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Zaragoza 2-2 Real Madrid: Ninety minutes at the Bernabéu are all that separate Real Madrid from League bliss

The rain was ever-present during an exciting night of football at La Romareda. With many Madridistas on the stands, the fans of both sides could not hide their emotion and high energy. While both eyes were on the pitch, everyone was also glued to their transistor radios as is mandatory when the League approaches its ending and things are this tight. The first piece of bad news came during the warmup when youth product Miguel Torres fell injured. Fabio Capello was forced to move his pawns around, introducing Iván Helguera in the centre of the defense and shifting Sergio Ramos to the right. David Beckham's position in the starting eleven was confirmed after the bad twist to his ankle during international duty had put his participation at stake. The team would surely need his spirit if they wanted to make their dreams come true.

Kickoff was at 21.02. The locals took height from the very start, spurred on by their European hopes. The first serious Aragonese chance came at 21.07 with a range shot by Brazilian forward Ewerthon. It was evident that Zaragoza kept their eye on the ball thanks to their electric and fast-paced partnerships in midfield: Celades-Piqué on the defensive facet and Aimar-D'Alessandro on the attacking front. The first goalkeeping effort by Casillas came nine minutes into the game after a long-distance attempt by the latter. Meanwhile, Real Madrid tried to produce a more direct game, looking for the ball-through's to set up swift counters.

Robinho led his team's offensive pace during this first act. Real Madrid's first shot on target was his at 21.13, but César stopped it. Two minutes later, the Brazilian did it again, whipping a ball wide onto the side netting after a service by David Beckham from the right by-line. Emotions were running high and got out of control for the Madridista fan base when Espanyol's Tamudo scored the opener at the Camp Nou… The clock at La Romareda was exactly two minutes past the half-hour mark and Fabio Capello celebrated a goal that gave the Merengues the lead. But the joy wouldn't last long.

Bad start...
Just two minutes later, at 21.34, the referee called a handball by Iván Helguera inside the box and made his way to the penalty spot. Even though Zaragoza had had the better of the chances, it seemed like excessive punishment for the Whites. The Aragon side took advantage of the offering with marksman Diego Milito coolly scoring from the 11-metre mark. But there was even more room for added bad news: at 21.45, Barcelona's Leo Messi equalised scoring with his left hand. Just before halftime, Real Madrid striker Van Nistelrooy had the equaliser with a point-blank header coming off a cross by Ramos, but once again former-Real Madrid stopper César denied the Madrilenians. It was truly a host of problems and misfortunes for the Madridistas, who still had 45 minutes ahead of them to seal a turnaround on a matchday that was not going their way after all.

...Happy ending!
The Whites were not making things happen in midfield. Lots of tackling but no creativity forced coach Capello to make two very attacking-minded susbstitutions: José María Gutiérrez “Guti” and Gonzalo Higuaín came in for Raúl and Emerson. At 22.15, the Camp Nou celebrated another goal by Messi; Barça took the lead in the game and furthered it in the table. But this time, it was the red-and-blues who had little time to savour their joy as Ruud Van Nistelrooy scored his team's first of the night for the equaliser at exactly 22.17. The cross once again came from Sergio Ramos and the Pichichi made it his seventh consecutive matchday putting balls in the back of rival nets with a fantastic steer of the head and into the top corner of Cesar's goal.

But Zaragoza were no pushover and they kept at it in their search to confirm their UEFA Cup objective. At 22.23, their best player, Diego Milito, finished off a wonderful run by Aimar beating Casillas with a cool, calm, and composed finish. Real Madrid needed to up their intensity a few notches if they didn't want to say goodbye to their League hopes. The physique of the Saragossans started to dip and all Madridistas were clinging on to the furiously-paced endings that the players are treating their fans with in this last stretch of the Primera Liga.

The siege of the Whites began at 22.30: counter by Guti, header by Ramos, shot on target by Van Nistelrooy, set pieces by Beckham, header wide by Diarra, one on one missed by Higuaín… It seemed like the ball did not want to go in and then there was César with a spectacular performance all through the night. It was all suffering but the best was in store for the end.

The string of chances finally payed off: it was 22.49 and the box killer, Real Madrid's number 17 equalised once more following a cross by Roberto Carlos. Just 20 seconds later, the other striker of the night, Raúl Tamudo, made it a final 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou... Happy ending, therefore, as players, coaching staff, and President evidenced when the final whistle blew. With the triple draw by the three sides at the top of the table, things are very much the same with just one more game to go. Real Madrid have a chance of sealing La Liga at the Bernabéu next week against Mallorca. One more final, ninety minutes, and off to Cibeles!


Match summary by Cristina Monge
Photos by Daniel Sastre
Special correspondents to Zaragoza
Translation by Luis Orueta

posted by khalidmrrakchi@hotmail.com @ 2:15 AM