Real Madrid 0 – 0 Real Betis
The game ended in a nil-nil draw, but it was an exciting game, with several sure goals failing to be scored by various strikers. Van Nistlerooy missed an easy opportunity and Fabrice Pancrate missed two for Betis. There were other half-chances throughout the game but spotty refereeing (especially at the end) meant what would have otherwise been a wide open run-and-gun game became a little more stagnant. Beckham picked up a red card in the 90th minute, after getting revenge for what should have been a freekick on the edge of the Betis box. Silly foul and a fully deserved red card that will not help Beckham’s chances of playing for England.
I watched the GolTV feed and the commentators, who I’ve never experienced before, were out of control. I don’t know who they are or exactly where they’re from, but they’re English speakers, one of whom sounds as if he’s from the British Isles and another sounds very American. Regardless of where they’re from, they spent 90% of the time discussing the week’s news items and 5% talking about the game that was in front of them. The other 5% was spent on sighing when Real Madrid were in danger or missed a shot, which brings up my point: the commentary was ridiculously biased towards Madrid. Whoever is in charge of GolTV should really make sure they hire people who know who is on the field for Madrid’s opponents. It’s one thing to be able to discuss Madrid intelligently (and I’ll admit that there were times when they were right on in that regard), but to lack any knowledge whatsoever about the other team on the field is unforgivable. Commentators aren’t supposed to be biased, they’re not supposed to be in favor of one team and against the other. And I don’t think they’re supposed to yell “Jackie Chan!” after Ramos nearly beheaded Melli with a high kick.
Enough about the commentators, I just needed to get that out of my system. It’s also in stark contrast with the commentator for the Zaragoza-Villareal game (also on GolTV) who is obviously Spanish and speaking English as a second language. He knows what he’s talking about and keeps his vocal chords focused on relaying what’s happening on the screen rather than who had what for breakfast.
Real Betis have now not lost in their last 8 games. While only 2 of those were wins, this is their current streak:
D-@Madrid, D-Santander, D-Barcelona, W-Valencia, D-@Sevilla, W-@Bilbao, D-Sevilla, D-@Madrid
That’s a pretty good run against highly ranked opponents (they played the top 4 teams in the league table and drew three times and won once), which makes Betis a pretty solid team at the moment. They’re living up to preseason standards now, in many ways. They’re only 4 points from the relegation zone and everyone below them has a game in hand, but they’re showing signs of life and the grit necessary to pull themselves out of danger. Regardless, no one below them looks ready to make any sort of a sustained run up the table: Mallorca, Levante, Bilbao, Celta, Sociedad, and Nastic.
Madrid, for their part, haven’t been doing so great as of late: 1 win, 2 draws, and 2 losses in their last 5. The loss that hurt the most was definitely the 0-1 defeat by Levante at the Bernabeu. Capello needs a creative midfielder, not another striking midfielder. He’s already got Robinho and van Nistelrooy, so he can rest assured that he’ll get goals if he can provide them with the ball. Adding Reyes on the wing was a great call, but starting Guti as the creative lynchpin is foolish. Need proof? Madrid 0 – 0 Betis. Pretty much all the proof you need. No goals. Surprise! Not only that, but Beckham was playing an almost central attacking role towards the end and you just can’t win games that way. Whatever your opinion of Raul (and mine is low), it has to be admitted he’s a better striker with only one shoe on than Beckham is on his best days. Beckham is a midfielder, leave him there. Gago, while gifted, hasn’t adjusted yet to being surrounded by players who are stronger and faster than anything he experienced in Argentina and it’s a little much to expect he’ll be Madrid’s spark. Still, a little more is needed from him than an anonymous game except for the moment when he got that yellow card. That was basically the only thing he did.
Posted by Isaiah 
There are times as sports fans when we must admit our enemies are, actually, really good. This is one of those rare moments. Jose Maria Guti is a good player. Man, that hurts. I just had to get that out there, though, so that I could move along and get to the real issue at hand: Real Madrid vs Sevilla at the Bernabeu.
