Spain

Men of La Mancha: More of the Same

More of the same in the weekly wrap of Spanish action.

Nov 9, 2009 9:44:53 AM

Teams

Players

The previous two times Real Madrid paid a visit to the Vicente Calderon, the Merengues scored in the first minute of the game, so I suppose Saturday could be considered progress on the part of Atletico. It took four minutes for Real to grab the lead, courtesy of a thunderbolt from Kaka.

Of course, the plot might change from year to year, but the ending is always the same when these two teams play. Is it any wonder some Atletico fans started leaving after 25 minutes, when Marcelo doubled the advantage with a right-footed shot from a tight angle. And the ones who stuck around weren't exactly in a jovial mood. Just ask Manuel Pellegrini who was hit in the face with a stone.

By the time Gonzalo Higuain picked the pocket of awful defender Luis Perea and made it 3-0 early in the second half, the rest of the crowd could have been forgiven for heading home as well. The matter seemed done and dusted. But nothing is ever that simple with Atletico, or Real Madrid, these days.

The visitors were reduced to 10 players when Sergio Ramos was sent off for a lunging tackle on Sergio Aguero. They were effectively reduced to nine players when Raul came on for Higuain. The Ramos decision would probably have been more hotly contested had it not come on the heels of Raul Albiol's red card against Getafe, which lowered the bar for refereeing this season.

In any event, the 23-year-old has now been sent off an incredible nine times since joining Real in 2005, one shy of Fernando Hierro's club record, amassed over a 14-year career. At the pace he is on, Ramos is poised to make this the most unassailable mark in all of sports.

His departure led to some major reshuffling, with the most tragic consequence being Marcelo's return to the left-back position. Pellegrini also brought on Fernando Gago for Karim Benzema to ensure his team posed no offensive threat whatsoever for the remainder of the game. With Atletico now holding a numerical advantage, Aguero went to work.
The little Argentine, deemed not fit enough to start by Quique Flores, sure looked good for the time he was out there. He caused Real's defense all sorts of problems and his clinical finish, shortly after Diego Forlan had scored Atletico's first goal, sent the stadium into bedlam, setting up a frantic last 10 minutes.

But even Aguero, the one player seemingly not infected with the same loser gene as everyone else at his club, proved incapable of reversing Atletico's fortunes. In stoppage time, he was denied from point-blank range by Iker Casillas, who had already performed a sensational stop on Simao Sabrosa late in the first half. Game Over. No end in sight for the misery of the home side.

The result keeps Real just one point behind Barcelona, who brushed aside Mallorca with relative ease, despite leaving roughly 200 million euros worth of talent on the bench for the start of the game in the form of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Daniel Alves and Xavi. The remarkable Pedro added two more goals to his tally and, more importantly, Thierry Henry finally broke his duck this season in a 4-2 win.

Sevilla and Valencia picked up victories at home to maintain their Champions League positions, while Deportivo returned to the win column in impressive fashion, beating Getafe 2-0 at the Alfonso Perez Coliseum. At the other end of the table, Malaga and Xerez continue to bring up the bear, but they will have an opportunity to regroup with the upcoming international break.

Tilting at Windmills (Barcelona vs. Madrid Referee report card)

Barcelona benefited from generous interpretations of the passive offside rule on a couple of goals, especially the opener, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic's brilliant back heel was also aimed in the general direction of Thierry Henry. But the pass was clearly intended for Pedro, and the referee probably made the right decision in letting the goal stand.

As for Real Madrid, it could be argued the sending off of Sergio Ramos was a bit harsh, as he made a play for the ball and there were other defenders around. But, interestingly enough, the Madrid media didn't put up much of a stink. Maybe they've grown accustomed to Ramos not finishing games.

Don Quixote (Player of the Round) – Luis Fabiano, Sevilla

The match of the weekend took place on Sunday at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, as Sevilla came from behind to knock off Villarreal 3-2. Even in defeat, the yellow submarine confirmed their good moment, but they simply couldn't handle Sevilla strikers Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute. The Brazilian, who was celebrating his 29th birthday, was in particularly devastating form.

He opened the scoring early in the first half by acrobatically bringing down a chipped pass and firing home with his left foot, and later provided an equalizer with a well-placed header, shortly after the visitors had taken the lead in the second half. Fabiano has hit for five goals in the past three games.

The Impossible Dream (Goal of the Round) – Kaka, Real Madrid

Real Madrid has made a habit of jumping out to early leads at the Vicente Calderon, so it was probably a matter of which Real player would score in the opening minutes. Kaka did so in spectacular fashion, blasting a shot into the upper corner, past the outstretched arms of Sergio Asenjo.

Naturally, the play began with Atletico shooting itself in the foot, as Cleber Santana carelessly lost out to Lassana Diarra, who poked the ball into the path of the Brazilian in the edge of the area. It was the third league goal of the season for Kaka. It was also his last contribution to the game.

Sancho Panza (Unsung Hero of the Round) – Diego Castro, Sporting Gijon

Only Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia have fewer defeats than Sporting Gijon, who continued their impressive form with a 1-0 home win over Espanyol, catapulting past their opponents and into seventh place in the standings. A remarkable turnaround considering this was a club that just barely survived relegation on the final round of last season.
Much of the credit must go to midfielder Diego Castro, who has been the offensive inspiration in almost every match, and was again on Sunday. It was his shot that Mate Bilic deflected into the net for the winning goal early in the first half, and Castro very nearly provided the highlight of the weekend later in the game, as he cheekily nutmegged a defender in the area and fired just wide.

Rocinante (Goat of the Round) – Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Barcelona

Pep Guardiola built up a great deal of credit with supporters by winning the treble in his first season. Its a good thing too because he might just be responsible for the worst signing of any team summer. Why Guardiola was so insistent in the final days of the transfer window that Barcelona buy Ukrainian defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy nobody quite knows.

The 23-year-old, who ended up costing 25 million euros, is not even eligible for the Champions League, which, based on his displays in La Liga thus far, is a good thing for Barcelona's Champions League ambitions. Chygrynskiy was terrible again on Saturday against Mallorca, earning a chorus of whistles from the home crowd.

Miguel Cervantes (Quote of the weekend)

“It is true I hadn't scored in a while, but I've read that I had gone six months without a goal. I'm not sure how you score goals when you are injured or on vacation.”