Recovering well
CR9: Leading the way
The 1-4 victory at Valladolid said a lot of things about this current Real Madrid side. Having made a very poor start to the game with Valladolid having the majority of the possession and the chances Real slowly came back to the form that saw them become league leaders a week earlier. But everyone knows a lot has happened between then and now. Even though it was just a single game it ripped a team that was settling well apart. The morale of the players was at an all time low. There were rumors of rifts within the roster, rumors about the manager being replaced sooner rather than later and above all that trash talk about how we wasted €250 million.
Coming back to the game itself, as I said, Real crawled back into the game and no prices for guessing who was in the middle of it all – Cristiano Ronaldo. I know all you guys were expecting to see Gonzalo Higuaín’s name and rightfully so, but it was Cristiano who boosted the team. His 25th minute free-kick that took a slight deflection of a Valladolid player in the wall beat their goalkeeper convincingly and Real went up 0-1. And this time the ascent was not something that would be denied. Real then took the ascendancy over the game and that coincided with the commencement of the Gonzalo Higuaín show. The Argentine scored a fabulous hat-trick that saw Real score four goals in total. In between his second and third Albi-own-goal lived up to his Los Ché time nickname by deflecting Casillas’ save into the net. The final score Real Valladolid 1 Real Madrid 4. Real retains top spot.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal allowed him to emulate his own best goal scoring streak in a league competition. The Portuguese player has netted strikes consecutively against Xerez, Villarreal, Tenerife, Sevilla and Valladolid. By scoring against Sporting Gíjon next week, he will break his own personal mark. Gonzalo Higuaín increased his goal-count in La Liga to 19, three less than current top scorer Leo Messi. Higuain has the best goal-scoring average in La Liga. Real Madrid are leaders in la Liga thanks in part to having scored 71 goals, 44 of which have been netted at the Bernabéu. This gives the team a goal-scoring average of 2.73 strikes per match. No other team in Spain has achieved this. The Whites are also more efficient at scoring goals than teams in England, Italy, Germany, France and Portugal. And that was Stats of the day from Realmadrid.com.
Karim Benzema and Kaká were both missing yesterday. Benzema has been out ever since the first leg against Lyon with a hernia and is supposed to be fit for the weekend’s clash against Sporting at home. Kaká too missed the Valladolid game through the usual fake injury that is given to a player who is not in form but also cannot be dropped. Kaká’s form dip is worrying as he generally never has one. Benzema needed time to adapt to Spain and thus was given the long time out. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes the cut for this weekend’s fixture. I hope Kaká too plays as we need both of them in fine nick for the final few games.
The run in for Barça does look tougher. Their away games at Mallorca, Espanyol, Sevilla and Villareal will be the ones they probably might drop points in. We too travel to Mallorca but almost all other away games are manageable on paper at least. Home advantage is definitely with us and one of the remaining 12 games is the crucial home clash against Barça – an highly anticipated, league decider, a must win game.
Real did not train today and will train tomorrow at 16:30 CET at the Valdabebas for the upcoming clash on Saturday. Barcelona face Sttuttgart at home midweek in the Champions League and lets hope fate is crueler to them than it was for us.
Para Siempre Blanco!
Hala Madrid!!
Real Valladolid 1-4 Real Madrid
Real Madrid remain the top team in La Liga after a lopsided 1-4 win against Valladolid. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the first of the night and was followed by Higuain, who hammered the nail in the coffin with a hat-trick.
With so much at stake for both teams, it was Valladolid who dictated the tempo of the opening minutes and pressured the Whites with aggressive offense. Marquitos curled in the first warning shot on 6’ and the Pucelano advance continued for a quarter hour. But Real Madrid held their ground and eventually gained the upper hand in ball possession and the match.
Sergio Ramos was thwarted twice in a matter of milliseconds by Justo Villar, but Cristiano Ronaldo found the back of the net with a magically struck free kick five minutes later. The match grew more intense and in response the hosts grew rougher.
Pele nearly pulled Valladolid level on 37’, but Casillas deflected the ball which later struck off the crossbar. Real Madrid didn’t fail to capitalize on its next opportunity. Van der Vaart swung a perfect ball in from the right side of the box and Higuain redirected it into the goal for his 17th of the season.
The Whites were dialed in after the restart and in six minutes put the match in the books when Higuain beat Justo Villar in a one-on-one. Valladolid tried their best to claw back and did so thanks to an own goal by Albiol, but their efforts were too little too late.
The door was slammed shut when Pipita put the exclamation point on his hat-trick following a shot by Cristiano Ronaldo and ensuing clearance by Justo Villar. The Argentine striker’s 19th league goal of the season put Real Madrid up 1-4. Valladolid had no gas to mount a comeback and Los Blancos left Zorilla Stadium having successfully defended their place atop the league table.
Just another Madridista
Post-match comments
Jorge Valdano offered his impression of Real Madrid’s win againnst Valladolid and insisted that the team will do everything it can to hold on to the top spot in the championship. Manuel Pellegrini positively assessed his team’s performance after their 1-4 win against Valladolid to remain top in La Liga. Following their win against Valladolid, several Real Madrid players discussed how the match unfolded and its consquences on La Liga.
Valdano:
Pellegrini:
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March 15, 2010 | Categories: Post-match Comments, Spanish Primera División | Tags: Álvaro Arbeloa, Gonzalo Higuaín, Jorge Valdano, José Zorilla, Manuel Pellegrini, Rafael van der Vaart, Real Valladolid, Sergio Ramos | Leave A Comment »