I just ask? Let's begin with what is arguably our standard formation, and starting XI with everyone healthy (excluding Pepe, get well soon).

I'm not stating that this is our best line-up. I'm just trying to get into Pellegrini's head. If all these players were available and everyone was well rested, I get the feeling that this is the starting XI we would see. So bring on the questions. Does Real Madrid play better without Ronaldo? Well all of us would hope not. We spent a fortune on him this summer and for our starting line-up to be more affective without him would be a nightmare. My answer to this question is no. If that relieves anyone, good. Here's why. Ronaldo is a unique player. He has everything a footballer would dream of. He has pace, moves, a rocket packed behind 90% of his shots, set play abilities only few can match, and more. Many think he is selfish, too self centered but that is not that case. Ronaldo has become more of a team player at Madrid than he was at Manchester United "With great power, comes great responsibility." -Uncle Ben (Spiderman). Ronaldo wouldn't be as useful if he didn't take responsibility into his own hands at times. It would be wrong for him to not use the God-given talent that he possesses. He can change the game an in instant! You're probably asking yourself where I'm going with this because everything I've said so far really isn't team orientated. Well here you are. To have Ronaldo in the side is a blessing. With brilliant players around him, he can feed off of their talent in forms of their great passing and through balls to latch on to, movement off the ball, ability to draw free kicks and penalties, quality corners to score from, good service from the flanks. He is just an Ace in the hole that can benefit from what Madrid has to offer. Therefore he boosts team performances. So when he goes missing and we still play well... what's that about? Let me reiterate Ronaldo can benefit from the Team's Talent. When Ronaldo is not there, the team is still capable of playing great football. The game plan might change a little, but whenever you lose one of the greatest players on the planet for a match, your team will need to make some adjustments. That is common sense. The matches like Deportivo just show Madrid is good enough to cope without Ronaldo as well as with Ronaldo. It's more of a testament to our depth than it is a problem with CR9. Now I do understand things may not run as smoothly at times when Ronaldo is on the pitch. But this team has to be able to adapt to Ronaldo. In a sense the word "gel" appears once more. I know people are getting tired of hearing it, after all we're past the midway point of the season, but the injection of Ronaldo can be a lot to get used to. And even though we are this far along into the campaign, our buddy CR9 has only played in 16 games, only starting 14, including the Champions League. Whereas a team (excluding a Copa del Rey we'd all like to forget) we've played 26. So once again I call for patience, something that is hard for us to embrace as Madrid fans, especially after all the recent Barca success. Have faith my friends. There is still a lot more to come from Real Madrid.

Pirata! Easily one of my favorite signings. The kid continues to impress. Everytime he comes on, he makes a difference. He has found the net on 3 occasions this season as a midfielder and only finds himself in the starting line up around half the time. In La Liga, he has 3 goals and 2 assists. Kaka has 3 goals and 3 assists. Not much of a statistical difference with a gap in the amount of minutes played. Granero often times doesn't get the playing time he deserves with our big name midfielders, but everytime he plays, his name grows larger. He was exceptional against Depor and is expected by many to be in starting line up when Espanyol visits this weekend. There are places open for the 22-year old with Van der Vaart still spending training in the gym and Ronaldo serving his second suspension of his two match ban. I just get the hunch he'll have a good day against Espanyol. It may not seem right if he doesn't get the start when the more prominent names start to return to the squad list. For me, if he is not starting, he's the first one off the bench every time. He is a very well rounded player that offers more than a solid midfield player. He also delivers good corners, allowing our taller players to be in the box to win headers. He is a great Madrid Academy product. Gracias for the goal on Saturday.

So what do we do about the Lass/Xabi Alonso center midfield partnership. The midfield seemed very effective this weekend with just one holding midfielder. This was only recently brought to my attention. Do they work well together? Do we need two holding center midfielders or can one be sacrificed for the addition of another forward? That would make us a little top heavy so maybe those playing on the outsides would have to tuck in and drop a little more defensively and with two forwards, the attacking center midfield, most likely Kaka, would have to drop slightly as well. So we've gone from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-1-3-2 like we did against Deportivo. So it may look like this roughly when going from an attack to losing the ball and having to defend:


The advantages of this would be:

1. Allowing us to play both Higuain and Benzema in the same formation. Or as a second striker, Ronaldo and put in VDV or Granero on the right hand side.

2. It would give us more power offensively and more combination options in the attacking third.

3. It would provide two forwards to hit when building out of the back opposed to one main target forward which could become easy to mark.

4. Kaka has now two forwards to sit behind like he does with Brazil.

Disadvantages:

1. It would send either Xabi Alonso or Lass to the bench because one holding midfielder would have to be sacrificed for a forward. That wouldn't fit squad demographics considering we have 4 defensive midfielders in the team. Xabi Alonso, Diarra, Lass, and Gago.

2. It might make the team too top heavy and offensive players may not get back (cough Guti) , leaving us open and more vulnerable to counters.

3. With so many players in the offensive half, we might have to limit our wing play from outside backs. Sergio Ramos and Arbeloa would have to stay at home more often.

Striker questions? The fallowing analysis of the striker situation has been conducted as if Pellegrini decides to stick with a 4-2-3-1. So now that Benzema is finally up and running, Higuain is near recovery and could return for the match this weekend against Espanyol. If Pipita is just returning, I vote that he doesn't get 90 minutes against the Catalan side. I want to see him return as much as the next Madridista but Benzema now has some confidence and it's smart not to push Higuain to his limit on his return. I know the squad has quality enough (as showed at the Riazor) to win without Pipita in the starting XI, especially against Espanyol. Here is my plan. Benzema starts against Espanyol, Higuain comes in for him around 65 minutes in the second half. Then, the next weekend Higuain starts and Benzema replaces him. This would be important to rest Benzema at this game so he be fully fit to face Lyon on the 16th. No one knows the French club like him. Maybe Diarra, but he hasn't been there in years, when Benzema has just played for them last season. So afterwards, because Benzema played in the European midweek, Higuain then starts against Villarreal at home. This all goes accordingly provided both strikers remain healthy and on form. So with the extra Champions League games, perhaps rotation could be an option for the time being.

That's all I have for you today. I left plenty to discuss and left plenty out that is worth discussing. Would be interested to hear the thoughts of a lot of you. I enjoy hearing what you have to say.

Bobby