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.
The game was, to put it pretty mildly, fantastic. There was so much energy on display and no one sat back and defended. The final score (3-2) suggests as much, but it doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what this game was like to watch. The man of the match, Guti, wasn’t even on the field until he came on for Raul in the 59th minute as part of a double switch that also took Miguel Torres off for Ivan Helguera.
Quick Hits first before I get to a detailed breakdown of the game.
Goals: Maresca 41’, van Nistelrooy 62’, Robinho 78’, van Nistelrooy 85’, Chevanton 93’.
Red cards: Luis Fabiano 74’, Robinho 79’, Aitor Ocio 82’.
Yellow cards: Miguel Torres 40’, Sergio Ramos 55’, Hinkel 67’, Robinho 79’, David Beckham 84’, Javier Chevanton 84’.
Man of the Match: Guti
Those lists give you an idea that this was not a calm game, but even that doesn’t let you in on the absurdity that was Luis Fabiano’s sending off: he wasn’t on the field. He was warming up along the sideline and got a red card. For what, I don’t know yet, but no doubt the match reports and the Spanish press will fill us all in. Regardless of why it happened, I’ve never seen that before. And then Robinho was sent off after being shown a single yellow card immediately after scoring the go-ahead goal.
Much, much more after the jump.
The Game, from start to finish:
The lineups started out regularly enough, except that Emerson was starting for Madrid, something that doesn’t normally happen at the Bernabeu. The Spanish press has been all over that, suggesting Capello and Emerson have a deal where Emerson doesn’t play at home because the fans there dislike him. Capello’s side of the deal is that he says he isn’t choosing Emerson for tactical reasons. Now maybe everyone will believe him and stop hating Emerson since he had a very good game. It’s impossible to say whether or not Capello started Emerson out of a desperate need to win the game rather than because the deal didn’t exist and I can’t say I actually care.
I wrote myself a note towards the beginning of the game, which I’ve provided her. “The number of Brazilians on the field is very high: Alves, Renato, Robinho, Emerson, Cicinho and so far they’re all playing fairly well. Emerson never does anything highlight worthy (except his goal for Juventus against Werder Bremen in the Champions League last year).
The first chance of the night went to Sevilla, who controlled proceedings early. In the fourth minute Iker Casillas stood rooted to the spot as Aitor Ocio drilled a very long free kick just wide of the post. Casillas never saw it and was lucky that the shot wasn’t on target. Less than two minutes later, Alves saw his crossed free kick headed wide for a goal kick. Those were the only clear-cut chances for a while, even though Sevilla controlled what was rapidly turning into a fast-paced and enjoyable game. Frederic Kanoute caused problems down the wing while Kerzhakov was dangerous down the wings, combining well several times with Puerta, but the final pass was missing thanks mostly to Madrid’s defense.
Madrid, though, couldn’t finish in the first half, with Diarra the main culprit as he blasted a free header over in the 15th minute. Soon after there was a scramble around the net as Palop made several instinct saves and Madrid kept finding the rebounds at their feet. Emerson defied my previous statement as he blasted a volley that Palop tipped over the bar. Beckham then missed a good chance as the ball fell kindly to him beyond the far post on the ensuing corner, but he could only curl the ball just beyond the post.
Madrid then took over midfield and controlled the tempo and possession, forcing Sevilla into a long-ball team. Still, it was Sevilla that got all the chances, with Puerta shooting wide in the 27th minute. Sevilla were beginning to go in hard at all times; Alves was especially aggressive against Robinho, who didn’t take kindly to some of the challenges. I noted at the time that they were acting like a pack of mini-Gattusos, complete with over-pursuit and leg swipes. It wasn’t dirty, just hard playing.
The commentator pointed out that Sevilla won the title in 1945 (their first and only title), which got me thinking that Sevilla fans must hate that everyone points that out any time they play someone like Madrid or Barcelona.
Even when Madrid could get things working, like in the 36th minute when Robinho busted out some fancy footwork that would have left my legs in knots for weeks, but his cross ended up being cleared easily. Every time he begins to weave through defenses, I shake my head in wonder at his incredible talent which I feel is wasted at Madrid in a system that isn’t designed to give him space and the freedom to run at defenses. I believe he would do well in a system like Barcelona’s (I’m not suggesting he move there, merely that the system is conducive to creating running room), much as Messi has enjoyed his newfound status as an icon of the latest generation of superstars. Robinho is often maligned as not producing enough, but he’s in a system that doesn’t suit his style and it’s no surprise that he can’t score as often as the Madrid fans demand.
The game changed dramatically in the 41st minute when Enzo Maresca smashed a left-footed volley from the top of the box beyond Casillas into the net. I personally yelled something intangible and demanded everyone in my immediate vicinity come running to see the replays. The commentators mentioned that it was very reminiscent of the goal Zidane scored against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League final in 2002 and it was, but Zidane’s was better.
Immediately after scoring, Maresca had the ball in the box again, but was ruled offside despite having been well on when the ball was kicked his way. The linesman kept his flag down, but the ref overruled his, well, lack of a ruling.
Right at halftime Puerta “chopped Cicinho in half” along the sideline, as I wrote in my notes, but failed to get a yellow card for what was a rough and unnecessary foul. Cincinho ended up lying on the sideline with the medics until the halftime whistle when he limped into the tunnel.
The second half started brightly as Sergio Ramos fell over screaming in the box as a free kick was floated in and the entirety of the Bernabeu screamed for the ref’s head when a penalty wasn’t called. Replays showed that there was minor contact between Sergio Ramos and Kanoute, but that it was more incidental than anything. A solid call since it was obvious Sergio Ramos was already beyond the ball and he went down far to easily.
I noted that Sevilla needed to get Kerzhakov more involved and that Madrid needed to get van Nistelrooy the ball at his feet rather than looping long balls that the Sevilla defense could track down. There was good marking, certainly, but more creativity from the Sevilla midfield would have opened lanes for Kerzhakov which had been shut down after the first fifteen minutes.
Puerta drove the ball just beyond the post after a nice run in the 52nd minute, but he should have seen Kerzhakov at the back post and chipped it to him. Soon after the ref began calling cheap fouls which seemed to favor Madrid a little, but the meringues were the ones who received the next yellow as Sergio Ramos slid in way, way late on Kanoute. It was a well-deserved card. Sevilla should have had advantage called as the ball fell to Sevilla in a good position, but the ref gave a free kick 40 yards out instead. The correct call would have been to let the play run its course and then give Sergio Ramos a card.
In the 56th minute Beckham received the ball in the box and hammered a shot at Palop and then tumbled out of bounds as the ball rebounded and hit Beckham. Palop got in Beckham’s face saying who knows what, but Beckham merely pushed his hands away and walked off. Palop was talking smack to everyone who came near his goal and I really want to know what sort of things he was saying, not that I’d be able to understand his Valenciano accent anyway.
Moments before he was subbed off, Raul was nearly gifted a goal by Escude who let the ball roll beyond him and only just got his foot in front of Raul’s to kick it out for a corner. Had he not, Raul would have been in on goal and would have certainly scored. Even Raul could have scored that one…
And then the game changed completely, as Raul went out and Guti came on. Miguel Torres also went out, replaced by Ivan Helguera, meaning the back line was restructured and the team began to swing the ball through Guti in the middle. Guti’s hair, predictably enough, is still ugly. I don’t think Raul is up to the standards Madrid sets for its players, at least not anymore. And he certainly didn’t do himself any favors by failing completely today.
I noticed that Guti made an immediate impact and began to run the midfield very well and was just wondering why he hadn’t been on from the beginning when he laid a brilliant through ball between the legs of one defender and right to van Nistelrooy who stuck the ball just inside the post to tie the game at one. Van Nistelrooy is so talented with the ball at his feet, as I pointed out before, and he proves it in just about every game. That was goal number 19 of the season, making him pichichi for the moment.
Madrid were dominating after the restart and it looked like they were going to get another goal right off the bat, but Beckham squandered a chance in the box with the ball at his feet, but I didn’t see Palop talking any more trash. Robinho found more space, but disappeared a little as Guti began to feed van Nistelrooy more continuously and Sergio Ramos began to make runs down the side.
Hinkel come on for the largely anonymous Renato in the 64th and then Alves missed an absolute sitter with the goal wide open at completely at his mercy. The ball was slid across the face of goal, but it seemed that he saw it late and the impossible miss I saw the first time around wasn’t quite so impossible when I saw the replays. Still, it reminded me of Vieri against South Korea in the 2002 World Cup.
Kerzhakov was then replaced by Chevanton in an effort to get more out of their front line. Kerzhakov had been a ghost for the entire second half, but two minutes later all thoughts of the Russian were banished when Luis Fabiano was given a straight red. The thing was, Luis Fabiano was warming up on the sidelines. No report I’ve read explains what the card was for, but surely we’ll find out at some point. I’ve never seen that happen before, so now I’m supremely interested.
Casillas made a great save at one end after Alves volleyed from point-blank-range and then immediately on the other Guti released Robinho in the box and he one-timed the ball into the net. I wonder if he said anything to Palop, but his celebration earned him not one, but two yellow cards and Robinho was sent off.
The man advantage Sevilla had was short lived as Aitor Ocio was shown the red 3 minutes later for an elbow to Diarra’s head. Even then I thought that would weaken the sides for their resulting league games and then David Beckham and Javier Chevantón were shown yellows immediately afterwards, meaning Beckham will miss his next game. It’s funny that Beckham is out after just having his yellow card from the previous game rescinded.
Escude then blew a Vieri-esque chance in front of goal and once again, Madrid responded with another goal. Guti, naturally, released Sergio Ramos into the box with yards of space and Palop did well to get his fingertips to the hard shot, but van Nistelrooy was on hand to nod in his second of the game and the 20th of the season. The effectively sealed the game for Real Madrid and the Bernabeu absolutely erupted.
The crowd was fully behind their team, for once, but imagine if they’d lost…fickle those Madrid fan, that’s for sure. There will be no white handkerchiefs in Madrid tonight. Regulation came to an end and then Chevanton did some nifty footwork and won himself a free kick in a very dangerous position. Three minutes of extra time was already gone by the time he got around to banging the ball into the back of the net via a deflection off the wall. Sevilla were on the attack, but just didn’t have enough time to get that third goal and earn themselves a point.
As it stands, Barcelona are 2 points up on Madrid and 4 points up on Sevilla with 5 games to play. I have more, as usual, on my Barcelona blog.
