I wish the viewers and readers could see a smile on my face after Champions League matchday 2. Real Madrid downed Olympique Marseille 3-0 in a very mature performance for such a very young team as far as the new personel at the club. It was a complete performance front to back in my eyes. It will be one that I will always remember for years to come. Could this be the day the Galacticos II came together, the beginning of a dynasty? I may be getting a bit carried away but the win pushes a lot of positives torward the white shirts. There are plenty of talking points so let's get started.
So why is this performace such a big deal? It wasn't exactly a pretty first half. The first half looked more of playing for position more than playing for posession. Real Madrid generated a couple of chances torward the end of the half through a couple Ronaldo blasts, the Benzema acrobatic display and the "shoulda scored" chance where Benzema found himself in 1v1 with the goalkeeper. Those were warning shots that forshadowed a wave of goals in the second half, but up until then, the game was very choppy. It had a good pace about it but often times bogged down in midfield. There are plenty of rumourig questions around the Real Madrid back line. Many question their ability at the back. Today was one of the few times this season where we saw the preseason projected backline. Ramos looks to be fully recovered from his achilles injury. Pepe has just finished serving his suspension in La Liga and started today in the Champions League. Albiol has been the most often displayed centerback this season so far. And Pellegrini decided to go with young Brazilian Marcelo. They, as a unit were acceptable today. Of course Marseille had a couple chances but they are respectable side, and even quesitonable sides create one or two chances. It's a luxury to have Sergio Ramos bombing down the right wing again especially when the squad is sporting the 4-3-3 look because when the forwards are interchanging and the midfield is creating from the center of the pitch, the main wing play comes from the outside backs. Ramos and Marcelo were very active and very affective. However, Madrid throws lots of bodies forward which could lead to being countered but thats the nature of their stle of play. Sometimes when Marcelo is on a quest up the left flank, Ramos is already cheating forward, anticpating a switch a visa-versa on the other side. But, when the ball is lost, it's nice to see both full backs, thrundering torward their own goal and tucking in. When looking at the Marseille line up, the first place I checked was up top. There was no Brandao in the line up. Obviously they were not looking to hold the ball but to get beyond los blancos' back line with speed of Mamadou Niang. I seemed to be spot on. Niang was Marsielle's most dangerous player. The French club often opted to play long through balls for him to run onto and when he had the ball at his feet, his first option was to run at players. He succeded a few times . His best chance arose when he used his pace to skip around a mistimed Pepe challenge on the corner of the area and scampered into the box only to be stumped by Casillas who played like a genious tonight. One more point on defending in general I was pleased with was the amount of set plays given away in dangerous areas were limited compared to previous performances
The attacking line to start was enough to scare even Batman. It read: Ronaldo on the left, Benzema up the middle, and Ricky Kaka to his right. So you would expect that the three of them would just run at players, take defenders on and get shots away because those are their strengths. That was not the case. After the Galacticos Dos battled for position on the field, they began to play torward the end of the first half and throughout the second half. I was a bit skeptical of Pellegrini when I saw that Gago was Lass's replacement for the match because I never know what kind of performance he is going to produce. Would I see the Xerez Gago or would I see the Villareal Gago? Delightfully I saw niether. I saw the Marseille Gago that played the best match I may have ever seen out of him. Despite the one give away in the first half in the "Do Not Lose It" part of the pitch. He was a tackling moster and just distributed small contructive balls that glued together the possession. He is always going to charge around from defender to defender applying pressure even in places that don't exactly need it but I've learned to accept that's never going to change. However, Gago was great today. It wasn't only Gago that made hte midfield special today. The presence of Xabi Alonso and Guti were heavily noted. Xabi alonso did a similar job to Gago while Guti wore his creative boots all game creating trouble for the Marseille back line.
Not unlike most of the games los blancos partake in, their goals came in waves. Ronaldo was outstanding a played a key role in all 3 goals. The first of the onslaught came from a simple ball over the top from big Pepe onto the foot of CR9 who tucked the ball away at ease underneath French international keeper Mandanda in the 58th minute. This triggered one of the many levels of Madrid's high gears. Just two minutes later the Portuguese wonder kid found his way into the penalty area near the endline on the left side. After beating one defender, Ronaldo was fouled for a penalty when Diawarra came flying into him two-footed. That challenge ment the end of Diawarra's night because the tackle earned him a second yellow card. Kaka sent to goalkeeper the wrong direction and tucked the ball easily into the bottom left corner. There was one goal yet to come for los blanco's and it would be a work of art and the prettiest of the night. After a series of good interplay Benzema and Kaka combined for a 1-2 which put the young Frenchman into the right sector of the box unmarked. He casually slotted the ball accross to none other than Cristiano Ronaldo who banged in the bal lfrom close range. The goalkeeper was out of position and thats all she wrote because the game all but over at this point. Madrid could have had several other goals. Chances through substitute, Gonzolo Higuain, went begging.
On other notes, Kaka wasn't exactly on top of his best form today. despite scoring from the spot. He made an impact though because he continued to work hard even when things weren't going to his way. Very admirable trait from the Brazilian. It was nice to see a standing ovation from la casa blanca when Fernando Morientes was substituted. I too clapped from my living room. Have to give respect to a man who was a soldier in the Madrid Army.
Overall, this performance could be the tip of the iceberg for what is to come this season from Real Madrid. They are perfect on points in La Liga and the Champions League. We'll see this weekend if the momentum from this match against OM will carry over to the La Liga clash against Sevilla who are also coming off a monumental victory away at Rangers 4-1 yesterday in the soggy rain of Scotland.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading from FTF,
Bobinho
So why is this performace such a big deal? It wasn't exactly a pretty first half. The first half looked more of playing for position more than playing for posession. Real Madrid generated a couple of chances torward the end of the half through a couple Ronaldo blasts, the Benzema acrobatic display and the "shoulda scored" chance where Benzema found himself in 1v1 with the goalkeeper. Those were warning shots that forshadowed a wave of goals in the second half, but up until then, the game was very choppy. It had a good pace about it but often times bogged down in midfield. There are plenty of rumourig questions around the Real Madrid back line. Many question their ability at the back. Today was one of the few times this season where we saw the preseason projected backline. Ramos looks to be fully recovered from his achilles injury. Pepe has just finished serving his suspension in La Liga and started today in the Champions League. Albiol has been the most often displayed centerback this season so far. And Pellegrini decided to go with young Brazilian Marcelo. They, as a unit were acceptable today. Of course Marseille had a couple chances but they are respectable side, and even quesitonable sides create one or two chances. It's a luxury to have Sergio Ramos bombing down the right wing again especially when the squad is sporting the 4-3-3 look because when the forwards are interchanging and the midfield is creating from the center of the pitch, the main wing play comes from the outside backs. Ramos and Marcelo were very active and very affective. However, Madrid throws lots of bodies forward which could lead to being countered but thats the nature of their stle of play. Sometimes when Marcelo is on a quest up the left flank, Ramos is already cheating forward, anticpating a switch a visa-versa on the other side. But, when the ball is lost, it's nice to see both full backs, thrundering torward their own goal and tucking in. When looking at the Marseille line up, the first place I checked was up top. There was no Brandao in the line up. Obviously they were not looking to hold the ball but to get beyond los blancos' back line with speed of Mamadou Niang. I seemed to be spot on. Niang was Marsielle's most dangerous player. The French club often opted to play long through balls for him to run onto and when he had the ball at his feet, his first option was to run at players. He succeded a few times . His best chance arose when he used his pace to skip around a mistimed Pepe challenge on the corner of the area and scampered into the box only to be stumped by Casillas who played like a genious tonight. One more point on defending in general I was pleased with was the amount of set plays given away in dangerous areas were limited compared to previous performances
The attacking line to start was enough to scare even Batman. It read: Ronaldo on the left, Benzema up the middle, and Ricky Kaka to his right. So you would expect that the three of them would just run at players, take defenders on and get shots away because those are their strengths. That was not the case. After the Galacticos Dos battled for position on the field, they began to play torward the end of the first half and throughout the second half. I was a bit skeptical of Pellegrini when I saw that Gago was Lass's replacement for the match because I never know what kind of performance he is going to produce. Would I see the Xerez Gago or would I see the Villareal Gago? Delightfully I saw niether. I saw the Marseille Gago that played the best match I may have ever seen out of him. Despite the one give away in the first half in the "Do Not Lose It" part of the pitch. He was a tackling moster and just distributed small contructive balls that glued together the possession. He is always going to charge around from defender to defender applying pressure even in places that don't exactly need it but I've learned to accept that's never going to change. However, Gago was great today. It wasn't only Gago that made hte midfield special today. The presence of Xabi Alonso and Guti were heavily noted. Xabi alonso did a similar job to Gago while Guti wore his creative boots all game creating trouble for the Marseille back line.
Not unlike most of the games los blancos partake in, their goals came in waves. Ronaldo was outstanding a played a key role in all 3 goals. The first of the onslaught came from a simple ball over the top from big Pepe onto the foot of CR9 who tucked the ball away at ease underneath French international keeper Mandanda in the 58th minute. This triggered one of the many levels of Madrid's high gears. Just two minutes later the Portuguese wonder kid found his way into the penalty area near the endline on the left side. After beating one defender, Ronaldo was fouled for a penalty when Diawarra came flying into him two-footed. That challenge ment the end of Diawarra's night because the tackle earned him a second yellow card. Kaka sent to goalkeeper the wrong direction and tucked the ball easily into the bottom left corner. There was one goal yet to come for los blanco's and it would be a work of art and the prettiest of the night. After a series of good interplay Benzema and Kaka combined for a 1-2 which put the young Frenchman into the right sector of the box unmarked. He casually slotted the ball accross to none other than Cristiano Ronaldo who banged in the bal lfrom close range. The goalkeeper was out of position and thats all she wrote because the game all but over at this point. Madrid could have had several other goals. Chances through substitute, Gonzolo Higuain, went begging.
On other notes, Kaka wasn't exactly on top of his best form today. despite scoring from the spot. He made an impact though because he continued to work hard even when things weren't going to his way. Very admirable trait from the Brazilian. It was nice to see a standing ovation from la casa blanca when Fernando Morientes was substituted. I too clapped from my living room. Have to give respect to a man who was a soldier in the Madrid Army.
Overall, this performance could be the tip of the iceberg for what is to come this season from Real Madrid. They are perfect on points in La Liga and the Champions League. We'll see this weekend if the momentum from this match against OM will carry over to the La Liga clash against Sevilla who are also coming off a monumental victory away at Rangers 4-1 yesterday in the soggy rain of Scotland.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading from FTF,
Bobinho
This is a really cool blog.
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