Real Madrid Blog

30th September 2008

Real Madrid face a difficult away game against Zenit St Petersburg in the 2nd match of the first group stage of the Champions League. It’s never easy going to Russia as the conditions can be harsh but apparently the forecast is for 8-10 centigrade. This is a crucial game for both teams. Madrid want to maintain their progress in this difficult group after beating Bate while Zenit lost their first encounter against Juventus.

Schuster didnt impress in Europe last season and it has been some time since Madrid last reached the quarter final stages of this competition. Personally Im not sure we have a team capable of taking on the best. Having said that, which Real Madrid fan can forget the 2000 season when we took the holders (Man Utd) apart on the way to winning it against Bayer Leverkusen in Glasgow. You have to have hope but maybe its wishful thinking on my part.

Zenit St Petersburg are a decent side as they have shown of late. With Andrei Arshavin, they have an excellent player who can easily change the outcome of a game. Schuster will bring Cannavaro back to the line up after his absence from the Betis game and Pepe will also be there. The Portuguese defender has so far played more minutes than any other player this season.

It will be a difficult match and a draw wouldnt be a bad result. A win would be great but Zenit are a good side so defensive solidity will be important. It will be interesting to see Schuster’s line up as Raul is likely to feature. Raul has been under a lot of pressure recently so he needs a good performance or some goals at the very least. Schuster will have options on the bench which is encouraging if Madrid have to chase the game. After this game there are back to back matches agaisnt Juventus which will go a long way to deciding the outcome of the group.

Please note, this game is taking place 2 hours earlier than normal.

27 September 2008

An efficient performance by Real Madrid in gaining 3 points away to Betis on Saturday. The game looked to be heading for a draw when in injury time, Ruud Van Nistelrooy earned the victory with a cool finish.

Madrid actually started the game well in the first half well and on 18 minutes Gabriel Heinze scored from a Van der Vaart free kick. The second half was another matter. Betis came out with all guns blazing and upped the pace of the game considerably. Their pressure led to a penalty which looked generous and resulted in a red card for Marcelo. Sergio Garcia needed two attempts to score after Iker Casillas saved his first effort. Betis continued to put pressure on Madrid. Schuster turned to his subs (Javi Garcia, Miguel Torres and Drenthe) to swing the balance of play and the game eventually opened up with Madrid threatening the Betis goal on a few occasions.

On 81 minutes Drenthe was involved in an incident which led to the expulsion of Sergio Garcia. Through on goal he was impeded and the ref handed out a second yellow to the Betis player. Robben was involved throughout the game but it wasn’t one of his better performances. At times he can hold on to possession for far too long. His compatriot Van der Vaart had a quiet game after his great midweek performance against Sporting Gijon. The game looked to be heading for a draw when Ruud found himself with lots of space to claim the winner.

Thoughts

- Efficient performance but not spectacular. We need to improve but lets not forget that a strong first half of the season last year went a long way to winning us the title. Ideally I would want us to keep possession better.

- Diarra had another good game and he may well go on to emulate Makelele who was a pivotal part of our team during his time at the club… bold statement of course so lets see how it unfolds.

- Schuster not afraid to use the kids and like last season he is probably going to rotate a lot. Good policy to keep the players on their toes in my opinion.