It may look as simple as players covering their equivalents while on defense, but to have Robben and Ribery effectively negate the impacts of Alves and Alba is a remarkable sacrifice for the 2 attacking players and accomplishment for Heynckes to successfully implement.
In our painful 2-6 loss at the Bernabeu some years back, the image of Puyol kissing his captain's armband became a lasting image of the match. Last night, Sergio Ramos erased all that.
Wow. What a performance. The last time I saw Real Madrid dominate Barcelona like this was way back in the 'Pasillo' Match. That match however was played at the Bernabeu, not at the 98,000+ capacity Camp Nou (the largest football stadium in Europe). The last time I saw Real Madrid dominate Barcelona like that at the Camp Nou?
From a European Derby with one of the Club Football's biggest teams then back down to a local derby with Madrid's scrappiest and most unapologetically ragtag club. . With the memories from last Wednesday's big Champions League match with Manchester United still fresh on everyone's minds – The Bernabeu now looks set to receive the 2012-2013 La Liga Cinderella team: Rayo Vallecano.
En El Aire - Up In The Air. Yup. The Outcome of this tie is still up in the air
It was the match everyone was waiting for - the duel of the biggest clubs in world football. Those of us who have been fans for long enough still cherish the memories of our past 2 duels with Manchester United: with both encounters resulting in Madrid advancing on.
If my memory serves me correctly, this is the first time I've seen my beloved Real Madrid pretty much lose La Liga in December (or even before that). There have been worse Real Madrid sides in the past – that's for sure... but there hasn't been a better Barca side than this one. And when you put the 2 side-by-side each other in a league competition, the chasm between the 2 just grows larger and larger.
What a dissappointing weekend for for the Filipino sporting fan. I write this now merely hours after seeing Manny Pacquiao literally swallow straight right-handed punch to his chin c/o Juan Manuel Marquez in a loss that pretty much marks the watershed moment in the Pacman's career that spells its end or depending on how he plays his cards, spells the beginning of its end.
Having been able to eke out a 1-1 draw at the Etihad stadium, together with Borussia Dortmund's 1-4 trouncing of Ajax, Real Madrid booked their ticket to the last 16 of the Champions League. First place in the 'group of death' or rather 'group of champions' did not go to us as many had expected, but the milestone is one to look at for us Madridistas as something positive.
David Navarro is a thug. Thankfully, neither the pitch nor Levante's extensive practice of Football's 'Dark Arts' got in the way of getting 3 points tonight for us.
For some odd TV scheduling reason, by the time I switched the TV on at 4:30am this morning to watch Levante-Real Madrid, Atletico vs Getafe was still on (82').
Bah! Those Germans! We still can't beat them and I'm worried sick about the prospect of meeting a German Side once the group stages are over. Bayern, our European Bette Noir, are sure to bash through beyond the group stages while rivals Schalke and Dortmund who both managed draws (against Arsenal and us respectively) remain group leaders.
For the mean time, the likes of Modric and Essien are playing like replacements that circumstances have forced upon us. Soon enough though, I genuinely believe that they will multiply Real Madrid's playing capabilities considerably.
Mallorca 0 – RealMadrid 5. A brace each from Pipita and Ronaldo with Callejon grabbing a late goal as a sub - Now that's a scoreline from last season's Real Madrid! The funny thing about last night however was the lineup didn't function like the Real Madrid of last season: there was no dynamic duo (Ronaldo + Marcelo) on the left side tearing up Mallorca's right flank and no German Tank in the midfield tearing their attacks apart and subtly knocking cracks onto their defense (Khedira).
The World's 2 Best Players Putting on Great Displays made Last night's Clasico a real Classic
Last night's Clasico started with a demonstration of the Catalan 'Nation's' desire for independence. Being neither Catalan, nor Spanish, nor both, i was of course far more interested in the footballing demonstrations that took place at the Camp Nou last night.
A 5-1 Victory at the Santiago Bernabeu: Real Madrid played their now-familiar brand of ‘Formula 1' football while Cristiano Ronaldo netted his first hat trick of the season to bring him even with Messi in the La Liga scoring charts. The familiar feeling I am enjoying at the moment (brought about by a Madrid win) is very similar to the comforting, energizing and feel-good buzz that my weekday morning coffee gives me.
