Moudrid Should Bench Their Bipolarity

This year there have been 2 different Real Madrid teams. The uncertain, unconvincing Real Madrid that has trouble scoring without referee assistance and a fast, powerful squad that robs the ball in the midfield and charges towards goal with incredible velocity over and over again. You could call it the Madrid del Mourinhato vs. the Once de la Alegria

Madrid del Mourinhato showed it's head early in the season, from Madrid's preseason games in July (and narrow win over the LA Galaxy in August) until the end of September.

In October, the Once de la Alegria exploded onto the scene. Madrid started blowing out lesser competition with 6-0 score lines. They were impressive and many, including me, thought they were the best Real team in the last 12-14 years. But then they ran into Barcelona.

Barcelona's 5-0 drubbing of Real showed the weakness of the Merengues and set them back for at least  2 months. Madrid didn't immediately lose to many points - but they should have. There were numerous games when Mourinhato Madrid made the most of it's Most-Favored-Team status with the arbitros. Even in the games that they won Mourinhato Madrid looked horrible. At the midpoint in the season, Villareal was playing  much better than Madrid.

Recently, victories over Real Sociedad, Levante and especially over Espanyol (when Iker Casillas was sent off  in minute 2) made it seem like the Once de la Alegria was back. Now with a new striker, Emmanuel Adebayor, they'd be able to keep pace with world-beating Barcelona.

I don't think that's the case. There are still too many problems in the Casa Blanca (the White House) of Madrid. In my mind if the Merengues want to make a league of it, they need to stick with their best  personnel. Here's what they need to do.

• Always start Emmanuel Adebayor. Keep Benzema on the bench. The team plays much better with Adebayor on the field.
• Keep Kaka on the bench. He's got horrible form and his presence means a valuable Real playmaker (Ozil, Di Maria, Granero) will have less opportunity. Addition by subtraction here.
• Generate free kicks for CR7. His goals from balon parado are crucial for Madrid to get the lead and  keep it. 
• Play Marcelo. Whether as Left Back or in the midfield, he's one of Real's most dynamic players and he opens the field for everyone else.
• Always play Xabi Alonso. No one else can give form to the attack the same way.
• Give Pepe some tranquilizers instead of stimulants before the game. As long as Pepe can keep his cool, the center of Madrid's defense, with Pepe and Carvalho, is solid. When the bald baller loses his head, he's a liability to his team.
• Stop diving and whining. Play soccer.

That's it. I think if Mourinho stuck with the personnel mentioned above, he'd keep the "alegria." Switch it up to try to rotate players in and Real's title hopes will go up in smoke. Every time Madrid has tried to rotate, they've paid the price the poor play. They might win more than their fair share thanks to the refs, but that won't be enough to win titles.

Here's a lighthearted pop-up video view of the acting that regularly takes place in the Mourinhato

Adebayor: Mourinho's Best Mid-Season Signing

Jose Mourinho knew it from the start. He needed another striker. At the beginning of the year, he had the opportunistic Argentine Gonzalo Higuain and a talented-but-lazy Karim Benzema. When Higuain went down, Mourinho must have strung together a string of Portuguese-accented-Spanish curses to make the Virgin Mary's ears ring.

Mourinho had known he needed another striker and now his worst fears were confirmed. He must have made Sporting Director Jorge Valdano's ears ring as well. Throughout the first month of the transfer period, Mourinho repeatedly brought up the need for a striker in the press. The Special One is not shy, so I can only imagine that he did the same in person.

Finally, the executives at Real Madrid listened to Mourinho, they brought in Emmanuel Adebayor and he's been a bargain.

Adebayor has a lot of qualities that make him good for Real: he's fast, he's a big target, he hustles, he's usually in very good position, he finishes well and he doesn't try to do too much.

In fact, his last quality may be his most valuable. Watch Adebayor play and you'll see that in 80-90% of balls played to him, he keeps the play going. This is in stark contrast to Karim Benzema, who is often nowhere to be found or who will blow a clear shot on goal.

By keeping plays alive, the tall (6'4") Togolese creates more opportunities for CR7, Di Maria and Ozil. With players of this quality, that's a winning proposition.

Adebayor is usually in good position, too. He sets up onside with his back to goal where he can turn and shoot or easily set up the pull-back for one of Madrid's fine forwards or midfielders. He's no Ronaldo (Nazario da Lima) and he knows it; if he gets the ball too close to midfield with numerous defenders back in coverage, he passes off and let's Xabi Alonso, Ozil or CR7 advance the pelota.

Finally, Adebayor can score! The tall man has the cool confidence to put the ball in the back of the net. He's not afraid of success. And, with CR7 and Di Maria serving him opportunity after opportunity, that's a good thing.

I'm not sure which Madrid executive made the decision to sign Adebayor, but I'm going to give the credit to Jose Mourinho. If I was at Real, I'd listen to the Special One and sign Adebayor for years to come. Then, I'd start him every game until Higuain comes back. Personally, I think it's Madrid's only hope for a title.

This Is Not A Goal: Real Madrid 1 - Sevilla 0

This is not a goal - at least not when you play against Real Madrid. The referees annulled this clear score at the end of the first half of Wednesday's Copa del Rey (King's Cup) match up in Sevilla. Madrid's 12th man strikes again. They are clearly the most helped team in Spain's La Liga.

A Memo Recieved, Tactics Changed and Other Thoughts on the 18th Jornada.

2011 is here and La Liga is fully back from winter vacation. The return to action and focus showed in some of the games of the 18th week. Here are some thoughts on a few of them.

• After their 2 games with Athletic, some dared to call Barcelona boring. They clearly heard about this in practice this week and their transitions from defense to offense were much quicker. Watch the goals here and you'll see that 2 of their goals originate in (or close to) there own half with just a few passes before the goal. Iniesta's goal comes from a quick transition from defense to offense and a shot from outside the box. This was a much more direct Barca. 
• Fans in La Coruna gave Iniesta a standing ovation as he went off. It's January and Spanish fans still celebrate a club player who plays against them. Can you think of a more beautiful display of patriotism and love of football? 

• Christian Ronaldo,WTF? CR7/9 has 22 goals in 18 games! Your average superstar would be excited to score 22 goals in 38 Liga matches. Ronaldo is a one-man wrecking crew.
• More than any of his predecessors on the Real bench, Jose Mourinho has mental flexibility. Faced with a Villareal that was running circles around him a-la-Barcelona, Mourinho flipped the script, went with 3 defenders, sent Marcelo and Di Maria up the wings beefed up the Madrid vertebrae and took away possession from the men in yellow.
• Can anyone really expect to beat Real Madrid at home with the refs on their side? Penalties missed, offsides not called and card after card shrugged off because Real intimidates the referees. This out-of-balance favoritism damages the image of La Liga and is a disservice to a team with the players and coaching (see above) to win on their own.

•  What would it take to get Villareal to beat the Madrids and Barcelonas of  the world? Would one major star, say a forward, do it? How many Champion's League matches would they need to win to afford that star?

• Does Athletico de Madrid need a new coach, new players or a really, really good sports psychologist? They were beat  4-1 by Hercules and look to be returning to their mid-table ways despite a strong start.

• Malaga is buying players by the dozen - well, almost. Since being purchased by Sheik Abdullah Bin-Nasser Al-Thani of Qatar, they've picked up Sergio Asenjo, Enzo Maresca, Martín Demichelis, Julio Baptista and they're talking about Emmanuel Adebayor, and Diego Buonanotte.  They're under direction of  Manuel Pellegrini and are being called  the Manchester City of the Costa del Sol. The players and coach are here but when do the wins arrive? 

You don't have to wait until Saturday for the action this week. Wednesday's matches include Villareal-Sevilla and Barcelona-Betis. Thursday's matches feature Real Madrid - Athletico Madrid and Almeria - Deportivo.

The season is heating up, here are the goals from the Madrid-Villareal game.

See Soccer In The Movies In Goal II: Living The Dream.

I just saw Goal II: Living The Dream. Despite its wild inaccuracies, it was a highly entertaining movie that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to any soccer fan.

I had seen the original Goal: The Dream Begins but I didn't realize the sequel had come out. Where Goal I is more of a feel-good, poor-boy-from-the-streets-(of the U.S. via Mexico)makes-good story; Goal  II explores the darker side of stardom as protagonist Santiago Muñez hits the big time with Real Madrid.

Goal II also gives you much greater access to the stars of the game and the surroundings of a top-flight club. Steve McManaman was brought on as an associate producer and offered access to the Real training  facilities, locker room and even the field of Santiago Bernabeu. Awesome!

As if access to the players and  field weren't enough there are appearances by many of the top stars of the game. The Galacticos of Real Madrid make numerous appearances with David Beckham and Steve McManaman getting significant screen time. The locker room scene in Bernabeu is highly realistic but awesome nonetheless! Imagine kicking the ball around before the game with a happy Roberto Carlos, Zidane and Beckham. That's cool (even if you're not fan of Los Bancos)!

The game action looks much more realistic than the first movie. Real games footage has been blended with  footage of our movie heroes so that it looks like Santiago Muñez and Gavin Harris are really receiving passes from or setting  passes up for Raul, Zidane, Ronaldo and Beckham.

The on-ball moves might be a bit overdone but the dramatic effect doesn't ruin the movie.

One thing  that bothers me bit more is that real games been re-worked with the magic of effects to be the reverse of their actual results. The opening scene shows Barcelona beating Real in Bernabeu 3-0. It's the game where Ronaldinho earned a Golden  Ball and  Bernabeu applauded his genius. It's the last real game  you'll see.

When Real plays a Champion's  League Final against Arsenal it's actually their first-elimination round against Arsenal from the 2006 Champion's League. For some reason Nic Cannon is added as an Arsenal forward. Real playing in  the Champion's League final in 2006? Nic Cannon giving the Real defense fits? I guess they  couldn't put Muñez on 2006 Barca because there's no way he'd break into the lineup.

Another plus for Goal II is the appearance of Leonor Varela as Spanish report Jordana Garcia.if you remember being impressed Job's girlfriend in Season 1 of Arrested Development, you'll enjoy seeing her here. I'd love to see here in more movies.

So check out Goal II at your favorite movie purveyor or you could probably even watch it (in poor definition) on YouTube.
Part 1
Part 2
You get the idea...

If you don't want to start watching the whole movie on YouTube, here's the trailer. Enjoy!

Real Madrid - Sevilla: This is ugly

The game is still in progress, but so far this game isn't very pretty.

Madrid have made more chances but you'd be hard-pressed to say they're playing well.

Di Maria dived like Greg Louganis in the 60th minutes but unlike most Madrid games, the ref called him on his bull - he got a Yellow.

Sevilla had a shot to go up 1-0 but Negredo missed a clear shot.

Now Madrid is down to 10 because Carvalho got a second yellow.

Despite the disadvantage, a horrible lack of positioning by Sevilla keeper Palop, led to the Madrid goal.

More when the game is over.

Matchups In The Spanish League This Weekend

As we come out of our post-Derbi (Clasico) hangover we've got some exciting match-ups to keep us stoked on Spanish soccer.

• Real Madrid vs. Valencia: (Saturday, 10pm Sp) This should be a lot of fun.
  Madrid is doubly wounded by their brutal beating on Monday and by the absence of Higuain and Sergio Ramos. Valencia is on a roll, having gone 4-0-1 in their last 5 games. Valencia typically score a lot of goals - unfortunately, they don't (typically) defend very well. Will this be an offensive pitch-burner?
• Villareal - Sevilla (Sunday 5:00pm Spanish time)
  A match up of arguably the 3rd and 4th best teams in the Spanish League. Both teams have superb rosters. I think Villareal's home-field advantage and superior coach will carry them to victory.
• Real Sociedad - Athletic Bilbao (Sunday 7:00pm Spanish time)
  The Basque derbi - enough said! Pais Vasco is a small region (or country, depending on your point of view) with a lot of intense sporting fans. They passionately feel their team's colors. I don't think Athletic has ever signed a non-basque player. Real Sociedad has signed foreign players and many fans blame the teams lack of success (early this decade) on the betrayal of local talent. This will be good.
• Osasuna - Barcelona (Saturday, 8:00pm Sp)
  Meh! Osasuna will play tough, rugby-like defense, Barcelona will probably squeak by with a victory. I'm not too excited about this game.

I leave you with this video of a 1984 Real-Athletic derbi until the action starts. Complete with techno to augment the retro action, it's awesome!

Barcelona Vs. Anti-Barca.

When Barcelona and Real Madrid met on November 29th, 2010, it was a meeting of the best team in Spanish football and an excellent team that wanted to usurp that title. It was a meeting of almost diametrically opposed styles of play and football philosophies: offense with possession vs. defense and counterattack. When the smoke cleared, only one team was left standing; Barcelona, with its eye-catching total football, was once again on top - by a wide margin. The reason for this continued dominance is the same for the success of many sporting and non-sporting organizations: the clarity of its ideas and the subsequent superb execution of these ideas that makes Barcelona the world's best football team.

When asked for comment on his victory, Barca coach Pep Guardiola had this to say, "I want to dedicate this victory to Rexach and Cruyff because they are the ones that showed us the path. This is the victory of everyone in these 15 years who has believed in this way of playing. (Quiero dedicar esta victoria a Rexach y Cruyff porque son los que nos enseñaron el camino esta es la victoria de todos los que en estos 15 años han creído en esta forma de jugar al fútbol)." The comment, like the team's football, was spot on.

Barcelona has been perfecting the ability to play offensive, interchangeable-player, ball-control football since (at least) Cruyff became head coach of the team. They inculcate it in their youth team as soon as they can put on a blue-and-red-striped jersey. Perhaps they start even earlier. Guardiola has said on multiple occasions that Barca's players have offensive football in their DNA.

Barcelona always plays attacking soccer and everyone knows it. In case you didn't, Guardiola reiterated before the game, "Mourinho knows what we'll come out and attack them, we'll be who we are: Barça. (Mourinho sabe que saldremos a atacarles, seremos lo que somos. El Barça.)

If Barcelona's style is to attack: Mourinho's style has traditionally been the exact opposite: keep your own goal at zero, the rest is a bonus. He is the master of the Champion's League, where a 2nd match tie or even minimal loss can get a team to advance. No one remembers the name of the general who lost to Pyrrhus, yet Mourinho has elevated the loss-to-advance to an art form. To do this he often plays anti-futbol or extremely defensive football.

The tactic worked to perfection against Barcelona last year. Debate the merits of Inter advancing on numerous questionable calls (annulled goals, questionable offsides, etc.) if you will, but Mourinho's tactics worked to perfection in Inter's home leg, where they outworked Barcelona and lethally counterattacked, and then held off the offensive juggernaut in Barcelona, when Inter "parked the bus" in front of goal in order to lose by only 1 point. Given this tie and others from Mourinho's resultadista career and you'd expect him to try to write defensive football into Real Madrid's DNA. Except that he can't do that.

Real Madrid fans want a spectacle as much as any other soccer fan - perhaps more. They're Spanish, raised on the football of Di Stefano, La Quinta del Buitre and recently reminded of good football by their world-cup winning team. They have an expectation that Madrid will dominate opposing teams with regal authority embodied in their name (Real means royal in Spanish). So, I'm sure Mourinho has had several lectures from management about playing offensive football. To his credit, Real has played spectacularly, with what Guardiola called, "the best counterattack in the world."

Until the clasico, Madrid was the most prolific team in La Liga, winning 10 games, with 2 draws. They scored 33 goals to their opponents 6! They pressed high, got the ball back early and their counter attacks were lightning-quick (I believe I saw one opposing coach say that the counter attacks te revientan, or blow you away). Their defense was rock solid and Iker Casillas barely had a chance to touch the ball. So, as they entered the Clasico, which team were they?

Madrid's uncertainty, met by Barcelona's unshakable certainty, was the reason for the lopsided 5-0 score.

Some analysts have claimed that Mourinho lost the game for Madrid with his tactical disposition and minimal changes. I don't agree. Proponents of this theory will cite Mourinho's errors as playing his defensive line too high and not playing the recuperating Gonzalo Higuain. They see Mourinho's lack of defensive planting at the outset as the key to the game. That was only part of the problem.

It was Madrid's players that failed as much as the coach did, because neither was sure what to do. Mourinho isn't used to coaching an offensive team and his players aren't used to playing Mourinho-ball - either version 1.0 or 2.0. With 4 coaches in the last 3 years, they can hardly be expected to have subconsciously mastered a system the way Barcelona has. This showed on the field.

The Merengues weren't sure how to initiate and maintain their quick strike offense in the face of a team that plays its own offense so well. Barcelona doesn't give the ball back. Once they have it, your best chance to get the ball back is for Barca to miss their shot on goal.

Madrid didn't run and press enough to be able to get the ball back otherwise. The distinct lack of hustle from Madrid was possibly the biggest reason that Madrid lost so badly. The teams that have given Barcelona problems in the last year have left their heart and lungs on the field. Watch Inter's effort in Milan or Kobenhavn's recent effort. These two teams gave Barcelona fits because they didn't allow the blaugrana passing game to get started. Without that effort, Madrid was stuck "chasing ghosts" around Camp Nou.

When Madrid did get the ball back, they didn't know what to do with it. They aren't built to attack from their own goal so much as to counterattack. So, when the ball comes from Casillas, what do we do? Before their players had a chance to say, "Me cago en la puta" they had two Barca defenders on them. And, when Barca got the ball back Madrid was stuck chasing ghosts again.

Barcelona was all to ready for the Madrid counterattack, too. Alves and Abidal played in offensive check all game and Barcelona got back quickly in ordered fashion to meet the few Real advances.

Barcelona played their game to perfection by any stretch of the imagination. It's never easy to beat any team 5-0 - even a team from the Segunda B. Beating Real Madrid by such a convincing scoreline should and will go down in history.

By any statistic you want view, Barcelona played perfectly. Xavi made 97% of his passes (see below), Barcelona outpassed Madrid by almost 3-1, their efficiency on goal was almost a goal every 3 shots. It was as if there was only one team on the field. That's not easy to do whatever the extenuating circumstances.

Barcelona could have scored more. If Messi's shot doesn't hit the post, if some of the early runs aren't ruled offsides, if Messi doesn't get run over by Carvalho in the second half; then Barcelona would have come out with more than 5. It's my impression that Guardiola's disciples took their collective foot off the gas after the 4th goal, too. They knew that Madrid was incapable of fighting back, so they didn't pile on the goals. (Don't believe me? Watch from about minute 65 - minute 90.)

This is a victory that Barca fans can savor for years to come. Will it win Barcelona La Liga? Probably not, but it is an amazing achievement and validation of attractive, attacking soccer.

Will Mourinho's Madrid ever be able to match Barcelona? I think at some point they will. The quality of their players and coach is too high not to mount a challenge. But that challenge won't reach maturity until Real know how they want to play. Do they want to play defensive anti-football, attractive offensive football or some combination of the two? When they reach a conclusion from the President down and give their players enough time to learn that style subconsciously, then they'll mount a challenge.

Until then, the victor and champion is Barcelona.

And, until then, I hope you enjoy this artistic, dramatic video. My favorite part comes at about 4:45 where they shoot close on the feet of the Barca players so you can see how well they keep the ball close at speed. I couldn't like this more (except for the end where the Madridistas turn on their players).

Barcelona 5 - Real Madrid 0: Quick Flashback to 93/94

Here's a highlight video of Cruyff's Barcelona pounding Madrid 5-0 in the 93/94 season. The first, third and fourth goals are courtesy of Romario. Koeman scored the second, free kick goal and Ivan Iglesias made it a manita.

Barcelona 5 - Real Madrid 0: Historic Rout in Camp Nou

Wow! I never imagined this. I've never seen a 5-0 in El Clasico (that wasn't on video tape). Here are a few quick stats and thoughts until I have time to go over this in more depth.

• I could watch the first goal over and over again. Xavi passes to himself with his back heel in front of goal?!?! That has to be one of the coolest goals I've ever seen - from a guy known more for his passes than his definition in front of goal. In 100 tries, how many times would he be able to repeat that goal?
• How amazing was David Villa? He didn't just open up the left side of the field, he tore a hole in it. His assists and goals were amazing.
• Could Guardiola please play Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta together in midfield in every important game? That combination was amazing.
• Where was Madrid? I thought that they would press up high and hold more possession than they did (35% or so). They couldn't get the ball back, couldn't keep it when they had it and barely had an attack worth mentioning. They didn't even defend well.
• In their first 12 games, Madrid let in 6 goals. Against Barca, they let in 5 in one game!
• This is the worst that Jose Mourinho (Madrid's coach) has ever lost in his career! Previous black marks were a 1-4 loss to Man U and two 0-3s.
• How will the Real Madrid player's respond to this humiliation?
• The last time Barcelona beat Real Madrid was in the 93/94 season when Romario was their forward and Cruyff was Barca's coach.
• Josep Guardiola has coached Barcelona in 5 Clasicos - all 5 ended in Barcelona victories.
• Under Guardiola, Barcelona has outscored Madrid 16-2!
• 5-0 is called "una manita" in Spanish because you hold up 1 hand (mano is hand, manita, or little hand, is the diminutive of hand) and it has 5 fingers - get it?
• I've seen this reported as a Manotazo or a big hand! It was a big win.
• This could have been much worse. This easily could have been 6 or 7-0. Imagine!

Here's are the highlights, I'll be back with more tomorrow.

FC Barcelona - Real Madrid: Countdown to El Clasico

Few soccer matches are as anticipated, exciting and fulfilling as the bi-annual League matchup between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Know as "El Clasico" or "El Derbi" (The Classic or The Derby), the match brings together two teams so impressively powerful that it seems like a "Big Bang" of Spanish soccer. The result shapes the course of the Liga to come and will live on in the memory of each side's supporters for years to come.

Few games live up to their billing as successfully as this one. Each side is easily one of the football world's ten best clubs. They could be, arguably, among the world's ten best clubs - of any sport. No soccer team has spent more money signing players in the last two years (and probably in the last ten) than Real Madrid. Barcelona matches the Madridista bank account with unrivaled teamwork, effort and player development. Real Madrid is renowned for their ability to score quickly and fight doggedly to the last minute when injuries, game flow or fortune prevent them from scoring quickly. Barcelona is known around the world for their artistic pursuit of total football: pretty passing that makes its players interchangeable (to an extent) and completely disarms its opponents. Where Madrid players and coaches regularly proclaim their own grandeur, Barcelona players and coaches are humble and hardworking. The two sides mix like oil and water.

This year, unfortunately, El Clasico takes place on November 29th - a Monday. The non weekend date makes it harder for local fans from the burb, exurbs and the country to get to Camp Nou for the game. It also makes it more difficult for viewers in this hemisphere to watch the game because it takes place at 3PM Eastern/12 PM Pacific.While it's not like shops will close and streets will be empty in downtown Peoria, Lincoln or Houston; there are a lot of fans in the United States, Canada and Latin America who won't be able to watch the game live.

If you do want to follow the game live, you can visit ESPN Deportes or on ESPN 3 (formerly ESPN 360).

Despite the lame scheduling, I'm excited about the game. Both Madrid and Barcelona are off to their best starts, points wise, in years.

This is the best Real Madrid team since some of the teams of the early 90s: it has the world's best goalkeeper, an incredibly solid defense, a tough, perceptive midfield and some of the fastest, most-accurate forwards in the world. Its signature star, Christiano Ronaldo, is off to an incredible start with 14 league goals in 12 games - a sparkling goal-per-game ratio that doesn't look to end anytime soon.

Barcelona is just as impressive! The team that won 6 trophies 2 years ago, set a record for most points in the league last year. They're on pace to break that record this year. Fresh off an 8-0 humiliation of (previously tough-defending) Almeria, the Blaugrana look to have armed their offensive trident. Messi, Villa and Pedro create walls and openings for each other better than any other forwards in the world. Behind the vision and tenacity of players like Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Mascherano gets the ball back and opens up the field to the forward's creativity. This Barcelona has the potential to be the best of the last three years!

It's hard to say how a game will turn out but I'll go out on a limb to predict a 3-2 Barcelona victory. I think Real is better than the Inter team that suffocated Barca's 2010 Champion's League dreams but still not good enough to stop Messi and co.

Until the game, enjoy these videos of past matchups.

The Decaffeinated Cup: A Copa del Rey Update

Many of Spain's soccer cognoscenti have suggested that the Copa del Rey's format needs to be revised. The current format doesn't provide enough of a handicap to big teams to make the competition interesting. After Wednesday's results that impression can only grow!

Baby Barça crushed hapless Ceuta 5-1 in Camp Nou. Real Madrid exorcised their ghosts of Copa's past with a 5-1 humiliation of Murcia. Even Sevilla got in on the act with a 6-1 royal beat down of poor Real Unión. There were few results that could be considered an upset.

Perhaps some would see an upset in Betis' elimination of Zaragoza, but despite the fact the Betis currently plays in the second division and Zaragoza is in the first, these two teams are virtual equals. Betis has long played in Spain's first division and has a rich palmares to prove it. Zaragoza, while usually a first-division team, only returned to the top flight this year after a rough patch several years ago. This was no upset.

Indeed few of the big home teams had much to play for. Atletico Madrid had won their away match 5-0, so there was little reason fight hard against Las Palmas. In the end they tied 1-1 in this second leg, for a 6-1 victory.

It seems clear that Spain needs to return to the 1-game format that they used until 6-7 years ago. Up to that point, the bigger team had to win on the smaller team's home field. There was 1 game and that was it. Then, in later rounds, teams would play a 2-game playoff to see who advanced. The format was much more friendly to the Davids of the Spanish soccer world. Let's bring that back.

At least these unbalanced competitions have given us some fun highlights. Here's the Baby Barca - Ceuta palizo, I'll post Madrid and Sevilla later if I can find them.

Real Madrid - Murcia: Must-Win Miercoles For Madrid

Today, Real Madrid has a must-win game in the Copa del Rey. Their opponent is modest Murcia, a team from Spain's third or Segunda B division. If Real can win, they advance in the Copa del Rey and go a long way to proving that this is the best Real Madrid team in almost 15 years.


First Los Blancos must beat Murcia. The away leg, in Murcia, ended in a 0-0 draw, despite the presence of most of Madrid's galatic arsenal.


They play today in the Madridista stronghold of Santiago Bernabéu. As if that weren't enough, Coach Jose Mourinho has asked the Madrid fans to come out and create a San-Siro-like atmostphere - in other words be loud and offensive with just a hint of violence. Whether los madrileños come out with chants or "va fan culo" or maintain their customary respect for their opponents, Bernabéu should be a stronghold for the team in white.


As a means of challenging his team, Jose Mourinho will start a much more "Spanish" lineup than usual. Expect to see Pedro León, young Sergio Canales and perhaps Esteban Granero. Mourinho may even allow one of the youth players to enter later in the game. While some may view this as a "b" lineup, Mourinho clearly expects the bench warmers to be more motivated. It's a good move that should provide Madrid with some fire while maintaining the surpise of a late entry into the game by Christiano Ronaldo or Mesut Ozil.

I expect the lineup changes, home crowd, overall history and excellent form of Madrid will bowl over Murcia. Look for the Madridistas to enjoy a fiesta of futból on this Must-Win Miércoles (Wednesday)! And, as Madrid progress in the Copa del Rey, look for Mou's men to consolidate their place as the best team from the capital since 1996-1997.

Levante 0 - Real Madrid 0: Yawn. Snore. Do You Miss Pellegrini Yet?

After 5 League games, mighty Real Madrid has scored a measly 6 goals. Despite spending over 300 million Euro in transfer fees the last two years, despite having "The Special One" as a coach, the Merengues are providing a very unappealing image this year.

In Madrid's favor, they have created numerous scoring chances this year. Ball possession is much higher than it was last year and San Iker (goalkeeper Iker Casillas) has done so little work that he could sit in goal and eat churros y chocolate if he wanted to.Madrid defense has been stellar. They've allowed 1 goal in their 5 games and haven't looked in serious danger all season.

Real's defensive success can't seem to get rid of the poor taste left by their resultadista play in the league. This is not the Champion's League. Fans don't want a series of 1-0 victories so that the team can move on to the next round of play. The Madridistas want breathless, end-to-end action that showcases the speed and skill of their playmakers - and results in lots of goals.

Those fans that remember last year's team will remember that Madrid had already scored 16 goals in their first 5 games. A goal per game average of 3.2 instead of the sad 1.2 gpg/avg. Last year's Pellegrini team didn't look like they were dominating the majority of games they played but they scored a shocking 102 goals. Everything went in. No matter how much you bring up traditional referee favoritism of Madrid (find Rafa Van der Vaart's volleyball goal and you'll know what I mean), this was a potent offense that was a lot of fun to watch.

I'm beginning to wonder if Mourinho is capable of guiding a team to play successful offense. Thus far this year, Real have taken 105 shots on goal with only 5 going in. They lead the league in that regard with superstar CR7/9 taking the individual honors for futility in front of goal with 41 shots and two goals. Higuain has taken 15 shots with 1 finding the back of the net.

I hope that los Merengues can figure things out quickly because I watch the Spain's La Liga to see exciting, attacking football. If I wanted to watch a scoreless draw that is only broken by a debatable penalty, I'd watch the Italian league. Mourinho is an indisputably hard worker - hopefully his work will pay off soon. Until then: there are still Mou goals needed.

See the poll at the bottom of the page. Until then, here's a clip from last year's Real fun.