La Liga Week 1: Barcelona and Real Madrid Both Lose First Match of the Season
September 2nd 2008 04:42
Something different today – two games in one post. In the first week of the 2008-2009 season, the two Spanish giants fell away from home, following the trend of the EPL and Serie A's recent upsets.
Barcelona's line-up: Victor Valdes; Dani Alves, Rafael Marquez, Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal; Yaya Toure (Aleksandr Hleb, 56th), Andres Iniesta, Xavi; Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o, Thierry Henry (Bojan Krkic, 62nd). Seydou Keyta also came in at the 64th minute.
Unlike Barcelona though, Real had several chances to score. In the first half, Robben missed a great opportunity on a counteratttack by shooting straight at the keeper. Someone should tell the Dutch winger to vary his strikes a bit and go for the far post every once in a while. His 'surprise' shots to the first post are getting a bit predictable. I also think that Higuain was a little selfish during the game. He often hogged the ball, forcing himself to find a shot instead of passing it to better-placed teammates. Despite all of that though, what really troubled Madrid offensively on Sunday was that they were unable to reach either Raul or Van Nistelrooy inside the box for the entire first half. Every attack was finished instead by Higuain or Robben, or Sergio Ramos when he came up. It got better in the second half, but they still had that problem from the 70th minute to the end when everyone in the Whites' camp was attacking. Raul and Van Nistelrooy could get the ball outside the 18-yard box but the inside was like a sacred treasure ferociously guarded by Deportivo's defense.
Real Madrid's line-up: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Gabriel Heinze, Marcelo; Guti (Ruben De la Red, 80th), Mahamadou Diarra, Gonzalo Higuai, Arjen Robben; Raul (Royston Drenthe, 80th), Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
This might be a simple misstep for both teams, but the clubs' respective presidents will keep a watchful eye over their teams' next performances. This will be especially the case for in Barcelona where ex-player Josep Guardiola was recently handed the managerial reins.
Barcelona – Numancia: 0-1
First up, recently promoted club CD Numancia celebrated an historic win over Barcelona. The Rojillos scored early (at the 12th minute) after a defensive mistake from Abidal who left his position only to tangle himself with Puyol. After that, it was all defense for them as they tried to stop Barca's attacking trio consisting of Henry, Messi, and a more active Eto'o. Personally, I think the Blaugrana underestimated their opponents. Instead of adapting to Numancia's tightened defense by widening the play, they insisted on attacking through the middle as if a scoring opportunity would simply come by itself. Zambrotta, Henry, and Eto'o were the only players that came close to scoring in the first half, and although Messi was dedicated to the cause, he didn't seem to use his brain much in this game, relying on his skills instead. I guess the worst part of it is that not only Barcelona lost, they couldn't even score a goal (though they did hit the posts a couple of times). Truly great defensive performance by Numancia.Numancia's goal
Barcelona's line-up: Victor Valdes; Dani Alves, Rafael Marquez, Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal; Yaya Toure (Aleksandr Hleb, 56th), Andres Iniesta, Xavi; Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto'o, Thierry Henry (Bojan Krkic, 62nd). Seydou Keyta also came in at the 64th minute.
Real Madrid – Deportivo La Coruna: 1-2
Reading the previews for this match, I knew it could swing either way. Although Madrid were the two-times defending champions, they haven't been able to win at Riazor for the past 17 years. That already says something about the possible outcome. It was the set-pieces that sank the Meringues. Deportivo scored two perfect headers, one on a free-kick and the other on a corner five minutes after Madrid had equalized. Both headers went straight to the side-netting, leaving Casillas frozen in place both times. Madrid's lone goal came right at the start of the second half when Van Nistelrooy half-volleyed a rebound that came after Raul's shot. Unlike Barcelona though, Real had several chances to score. In the first half, Robben missed a great opportunity on a counteratttack by shooting straight at the keeper. Someone should tell the Dutch winger to vary his strikes a bit and go for the far post every once in a while. His 'surprise' shots to the first post are getting a bit predictable. I also think that Higuain was a little selfish during the game. He often hogged the ball, forcing himself to find a shot instead of passing it to better-placed teammates. Despite all of that though, what really troubled Madrid offensively on Sunday was that they were unable to reach either Raul or Van Nistelrooy inside the box for the entire first half. Every attack was finished instead by Higuain or Robben, or Sergio Ramos when he came up. It got better in the second half, but they still had that problem from the 70th minute to the end when everyone in the Whites' camp was attacking. Raul and Van Nistelrooy could get the ball outside the 18-yard box but the inside was like a sacred treasure ferociously guarded by Deportivo's defense.
Real Madrid - Deportivo La Coruna goals
Real Madrid's line-up: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Gabriel Heinze, Marcelo; Guti (Ruben De la Red, 80th), Mahamadou Diarra, Gonzalo Higuai, Arjen Robben; Raul (Royston Drenthe, 80th), Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
This might be a simple misstep for both teams, but the clubs' respective presidents will keep a watchful eye over their teams' next performances. This will be especially the case for in Barcelona where ex-player Josep Guardiola was recently handed the managerial reins.
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Comment by charles
FanFootball
ZCars
Ponderous
Not a start to the season either teams would've hoped for but it's still very early times. Is Henry being played out on the left wing?
Comment by Ann 2
Muzikal Mafia
Canadiens Watch
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