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

Sevilla take advantage in Copa del Rey

February 4, 2010

Sevilla put themselves in fine position to qualify for the 2009/10 Copa del Rey final with a 2-0 semi-final, first-leg win over Getafe on Wednesday.

While both sides had chances early on, Sevilla looked the most likely to score a goal.

Adriano missed from close range in the 28th minute for the home side, and Álvaro Negredo squandered another chance just two minutes later.

Luis Fabiano then missed a glorious chance in the 41st minute for Sevilla when he shot from inside the area, but a fine stop by Óscar Ustari preserved the scoreline at 0-0.

But just before half-time, Sevilla found the breakthrough when Fabiano, unmarked at the back post, headed in a cross from countryman Adiano.

The second produced little in the way of gilt-edged chances as both sides tried to avoid taking unnecessary risks.

With 10 minutes to play, though, Mario Álvarez gifted a massive second goal to Sevilla when he diverted a cross by Jesús Navas into his own net.

The victory sets up an intriguing second leg on Tuesday in Madrid when the sides meet at Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.

Tags: Alfonso PÃ, breakthrough, coliseum, copa del rey, countryman, getafe, JesÃºs, luis fabiano, MADRID, mario, Rey, scoreline, SEVILLA, two minutes, unnecessary risks, victory

Benzema double keeps Real in Barcelona slipstream

January 31, 2010

A delightful back-heel from Jose Maria Gutierrez set up Karim Benzema for the first of a brace as Real Madrid, without suspended Cristiano Ronaldo, beat Deportivo La Coruna 3-1 on Saturday.

The win kept Real five points behind Barcelona who had earlier defeated Sporting Gijon 1-0 to stay top of La Liga in a game which also saw the champions reach the 50-goal mark for the league season.

Esteban Granero headed Real ahead after 13 minutes with the game played out in the home side’s half at the Riazor where the Madrid giants had not won for almost 20 years.

With Felipe Luis injured, Manuel Pablo moved to the left-hand side and the defence never looked comfortable especially against the pace of Benzema.

Raul Gonzalez had the chance to add to the lead with a close-range volley before a moment of real quality from Guti.

Through on goal instead of shooting on his weaker right foot, he back-heeled the ball into the path of Benzema to slot home.

Deportivo had their chances in the second half as Real took their foot off the gas and in a late rally Ivan Riki scored a penalty. The last word though was from Benzema who wrapped up the scoring in injury time.

“We went out to get the result from the very start even though this was not a win at all costs game. We knew how to deal with an important match against a good side,” said Real coach Manuel Pellegrini.

“I am very happy with the win because it was in a stadium which traditionally has been a difficult place to come for Real Madrid and also because we played well, although it did get a bit tight at the end.”

Barcelona stayed top after Pedro Rodriguez scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon.

Mate Bilic went close with a header for the home side before Pedro put the visitors ahead with a clinical finish from a defence-breaking through ball by Andres Iniesta on the 30-minute mark.

“This is a good result for us because we played in a stadium where very few teams have won,” said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.

“My only regret is that is that we did not make the right decisions in the final moments of the game that would have made the result a lot more comfortable.”

Sporting coach Manolo Preciado though felt that the free-kick that led up to Barca’s goal was not correctly taken.

“That goal was first of all an error from the referee and then from us but this is part of football, sometimes it goes for you and others not,” he said.

A Luis Garcia strike saw Espanyol overcome Athletic Bilbao 1-0 in a scrappy match to give them breathing space at the bottom of La Liga earlier Saturday.

The home side dominated from the start a match in which injury-hit Athletic were never able to get into their stride.

The Athletic keeper Gorka Iraizoz made a couple of important interventions in the first half but he was powerless to block Garcia’s close-range winner on 58 minutes after good work from Javi Marquez down the left wing.

The result moves Espanyol six points clear of the relegation zone but for Athletic, who are chasing a place in Europe, they have now lost back-to-back games.

Despite only managing a draw away to lowly Tenerife, Valencia are well placed to qualify for the Champions League but on Sunday they face a crucial game against fellow aspirants Sevilla who have dropped off the pace since Christmas after losing three of their last four matches.

BARCELONA (AFP)

Tags: Andres Iniesta, Barcelona, Bilbao, close range, Esteban Granero, Europe, Felipe Luis, five points, goal mark, guti, injury time, ivan riki, Jose Maria, Karim Benzema, la coruna, last word, left hand side, luis garcia, MADRID, Manuel Pablo, manuel pellegrini, Pedro, pedro rodriguez, pep guardiola, raul gonzalez, real madrid, riazor, right foot, ronaldo, SEVILLA, sporting gijon, Tenerife, Valencia

Sevilla, Racing Santander into Copa semis

January 28, 2010

Sevilla and Racing Santander booked their spots in the 2009-10 Copa del Rey semifinals on Wednesday with aggregate victories over Deportivo La Coruña and Osasuna, respectively.

Sevilla dropped a 1-0 result at home to the Galician side on Wednesday, but won 3-1 on aggregate thanks to a strong performance in last week’s opener at the Riazor.

Needing a strong performance to overcome the deficit, and they managed to open the scoring a minute before halftime as Rodolfo Bodipo got on the end of Pablo Álvarez’s cross for the finish past a helpless Javi Varas.

Bodipo missed another chance in the second half when the striker’s header missed the target, but he was forced off due to injury in the 67th minute, giving Depor no chance at the comeback.

While Sevilla coasted into the semis, Racing stormed into the last four with a 3-0 victory at Reyno de Navarra, completing a 5-1 aggregate thrashing of Osasuna.

Xisco bagged the opener after just six minutes when his sliding effort against Nacho Monreal beat goalkeeper Roberto.

The lead was doubled in the 23rd minute when Monreal was again beaten, this time by a Henrique header at the far post off a corner kick, and recent Real Madrid super signing Sergio Canales completed the rout with 12 minutes go with a phenomenal free kick.

Sevilla will play Mallorca or Getafe in the semifinal round, while Racing await the winner between Atlético Madrid and Celta de Vigo. The second legs of those quarterfinal ties take place on Thursday.

Tags: atletico madrid, celta, corner kick, del rey, deportivo la coruna, legs, MADRID, Navarra, Pablo Alvarez, racing santander, real madrid, Rey, reyno, riazor, Roberto, Rodolfo Bodipo, rout, santander, second half, Sergio Canales, SEVILLA, striker, target, Vigo, Xisco

Deportivo´s Luis out to end of season

January 24, 2010

Deportivo La Coruna’s Brazilian international Filipe Luis will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a serious ankle injury in a 3-1 home win over Athletic Bilbao, the club said Sunday.

Luis scored the opener in Saturday’s game on 49 minutes but injured his ankle as he collided with goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz and was stretchered off as his side went on to record a win that put Depor fourth, a point above Sevilla and Real Mallorca.

Luis, 24 and a summer target for Barcelona, was an ever-present last season and had not missed a game this season but will now be out for “four to six months”, his club said.

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: AFP, athletic bilbao, Barcelona, Bilbao, deportivo la coruna, game, la coruna, Luis, MADRID, remainder, SEVILLA, six months, target

Messi quietly stealing the limelight from Ronaldo

January 18, 2010

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has not not been shy in trumpeting his intention to win back the FIFA World Player of the Year award, but current holder Lionel Messi appears to have other ideas.

The monstrously-gifted Argentine has consistently stolen the limelight from the most expensive player in football history with a string of sublime performances for Barcelona in the first half of the season.

Ronaldo has not scored in three matches since Real’s 6-0 demolition of Zaragoza in mid-December, while Messi has netted five in his last two to go joint top of the La Liga scoring chart on 14, double Ronaldo’s tally.

The 22-year-old Messi, who was instrumental in Barca’s unprecedented haul of six trophies in 2009, netted his 100th and 101st goals for Barca against Sevilla on Saturday in his 188th appearance.

That made him the youngest player to reach the century mark for the Catalan club and took his tally for the season to 21 in 27 matches in all competitions.

“We don’t need to prove anything to anyone, not even to ourselves,” Messi, a product of Barca’s youth programme, said in an interview with the club’s TV channel on Sunday.

“We have the same mentality as last year, we want to carry on winning things and I believe we have demonstrated this.”

He said he was not letting the success go to his head.

“The truth is that, right now, as with all the important things that have happened to me, I don’t attach too much importance to them or I don’t notice them.

“I am taking it calmly, in a normal way and with a desire to achieve more.”

The contrast between the gifted pair, as players and personalities, could hardly be greater.

The diminutive Messi resembles a shy schoolboy, with a soft Argentine accent and modest demeanour, while Armani model Ronaldo, 24, oozes confidence and is fond of tearing off his shirt to display his bulging musculature.

With a low centre of gravity and tricky skills, Messi scampers around the pitch, bouncing off defenders, while Ronaldo is more like a racehorse, galloping past opponents and peppering his game with showy stepovers and flicks.

“I have the ambition to be the best,” the Portuguese told Marca sports daily last month.

“By God’s grace I have already won the trophy for the best player in the world and I hope to win it again, either this year or next, but I will win it again.”

Ronaldo has been hampered by an ankle injury this term but his season has failed to spark into life since his return and Real slipped five points behind leaders Barca after slumping to a 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Silverware is key to winning the World Player award and with Real already out of the King’s Cup and lagging in the league he will need a spectacular performance in the second half of the season if he is to eclipse Messi.

The World Cup in South Africa and the Champions League final at Real’s Bernabeu stadium in May would be the ideal stages for him to prove he is worth the 94 million euros ($136 million).

PHOTO: Ronaldo and Messi shake hands before the start of the 2009 Champions League final in Rome. REUTERS/Albert Gea

Tags: Albert Gea, Argentine, barca, Barcelona, Bilbao, centre of gravity, Champions, demeanour, fifa world player, fifa world player of the year, fifa world player of the year award, football history, important things, limelight, lionel messi, MADRID, musculature, oozes, real madrid, ROME, ronaldo, s tv, scampers, schoolboy, SEVILLA, South Africa, tv channel, world player of the year, Zaragoza

Centurion scorer Messi hungry for more success

January 18, 2010

At just 22, Lionel Messi just can’t stop making history and on Saturday his glittering career shone even brighter when he became the youngest player in Barcelona history to score 100 goals for the club.

It was the latest landmark for the Argentine star who has already won three league titles, two Champions Leagues and collected both the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2009.

Messi scored twice in the final five minutes in Barcelona’s 4-0 home win over Sevilla on Saturday to mark his 100th and 101st goals in Barca’s colours and he has needed just 188 games to reach his century.

The Argentine has 68 goals in the league, 19 in the Champions League, 10 in the Kings Cup, two in the Spanish Super Cup and two in the World Club Championship.

Messi said he was happy to bring up his century but cherished the vital goals he scored in finals last season such as the header against Manchester United in the 2-0 Champions league final win and his goal in the World Club Championship victory.

“I remember the important goals, the ones in finals, more than the nice goals,” said Messi.

“Just like the other important things that have happened in the past this doesn’t hold too much importance and I don’t think about it. I am relaxed over the whole thing and just want to do more things.”

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola heaped praise on the modest Messi and said the forward could go on to write many more new chapters in Barcelona history.

“You just have to congratulate him. It’s amazing at his age and it’s in his hands to break all the records,” said Guardiola.

“What we all like about him is his endless ambition. I can tell he wants more. The figures show what a great trajectory he’s had and he’s a great example for future generations.”

The two late goals from Messi against Sevilla made it five in his last two matches following a hat-trick at Tenerife last weekend and he now leads the goalscoring charts on 14.

Barcelona are now five points ahead of Real Madrid in the standings after their rivals lost 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao, but Messi called for caution with the season not even at the halfway point.

“It is an important advantage because five points is a decent lead but we know there are a lot of games to go and it is a long season,” said Messi. “There is the whole second half of the season left and Madrid will be up there.

“We don’t have anything to prove to anyone. We will continue with the same mentality as last season and we want to continue winning things and I think we have shown that.”

Barcelona crashed out of the Kings Cup to Sevilla on Wednesday so they won’t be able to match last season’s treble.

But they are unbeaten leaders in the league and are in the last 16 of the Champions League where they face VfB Stuttgart.

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: ambition, Argentine, ballon, Barcelona, Bilbao, champions league, champions leagues, championship victory, five minutes, five points, future generations, hat trick, important things, kings cup, league titles, lionel messi, MADRID, Manchester, pep, SEVILLA, stuttgart, Tenerife, trajectory, vital goals, world club championship

Guardiola hails record-breaking Messi

January 17, 2010

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola praised Lionel Messi after the Argentina superstar became the youngest player to score a hundred goals for the Catalan club.

The FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or 2009 winner reached the milestone after scoring his side’s third goal as Barcelona clinched a 4-0 victory over Sevilla.

When asked about Messi after the conclusion of the match, Guardiola said, “I congratulate him. It’s outrageous to have done what he has at his age.

“It only depends on him to break all possible records. He has some very, very high numbers.

“What we like most is that his ambition has no limit. I feel that he wants more.

“He is a wonderful example to the future generations.”

Tags: ambition, Argentina, ballon, Barcelona, catalan, coach, conclusion, FIFA, fifa world player, fifa world player of the year, future generations, lionel messi, match, milestone, pep guardiola, SEVILLA, Superstar, victory, world player of the year

Bilbao sink mighty Real Madrid

January 17, 2010

Real Madrid fell to their third defeat of the season losing 1-0 to a battling Athletic Bilbao at San Mames on Saturday meaning leaders Barcelona can move five points clear with victory over Sevilla.

Spanish international forward Fernando Llorente headed the decisive goal after just two minutes and Bilbao survived an onslaught – with Karim Benzema, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo all going close – to hold on for an historic win.

Real dropped two points in their last away match with a 0-0 draw at Osasuna and fired blanks again in Bilbao and now sit two points behind Barca having played one game more.

Champions Barcelona face Sevilla for the third time in 11 days at Camp Nou later on Saturday knowing a win would see them go five points clear.

Sevilla eliminated Barcelona from the last 16 of the Kings Cup on Wednesday, largely thanks to a 2-1 win at Camp Nou, and hope to repeat the trick.

Real coach Manuel Pellegrini replaced injured top-scorer Gonzalo Higuain with Benzema for the Bilbao game, leaving captain and club legend Raul out in the cold once again.

Xabi Alonso overcame a niggle to start in midfield alongside Lass Diarra with Kaka and Ronaldo providing the guile going forward.

Bilbao were far from intimidated, however, and hit the woodwork twice in the first minute.

Carlos Gurpegi thumped the left hand post and the ball came out to Gaizka Toquero who crashed his shot against the other upright from close range.

It was a warning, but Real didn’t take enough notice as they conceded a minute later.

A corner from the left took a slight deflection and Llorente powered a header past international team-mate Iker Casillas.

Real had kept three consecutive clean sheets so the goal was a shock and they responded in the best fashion with Benzema forcing a save from Gorka Iraizoz.

On 34 minutes Real thought they had equalised when Kaka’s threaded pass found Benzema but the Frenchman’s shot came back off the post into Iraizoz’s grateful arms.

In the second half Llorente almost unlocked the Real defence with a great turn and footwork to bamboozle two defenders but couldn’t get his shot off.

Ronaldo, constantly jeered by the home fans, almost equalised on the hour mark but Iraizoz thwarted him.

Real used up all the options with Guti, Esteban Granero and Raul on as substitutes and it was backs to the wall for the hosts.

Ronaldo was denied by a brilliant save in stoppage time and Bilbao held on for a much-needed final whistle.

Earlier Osasuna won their first league match since the end of November with two early goals inside a minute securing a 2-0 home victory over Espanyol on Saturday.

Osasuna had gone four games without a win or a goal in the league but had a terrific start against Espanyol scoring twice inside the first eight minutes through Juanfran and Walter Pandiani.

Espanyol hit the post and pushed hard but it was not to be as they fell to a sixth successive away defeat.

Valencia host derby rivals Villarreal in the highlight game on Sunday between two sides recovering from the disappointment of exiting the Kings Cup in midweek.

Villarreal are 12 points behind third-placed Valencia in the league and can’t afford any more slip-ups if they are to have a shot at snatching one of the four Champions League slots.

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: athletic bilbao, Barcelona, Bilbao, camp nou, clean sheets, close range, cristiano ronaldo, decisive goal, deflection, diarra, Esteban Granero, Fernando, Fernando Llorente, five points, kaka, Karim Benzema, kings cup, MADRID, manuel pellegrini, midfield, osasuna, raul, real madrid, ronaldo, San, san mames, SEVILLA, team mate, third defeat, Valencia

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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