Realmadrid News

1-0 : Mestalla conquered; Real Madrid won in Valencia thanks to a goal by Raul

In Spain, a 20-man squad list needs to be reduced to eighteen men by game time. In this case, the most notorious last-minute drop was Iván Helguera, who failed a late fitness test of his swollen right quadriceps. His place as centre back was taken by Sergio Ramos, allowing Míchel Salgado to make his return as right fullback. Quique Sánchez Flores should've probably taken note of Capello's decision; with 15 minutes on the clock, Villa had to be replaced as his injury relapsed.

Speed and inaccuracies predominate throughout
Valencia set a very fast tempo in the opening minutes of the match, with fast ball movement and vertiginous passes as they advanced towards Iker Casillas' goal. But, they faced a rock-solid Real Madrid defence. In the 15th minute, Casillas was forced to save a dangerous cross by Vicente, who had come in for Guaje Villa.

Valencia had more ball posession, but Real Madrid had responsing capacity and managed to intimidate them with two chances on goal by Van Nistelrooy and Robinho. The latter crossed a beautiful serve into the box but there was no oner there to finish it off. Shortly after that, in the 19-minute mark, the Dutch striker had a one-on-one with Cañizares, but the local keeper managed to deflect his shot with the knee. But Valencia still set the pace of the game.

Close to the half hour, Silva shot a ball that came from a missed header by Albiol, but the ball grazed past Iker's post. Real Madrid tried to diminsh Valencia's frantic rhythm by trying to maintain ball control over longer periods of time, but they lacked the depth required to create chances. Both teams displayed unattractive tactical football, but the tension was ever-increasing and soon became an important part of the match. The lack of aim of both teams when shooting on target was alarming throughout the first half and most especially at the end. It was no surprise that this period ended with a goalless draw.

After halftime both teams stepped onto the pitch with the clear intention of scoring a goal and thus doubling the tension of the first 45'. Real Madrid were the first to strike through Raúl, who kicked the ball into the back of the net a wonderful piece of teamwork. Roberto Carlos ran past Robinho down the left wing. The winger dipped it in to the fullback who, in turn, crossed it back to Raul, who scored a magnificent goal. Valencia's defense failed to deny the Captain of the Whites as they followed Roberto's run down the left flank in amazement instead of marking Raul. Stopper Cañizares and coach Quique Sánchez Flores couldn't hide their desperation.

Valencia reacted immediately, with Angulo as their most dangerous man in the box. His best chance came after a bad save by Casillas from a shot by Silva, but the Valencia forward failed to control the ball and by the time he shot, he only managed to hit the right side of Casilla's net. Next up was Joaquín, who after performing a magnificent and skilful sprint down the right wing sent the ball out. One up on the scoreaboard, Real Madrid relaxed their attitude while Valencia tried harder and harder to equalise the score. Fabio Capello decided to replace Robinho with youth playmaker Rubén De la Red looking for more consistency down the middle, where the young player was flanked by Emerson and Diarra. Meanwhile, Valencia coach Quique Sánchez Flores introduced his last attacking cartridge, Italian striker Tavano, who made his League debut.

Raúl kept shining after scoring the goal, putting defenders Ayala and Albiol through a lot of trouble and never giving them a minute's rest. The Merengue number '7' was back to his old self, performing extremely well in every position throughout the match. The highlights during the final stretch of the encounter were De la Red's chance on goal and Angulo's shot in the 45th minute, which inexplicably flew over the crossbar. Still, Valencia's efforts are worthy of praise; they never stopped attacking and constantly looked for that equalising goal. But it was Real Madrid that succeded and pocketed these three important points, allowing them to stay at the top of the table one more week.



Report by Laura Navas
Photography by David R. Anchuelo
Special correspondents to Valencia
Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell

posted by khalidmrrakchi@hotmail.com @ 9:56 PM