Whilst normality was resumed at the Camp Nou with Barcelona destroying the opposition Osasuna to the tune of 8 goals to nill after their shock 2-2 draws both against Milan in the Champions League and the away game against Sociedad, it was the turn of Los Blancos to drop points away at the Ciudad De Valencia, with playing another game only having ten men finally proving too much for Jose Mourinho’s men.
After a brilliant and hard fought win in Zagreb midweek, when Marcelo’s simulation was enough to earn him a second yellow, thus leaving Real with ten men for a lengthy period of a massively tough away tie, Mourinho and Real were looking to respond to Barca’s emphatic result with one of their own.
Making the decision to protect Ronaldo’s midweek stiches in an ankle injury, Madrid were without their talisman, and this proved to be a problem, with Benzema having one goal ruled out for offside and failing to score in an open goal when Coentrao set him up shortly after. However, the most telling moment of the half, and the turning point of the game according to the special one, was when the second yellow thus a red was given to Sami Khedira for pushing over a Levante player in an attempt to protect teammate Di Maria who was on the ground after being ‘hit’ in the face. This left Real to play the entire second half with ten men, and even with Mourinho ringing the changes and bringing Ronaldo on, Madrid could not find a way past the defence, and even more importantly conceded a goal, when an unmarked Arune Kone scored inside the box.
It could not be said that the goal was not deserved, with Real lucky not to have conceded earlier, leaving space at the back with Ramos and Marcelo pushing on, and after Javi Venta won the ball from Ronaldo in Levante’s own half, Madrid were caught out and fell behind. In all honesty Real were lucky not to have lost by more, and have been left counting the cost of more than just three points, with both Fabio Coentrao and Pepe out for at least a couple of weeks with injuries sustained during the game.
The loss of Pepe may be felt more than the one of Coentrao, who whilst seems to be a favourite of Mourinho does not seem to be fully convincing at either going forward or defending down the left hand side, and Real have a wealth of talent in the midfield area. One positive to be taken from the game was that forgotten man Kaka earned himself a start after proving he still has a great deal to give during his appearances as a substitute this season. Mourinho has always held to the philosophy of if a player does well, he can always break into the team, with Joe Cole being proof of this during Mourinho’s time at Chelsea.
Whilst Real are only a solitary point behind Barca, it is not panic stations yet, and the season is going to be a long one. The game on Wednesday night at Racing is a must win for Madrid, and ending the game with eleven men would not go a miss either. A win would take them back above Barca, who face an incredibly tricky trip to the Mestalla, home of the only team to boast a 100% record so far in Valencia. After the results so far this season, critics of La Liga who say the only games worth watching are El Classicos are being proved wrong so far, and in dramatic fashion!
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Madrid very poor tonight against Racing. Barca held by Valencia just after. That said Barca will still be top at seasons end with Special One once agia No2 in La Liga TO Pep.