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Just this week, in a podcast we never got to post Managing Madrid's Gabe Lezra asked me a question:
"Imagine this: Barcelona wins, Real Madrid loses, the lead has been cut to 3. It's the morning of
December 11th – how are you feeling?" I no longer remember what answer I gave, but here I am
today in exactly the same question.
So finally we've gotten this game out of the way. After Madrid's Burger King Boys (Getafe) knocked
the wind off the sails of Barcelona, opening up a SIX (6!) point lead between us and them, the
trolling from Cule trash talkers seems to have gone on overdrive (check out the last few posts at
RMFB) – pushing the pre-clasico fever a couple of days too early.
It was Inevitable - Kim Jong Il thought so soo - hahahah.
. In a way, even after Adrian scored the opening goal in last night's El Derbi Madrileno,
Madridistas the world over (and perhaps even Rojoblanco supporters) didn't feel too rattled (or
euphoric in the case for Atleti supporters).
Despite the String of Missed Chances especially in the first half, I would say that we generally
played well last night.
Last season, when asked about who I'd like us to face in the Champions League on our way to the
final, I asked for the following teams: Olympique Lyonnais, AS Roma, Bayern Munich and Arsenal –
I would have asked for Liverpool or Juventus too if possible.
It Was Yet Another Explosion of Goals from Pipita Finally Club Football is Back! Is it
because I'm not European or South American that I just don't enjoy these qualifiers or friendlies?
I sensed that the Bernabeu crowd last Saturday felt the same way too - because it was a packed
Bernabeu last Saturday!
Angel DI(VE) Maria. He earned his nickname last Sunday. The Olympics are next year you
Jackass. 1.0 What have we done? It just HAD to be the absence of Khedira once again
that made the difference. Only this time, we weren't talking about the difference between winning
by 4-0 or 4-2.
There was Benze-cat, and now there's Cris Charming. Yuck.."He's NOT handsome!" was my wife's instant reply when I read Cristiano's post-game comments to her.
I can only suppose that this is what happens when you read out comments that epitomize the
arrogance of an ex-Manchester United Player to a Liverpool fan.
.There is much to talk about in lieu of the events from last Wednesday (Thursday 5am Singapore
time). But rather than to write about the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, I'd rather speak about the
Football and the Non-Football. I do have to say though that it is sad that there's more to talk
about in terms of the latter.
Now THAT's what a friendly's supposed to be like!. Instead of a lone insane fan willing to charge a
moving golf-cart, you get hoardes of fans putting a stop to the operations of a shopping mall as
they trail not pretty boy Cristiano Ronaldo... but Jose Mourinho (who supposedly insisted that
George Clooney would be the best man to play him in a biopic).
Una partita fondamentale, da vivere intensamente: Argentina-Costa Rica, la grande favorita contro
la sorpresa del torneo, alle 2 e 45 (ora italiana) nell'impianto "Mario Kempes" di Cordoba. Gara
decisiva: la Selecciòn è obbligata a vincere altrimenti sar costretta ad abbandonare,
clamorosamente, la Coppa America 2011 a favore dei ragazzi di La Volpe (ct peraltro argentino).
Some quick game summaries of 2011's El Clasicos:..El Clasico 1 –
2011-04-16, Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, MadridRaul Albiol was sent off for takedown of
David Villa. Barca the played their favorite brand of football: 10 vs. 11 for most of the 2nd half.
We fought back with our 10 men though, Marcelo wins a penalty but Alves is not sent off for his
dangerous lunging tackleResult: 1-1 Draw.
Some quick game summaries of 2011's El Clasicos:..El Clasico 1 –
2011-04-16, Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, MadridRaul Albiol was sent off for takedown of
David Villa. Barca the played their favorite brand of football: 10 vs. 11 for most of the 2nd half.
We fought back with our 10 men though, Marcelo wins a penalty but Alves is not sent off for his
dangerous lunging tackleResult: 1-1 Draw.
Some quick game summaries of 2011's El Clasicos:..El Clasico 1 –
2011-04-16, Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, MadridRaul Albiol was sent off for takedown of
David Villa. Barca the played their favorite brand of football: 10 vs. 11 for most of the 2nd half.
We fought back with our 10 men though, Marcelo wins a penalty but Alves is not sent off for his
dangerous lunging tackleResult: 1-1 Draw.
So here I am, half-disgusted-and-sick-and-tired of these El Clasicos, but also half-nervous and
begging for a miracle tonight. The realist in me tells me that it's game over. But I am overcome
with the desire to dream. Call it the spirit of Juanito, call it the heart of Pipita (Real Madrid's
current Patron Saint for Refusing to Lose).
So here I am, half-disgusted-and-sick-and-tired of these El Clasicos, but also half-nervous and
begging for a miracle tonight. The realist in me tells me that it's game over. But I am overcome
with the desire to dream. Call it the spirit of Juanito, call it the heart of Pipita (Real Madrid's
current Patron Saint for Refusing to Lose).
So here I am, half-disgusted-and-sick-and-tired of these El Clasicos, but also half-nervous and
begging for a miracle tonight. The realist in me tells me that it's game over. But I am overcome
with the desire to dream. Call it the spirit of Juanito, call it the heart of Pipita (Real Madrid's
current Patron Saint for Refusing to Lose).
I went back to work the next day with 30 mins. of sleep but I didn't feel like it at all.
Victory does wonderful things to you..It was the day before I was to meet one of our dreaded clients at work... something that usually
meant a night spent at the office making sure that everything we were to show him had to be beyond
impeccable.
I went back to work the next day with 30 mins. of sleep but I didn't feel like it at all.
Victory does wonderful things to you..It was the day before I was to meet one of our dreaded clients at work... something that usually
meant a night spent at the office making sure that everything we were to show him had to be beyond
impeccable.
I went back to work the next day with 30 mins. of sleep but I didn't feel like it at all.
Victory does wonderful things to you..It was the day before I was to meet one of our dreaded clients at work... something that usually
meant a night spent at the office making sure that everything we were to show him had to be beyond
impeccable.
The atmosphere at the Bernabeu Last Night was FantasticLast night was Game 1 of the ‘World
Series' of Football... Real Madrid vs. Barcelona. It ended 1-1 on penalties scored both by Messi
and Ronaldo. Both broke their respective jinxes: Messi finally able to score against a Jose
Mourinho-coached team and Ronaldo finally able to score against Barca.
The atmosphere at the Bernabeu Last Night was FantasticLast night was Game 1 of the ‘World
Series' of Football... Real Madrid vs. Barcelona. It ended 1-1 on penalties scored both by Messi
and Ronaldo. Both broke their respective jinxes: Messi finally able to score against a Jose
Mourinho-coached team and Ronaldo finally able to score against Barca.
The atmosphere at the Bernabeu Last Night was FantasticLast night was Game 1 of the ‘World
Series' of Football... Real Madrid vs. Barcelona. It ended 1-1 on penalties scored both by Messi
and Ronaldo. Both broke their respective jinxes: Messi finally able to score against a Jose
Mourinho-coached team and Ronaldo finally able to score against Barca.
On a weekend where the outcome of the Battle for the League Title has pretty much been decided for
Europe's 3 Top Leagues: I find myself amongst like-minded Madridistas lamenting the fact that we
are perhaps to be victims of fate. A 15-minute hat trick, complete with a swearing fit in front of
camera from Manchester United pseudo-bad boy Wayne Rooney put Manchester United ahead by 8 points
in England.
The Black Beast from Gaul has been slain at last!
25 or 7 ?
25% vs 7 times. That pretty much sums up the whole uncertainty around this game. Statistically,
Lyon only have a 25% chance to qualify after the draw (1-1) conceded at home, three weeks ago. But
this small percentage is opposed to the record of confrontations between the two teams, largely in
favor of OL : 7 games against Real, 0 loss.
It's difficult to come up with an original title for this post, where all I can find myself buzzing
about was this brilliantly captured phrase in today's column c/o AS' Mad Madridista Tomas
Roncero..It's a bloody clever thing to call Benzema not just because of the fact that 1.) he's IS a
former Olympique Lyonnais youth stalwart, or that 2.
Valentine's Day Irony.
How ironic is it that it had to be the man who has declared Jose Mourinho public enemy no.1 in the
Spanish Coaching Community who would gift Mourinho such a lovely pre-Valentine's Day Gift. Marca's
cover last Sunday said it all: a gift of 2 La Liga points from Sporting Gijon Coach and Super-Mario
lookalike Manuel Preciado to Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho.
Things would've turned out VERY differently had Ronaldo scored in the couple of chances he had
in the first half.It's one thing to lose to team like Barca (regardless of the score), much
less THIS Barca... or losing a Champions League tie to a team with some form of European Pedigree.
Hunting with a CatHow fitting was it that before I last Sunday's 2am (Singapore Time) match
between Real Madrid and Villarreal, I had been watching a documentary at Nat Geo about the pack
hunting methods of mountain lions. The documentary showed their different methods (Ambush, Blitz
and Seige) to take down various prey that included a Zebra, some form of Antelope and even a full
grown Giraffe!
