Atletico de Madrid had a roaring start to the season, winning the European Cup Winner's Cup (between the winner of the Champion's League and the Europa League)and their first Liga match with in a 4-0 drubbing of Sporting de Gijon. They stayed in first place for the next jornada but ran into Barcelona in week 3. Since then they've had an up-and-down season - but it's been mostly down.
Atletico has recently lost to bottom of habitual bottom dwellers Levante and Alemeria. They're on the verge of elimination in the Europa League too, where they face group-leader (and second in the Bundesliga) Bayern Leverkusen. To advance, they need to tie their way game at Leverkusen while Aris loses at home. So why are they suffering so much?
Atletico de Madrid has an amazing squad. Forlan, Aguero, Simao, Tiago, Reyes, Raul Garcia, Fran Merida, Ujfalusi, Perea, Filipe Luis, Godin and De Gea are all high-quality players. Many of them feature on their national teams and Forlan just picked up his Golden Ball from the World Cup.
Atletico's coach, Quique Sanchez Flores, has a proven track record of success, having taken Valencia to third in the league and deep into the Champion's League. So why the bad recent results.
I'm not sure what caused their recent downward run but they looked good against Deportivo. The game was open where apparently nothing was challenged in the midfield (at least in the second half). Atletico and Deportivo traded runs.
Atletico had more inspiration though. Kun Aguero scored 2 spectacular goals to take the colchoneros to victory. I hope Kun is back because he's a spectacular talent. If he gets his act together, this team can be amazing.
C'mon Atletico, mount a challenge.
Here are the highlights:
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
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.
Friday, December 3, 2010
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).
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).
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Best Goal Tournament: Messi vs. Ronaldo
The voting is over and done with but this is a fun site. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more of these tournament-format best goal competitions. Perhaps a few with historical goals.
http://www.terra.com/deportes/videos-goles-ronaldo-vs-messi/?PPC=google_deportes/ronaldomessi
http://www.terra.com/deportes/videos-goles-ronaldo-vs-messi/?PPC=google_deportes/ronaldomessi
Monday, November 29, 2010
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!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
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.
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.
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