Real look for more Guti inspiration to reel in Barca

February 6, 2010

After ending their 19-year jinx at the Riazor Stadium with last weekend’s 3-1 win over Deportivo La Coruna, Real look to keep their perfect home record intact with victory over Espanyol on Saturday and try to make inroads into Barcelona’s five-point lead at the summit.

Real veteran Guti, 33, has been the talk of the Madrid media after his audacious back heel – which has been replayed constantly on Spanish television this week – set up Real’s standout goal against Depor and the club hope he can produce more moments of magic as they attempt to overtake Barca.

Barcelona have notched up four consecutive wins without conceding a goal and entertain Getafe at Camp Nou on Saturday before Real take to the field against Espanyol.

“It was important for us to lift the Depor curse and the league is far from over,” said Guti. “Barcelona don’t seem to drop any points so we can’t afford to make any mistakes.”

Guti looked to be on his way out of the club following a rift with coach Manuel Pellegrini earlier in the season but that now seems to be water under the bridge and the playmaker is even dreaming of making Spain’s World Cup despite winning the last of his 15 caps back in 2005.

Real will again be without Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portuguese striker completes his two-match suspension but a perfect 30 points from ten league games at home make Madrid strong favourites for the win despite his absence.

“Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world but we are a team and can’t rely on one player,” said defender Raul Albiol.

Espanyol, down in 14th, have won just once away from home largely due to their woeful three goals on the road but have a habit of turning it on against the big sides.

Barcelona will be cheering on their city rivals while Real hope their neighbours Getafe can at least take a point at unbeaten Barcelona.

Getafe could be heavy-legged after playing the first leg of their Kings Cup semi-final on Wednesday – losing 2-0 at Sevilla – while Barcelona are rested after no midweek commitment.

The Madrid media insinuated that leaders Barcelona were the beneficiaries of kind refereeing decisions but Mali international Seydou Keita said such suggestions were wide of the mark.

“Barcelona are ahead of Real Madrid because we are better and not because of the referees,” emphasised Keita. “I don’t know if someone’s trying to unsettle the referees with these comments.”

In other matches, Villarreal stand-in coach Juan Carlos Garrido takes charge of the team for the first time in Sunday’s match at Real Mallorca following the dismissal of coach Ernesto Valverde.

“After 11 years here (as reserve team coach) I know the club well and the players,” said Garrido. “I think Villarreal have some of the best players in the world and you just have to look at the national teams for evidence of that.”

A trip to Mallorca is not the easiest start considering the islanders have won all nine games at their fortress Ono stadium and lie fifth.

Struggling Valladolid also got rid of their manager with Jose Luis Mendilibar with the club hovering one place above the relegation zone and reserve team coach Onesimo Sanchez has taken over and must fire up the team for a testing trip to Valencia on Saturday.

Valencia are in third, three points above Sevilla who beat them 2-1 last time out.

That win helped Sevilla move back into the top four and they aim to close in further on Valencia with victory against lowly Real Zaragoza on Sunday.

Sevilla put one step in the Kings Cup final with a 2-0 semi-final first leg win over Getafe on Wednesday so confidence is high.

Atletico Madrid gained a huge psychological boost ahead of their Sunday clash with Racing Santander after they thrashed the same opponents 4-0 in Thursday’s King’s Cup semi-final first leg meeting.

Atletico may be going strong in the cup but languish down in 13th in the league a full 13 points off the top four.

Fixtures

Saturday

Valencia v Valladolid (1700 GMT), Barcelona v Getafe (1900 GMT), Real Madrid v Espanyol (2100 GMT)

Sunday – all 1600 GMT unless stated

Malaga v Deportivo La Coruna, Osasuna v Tenerife, Real Mallorca v Villarreal, Almeria v Sporting Gijon, Real Zaragoza v Sevilla (1800 GMT), Racing Santander v Atletico Madrid (2000 GMT)

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: barca, Barcelona, barcelona getafe, camp nou, city rivals, depor, deportivo la coruna, ernesto valverde, Espanyol, inroads, jinx, Jose Luis Mendilibar, Juan Carlos, kings cup, la coruna, league games, MADRID, Malaga, mali, manuel pellegrini, moments of magic, perfect home, playmaker, raul albiol, Riazor Stadium, ronaldo, santander, SEVILLA, Spain, spanish television, standout, Tenerife, Valencia, valladolid, water under the bridge, Zaragoza

Fran: ‘Real depend on Ronaldo’

January 29, 2010

Real Madrid hopes to sink Deportivo la Coruna to stay in touch with league leaders Barcelona. But they could face a daunting task when they are without Cristiano Ronaldo, according to former Deportivo captain Fran.

Ronaldo received a two-match suspension this week for a red card he picked up at the weekend, during the match against Malaga (2-0). The Portuguese winger was sent off after a stray elbow caught Danish defender Patrick Mtiliga.

Madrid’s initial appeal against the ban was rejected by the Spanish football federation’s appeals committee on Thursday, but the club have now taken their case to Spain’s sporting disciplinary committee (CEDD) in a bid to have the former Manchester United man available for the Depor match.

If they won’t succeed then according to Fran, their hopes of picking up a first win at the Riazor since the 1991/92 season will be all but extinguished.

“It (Ronaldo’s absence) would be key because they depend on him while the others are not at their best,” said club legend Fran, who played over 400 games for Depor between 1988 and 2005.

“Hopefully he will not be here, although Madrid will still give it everything. That’s obvious because if they don’t win, the difference to Barcelona will be very big,” he told AS.

“I think it would be difficult with Cristiano (in Madrid’s team), but if he doesn’t play then the curse will continue; they will go away empty-handed once more. I have faith in Depor.”

Real coach Manuel Pellegrini will travel to La Coruna without Rafael van der Vaart, who’s still troubled by a knee injury he sustained three weeks ago during the match against Mallorca.

Ezequiel Garay, Lassana Diarra, Gonzalo HiguaiÂn, Mahamadou Diarra en Fernando Gago are also not available for different reasons.

The several absences have forced Pellegrini to add four players from the academy to his squad.

Deportivo lie fifth in the Primera Division, ten points adrift of Real Madrid.

Tags: appeals committee, Barcelona, captain Fran, daunting task, different reasons, disciplinary committee, ezequiel garay, fernando gago, football federation, initial appeal, knee injury, la coruna, league leaders, MADRID, mahamadou diarra, Malaga, manchester united, manuel pellegrini, Patrick Mtiliga, Rafael van der, rafael van der vaart, real madrid, riazor, ronaldo, spanish football

Real accepts Ronaldo´s ´unfair´ sending off

January 26, 2010

Real Madrid blasted the “unfair” red card handed out to Cristiano Ronaldo at the weekend, but said it will accept the referee’s decision.

“Seeing the move, he clearly did not want to hurt the opponent,” Emilio Butragueno, the club’s vice president and former player was quoted as saying Tuesday in sports newspaper Marca.

“I was a striker and when you are challenged you want to free yourself.”

The world’s most expensive player spoiled a stellar two-goal display on Sunday by getting red-carded after a stray elbow caught defender Patrick Mtiliga, who tugged the Portuguese winger’s shirt during the 2-0 win over Malaga.

The Primera Liga’s disciplinary committee is expected to announce later Tuesday whether he will be suspended for one or two matches.

Real’s sporting director, Jorge Valdano, described the decision as “unfair and “very hard” as Ronaldo was merely “trying to continue” the move.

“We regret very much the injury to the Malaga player, we accept any decision, but we defend the conviction that we are right,” he told Spanish radio COPE Tuesday.

It was a second dismissal of the season for Ronaldo who was sent off in a 4-2 win over Almeria on December 5 for kicking out at an opponent.

The former Manchester United star said Monday he also felt his red card was unjust.

“I’ve spoken to Mtiliga and he said he doesn’t believe I should apologise because he doesn’t think I hurt him intentionally,” he was quoted as saying on the club’s website.

“I never try to trick referees. I never intended to injure the player. I believe they should be fair with what really happened.”

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: almeria, conviction, disciplinary committee, elbow, Emilio Butragueno, Jorge Valdano, MADRID, Malaga, Manchester, manchester united, opponent, Patrick Mtiliga, portuguese, primera liga, real madrid, referee, referees, ronaldo, spanish radio, sports, striker, vice president, winger

Doctor Cristiano and Mister Ronaldo

January 26, 2010

The best and the worst of Cristiano Ronaldo were again on display in Sunday’s 2-0 La Liga win over Malaga, and his sending off for violent conduct has prompted fierce debate over what some in Spain are calling his “ Jekyll and Hyde” character.

The Portuguese forward netted a superb first-half double to put Real Madrid in command at the Bernabeu but his night turned from glory to shame when he was dismissed for lashing out at Patrick Mtiliga and breaking the defender’s nose.

It was his second red card of the season after his sending-off against Almeria in December for kicking out at an opponent and he appeared lucky to stay on the pitch in this month’s defeat at Athletic Bilbao for a similar incident.

“Cristiano Ronaldo, hero and villain” (El Pais), “Cristiano Ronaldo, again angel and demon” (La Razon) and “Doctor Cristiano and Mister Ronaldo” (Marca), were some of the headlines in Monday’s Spanish press.

Marca columnist Roberto Palomar said Ronaldo’s behaviour had been his “umpteenth act of idiocy this season” and slammed him for letting the team down with Gonzalo Higuain injured and Ruud van Nistelrooy sold to Hamburg SV at the weekend.

“Anyone who gets sent off against Almeria and Malaga with the match already won is a fool,” Palomar wrote.

“Someone needs to sit down with the lad and explain what’s what because you can’t go through life behaving like that.”

Ronaldo apologised to Mtiliga and said he never tried to hurt another player. But that being the case, why did he feel the need for a second backward swing of the arm when he had already shaken free of the Dane’s challenge?

“People who understand football know that my intention is always to try and play. The red card is a disgrace I don’t understand it,” he told reporters.

“I know you saw blood on the TV screens but I was just trying to break free. I never try to hurt anyone.”

There are many great players who, on occasion, have seemed to succumb to an inner demon – Zinedine Zidane, Diego Maradona, Eric Cantona and Hristo Stoichkov to name only a few.

El Mundo columnist Orfeo Suarez noted on Monday that it’s rare to find a good forward without a touch of devilry inside but how far should we accept acts of folly as being unavoidable characteristics of football genius, the angel and the demon?

As Palomar wrote in Marca, Ronaldo is not fouled any more regularly than players like Messi or Atletico Madrid forward Sergio Aguero and there are many players around who have the same hunger for success.

Ronaldo will be suspended at the least for Saturday’s difficult trip to Deportivo Coruna and his latest lapse puts his goal of winning the FIFA World Player Award back from Messi in jeopardy.

Time to see more of the Jekyll and less of the Hyde.

PHOTO: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo reacts to his sending-off against Malaga in La Liga, Sunday Jan. 24. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

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Tags: almeria, apologised, athletic bilbao, bernabeu, Bilbao, columnist, cristiano ronaldo, Dane, diego maradona, disgrace, Doctor Cristiano, eric cantona, hamburg sv, jekyll and hyde, la razon, lad, MADRID, Malaga, marca, messi, palomar, Patrick Mtiliga, real madrid, Roberto Palomar, ronaldo, ruud van nistelrooy, Sergio, sergio perez, Spain, spanish press, tv screens, violent conduct, Zinedine

Angry Ronaldo: ‘This is not a red card here or in anywhere in the world’

January 25, 2010

On Sunday, Cristiano Ronaldo guided Real Madrid to a victory over Malaga. But the Portuguese star won’t look back in joy.

Ronaldo was shown a straight red card in the 70th minute of the match after his swinging elbow caught Malaga defender Patrick Mtiliga in the face.

The former Manchester United winger has insisted that he did not mean to hurt his opponent and Real Madrid will appeal against the booking.

“It was not my intention to injure Mtiliga,” Ronaldo said after the match. “I’m very sad for what happened but calm.

“This is not a red card here or in anywhere in the world.”

The Portugal international said that it wasn’t an intentional elbow. “I didn’t mean to injure the lad.

“It was bad luck to hit him on the nose because he’s only 1.70m and if he had been taller I would have struck his chest.”

The challenge left the Danish defender with a broken nose which will sideline him for a couple of weeks. After the match, Ronaldo visited Malaga’s locker room to apologise to Mtiliga.

“I’ve spoken with Mtiliga and he told me that I didn’t need to apologise because he doesn’t believe I hurt him intentionally and he’s right about that,” Ronaldo added.

“Those who understand football know that my intention is always to play the ball.

“I wouldn’t want to injure anybody. I’m not that type of person. I’m not a bad person. I only want to shine by playing football.

“Now I’m going to be angry when I get home because I won’t be able to play through suspension.”

Ronaldo, as a minimum, will now sit at next week’s trip to fifth-placed Deportivo La Coruna and might be banned for a longer period.

Tags: bad luck, bad person, broken nose, cristiano ronaldo, elbow, la coruna, lad, locker room, MADRID, Malaga, Manchester, match, Patrick Mtiliga, portugal, portuguese, ronaldo, sideline, victory

Van Nistelrooy keen to succeed at Hamburg

January 25, 2010

Ruud van Nistelrooy was, as expected, linked with various clubs before signing at Hamburger SV. His agent said that there were various English clubs who wanted to land the former Manchester United striker from Real Madrid.

“It’s obvious that Ruud has a big reputation in England, but his glory days are over,” said Van Nistelrooy’s agent Rodger Linse to Dutch magazine Sportweek.

“He was at a big club, became top scorer of the Premier League. That will never happen again of course. He had his doubts but he wants to be important for his new club.

“At Hamburger SV he will be in a new, inspiring surrounding. HSV is a big, ambitious club. He will give his all.”

Van Nistelrooy had an impressive farewell at the Bernabeu stadium before Real’s match against Malaga (2-0). “We already noticed that when we arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu,” Linse added.

“The fans chanted for him at the parking, they wanted to embrace him and it was all very emotional. Ruud has meant a lot for the club.”

Van Nistelrooy’s won’t make his HSV debut before February 6 when they face Köln. The 33-year-old hotman has only played 127 minutes for Real and must first return to match fitness before he can make his first appearance for his new club.

Tags: ambitious club, bernabeu stadium, doubts, dutch magazine, England, english clubs, farewell, first appearance, glory days, Hamburg, hamburger sv, hotman, HSV, MADRID, Malaga, Manchester, manchester united, premier league, real madrid, reputation, Rodger Linse, ruud van nistelrooy, Santiago, santiago bernabeu, striker, top scorer, Van Nistelrooy

Surprise packages Deportivo and Real Mallorca clash

January 17, 2010

Valencia host rivals Villarreal on Sunday as both sides aim to bounce back from their midweek cup exits to Deportivo La Coruna and Celta Vigo respectively.

Villarreal have been climbing towards the European spots after a horrid start and Valencia will be keen to move further away from a side that finished league runners-up two seasons ago.

Fresh from their thrilling cup win over Valencia, Deportivo travel to Real Mallorca on Sunday in a clash between the two surprise packages of the season.

Depor are fourth while Mallorca are a point behind in sixth going into the game at the Ono Stadium.

Mallorca have a perfect eight wins at home which has been the platform for their impressive season while Depor’s miserly defence has been at the heart of their success with just 16 goals conceded in 17 matches.

A relegation battle takes place on Sunday when Real Zaragoza and Xerez, the bottom two sides, lock horns at the Romareda.

Xerez sacked their manager Jose Angel Ziganda this week after the club won just one of their first 17 matches and technical secretary Antonio Poyatos takes charge of first team affairs on an interim basis.

Zaragoza’s new coach Jose Aurelio Gay has only been in charge three games himself and has collected just one point from nine as he waits for a first win.

Fixtures

Sunday – all 1600 GMT unless stated

Malaga v Getafe, Racing Santander v Valladolid, Almeria v Tenerife, Real Zaragoza v Xerez, Real Mallorca v Deportivo La Coruna, Atletico Madrid v Sporting Gijon (1800 GMT), Valencia v Villarreal (2000 GMT)

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: Antonio Poyatos, atletico madrid, aurelio, depor, deportivo la coruna, getafe, impressive season, interim basis, jose angel, Jose Aurelio, jose aurelio gay, la coruna, MADRID, Malaga, Ono Stadium, racing santander, real mallorca, real zaragoza, santander, sporting gijon, surprise packages, technical secretary, valladolid, Vigo, xerez, Zaragoza

Bravo for the unpredictable King’s Cup!

January 16, 2010

Spain’s much-maligned King’s Cup struggles to make an impression these days with La Liga and the Champions League squeezing it into a distant third in terms of prestige and matches poorly attended.

But this week’s Cup action served up a veritable feast of drama that more than matched what is generally served up in the other two competitions.

Atletico Madrid’s madcap victory over Recreativo Huelva earned them the last quarter-final berth on Thursday, with a thriller at the Calderon.

Having lost 3-0 in the first leg, to a team in the wrong half of the second division, Atletico stormed into a 4-0 lead.

But true to their tradition of making life complicated for themselves they gifted Recre an away goal and then had a player sent off, before Simao Sabrosa curled in a wonderful freekick to put them through 5-4 on aggregate.

The other second legs were no less enjoyable. Holders Barcelona were dumped out by Sevilla after just failing to turnaround a 2-1 first-leg defeat, thanks in no small part to the heroics of Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop.

Real Mallorca grabbed a 92nd-minute goal to see off second-division Rayo Vallecano 4-3 on aggregate, and second-tier Celta Vigo netted a 91st-minute penalty to humble Villarreal.

Deportivo Coruna battled back from two-goals down to put out Valencia, and Getafe banged five past Malaga. There were 48 goals over the eight two-legged ties.

The Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF) have tampered with the format of the Cup in recent years and I’m not a huge fan of the two-legged ties – it makes for some desperately boring first legs.

The Cup is seeded so the clubs playing in Europe get the ‘easier’ ties against the lower-division sides (though that didn’t help Real Madrid who were embarrassed 4-1 on aggregate by third-tier Alcorcon in the previous round).

The ‘lesser’ sides always play at home first which gives the big boys a chance to recover after any slip-ups, and the crowds resolutely stay away.

But if it’s gung-ho attacking play, goals, controversy and underdogs having their day that you like, it was all on display this week.

Real and Barca are both out already — no surprise these days — which means it’s anyone’s guess as to who might lift the trophy in May. Any one of eight, rather than the two-horse race that is La Liga.

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Tags: alcorcon, Andres Palop, Barcelona, big boys, calderon, celta, coruna, Europe, freekick, getafe, Goalkeeper, heroics, huelva, madcap, MADRID, Malaga, minute goal, real madrid, real mallorca, sabrosa, SEVILLA, simao sabrosa, slip ups, soccer federation, Spain, spanish soccer, Valencia, Vigo

Celta dumps Villarreal out of Copa del Rey

January 13, 2010

Villarreal have been knocked out of the Copa del Rey after suffering a 1-0 home defeat to Celta de Vigo.

Celta only managed to draw Villarreal (1-1) in the first match of the eight finals. The second division side struck in the return leg, although it took Celta until injury time to decide the match in their favour.

Roberto Trashorras’ penalty secured the victory for Os Celestes. Villarreal Goalkeeper Diego Lopez got a touch to Trashorras’ spot kick but couldn’t keep the strike out as Celta Vigo advanced to the quarterfinals 2-1 on aggregate.

On Wednesday, holder Barcelona must overcome a 2-1 deficit when it travels to Sevilla.

In other return leg games on Wednesday, Deportivo La Coruna leads Valencia 2-1, Malaga leads Getafe 2-1, Racing Santander holds a 3-2 advantage over third-tier Alcorcon, and second-division leader Hercules leads Osasuna 2-1.

Tags: aggregate, alcorcon, Barcelona, copa del rey, deportivo la coruna, Diego Lopez, division leader, favour, games, Goalkeeper, hercules, injury time, la coruna, Malaga, match, racing santander, return leg, roberto trashorras, santander, SEVILLA, Valencia

Toothless Real fail to pounce on Barca slip

January 4, 2010

Real Madrid spurned the chance to replace Barcelona at the top of the Spanish first division on Sunday firing blanks in a frustrating 0-0 draw against Osasuna in Pamplona.

Barcelona had dropped two points as they lost their 100-percent home record with a 1-1 draw against Villarreal on Saturday but Real could not capitalize and stay two points behind the champions in second.

It was only the second time Real had failed to score in the league this season – the other occasions being a 1-0 loss at Barcelona and a 0-0 draw with Sporting Gijon – and it was a golden opportunity missed.

Real coach Manuel Pellegrini was without Kaka as the Brazilian recovered from a groin injury so Rafael van der Vaart continued as the attacking midfielder behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain.

With Pepe out injured for the season, Argentine Ezequiel Garay joined Raul Albiol in central defence although they were largely untroubled until the 41st minute when a Javad Nekounam header stirred goalkeeper Iker Casillas into action.

Higuain, with five goals in his last three matches, had Real’s best chance on 65 minutes but a strong hand from goalkeeper Ricardo Lopez denied the Argentine. Real replaced Higuain with captain Raul in a last throw of the dice but it was to no avail.

While Barcelona have a last 16 Kings Cup match against Sevilla on Tuesday, Real can rest up as they have already been eliminated by minnows Alcorcon.

Osasuna have now held champions Barcelona (1-1) and Real at their Reyno de Navarra stadium and beat them both last season in the final two games of the campaign.

Osasuna needed to beat Real on the final day of last season to stay in the league but this season they are comfortably in mid-table lying 12th.

Real Mallorca are Real’s next opponents and they moved above Sevilla into fourth place with a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao as they maintained their perfect home record with an eighth successive home victory.

“We are fourth but we face Real Madrid on their patch in the next league game and it will be difficult to get points there,” said Mallorca coach Gregorio Manzano.

Julio Alvarez scored the Mallorca opener on 49 minutes to open the scoring before Aritz Aduriz netted his eighth goal of the season against old club Bilbao after 67 minutes.

Mallorca are now in the final Champions League spot and turn their attention to the Kings Cup as they travel to Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday for the first leg of the last 16 tie.

New Almeria coach Juanma Lillo enjoyed a winning start as his side clinched a crucial 1-0 win over relegation rivals Xerez.

Substitute Jose Ortiz Bernal netted an 89th minute winner just three minutes after coming on to gift Lillo a debut win after taking over from axed Mexican Hugo Sanchez.

“I am not bothered about the fact that it was my debut but more that we won the match. That was the most important thing,” said Lillo.

“The three points help us make a good leap in the table and see things a bit differently.”

Almeria move three points above the relegation zone while basement boys Xerez slide towards relegation lying eight points from safety with just one win all season.

Struggling Malaga were left frustrated as they twice surrendered the lead to be pegged back 2-2 at Sporting Gijon and stay third from bottom.

At the other end of the table Deportivo La Coruna missed the chance to move level on points with fourth-placed Sevilla, who lost 2-1 at Atletico Madrid on Saturday, with a 0-0 draw at Real Zaragoza.

MADRID (AFP)