Real Madrid CF

[dena]

Drenthe is in for Huntelaar, Ramos said he wouldn't play the full 90, let's see what kind of formation Juande goes with.

[Matieo10]

Hopefully they'll go back to the 4-5-1. Push in Wesley, outwide with Roysten.

[masterbrew]

Looks like Drenthe LW

[Stueo]

It's all Villareal. Llorente looks good

[dena]

Sneijder's ball just then was too heavy, a little better and we'd be up 2.

[Stueo]

I've never liked Raul he seems to slow to me yet he always starts for Madrid. Maybe the coach doesnt have the balls to drop him. Next season when you have Ruud, Higuain and Huntelaar he must be 4th choice

[dena]

Raul may not be as fast as he once was but he's very crafty, knows how to finish and is the captain, he's still productive; 23 goals in all competitions last season, 12 in all 2008/09.

Plus, he's trying to break Di Stefano's record.

[Stueo]

Sneijders shot was bad

[Matieo10]

Originally Posted by denapro

Raul may not be as fast as he once was but he's very crafty, knows how to finish and is the captain, he's still productive; 23 goals in all competitions last season, 12 in all 2008/09.

Plus, he's trying to break Di Stefano's record.

True, I agree. Raul is a legend already...top scorer in the champions league aswell, all-time. Plus, he's only like 31 years old right? I think Ruud is even older, and he's very reliable to have aswell.

[dena]

Senna out, he has a yellow, Ariel Ibagaza in.

Rossi fantastic header after a good cross by Pires, but that's why we call him St. Iker.

And on the other end Diego Lopez prevents it from going 2-0 he's playing very well. Yellow for Gago as well.

[masterbrew]

Holy lalalala what a save by Casillas

[ImperialGendarme]

It is suprised to see how good Pires is still now, his passes are great.

[dena]

Lass out, Van der Vaart in.

Good debut for Lass he's been playing well defensively and showed his passing ability on Robben's goal.

Pires out, Cani in for Villarreal.

[Stueo]

lol metzelder

[dena]

Final subs:

Metzelder comes in with a facemask , Robben out. I'd hate to have to defend with that contraption on.

3 minutes of extra time.

[Matieo10]

The phantom of the Bernabeau

[masterbrew]

Real are really lalalala at defending corners and free kicks, Villareal won almost all the aerial contests

[dena]

Game over, Real moves 3 points clear of Villarreal with a chance to get up to 3rd if things go our way this round. Villarreal still has not won at the Bernabeau.

MOTM: Robben of course, Iker close second.

Yeah I didn't like the shady defending on dead ball situations either, I think it was Diego who went unmarked on the last free kick of the game, Iker would've had to kill someone if that got in the back of the net.

[ImperialGendarme]

Madrid's defence look shaky on set pieces, 2 clear headers should have done better

[Matieo10]

Originally Posted by ImperialGendarme

Madrid's defence look shaky on set pieces, 2 clear headers should have done better

Nothing looks "shaky" when you have the Empire Casillas Building blocking that goal seriously though, that's what makes the difference at Madrid. Iker is in a class of his own.

[City-Slicker]

Madrid are has beens, they will never be a top team in the Spanish league or European cup comps.

[dena]

Originally Posted by City-Slicker

Madrid are has beens, they will never be a top team in the Spanish league or European cup comps.

YouTube - Real Madrid La Liga Champion Campeon 2007 2008 what was that?

As for Europe, aren't we already a top team in the Champions League? Won it in '98, '00, '02; last 16 4 years straight...

[ForeverBlue'86]

lalala Robben's been incredible in the last 4-5 games since his return from injury, we're in desperate need of someone like him right now.

[Stueo]

Madrid havent been past the last 16 in 4 years

[dena]

Juande post-match statements









"We had plenty of chances to score more goals"

Although Juande Ramos believes his men worked hard for their victory on Sunday, he also thinks the team has room for improvement.
“We could have scored another goal that would have given us more peace of mind. The team got tired in the second half. We had men out there who hadn't played in quite a while and others coming off injury. The team worked hard but also suffered. We had plenty of chances to score more goals.”

“Our intention was to play as advances as possible, but in the last two matches our opponent was losing and forced us to move closer to our goal. It does however give us room to work with and seek the second goal.”

“Our most recent matches have been against direct rivals. We have two wins and one defeat in La Liga and a victory against Zenit in the Champions League. Our results have been good, but we need to continue working and improving. We have several days to train and prepare for forthcoming matches.”

“I think Lass and Huntelaar performed well. Lass only played an hour but asked to be subbed out because he hasn't played in a while. Huntelaar put in an acceptable performance in the first half, but he was tired and hadn't played in a long time either, which is why I took him out.”

“You have to play well to win. We want to win by playing well because it's the best way to earn the victory. We weren't able to score in the second half because we played worse than we did in the first half.”

@ Bold: My thoughts exactly, once all of our regulars and the new guys get their feet under them after the layoff I think we can make a real charge at Barca.

Real Mallorca next up for the all whites