La Liga Campaign

[Rickster]

i wud rather solari than guti

midfiled, gravesan, solari, becks(of coarse u must hav him his been playin well), zidane

guti doesnt have enuf match practice meaning hes not been a consistent starter or to come off the bench... he only gets like last 10 mins or 5 mins no doubt solari also has the same but i tink solari has proved it, like the game he scored n stuff like tat

[btha]

i too hope solari will start in place of figo, guti has no place on the wing instead of figo

[Leon of Silvren]

I also prefer Solari over Guti on the left flank, but is not yet known if he's able to play a full match.....and starting without Figo can be good, because Perez will be ble to see how the team does without him and how bad it needs him.

And winning the 7th game in a row will be an extra morale boost, even more now that we're getting closer to Barca.

[icy55]

yeah.. i now rumoured that figo would be gone.. i am sooooooooooo sad.. how can real make a stupid decision. actually to be honest with ya, i supported real whole heartedly because of figo... now that he is going to leave real, i cannot accept it. :(

[Rickster]

i heard that figo confirmed he wanted a move to england

[Balmung]

i heard that figo confirmed he wanted a move to england

Screw Sachhi, Perez and co for letting him go.

Mmm, the line-up against Ossasuna would most prolly be like this :

GK : Casilas
RB : Salgado
CB : Samuel
CB : Helguera
LB : Carlos
CDM : Gravesen
RAM : Beckham
LAM : Solari
CAM : Zidane
ST : Raul
ST : Ronnie

Zidane moves into central attacking midfield role, Solari takes left and Gravesen comes in as holding midfielder.

[RonaldoD08]

Screw Sachhi, Perez and co for letting him go.

Mmm, the line-up against Ossasuna would most prolly be like this :

GK : Casilas
RB : Salgado
CB : Samuel
CB : Helguera
LB : Carlos
CDM : Gravesen
RAM : Beckham
LAM : Solari
CAM : Zidane
ST : Raul
ST : Ronnie

Zidane moves into central attacking midfield role, Solari takes left and Gravesen comes in as holding midfielder.

This line up without Figo is pretty good but the idea of Figo leaving is just sad... :depressed

[Rickster]

i wud do the same lineup

[Leon of Silvren]

Without Figo the line-up certainly look different.....

[Rickster]

not relly. he is replaceable with solari.

talking about worldclass players retiring. u know i would rather an old worldclass player to retire when hes played at his best rather than retiring when hes old n not playing well like david seaman.

sooner or later they have to retire, pele, maradonna, the worlds greatest retire.

i tink dennis bergkamp shud retire at the end of this season. at least when he retires he knows hes played his last season very well, n every1 can applaud.

dunt get me wrong, i wud liek figo to stay

[Leon of Silvren]

I never said he was not replaceable, I just said that the line-up looks different without him, and of course I know everyone has to retire, but is sad seeing how a legend like Figo leaves.....

[RonaldoD08]

I would really like him to retire with us ...
Just like the rest of the stars - Ronaldo, Zidane, Raul, Roberto Carlos, Casillas, Beckham and maybe Owen

[RonaldoD08]

at least let's hope that they give us some championships before they leave...

[Lance Knight]

and another legend dies

[Rickster]

yes i wud like figo to retire wif us. n retire next yr. i rather let him have a good year of football then retire. not like david seaman tryin to play until hes a old fart

[RonaldoD08]

and another legend dies

noone is dead yet...
what do you mean?

[Leon of Silvren]

Well I guess he means he's dead for us....in couple of years that is. (or maybe this summer, let's not hope that)

[RonaldoD08]

Well I guess he means he's dead for us....in couple of years that is. (or maybe this summer, let's not hope that)

The main point of a legend is that it never dies. I don't get it.

[Lance Knight]

yea

[Boko]

I would really like him to retire with us ...
Just like the rest of the stars - Ronaldo, Zidane, Raul, Roberto Carlos, Casillas, Beckham and maybe Owen

[Boko]

Yeah me too but if we keep them for 3 years more than Real will look like scrap of old pensioners. A squad of 5 or 6 players older than 31/2 is really miserable despite of them being superstars in the near past, I don't think they'll be able to play evan a half with the spirit they're playing today. There's no doubt that club legends must end their careers with the club they've played important role in but this can't happend for all players because we will get in the above mentioned situation :( For real this can happen only for Zidane and Raul ( they are the ones for Perez ) and maybe Guti because Carlos is already been pushed to go i think and he wants to go to Brazil fo 1 or 2 seasons more ( it will be better for him ). So this is the disadvantage of having many stars there's a moment when you must say goodbye to some of them and replace them with new. Noone is immortal (only in memories) and it will be better for the rest to go and play than warming the bench and receiving people's sympathy :(

[btha]

Yeah me too but if we keep them for 3 years more than Real will look like scrap of old pensioners. A squad of 5 or 6 players older than 31/2 is really miserable despite of them being superstars in the near past, I don't think they'll be able to play evan a half with the spirit they're playing today. There's no doubt that club legends must end their careers with the club they've played important role in but this can't happend for all players because we will get in the above mentioned situation :( For real this can happen only for Zidane and Raul ( they are the ones for Perez ) and maybe Guti because Carlos is already been pushed to go i think and he wants to go to Brazil fo 1 or 2 seasons more ( it will be better for him ). So this is the disadvantage of having many stars there's a moment when you must say goodbye to some of them and replace them with new. Noone is immortal (only in memories) and it will be better for the rest to go and play than warming the bench and receiving people's sympathy :(
well said

[Rickster]

ronnie pls stay on

[Leon of Silvren]

Bad news.....Figo is injured, he wouldn't play either way, but is worst having him injured, he has something which I can't translate....

[lallan]

Yes hopefully Figo will be fit 4 next game, he is very crucial 4 the team.

osasuna will give us a tough time but i hope we win it.......

[icy55]

yeah... pls let him get well by the next match.. we need him

[Leon of Silvren]

Osasuna plays a very physical game, violent tackles, agressiveness, etc. What we should do is avoid physical game as much as we can, and play a fast passing game and try to win the ball posesion, long passes could be key points too.

I think the formation should be Gravesen in the centre, Solari on the left, Becks on the right and Zizou just behind Ronaldo and Owen, but there are especulations that Guti could start instead of Solari (I don't know how's his knee) and play in the centre with Gravesen, and Raul will probably start over Owen.

I think it'll be a tough game, but in the end we will end as winners, 2-0 maybe.

[Leon of Silvren]

Convocatory:

Porteros: Casillas y César.

Defensas: Helguera, Samuel, Roberto Carlos, Salgado, Pavón y Raúl Bravo.

Centrocampistas: Guti, Gravesen, Solari, Celades, Zidane, Borja y Beckham.

Delanteros: Ronaldo, Raúl, Owen y Portillo.

No convocados: Figo (sancionado y lesionado), Woodgate (lesionado) y MejÃ*a (decisión técnica),

[lallan]

very tough game but no matter what we musn't lose........

ronaldo underwent extensive training since his return from brazil so hopefully he will be in good shape 4 2day, we need him 2 be in top form desperately, hopefully raul will have his touch from last game, and if zidane played as well as he did against real mallorca we can definitely win.........

NO RHOMBUS, it will be 2 risky, we have 2 play with 2 DMs, Gravesen & Guti.

[Rickster]

i dint watch the starting, so i duno the formations.... but we totally played crap. we dint deserve a win. it was shittiest game we've played... mayb due to the weather, but it sucked ass

tis game shows we still need figo.. so renew his contract for a yr.

i dunt understyand y we started guti, he played crap too. y dint we play solari who works harder so muych harder n we signed him a new contract, wats the point of signing a contract when in situations like tis we dunt play him. solari gave faith in us, we shud give back the same. n when solari came on he played so much better than guti.

other point is where was owen. why dint he start earlier. or even on the field.

raul played so crap. he had tat scoring opportunity from 3 yrds away n one on one wit keeper n yet he cudnt score. n the whole game he dint do nthing anyway.

helguera plays so badly its unbelievable. n samuel being worldclass, hmmm.. i rather laff at that statement. both of them keep goin upfield n they make mistakes when they commit themselves like that, n one1 is bak cos carlos n salgado have gone forward. they shudnt be tryin to win tackles in midfield, tat is where gravesan is suppose to win them... especially helguera who always makes mistakes

[Becks]

How could anyone CONSIDER getting rid of Owen when he is playing like he is!

[Leon of Silvren]

Agreed, no one should doubt about Owen, he's a key player for us, and coming from the bench.

The game was not very good by our side, it started really bad, 15 minutes of constant presure, we were choking, and we were lucky that the goal didn't fall at that time. After the 15-20 minutes, we started to balance, but still not playing such a good game, and when we were playing the better, we conceed a goal by mistake of Helguera (Luxa really needs to do somthing about this guy, he's making too many mistakes).

The second time were better, Osasuna were tired and we started to dominate the game, but nor at this point, we didn't played such a good game, probably because of the weather, the condition of the field and the strong game of Osasuna.

The goals were very lucky, both were fair (no offside), but I think we deserved it because the team didn't give up at any time.

The referee was lame, rough fouls weren't called, and fair plays were called as fouls, he showed no character, althought it had some mistakes that favoured us, his appearance left so much to wish.

Team rating: 4
Man of the match: Samuel

[Becks]

Samuel finally gets a man of the match! lol.
What is this, 8 matches unbeaten now?

[Leon of Silvren]

Is 7.

And I think it was Samuel because he made some good tackles, and also he was the reason of why Osasuna couldn't score more because Helguera was awful. Besides, everyone played bad....

[RonaldoD08]

Agreed, no one should doubt about Owen, he's a key player for us, and coming from the bench.

The game was not very good by our side, it started really bad, 15 minutes of constant presure, we were choking, and we were lucky that the goal didn't fall at that time. After the 15-20 minutes, we started to balance, but still not playing such a good game, and when we were playing the better, we conceed a goal by mistake of Helguera (Luxa really needs to do somthing about this guy, he's making too many mistakes).

The second time were better, Osasuna were tired and we started to dominate the game, but nor at this point, we didn't played such a good game, probably because of the weather, the condition of the field and the strong game of Osasuna.

The goals were very lucky, both were fair (no offside), but I think we deserved it because the team didn't give up at any time.

The referee was lame, rough fouls weren't called, and fair plays were called as fouls, he showed no character, althought it had some mistakes that favoured us, his appearance left so much to wish.

Team rating: 4
Man of the match: Samuel

Helguera has always been bad. This is nothing new. Actually he has been playing pretty good cause he didn't score any O.G

[lallan]

why so harsh on helguera? at the end who gave real 3 points? he scored and every mistake he did should be ignored because of that, the 3 points were so important and we didnt win there 4 years, and even if helguera makes mistakes, he is doing a good overall job, he is filling in 4 woodgate and real's defense is 1 of the strongest in the league(yes i know casillas plays a major part there but still)...........

solari made a huge difference with his dribbling and fast running, figo was surely missed, zidane couldnt play because he was being tackled like crazy, ronaldo was clearly thinking about his wedding 2day.....own is the man 4 sure, whats sad is i didnt see raul running after him after he scored.......

casillas saved some 100% goals again, that valdo plays better against real. and i agree with leon, its very good we didnt conceed any goal in the 1st minutes or else they would have scored more.

whats important is the 3 points and we got it

[lallan]

whats with roberto carlos and athletic bilbao? in the 1st round he couldnt play them because of injury now he is suspended and wont play them again, we need him so much, he doesnt play means the left side is exposed because none other than raul bravo will play, i say put pavon or mejia there and they would play better than him..........he makes so many mistakes passing the ball 4ward.......

[Leomusic24]

Hi everyone, i'm a fan of RM too and i just joined this forum. And yes it was a relief to have won against Osasuna yesterday.
Anyway, i'm writing from Jakarta, Indonesia. I'm looking forward to go to S.Bernebeu to watch a match live - this will be my dream-holiday!!! Any advice on "How i can get the tickets" & "Hotel near the Stadium"???
Thanks in advance for any kind of replies. Looking forward to hearing from you guys & All The Way Real Madrid!!! ~ Leo

[Lance Knight]

welcome dude

[Rickster]

helguera,,, i juz duno.. the worst time was during the championsleague bout 2 yrs ago when hierro n helguera were defending... nightmare. firstly hierro n helguera were defensive midfielders. hierro was slow n had no sense of workrate n both of them made so many mistakes...

to tink bout it samuel is exactly like hierro at the end of his career. both of them slow n make mistakes. n i still dunt understand y sameul is makin challenges in midfield. that is where gravesan is suppose to be stoppin the balls there.

raul has been so inconsistent too. he scores 2 goals n then he doesnt do it n has a massive 3 to 4 games drought in goals. i duno whether its confidence or wat. i saw him play the first game last year with carlos quieroz against valladolid n he was magnificent.. even better than ronaldo scoring 3 goals n his goals were spectacular. now he seems so diffirent.... (mayb its his hairstyle that jinx him :))

our first goal was actually lucky... raul went down too easy.

when every1 talks bout figo leavin i remember hierro leaving... so sad... he had been there all his life n then he goes to al qatar club. hierro was a unsung hero.


i forgot to add that raul is a prowler, he picks up loose balls inside the box... n tat time seeing him shoot from 3yrds out n owen scoring makde me tink he has lost confidence or sumting. tis is the time where raul is suppose to score 100%. i juz duno... i hope he scores in bilbao. mayb he shud start on the bench so it will make him tink tat he needs to work even harder... n not juz by makin him captain its gona b awite. it will be difficult for lux to make tis decision to bench him not only cos for sum reason he always starts, but also bcos carlos is out meaning one less key player

oh yes wat bout figo is he alrite for next game?

[btha]

actually it's 7 WINS in a row, not 7 unbeaten games in a row.

Still, the game was quite lame, solari should defenetly have started.

I'm also getting very sick of Raul, he never performs. Even in that game where he scored those 2 goals they were both just tap-ins, nothing impressive.
Him and guti were both pretty much invisble the entire game. Guti maybe just had a bad day but this has been a bad SEASON for Raul, he's invisible in every single game i've watched so far, it's time to rest him and let owen start for a few games in a row and see how he performs.

[Lallou]

Very disappointing game, yes we won but we did not deserve that win. I actually felt a little bad for Osasuna, they were the dominate side throughtout the entire match, thank God we won, I mean God knows how much we need the 3 pionts.
Alot of yellow cards were given, Gravesen, Salgado, Carlos. And from Osasuna Punal, Josetxo, Garcia, Delprote, and Clavero. (Did I forget anyone?).
Like Btha said the goals were just 'tap-ins' nothing special at all.
I predicted a 2-1 win for us but I also predicted a better performance than that. Osasuna should have never been taken lightly. They're a good team and always manage to give a good performance especially agaisnt Madrid. And Madrid are known to struggle abit in front of them.

[MikeBruski]

Hey guys.
I just joined after lurking for a good month.
I'm Madridista # 335.634 since April 2004, and a HUGE Real Madrid Fan.
I'm a sports journalist who mainly writes about Mohamed Zidan at EgyptianPlayers.com (http://www.egyptianplayers.com) , because i used to know im personally. He looks like Ronaldo, and sounds like Zizou :silly:
Check clips of him in the Multimedia section if youre interested...he's amazing, and his biggest dream is to play for Real..( who's isnt? :cool: )

Anyway, :
owen is the man 4 sure, whats sad is i didnt see raul running after him after he scored.......

Yes indeed... I noticed that during the game, and also on the replays..
Like Here in the Osasuna Clip (http://www.realmadridfans.net/videos.htm) notice how as soon as Owen scores, Raul is completely indifferent to there being a goal scored.. a very strange reaction considering a loss was NOT AN OPTION for them.. Then, when Owen runs off to celebrate and do his classic "jump-in-air-dragonpunch" celebration, everyone folows him, EXCEPT Raul, who is the only one running on the other side of the pitch. Check the clip and see yourself..

I don't know wheter its jalousy that Owen has scored more than him even though he plays less than half the amount of minutes as Raul does, but it's a crappy attitude.
I feel Raul is very overrated. He's lost his spark, his hunger.. he's won everything there is to win in La Liga and CL, and he just doesn't care anymore.. remember in the late 90's when he did the most amazing dribbles past the defence and gently slotted the ball surgically into the net?
He never does that anymore, and when he DOES score, it's a lucky tap in.

I look at him as Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who is just always upfront and never bothers doing anything else (and so, i hate him) but the difference is that Ruud actually knows how to score goals...

Raul should be on the bench next game, no doubt about it.

As for Ronaldo, he doesn't care anymore either.. he just waddles around, not giving the extra 10%, but just waiting for a lucky pass...

Owen is ALWAYS running, always in motion, and always giving 110% for Real. He's not a great technical player, and he's very short, but he makes up for that in speed and determination..
His goal for Zaragoza for 3-1 (http://pujan.neostrada.pl/bramki/Madrid%20-%20Zaragoza%20Owen%203-1.avi) is one of the best technical goals though, and that ball has more spin than Roberto Carlos's intelligent Bomb freekick against France...
and his goal against Real Sociedad which was won 3-2 (http://www.realmadridsite.com/goles/liga/jornada17_owen.avi) also proves why he should be a permanent starter.. He's the smallest player, yet he's the one who jumps over everyone and heads in the goal..He stands at the corect position, like he's anticipating the ball there... Look at Raul who runs around like a headless chicken, and again, after Owen scores, his reaction is strangely muted compared to the other players..
And yes, i KNOW Raul scored in that match too, but again, an easy tap in that anyone could have scored on, even Butrogueño in his business suit..

Beckham is getting better with every match.. And although Real didn't play their best game at Osasuna, they showed what in the end seperates Champions from midtable teams.. the determination and heart to fight on untill the last minute.. The Real Madrid of the 2004 fall would have folded and lost the game..
Can't wait till Figo is back, he was missed.

But I was thinking about this thing:
Lets' say that Owen starts for Raul next game.. then the co-captain is Roberto Carlos.. he's out with a suspencion.. so that leaves Guti as the captain, but where will he play if Figo is back? clearly he won't take Gravesens place, as with Roberto Carlos's absence, the Real defense is more vulverable and Guti isn't a defensive player per say. so that leaves Zizou, Becks, Figo and Graver in midfield, and who will then be captain?

And is Raul Bravo fit? although i think he is too unpredictable and makes many stupid mistakes.. Maybe Pavon?

[icy55]

i say make figo or zizou the cap.. they deserve it.. they can control the team, organise it and yet still concentrate on wat they do.. somehow i feel that figo would be a better option, he has a more commanding spot and is very confident of himself and the team..

[Rickster]

i wud say let zidane b captain as he is captain for france he is commanding as well. or try lettin iker casillas be captain.. he deserves some spotlight.

its bout a good 16months raul has been lettin realmadrid down. raul knows how to score n he is magnificent. wat u have sed mikebruski is wrong bout how ruud knows how to score. raul knows how to score, n i have good videoclips of him socring even better tgoals than ruud. but i tink raul has no confidence, tinks too highly of himself n also knows he can start/... its the same when owen was in liverpool he was vital always pushin him to start early eventhough he has injury, n owen dint play great too. cos he knew he dint have to work his ass off to get on the field.

as to ronaldo, we cant blame him afta all his knee problems. n cos of his knee he has bcome more buffy. u cant expect him to last the entire game dribblin. i tink he tries his best when he can. n strikers need good balls passed to them. not all good strikers dribble, they need tat perfect pass to break the defense

[MikeBruski]

wat u have sed mikebruski is wrong bout how ruud knows how to score. raul knows how to score, n i have good videoclips of him socring even better tgoals than ruud.

no it's not wrong... and what you wrote is the same as i wrote..

i TOO remember Raul as one of the best strikers in the world, when he could tear any defense apart!..

But now, he doesn't run that much.. he mainly stays up front and isn't as active as he was before.. it's almost like he's waiting for a lucky ball he can strike instead of creating his OWN chance, like he did before. That is how i comapre him to Ruud.. Ruud's never scored a goal from outside the box, and that demonstrates what kind of player he is.. and I've seen Raul turn into that kind of player over the past year and a ½ ... which is a shame, because Raul's jersey was the first Real Madrid Jersey i ever bought.. so don't think I hate him personally or something, I don't.. I'm just dissapointed in his effort in this and last season..

And confidence? He's won everything there is to win, he's a hero or a God in Real Madrid, he's been playing top level football for 10 years now, and he's making millions..

How can he lack confidence? He's not 58 years old, he's only in his late 20-s, and he still has years ahead of him. The only reason he's lacking confidence is because he hasn't been playing well in 16 months, and he knows that (as it's obvious to the blind)...

But ONLY Raul can change that, and he's had 16 months to do so... and failed...
How long must we accept him in the starting position, when Owen is far more successive? Just because Raul has a glorious history at Real Madrid doesn't mean he should automatically be secured a glorious future too..

Besides, if he doesn't play well, then he's the only one to blame...
He has a job millions over the world envy him, and he's running around like he'd rather be at home playing Playstation 2... no heart, no passion, no goals...

and Zidane yes, although he's retired from France, but he has the experience and respect from his teammates to be a good captain.. But i also agree, Iker deserves the armband.. He's been phenomenal this season, as always...
I honestly believe that the best goalkeeper in the world guards Real Madrid's goal... :D

[Becks]

Zidane should get the band because he can keep the team under control on the pitch like no other player can.

[Leomusic24]

welcome dude
Thanks Dude...! Hope all is well on your side. ~ Cheers!

[lallan]

disagree, Ronaldo is definitely trying 2 score and does care.. Raul does care also but not when Owen scores and thats SAD, Owen is the 1 suffering

[Rickster]

i dunt even tink owen celebrates when raul scores... hmmm im not even sure if owen is on the pitch when raul scores. owen already doesnt like raul, n now raulk shows he doesnt like owen.... but its not professional to show it on the pitch.

raul has been running. but he has been making useless runs all over the pitch.

the reason y i tink figo shudnt be captain is bcos he tends to fight wit ppl, n he always dives

[Boko]

First don't worry about the captain Raul will start next game for sure. And the absence of the 2nd and 3rd captains is really in his favour. I don't believe Lux will let him on the bench at this moment coz even if he's not playing well he scored in last games and talks about 4th or 5th captain will be really huge team problem because nobody will like seeing others with the band especially Guti staying on the bench :( And yes Raul doesn't deserve to be starter for his past but it's better a player to start becayse of this then because of his star status like others.

[lallan]

Raul will start 4 sure till the team slips because Lux noticed the team is doing well & he wouldnt want 2 disrupt that and Raul being there is good, but if the team slips up 1 day, be sure to see some changes in the game that follows, either ronaldo or raul will definitely be on the bench

[Leon of Silvren]

I don't agree with the ones that said Owen should be starter, yes, he's performing great, he has the best goal per minute ratio, but his game is much better when coming from the bench than when starting. Think about it, he scores almost in every game he's sub-in, but when he's in the starting XI he doesn't play as good.

And welcome MikeBruski, hope you become a regular member in this great forum, also, if you feel comfortable, drop by La Casa Blanca thread and tell us something more about yourself. :thumbsup:

[Rickster]

i tink he shud try out owen n ronaldo. n let raul sit on the bench so raul will have to work extra extra hard.

[Leon of Silvren]

Maybe for THIS match would be good if Zizou, Becks and a striker (Ronnie or Raul) have some rest for wednesday's game against Juve.

[Rickster]

yea i wud like to see owen portillo on.. n leave figo n zidane n raul off

[Leon of Silvren]

Probably would be Owen for Ronaldo or Raul, Solari or Guti for Zidane or/and Beckham.

Figo had last week free due to suspension, he doesn't need rest.

[RonaldoD08]

Probably would be Owen for Ronaldo or Raul, Solari or Guti for Zidane or/and Beckham.

Figo had last week free due to suspension, he doesn't need rest.

Figo needs to play to get back in form. Playing and training are not the same even though Figo is a great player.

[Leon of Silvren]

Agreed, the ones that should be rested are Zizou, Ronaldo, Raul and Becks. And maybe Shrek and El Muro.

[RonaldoD08]

Agreed, the ones that should be rested are Zizou, Ronaldo, Raul and Becks. And maybe Shrek and El Muro.

I would like that but the team is not as good without all these guys. We might have some problems with the 8 win in a row. We lost the cup last time we tried resting our heavy guns against Valladolid

[Rickster]

i tink solari is very up for the job... he needs to have a run for zidane.

[Lance Knight]

lol yea but we have always hadsuch strong subs,

u guys remember McManaman, i saw him play against Man U weekend, he's done wonders at man city

[RonaldoD08]

lol yea but we have always hadsuch strong subs,

u guys remember McManaman, i saw him play against Man U weekend, he's done wonders at man city
we don't have a sub for everyone though.

[Lance Knight]

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Ronaldo injures toe at a party


MADRID, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Real Madrid striker Ronaldo is doubtful for Saturday's league match against Athletic Bilbao after returning from his lavish Valentine's Day engagement party in Paris with an injury to his toe.
Club medical staff said that the Brazilian was suffering from inflammation of the big toe on his left foot and would undergo physiotherapy to deal with the problem.


Ronaldo turned up late for training on Tuesday after being delayed on his return from the celebrations at a secluded chateau near Paris and also missed the first 15 minutes of the session on Wednesday.

Sports daily Marca said that the 28-year-old would be fined by the club because of his late arrival.

Ronaldo turned up on time on Thursday, but pulled up after a few minutes and it now looks unlikely that he will play against Bilbao. England striker Michael Owen will take his place in the starting line-up if he fails to recover in time.

Owen's England team mate David Beckham and captain Raul, who both complained of some minor muscle pain after playing in the tsunami benefit match at the Nou Camp, trained normally on Thursday.

Real play Serie A leaders Juventus at the Bernabeu next Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League knockout tie.

[Rickster]

i remember watchin the Champions league match against Manchester utd. n in the first game we played so awesome... i tink mcmanaman was playing or sumtin. anyhow ive never seen football been played like that. it was like rcarllos zidane n figo basically pinged it around the whole field n ronaldo scored. sensational. it luked like a video game not real life. unbelievable

now we play not as good though

[RonaldoD08]

i remember watchin the Champions league match against Manchester utd. n in the first game we played so awesome... i tink mcmanaman was playing or sumtin. anyhow ive never seen football been played like that. it was like rcarllos zidane n figo basically pinged it around the whole field n ronaldo scored. sensational. it luked like a video game not real life. unbelievable

now we play not as good though

they have lost sth. the cordination or inspiration? I don't know what but they have to find it as soon as possible.

[lallan]

I dont recommend resting any player, we want to win the Liga as well, and if Zidane, Figo and other key players dong play we might well lose against Bilbao, a team that plays with all their heart against Real........atleast we should wait till we go up by a difference of 2 goals then the coach can take out players that he thinks need rest 4 the champions league game!!!

[Rickster]

i wud still say put zidane on the bench as well as raul.. leave becks on

[Lance Knight]

yea probably, the hope of catching barca would be very slimif barca wins again today

[Ify]

Well what can I say, Bilbao won because they were the better team. Real didn't play crap, but then again they didn't make the most of their chances, but then again nor did Bilbao. It should have been 3-0 but one spectacular goal was not seen to have passed over the line and so it wasn't given.

Zidane, Ronaldo and Raul were on the bench, but when they were introduced 20 minutes from time, even they couldn't do much. Bilbao had a strong team out there, and Real could barely penetrate them. Their defence was brilliant. Again Owen didn't do much, I still think he is most effective when he comes on as a sub and not when he starts. Real had the more possession (60%) in the first half and they played some good attacking football, but they simply could not get past Bilbao. There was some sloppy defending from Real defence, but Raul Bravo did play better than usual. Beckham also played better than usual for the majority of the match, he was less afraid of the opposition and tried to actually take them on. He made some brilliant long-range passes (as usual) but strangely enough, he played very well in the last 10 minutes where he was on the left wing, but that was probably because he was frustrated because of his poor free kicks and Real being 2-0 down.

I hope Real play much better on Tuesday (which is where their minds might have been today)

[Ify]

i remember watchin the Champions league match against Manchester utd. n in the first game we played so awesome... i tink mcmanaman was playing or sumtin. anyhow ive never seen football been played like that. it was like rcarllos zidane n figo basically pinged it around the whole field n ronaldo scored. sensational. it luked like a video game not real life. unbelievable

now we play not as good though

Yes, that was possibly the most entertaining match I have ever seen. Real were sensational, they ripped up Man UTD into shreds. It was 6-5 on aggregate, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick and Beckham scored 2 goals for Man UTD, one of them he went straight into Real's core and shot from 20 yards out. Zidane was the best player there, he played soooo good it was unbelievable. Man UTD did learn their lesson though and were much tighter in the 2nd leg.

[Rickster]

i dint see the game..... man weve lost the title if barca wins 2morow.

i tink its got alot to do wif the defense. attacking looks so strong. just defending. we need defenders not any other player

[btha]

i dint see the game..... man weve lost the title if barca wins 2morow.

i tink its got alot to do wif the defense. attacking looks so strong. just defending. we need defenders not any other player
first of all, barca was playing at the same time, and they won

2nd.. umm.. lol? we lost the title? 7 point difference?

There are still 14 games left lol, 42 points..

[Becks]

I hope they play better as well. I believe that Luxemburgo will be a little harsh on them until then. Their minds seemed scattered.

[lallan]

yep I think the liga is pretty much decided, i wrote b4 the game no need 2 rest 2 many players & thats the mistake lux did.......well hopefully we will beat juve

[Becks]

The season is still far from over, as Barca have not exactly been consistent.

[zenden9]

The season is still far from over, as Barca have not exactly been consistent.

Then Real will be worst!!!

[lallan]

Then Real will be worst!!!

exactly, whats the guarantee that real wont slip up or they will be consistent throughout the rest of the league? I think yesterday's game proved that it is very tough to catch up to barca because not only they have to keep slipping(and believe me it wont happen that often), but real must keep winning!! I think its best if real concentrate on Champions league more from now on.....

[Nikodemus]

Darn. Losing at home in this part of Liga. After a nice row of victories it's bad. Why stars started from the bench. Sacrifices and dedication is needed. If they can't keep winning while Barça can concentrating on Champions League would be good like lallal said but Spanish Liga is very big and important and giving up does not fit for Real.

[Becks]

Deco is the only one that played really well for Barca yesterday, and they cannot rely on him forever.

[Rickster]

but i relly tink its over for us. for sure.

[Becks]

I am going to try and keep hope alive for Real.

[btha]

but i relly tink its over for us. for sure.
Lol, that's just dumb. Sorry

We win 7 games in a row, and then play without Carlos, Zidane, Ronaldo and Raul, and the SEASON IS OVER when over 1/3 of the games is still left and there is only 7 point difference?

That's just.. wow..

[lallan]

7 points is not ONLY, 4 is ONLY, but 7 is NOT...

barca r in form, even the games they lost they were always close 2 get back in the game........

Ofcourse I hope they bounce back but u have to see that they will have 2 continue winning(they play deportivo & valencia & zaragoza in away games, and just note that I already am pretty sure barca may well win against depor & valencia in their away games, same thing cannot be said so surely about real) and barca has to keep slipping!!!!!!!!

ok 1 crucial game is real vs barca, but will be ez? HELL NO, and even if real wins, thats 4 pts still left!! u would have 2 keep counting on other teams 2 stop barca.....so its a tough season, but whats good is real is getting back on track & next season if they continue with the same spirit/coach & few signings, they may well win every trophy possible.......

[ForcaMadrid]

I also think that winning la Liga is going to be very tough. but to say impossible it is a bit very pesimistic.
Anyway, if we improve our game, and keep playing good, but don't win because Barca doens't sleep, i wouldn't mine. It is important that we do our part. and BTW if we do that we can win CL.

[Rickster]

we need to concentrate on 2nd tis confirms next yrs champions league.

luk at the EPL 7 points away n the already consider the title in chealsea hands. same ting wif la liga. so its not dumb remark. its fact

[btha]

first of all, chelsea is 9 points ahead.
second of all, there are only 11 games left in the epl.
3rd of all, i've never heard any sport commentator say that they consider that chelsea has won the league.

In fact, i think chelsea might lose the EPL if man utd/arse manages to keep their form, because they are already suffering from lack of depth. They lost to newcastle in a pretty important game, and also lost w. bridge with a broken ankle in the same game with no replacement.

[Rickster]

no 1 is relly written off until the cup is in yur hand. but im saying the chances are slim. even til now for chelsea in the epl the chances r slim n for us the chances r slim too

[lallan]

whatever the chances are of us winning la liga, we must carry on playing like we did against juve(i always wonder how come barca dominates the game even in their away games but we just cant).....plus we have 2 take revenge 4 our home loss 2 deportivo this season....

[lallan]

Salgado Out For A Month, Ronaldo And Zidane Also Injured
2/24/2005 11:36:00 AM
Real Madrid will be without Michel Salgado for the next month after the defender picked up a knee injury against Juventus.
The Spanish international had tests yesterday, and also he won’t need an operation, he will he out for at least four weeks.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane are both doubtful starters for Real’s clash with Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.

Ronaldo is still suffering from the injury in his left foot, while Zidane has picked up a knock on his right knee.
-----------

Now thats not good news......

[ForcaMadrid]

Deportivo is in a terrible shape at the moment. We can still win there even without the three missing. I only hope that ZZ and Ronaldo won't be out for long but be back espacially for the clash in Turin.

[Nikodemus]

Sure there are still all chances to win la Liga. How many points was in the gap between Juve and Milan in Serie A and now they are even.
Only 24 games have been played and the season is long. But I must say when I watched Barça - Chelsea yesterday it felt that Rijkaard's troops are frightening good shape

[Rickster]

that game was different, chelsea was playing away, chelsea afta scoring the goal had 10 men behind the ball n thats all they did defend. the highest man was on the halfline. n they got 1 man sent off.

[Nikodemus]

^of course. But even before Drogba's red card Barça was controlling the ball and the game. Chelsea did not make many attacks. They needed only one.
And yes, Liga games are different. There are no British teams.

[Row]

Raul, Ronaldo, Guti, Salgado & Helguera are not going to Riazor, Owen & Portillo will play up front. R.Bravo will play on the right side and Pavon will play alongside Samuel.

though Depor is doing really bad this season, we're going to Riazor and it's going to be tough without Ronaldo and Helguera. but i have confidence and hope for a victory.

[lallan]

Deportivo plays against Real as if its a Champions League final, they give it their all, and now we r without many key players, no matter how bad Deportivo's form is, their game is different against Real, so it will be a very tough clash, I hope we win but if not, we must NOT lose, and thats the mystery behind Real, they hardly draw a match, its mostly a win or a loss 4 them.........

NOT fair to judge Owen after such a game, whenever he starts, either there are many key players injured or suspended or the coach decides to rest them, I say Owen's real chance would be if he starts with the FULL regular starting line up.....

[Rickster]

gona be a tough game... y isnt raul n co not playing?

i thought guti should play n solari... give every1 else a chance i bet they will win it becos they have determination

[RonaldoD08]

Barcelona tied to numancia...coool
we got to win now so that we take 2 pints off the gap...

[Toke-E-Yo]

2-0 DEP already? and ne one hear those racist comments toawrds Roberto Carlos? disgusting. There is no room for racism is our great game!

[RonaldoD08]

we are losing control of the ball as soon as we get in their penalty area. our forwards don't even exist. portillo has done something which however didn't help us much.
let's hope luxa talks to them...

PS: I would like to see what will owen say now...even though I still hope for him to score...we MUST win...damn it

[*Baby_Becks*]

I think that if Owen plays a big role in Real's win, that it will silence a lot of doubters around here.

[RonaldoD08]

actually it is going the other way round though. we are losing and losing pretty bad.
this shows that without our big guns (RONALDO AND ZIDANE) we are nothing.
Owen is pretty good but only if he starts from the bench...and that's sad...

[RonaldoD08]

I hate to say this but it looks like samuel and carlos are our main strikers...
I still hope for owen to score or anyone to score. it does not matter, even if luxa scored himself, it is still good...:(

[*Baby_Becks*]

Owen scores most of his goals from late in the match.

[MikeBruski]

This team is like a roller coaster....

DAMN GOOD LUCK BARCA DREW!!!! :sealed:

Why does the whole team depend on wether Zidane has a good game or not?

It seems everytime he plays well, we win, and everytime he sucks, or is injured or absent, we lose....

this sucks

[RonaldoD08]

yup it sucks...

[lallan]

real still lucky barca drew with bottom place numancia, but i already said good bye la liga, just like roberto carlos said if they lost deportivo its over 4 liga, I think its over, the players dont seem interested in it anymore, they already gave hope, 2day was their chance 2 win and cut the margin 2 just 5 pts, but NO, and ***king deportivo wont play with half the spirit they played 2day against barca, they will lose 2 barca, thats how these freaking teams r, play against real as if its the final of the champions league.........

[RonaldoD08]

they want to revenge themselves for all the loses they have had from us. it's not the same with barca cause barca has been playing shit lately so no one hates them yet...

[snakies]

real madrid lost today. hehehe i wonder what'll happen next with them.

[RonaldoD08]

real madrid lost today. hehehe i wonder what'll happen next with them.

we will win. just wait for our team (Ronaldo and Zidane) to get back.
By the way, I would advise you to stop thinking about CL. You are done now. Better watch the championship cause Milan is getting away.

[RaulMadrid7]

I think Real are concentrating mostly in Champions league since they won the opening match against Juventus. To say that most teams in La Liga are playing harder against Real Madrid than Barcelona is'nt bad at all because it not only shows what a great team we are but also improves our clubs gameplay.

The only reason Barcelona is further up is because they have effective Forwards like Eto'o who Real Madrid should have kept when we had him, and Ronaldinho who serve the effective balls to him.

Real are scoring with players like Helguera(Defence), Roberto Carlos(Defence) and Samuel(Defense) which is showing that our forwards like Ronaldo and Raul aren't doing thier job as well which has been argued enough in these forums. Although I must admit Raul is improving a little more since he fell cold.

[Row]

well that sucked. the liga is 8 points away.

i'm sure they will forget about it and just go for the CL... which will be tough, but not impossible.

and Zidane got hurt. shit.

[Nuaro]

I got two words for ya. "Haha"

[RonaldoD08]

I got two words for ya. "Haha"

lets see who will "haha" last... :ronaldo: :D :p

[Rickster]

portillo kept rolling the ball around n then loosing it. he was frog turd. owen was a shadow in the crowd. both our 2 strikers had no shot on target. n owen says he wana play wif the big guns. he just did n he dint even do anyting.

sameul is useless. theres no inspiration from him. u luk at his face n u dunt see a spark. today he shud have been communicating n telling pavon where to go n stuff like that. n thats the mean reason y we lost. bad communication in defense. i suppose it happens to us every other game.

raul bravo shud have done better n not jump into thin air n try to get lucky tat the ball is gone rebound of him. he shud been challengin the ball. anyhow sameul shud hav been there. tats wat samuel is good at. headdin the damn ball. all lack of communication

raul bravo always goin up the flanks n he dint do nting cos his left footed n he had to cut inside which made him loose his position. bad tactics. lux shud hav left rau bravo defending n push gravesan up.

horible. we just lost la liga.

y are we concentrating on champions league when we cant even beat deportivo? juve is so much harder than deportivo n bilbao. wat r the chances of us winning it.

[RonaldoD08]

portillo kept rolling the ball around n then loosing it. he was frog turd. owen was a shadow in the crowd. both our 2 strikers had no shot on target. n owen says he wana play wif the big guns. he just did n he dint even do anyting.

sameul is useless. theres no inspiration from him. u luk at his face n u dunt see a spark. today he shud have been communicating n telling pavon where to go n stuff like that. n thats the mean reason y we lost. bad communication in defense. i suppose it happens to us every other game.

raul bravo shud have done better n not jump into thin air n try to get lucky tat the ball is gone rebound of him. he shud been challengin the ball. anyhow sameul shud hav been there. tats wat samuel is good at. headdin the damn ball. all lack of communication

raul bravo always goin up the flanks n he dint do nting cos his left footed n he had to cut inside which made him loose his position. bad tactics. lux shud hav left rau bravo defending n push gravesan up.

horible. we just lost la liga.

y are we concentrating on champions league when we cant even beat deportivo? juve is so much harder than deportivo n bilbao. wat r the chances of us winning it.


I am pretty sure we won't get anything if our real players (Ronaldo and Zidane) don't play. Owen is good only when he starts from the bench, or in other words when everything has been prepared for him to tap the goal in.
Only the presence of Ronaldo and Zidane in the field changes the whole dynamics of the game. First of all when Ronaldo is playing, even though he does not run, at lest he keeps the whole defense with him on the other half of the field so we don't get attacked by 10 players at the same time (like with deportivo). There are always at least 2 or 3 players stuck on Ronnie and that means 2 or 3 players less in attacking actions.
Zidane on the other hand is the pivotal point of the team. He makes the rombus work.

If we don't play our big guns, our confidence is shitty too. The other teams know this and use it at the best.

I hope Luxa won't try crazy things anymore and won't even have to try these crazy things. We lost 3 games for no reason. The team wsa doing excellent and then we lost to Valladolid. The same thing can be said for Bilbao and Deportivo. The only missing things were Ronaldo and Zidane. :(

[lallan]

2day I have seen the real madrid of the early season, no spirit, no enthusiasm, but i think the 2 goals within 5 minutes made the difference, they just gave up after that, when Figo doesnt play we say he was needed, when Zidane doesnt we say the same, the fact is, Real Madrid cant play well without ronaldo, raul, zidane, figo, beckham, roberto carlos, yes our squad is limited and all these players are needed 2 play which is not going to happen in every game.....just few days from now we have 2 face Betis, its even tougher than athletic bilbao & we will probably have some missing players again.......if we dont win this, we r officially out of the competition, not only that, betis will be within 6 pts from us, meaning they can very well challenge 4 the 2nd position...........let me say this, if barca draws with espanyol, and loses to osasuna(their next 2 games) & we win our next 2 games against betis & valencia, we r very much in & will have a solid chance of winning the league since barca will yet have to face valencia, deportivo & us, and we will have some easier games 2 play.............but it all depends on the next 2 games, lets see what happens


1 other reason the players didnt seem 2 involved is their focus seems more 2wards the champions league, they want 2 save all their energy 4 that game, but the game is not ez against juve, they better be prepared, and Ronaldo & Raul MUST be available.....

[icy55]

great post! yes i totally and absoloutely agree with you

[Nikodemus]

yeah. me too. Current Real Madrid needs all those stars to play. But weren't there times when Real's subtitute bench was stronger than many Liga teams' opening.

[RonaldoD08]

yeah. me too. Current Real Madrid needs all those stars to play. But weren't there times when Real's subtitute bench was stronger than many Liga teams' opening.

yup there were such times but not anymore...we got owen now...lol j/k

[lallan]

good thing Assuncao of Betis got a red card in his last game gainst Valencia and wont be playing against us, he is deadly when it comes 2 free kicks........

I HOPE that espanyol stops barca, unlikely but lets see, that will give extra motivation 4 real players the next day

[Rickster]

i tink zidane n figo work as a unit. if either one of them or both of them isnt on the pitch real madrid doest glitter. figo has the strength n pace n dribbling to run down the wings n beat ppl n put in long shots or crosses. zidane open plays so that there will be 2 defneders leavin another player free and his clinical passing can put a striker through. having one of them n not the other just doesnt work n we play badly. i suppose its bcos they have been in the same team for many yrs n they work as a very good unit.

i tink ronaldo doesnt try only on matches that arent big. like numancia n stuff like that. besides strikers need to have gud balls fed to him. but in the end he does his job well, he still dribbles n stuff, just not as much. but everytime he gets into champions league hes always so alive. only bcos he wants to win the champions league cos he hasnt won it. ronaldo will be stupid to go to chelsea. chelsea is even more strict than real madrid, mourinho will be always fining him... so ronaldo wont be that stupid.

[lallan]

Real minus Raul & Zidane against Betis 4 sure..

Lux will probably start with Owen Ronaldo, Guti Gravesen in CM, Becks on the right, Figo on the left, Roberto C, Samuel, Helguera & Palencia(or Raul Bravo).

it will be a very tough matchup, Ronaldo must score 2 be ready 4 his next 2 games against valencia and most importantly juve.......

[ForcaMadrid]

HEY GUYS.
Just reminding you you have to predict the score in the La Liga prediction forum. Some matches are starting today.

[Boko]

Real minus Raul & Zidane against Betis 4 sure..

Lux will probably start with Owen Ronaldo, Guti Gravesen in CM, Becks on the right, Figo on the left, Roberto C, Samuel, Helguera & Palencia(or Raul Bravo).

it will be a very tough matchup, Ronaldo must score 2 be ready 4 his next 2 games against valencia and most importantly juve.......
What hapened with Arbeloa? he was really good when i watched him, why isn't Luxemburgo playing him in place of Palencia

[RonaldoD08]

Barca tied and we have to win with Betis tomorrow. Hopefully this time Ronni scores for real as he promissed. Too many promisses and words from everyone. I would like to see some real life action here.

[btha]

barca didn't lose, they drew 0-0. The completly and utterly owned the game though, and even i was ALMOST sad to see them not score heh. They played amazingly well but espanyol's defence held well, as did their goalkeeper.

We MUST win tomorrow. If we lose our 3rd game in a row tomorrow it'll be a complete breakdown.

The last 2 rounds show that barca is not invulnerable. They don't win every match.
They are 9 points ahead of us now. 6 points if we win tomorrow.
We also have 1 game left against them, and if we win that game, a 3 point lead is nothing with over 10 rounds left. How people can say we are not in the title race still is beyond me.

[lallan]

i already said that if barca draws with espanyol & lose/draw their next against osasuna & we win both games vs betis & valencia, we r right back & can very much win it, BUT the thing is barca stumbles & we lose!!! that wont help and as some1 said losing 3 games in a row will be a huge blow and we cant afford 2 lose any more home games, just look at barca & how tough they play at home, they give it their all.........

[lallan]

funny thing i noticed, even when real madrid lose, their official website right away updates the information, whereas barca people, when they lose or draw they dont update like little kids, infact when they drew with numancia 1-1 right away they updated saying things like the pitch was so tough to play in and it was a good result bla bla bla, but yesterday they drew against espanyol and yet they have 2 update, they are probably crying.......

[Rickster]

doesnt m,atter bout barca... wat matters is that the players dunt concentrate on barca n concentrate on how they play

and again joaquin says he wants to play for madrid.... come on madrid buy him... he will be cheap too cos hes leaving in the summer so no transfer costs, n he will choose madrid than chelsea

[lallan]

doesnt m,atter bout barca... wat matters is that the players dunt concentrate on barca n concentrate on how they play

and again joaquin says he wants to play for madrid.... come on madrid buy him... he will be cheap too cos hes leaving in the summer so no transfer costs, n he will choose madrid than chelsea

I agree they should get both Juaqin & Robinho, as Figo will definitely leave next season & we need a replacement of Figo. As 4 Robinho he can play whenever Zidane is injured or needs rest(means he can play almost half the season + all Spanish Cup games + Champions League) so both are desperately needed & if Woodgate isnt ready 4 next season, they must get a CB also, also we need a sub LB & RB, So we will have Helguera & Gravesen & Guti & Bekcs rotating in CM & we will have a great bench so that we can last an entire season, just look at how awfull we were when Lux rested just 4 main players, it wont happen if our bench is solid..........

[Ify]

Wouldn't Jose Antonio Reyes be a great signing? He could play on the left flank!

[MADRIDCF8]

Didnt watch the game but i followed it on gamecast, so i cant really comment on it, all i know is casillas was subsituted in the 54 min. Owen Helguera and R. Carlos scored. Good result.

[RonaldoD08]

Didnt watch the game but i followed it on gamecast, so i cant really comment on it, all i know is casillas was subsituted in the 54 min. Owen Helguera and R. Carlos scored. Good result.

can someone post the comments on the game...I missed it too...:(

PS: Someone who saw the game, not the comments from Real Madrid website...

[Boko]

nice game ( i watched only the second half) the team was doing really good at center and defence but owen scored with his only good play and after this both with ronaldo had a couple of easy chances when they were one on one with Betis GK. gravesen, solari and guti played really good from what i saw, figo had 2 really good away shots but betis keeper catched them both plus ronaldo hit the bar when he was against the keeper

[btha]

was a pretty good game.. in the start i was worried cause alot of passes were going straight to betis.. but it turned out fine.. casillas saved brilliantly twice in first half..

the team was pretty sharp even without zidane and raul, which is a good sign. Everyone played well except ronaldo.
I don't think i have ever seen ronaldo play that bad. He kept trying and trying to drible past players but not once did he succeed, he lost the ball all the time, he couldn't recieve the ball propperly, he stepped on it, everything went wrong for him tonight. Everything. Even where he hit the bar he should've shot much earlier.
He got whistled at in the end and the audience was waving their white hankies in the end.. He should rather have stayed transparent ala raul.

[RonaldoD08]

was a pretty good game.. in the start i was worried cause alot of passes were going straight to betis.. but it turned out fine.. casillas saved brilliantly twice in first half..

the team was pretty sharp even without zidane and raul, which is a good sign. Everyone played well except ronaldo.
I don't think i have ever seen ronaldo play that bad. He kept trying and trying to drible past players but not once did he succeed, he lost the ball all the time, he couldn't recieve the ball propperly, he stepped on it, everything went wrong for him tonight. Everything. Even where he hit the bar he should've shot much earlier.
He got whistled at in the end and the audience was waving their white hankies in the end.. He should rather have stayed transparent ala raul.


well at least him (ronaldo) coming to the line up only gave us a win...
only by being in the field he changes the game cause the opposing defenders will have a little bit more work to do...
owen is not as menacing to the defense as ronaldo is and every team knows that...

PS: We have been getting our ass kicked by defenders lately and that didn't happen today at least...cause there was someone who kept the defenders in place...

[Becks]

Well, I guess everyone who says that Owen is bad for Madrid can be silenced now that he really opened the match for us today.

[Rickster]

very true, owen is essential to madrid. plus every1 has bad days. so u cant complain bout ronaldo, as raul had 16 months of bad days

[Rickster]

i was tinkin get robinho n joaquin. send robinho on loan. use solari as a backup to zidane. then recall robinho at the end of the loan. hopefully a yr is gud enuf

[Becks]

Solari has actually done better than Zidane this season I think.

[RonaldoD08]

Well, I guess everyone who says that Owen is bad for Madrid can be silenced now that he really opened the match for us today.

the problem is that owen cannot open anything if he is there as a first striker...
if he comes from the bench or if he plays as a second striker he is good, but otherwise he is useless...

[RonaldoD08]

very true, owen is essential to madrid. plus every1 has bad days. so u cant complain bout ronaldo, as raul had 16 months of bad days

you mean ronaldo and raul together had 16 months of bad days? Ronaldo - 2months and Raul - 14 months?
What about Owen? How many bad years did he have before he came to us? :question:

[lallan]

this is why Ronaldo is a must, him just being there makes so many defenders stick with him and other players have more space 2 move, against deportivo that couldnt happen and thats why no player was able to attack.......His presence is enough 2 give the team an edge..

i disagree that we played well, the 1st half was so bad, it was looking as if real betis r playing at home, controlling most of the 1st half, its good we scored 2 goals though...

i think luxemburgo's aim was 2 win without much effort because there are 2 very crucial games coming up and he didnt want another injury to any player, thank God we did succeed because the players werent running much, becks looked as if he still was a bit sick.

I hope casillas returns soon he is MOST needed, valencia will have 20-30 shots on goal and casillas is the only 1 who can help madrid go through that match safely.....

zidane will be rested regardless if he is fit or not just 4 the juve game and i think its a good idea, we cant afford him getting injured, such a big game vs juve and zidane's experience is needed there....

[ForcaMadrid]

I agree that it was not a very good game i that sense, but i think it was tactically great. we didn't spend much energy and yet we were able to win. we could have scored even more.
although Betis was trying to attack, they couldn't do much either. they were just shooting from outside the areas, except a couple of times.
So, based on this it was great. We needed a win without spending much energy, and we got it. i hoep it will be the same in Valencia, becasue i would rather accept a loss in mestaja than a loss in Turin.

[lallan]

how can I 4get Gravesen's excellent game, he conquered the midfield & gave the team the much needed stability, Guti played 4 so little but did a wonderful job.......he is a super sub

[Lance Knight]

yea the wole team was great. it was a good game. and i agree owen is only good as a sub

[lallan]

disagree, Ronaldo & Owen 2gether make a good *ing pair and should be tried often......

[Boko]

i don't think owen did enough to secure starting place. He shows that he's not adapted to spanish style of play. The goal was little lucky and at second half he was caught at 3 or 4 offsides where he was 2 or 3 meters back from defenders and also 2 or 3 situations he should has burned. At all it was bad day for our attack despite the 3 goals i think (2 from defenders).

[hezri]

Ronaldo , no matter how horrible he plays , his existence on the front free the other striker from marking by defenders . That is just a fact .

[btha]

just one thing that makes me sad.. if we hadn't lost the last two games, we'd be #1 right now ;|

[Rickster]

ronnie only started to play badly after his trip bak home to brazil. raul on the other hand had 16months on his own of bad days.

[RonaldoD08]

ronnie only started to play badly after his trip bak home to brazil. raul on the other hand had 16months on his own of bad days.

I agree. Ronaldo hasn't had his two months yet...lol

[Becks]

Hopefully, Ronaldo will get back into his classic form, maybe getting inspiration from his wife who is helping him lose weight, and from the upcoming WC.

[lallan]

how UNLUCKY can Owen get? he scored last time and now he was going 2 start as Raul is unavailable and he gets the flu and will miss out, good news casillas is back though...

it will be 1 heck of a tough game against valencia, i hope we win..

i think lux should put guti with ronaldo, they make a good pair upfront with solari & figo in left & rt wing, gravesen & becks at cm.

[lallan]

Hopefully, Ronaldo will get back into his classic form, maybe getting inspiration from his wife who is helping him lose weight, and from the upcoming WC.

he definitely lost weight.......

[Becks]

Indeed, just not enough.

[RonaldoD08]

1-o for valencia and we are playing too bad. the midfield is dead. we can't get past our hal of the field....:(

[RonaldoD08]

and we are backkkkkk

goooooooooooooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONALDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Becks]

Finally Luxemburgo has woke up Ronaldo and he is scoring.

[Becks]

1-1...

How can you say that the midfield is dead?

Beckham so far has had 2 shots on goal.
Gravesen has taken a shot, it was missed, but it was still an attempt.

[RonaldoD08]

1-1...

How can you say that the midfield is dead?

Beckham so far has had 2 shots on goal.
Gravesen has taken a shot, it was missed, but it was still an attempt.

until when I said that our midfield was dead...
check the time of the post.
we started playing much better in the second part of the first half

[Becks]

Aye, yes I see...

Beckham's were both at minutes 16 and 17.
Ronaldo had a goal in the 28th.

[RonaldoD08]

the second half is not that good too...
we are having some problems of communication in defense...but casillas just saved us

[Becks]

Valencia might get the next goal. They have taken 7 attempts at goal, compared to our 1 from Guti which was missed.


When I posted this, Madrid received a free kick...
Beckham took it, and missed.
Make that 2 attempts.

[RonaldoD08]

I think our midfield died again...lol :D

[Becks]

If anything, our midfield is playing better than our attackers... Guti and Beckham are the only ones to take a chance this half so far.

[RonaldoD08]

valencia is beating us with fould (like they always do) 15-3 for valencia...
valencia is even worse than juventus in defense...at least when they play against us...lol :D

[RonaldoD08]

If anything, our midfield is playing better than our attackers... Guti and Beckham are the only ones to take a chance this half so far.

I didn't see becks chance...I don't think he had any except those outrageously high free kicks...they were not counted as chences...
we had only 4 shot and 2 chances for goal...(1 shot guti, 1 shot gravesen, 2 shots ronaldo - 1 chance guti, 1 chance ronaldo (scored))
are we watching the same game becks?

[Becks]

Ronaldo had a great chance there...
Missed it, pretty close too.

[RonaldoD08]

canizares barely saved it...nice shot...it's sad that no one from the midfield was there...I don't see figo and beckham anywhere...:(

[RonaldoD08]

shit...figo just wasted a great pass cause he didn't follow the action..I don't know what's wrong with him today...?

[RonaldoD08]

solari (been losing a lot of balls) and beckham (didn't even see him play) were subbed for portillo and selades...let's see

[Becks]

Trust me, Figo is there, fouling away!

Time for Owen...

Zidane would be great for this match as well.

[RonaldoD08]

they are not playing to win...it's so sad...:(
we think too much for other games...
if we are playing valencia we play vlaencia we don't think about juve...I don't understand this...?

[Becks]

It is almost scary...4 attempts to score this second half, SAD.

[RonaldoD08]

did you just see celades becks? can you believe that? :confused:

[Becks]

Yes...Ronaldo actually made another attempt from nearly the same place.

[Becks]

1-1 is the final score...Real Madrid really started playing around the 90th minute.

[RonaldoD08]

the worst game ever and I think that we should have lost...I don't know what they were thinking. We are not the kind of team that can play with a defensive psychology and luxa should know this...:mad: :confused:
and that's all for the cut distance of this week. we are at 8 points again... :dead: :mad2:

[RonaldoD08]

ronaldo couldn't shoot as he had 4 players in front of him. he gave the ball to celades and celades threw away our last chance...and it does not matterif you start to play at the 90th minute (even though we didn't play that well even after the 90th min :( )

[lallan]

A draw isnt that bad but whats worse is barca’s very lucky win……good thing ronaldo scored(and what a goal that was), he is telling juve he is ready 4 them…..figo was clearly saving himself 4 the juve clash, he hardly ran, or got in2 contact with valencia players, becks seemed out of place 2day don’t know why, raul bravo keeps impressing every1 playing as a rb, he could never leave such an impact when he played as a lb. casillas as usual saved the team from sure shot goals…….now its juve game & it’s the most crucial game of the entire season…………good luck, I hope zidane & owen r ready

[RonaldoD08]

I agree. A draw is not that bad, but we could have won if someone had followed the actions and backed up Ronnie. We were playing too defensively...:(

[Rickster]

wats the point of puttin a player on the pitch who wont give 100% of his work. thats only goes for clubs like in the second division. shud have taken off figo n put someone in replacement

[Becks]

I agree. A draw is not that bad, but we could have won if someone had followed the actions and backed up Ronnie. We were playing too defensively...:(

I think the reason Madrid did that was because they were shook up after Valencia's early goal...They kind of had to back up and prepare.

[icy55]

at least we drew! saving themselves for the juve clash aint that bad, figo was playing rather deeply. he made some great tackles in the 2nd half. still he tried hard enough. Probably these were instructions from the coach? who knows. I like the fact that we drew, despite not putting 100%. cause in fact the WHOLE realmadrid is saving energy for the juve clash.

[Becks]

Yes, but putting in Zidane or Owen for at least a little bit wouldn't have hurt us against Juve.

[RonaldoD08]

Yes, but putting in Zidane or Owen for at least a little bit wouldn't have hurt us against Juve.

the problem was that they were not there...they were in madrid...lol

[Becks]

lol, exactly, and we saw what happened when they leave back some luggage!

[btha]

not a bad result considering valencia is in 4th place and it was on their homefield and we had alot of players out while valencia had everyone... we didn't even play with 2 forwards

[Becks]

But look at Valencia's current record.

[RonaldoD08]

lol, exactly, and we saw what happened when they leave back some luggage!

they didn't actually need the luggage. all they needed was to play to win. they were playing to tie and that's not the way real madrid should play...
did you see that we had only one striker (ronaldo) and he didn't get any back up...
real madrid reminded me of juventus yesterday...lol :D

[Rickster]

in betis in 3rd position now?

they shudnt have played figo then if they totally wanted to save energy. and play owen since he always wanted to start. im not sure what im saying is rite cos i dint watch the game but from what i heard from u guys then i suppose its rite

we shudnt have a mentality to draw. and i hate it how madrid always concede early goals. n then scores in the latter half. its so dumb. its like the purposely do it or sumtin. the coach shud prepare them properly b4 the game.

[RonaldoD08]

in betis in 3rd position now?

they shudnt have played figo then if they totally wanted to save energy. and play owen since he always wanted to start. im not sure what im saying is rite cos i dint watch the game but from what i heard from u guys then i suppose its rite

we shudnt have a mentality to draw. and i hate it how madrid always concede early goals. n then scores in the latter half. its so dumb. its like the purposely do it or sumtin. the coach shud prepare them properly b4 the game.

the thing you guys don't understand is that zidane was injured, raul was injured and owen was sick...I don't blame you though cause you don't ever check the news...lol j/k :D

[lallan]

owen was sick, zidane & raul were injured.......

1-1 is better than losing but i think the title keeps getting away from us, by the time we play barca we should be within 3-4 pts of barca or else 4get about it, this means we get the maximum 9 pts from the next 3 games as the 4th game will be against barca & barca must slip playing home against athletic & betis(hopefully athletic plays as well as they did against us) & away against deportivo(they played like a champions league final against us lets see what they do with barca).......

[RonaldoD08]

owen was sick, zidane & raul were injured.......

1-1 is better than losing but i think the title keeps getting away from us, by the time we play barca we should be within 3-4 pts of barca or else 4get about it, this means we get the maximum 9 pts from the next 3 games as the 4th game will be against barca & barca must slip playing home against athletic & betis(hopefully athletic plays as well as they did against us) & away against deportivo(they played like a champions league final against us lets see what they do with barca).......

barca have showed that they are slipping. too much pressure. if we keep pecking them they will feel the pressure even more and la porta will have to send them to the stress clinic more often...lol

[lallan]

thats funny really sending players 2 stress clinic, they r so hyper they r losing it, they cant believe they r close 2 winning the title(cant blame them i mean 5 years without a single trophy), on paper all of their next 3 games r NOT ez but luck has been with them most of the times so lets see..

but we cant afford 2 slip up anymore, no more draws and losses, we need 2 win consecutive games like we did early this year, getafe will be a very tough team.....

[RonaldoD08]

thats funny really sending players 2 stress clinic, they r so hyper they r losing it, they cant believe they r close 2 winning the title(cant blame them i mean 5 years without a single trophy), on paper all of their next 3 games r NOT ez but luck has been with them most of the times so lets see..

but we cant afford 2 slip up anymore, no more draws and losses, we need 2 win consecutive games like we did early this year, getafe will be a very tough team.....

hopefully we win with juve and then we concentrate in la liga for a while. we need to play every game as if it was the last one...everything is too important to be lost now.

[lallan]

agree a win against juve will boost the morale + we wont be playing a champions league match 4 a while, players can concentrate on the liga & have 2 give it their all, I think that the day b4 we play barca we will know about our hopes 4 the title, if barca is ahead of us by 1/2/3/even 4 pts, i say we have a chance 2 win because if we beat barca we can be 1 pt away from them & barca will be under pressure, but we must get all 9 pts from the following 3 games.....

[Rickster]

well theres not much left in madrid. i dunt think we can win the title. so i guess its a titleless season for the merengues. but its a season to build on, thats wat is vital for us this season, just like chelsea, just like barcelona. barca had a bad season some time ago as well as chelsea. then they brought in new players n they had to gel.

we need to bring in new players and let them gel. bring in loads more players. LB RB CB CDM 2 wingers. loads to spend. and get rid of celades and all the other players.

lucio played so well in the arsenal game. y dint we get lucio instead of woodgate. woodgate wasnt even worth that amount of money. we could have well spent that money on other players and who r playing and who r better than woodgate.

hope the best for next season expecially under new management, atleast this time he knows what the team needs

[lallan]

2 consecutive seasons without a single trophy, atleast last year they reached the champions league quarter finals & the king cup final.....This time its nothing.....

yes we have 2 look at the +ve side of this, there will be major changes next season & i hope they keep the coach so that he makes the right changes....

[icy55]

guess we have no choice but to concentrate on la liga now. only trophy at stake!

[Rickster]

we finally learnt a lesson at juventus. i hope that changes our mentality at the bernebeu.even if we won the juventus game we werent going to win the next game in the quaters. we just arent ready for it. n im glad we lost, n now they can learn a lesson.
now just concentrate on the building team effort. n i also hope roberto carlos is given the armband and raul is stripped of the captainship. tells him thathes gota work even harder and not fanny around on the pitch doing nothing.

[Lallou]

we finally learnt a lesson at juventus. i hope that changes our mentality at the bernebeu.even if we won the juventus game we werent going to win the next game in the quaters. we just arent ready for it. n im glad we lost, n now they can learn a lesson.

We have lost many games before, and could have leanred many lessons, but we didn't learn anything. Let's hope this time It'll be different.

now just concentrate on the building team effort. n i also hope roberto carlos is given the armband and raul is stripped of the captainship. tells him thathes gota work even harder and not fanny around on the pitch doing nothing.

You know Rick that's not a bad idea. I never thought Raul was a good captain to be honest. Now Hierro, he was a great captain, he was a real leader. You can see it in his eyes, he knew what he was doing. He motivated the players even when they were going down, all Raul does is give a short clap.

[Rickster]

i know we lost many matches. but we hardely lost in the round 16 of the CL and the way we lost it i hope the real madrid players build on that loss. its different losing in the CL and losing in the league.

[Becks]

The problem is not losing in the CL...
But rather Madrid focusing so much on the CL match, that they were held to a draw in a league match.

[Rickster]

i wonder wat lux will do in the summer. ive not seen him doing preparations b4 the season starts. i wonder if hes smart to do loads of extra training n work out a better formation

[lallan]

as I said earlier, the following 3 games b4 the classico will decide if real has a chance of winning the liga or not, 1 game is already over 4 barca & they got the maximum points, now its our turn 2 do the same, any slip up & we r done.....

i think lux will do a great job over the summer, there will be crucial signings & some players will leave & lux will have enough time 2 prepare 4 a great start 4 next season, it depends on perez though, if he does another stupid move & decides 2 get another coach, then we r screwed again.......

[btha]

yep if we don't win every game now untill real barca it's over

[r0naldo4life]

im pretty sure as a real madrid fan that we g0t a shit load less chance of winning the liga than barca..
im also pretty sure.. that if the point difference gets over 10 points then we're done.. trophyless once again..
if we beat barca in satiago bernabeau.. then the difference is down 2 5 points..
that means that they g0t 2 loose 2 games.. thats not much
but also!! if we loose one game.. then we're gone too..
getafe 2day shouldnt be much of a problem but ... we all know madrid ...
they can loose 2 any1.. :dontcare:
good luck madridians!!

[Rickster]

i dunt relly care whether we r trophyless tis season. not every club can win a trophy season afta season. i hope we use the rest of this season n the summer to rebuild the squad n the formation....

lux is gona be smart to make the new changes, not like the other stupid coaches,,, oh wait it wasnt the other coaches it was perez that bought the other players

[Becks]

Well, we can all see how the match is going so far...
1-0 with Getafe, of all teams, winning.

[RonaldoD08]

now it's getting better...

2-0 for Getaffe of course

[Becks]

Yes... The entire midfield is dead. Our best chance so far has been Walter Samuel...I rest my case.

[RonaldoD08]

our midfield has died long time ago...and we are still hoping for someone to resurrect.

Unfortunately Jesus does not play for Real Madrid...:(

[Becks]

Well, Raul had maybe 2 shots, neither worked. Figo took a kick from outside the box, which also failed.

Beckham is not playing, his back is hurt... I think he took the most shots on goal in their last La Liga encounter.

[baggy]

What is goin' on with Real???
They lost again.... May any Real supporter answer my question, why Real goes always more and more down???
Their game against Getafe was too low....

[baggy]

I thought they would get up after their loss to Juventus!
Now the Liga is deffinitely travellin' towards Barcelona....

[Highway Penguin]

Wow, pathetic.

All title hopes are lost. Pretty much.

[Becks]

I no longer see Real winning the title this season, and if things do not change, next season either.

[Highway Penguin]

I think Barca will have it won for a few years.
They've got the right team for it.

We haven't got a team that gels yet, and Perez.
So we are kinda lost. With Lux we could get better though, he was a good solution for the time being, and a possible help for the future.

[Becks]

If only he had come in sooner, then we might be at the top of the table.

[Highway Penguin]

Quite possibly.

But we'll never know.
He is a great help, and hopefully won't leave.

Alright:
Enough with the negatives of the match.
Let's think of positives and things we should improve on.

[Becks]

Owen was subbed in for Figo...bad idea...oh wait, the positives...

Good luck getting responses for that one mate! lol

[Highway Penguin]

Well, was Owen's goal nice?

Who played ok? Were the goals that they scored defensive errors, or luck?

[Rickster]

getafe first goal was helgueras mistake..... ARGHHHHH how many times does helguera make a mistake. hes so crap

[Becks]

Owen didn't score...
Solari did.

[Highway Penguin]

Well, the interet lied to me then. haha.

Well, how was his goal?

[Becks]

Late... Too late... lol

Notice, they bring him into the match and he at least gets a goal. They leave Zidane in the rest of the time, and Getafe scores 2.

[Ify]

Real Madrid were atrocious. Todays game was one of the most boring mathes I have seen in my life. Real had nothing, they had no technique, no desire and no confidence. Well done to Getafe for playing very well and exploiting Reals situation. The match finished 2-1.

Everyone of the Real madrid players were weak on the ball. Their defence was so under par as usual, we might as well just not have any defenders there because it seems our defence gives the opposition the possession to go on to score.

Zidane, Figo and Raul Bravo were taken off who were all a disgrace. In fact, I can say that Raul Bravo played beter than Zidane and Figo so you can imagine just how bad they actually were.

I hardly saw Ronaldo touch the ball. Raul had a good strike on goal but Aragoneses was on form, he made quite a few good saves. Solari did quite well when he came on scoring a spectacular goal but it didn't count for anything. Graveson lost possession on a few occassions but did reasonably well. Guti also made a few good runs forward but there was never an end product. Owen hardly did anything, and Palencia hardly had time to do anything. Helguera was clueless most of the game and it was his mistake which cost Real a goal.

I now honestly think two things should be done:

1) The players need to somehow be cheered up and be given the desire again to play beautiful football. They need to gain confidence and work as a team, instead of blaming each other after every goal or just looking to the ground. They need to go leave their egos in the changing room and just play football.

OR

2) There needs to be a clear-out this summer with Real getting rid of Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, Raul, R. Carlos and buying good young talent such as Reyes and Robinho

Actually I think a combination of both should be done. Real today were absolutely pathetic.

[Becks]

Carlos is actually doing well.

[Ify]

Carlos is actually doing well.

I don't think he is. He has underachieved in every way. He can no longer put a good cross in, take good free kick or defend as well as he used to.

[Becks]

He put in a good free kick just a few matches ago.

[baggy]

Real plays with only two playas in the field: Gravesen and Casillas.
Real should, first of all, change the boss: Perez is too keen on attacking, and he forgets about defending.
It would be much better for Real if they had an owner with less money, but more defensive minded!

[btha]

yep la liga is over now.

[Becks]

Unless Barcalona can completely lose every match of the season, while Madrid wins, it is.

[btha]

The entire team needs to be shuffled up when i think about it.

Defence? Bad as we all know. the wingmen are good, but carlos is getting old. he has 1-2 good seasons left. Samuel.. well he's not doing anything to impress me. he's just average. but the thing is that he's argentinan and takes up a non eu "slot" which we kind of need. woodgate will maybe come back strong next season who knows.

Midfield? It "seems" okay, but they are the root of the ronaldo/raul problem because they are supposed to provide them with passes. They don't. Zidane and figo are old. Beckham.. same with samuel, he hasn't impressed me since he joined. He's just average. average should not be enough to stay in real madrid. I defenetly think solari should be a full time starter here, he's been performing very well when he's been subbed, and scoring goals

Forwards? We all know what needs to happen there. ronaldo and raul need to go. badly. REALLY.. if they stay after the summer next season will fail too. They are horribly bad atm and i don't see it getting better. It's not a question of FORM anymore, it's more a question of commitment. who to get instead, i don't know. owen should stay though i think but he probably won't. i think he should stop whining about being on the bench though(even though he should obviously be starting in place of raul)

[Rickster]

dunt buy reyes hes underperformed so much. n he says its bcos of personal life, but how do we know its personal life tat affecting his football, it cud be because hes not playing well n blame it on personal life

[Ify]

dunt buy reyes hes underperformed so much. n he says its bcos of personal life, but how do we know its personal life tat affecting his football, it cud be because hes not playing well n blame it on personal life

Well Reyes was brilliant last Saturday against Bolton! I don't think he liked the Premiership, he gets fouled a lot and can't take all the kicks he gets. I think the way he plays is best suited to La Liga (already proven from his Sevilla days), so I hope he does come to Real Madrid.

And to Becks,
He did score from a freekick a few matches ago but that was his first goal since last March!

[Highway Penguin]

On the Getafe match-
The 1st Goal:
I error occured when no one went in on the the man who crossed ball. Helguera was back tracking when he hit the ball, so obviously he was going to hit it poorly, then Samuel neglected to mark up on the Getafe center back, Raul Bravo didn't show any effort in helping the centers mark up the men. He was atleast 7 feet away from his own mark. In short- The goal was in fault of the entire defence, not just Helguera, as I've heard a lot of people blame him.

As the match continues I'll edit this post regarding my opinion on goals.

[Rickster]

does anyone think joaquin will come to madrid. madrid dunt even seem to bother about him when he plays so well in the liga and is proven to be worldclass

[Highway Penguin]

No, we bother him quite a bit. Perez has talked to him in the locker rooms after games.

The Match-
2nd Goal:
The entire team stood and watched the ball be shot.
Helguera was the last man, and I'm shocked that he couldn't take the man down.
Either way, most of the blame can go to Helguera, and Casillas.

[RonaldoD08]

Perez had a direct meeting with the whole team. Let's see what happens...:confused:

[r0naldo4life]

well... i think Robinho would be a PERFECT move..
he's quick, good, and can dribble like a mofo!!
he would not only fill in Figo's spot but will perfect it!
i think Zidane should start being a Sub rather than a starter.. Solari has proven that he's up for the job! Guti is amazing too i really like him, he can sub on for Beckham and for the defence..
well.. Salgado is good, Carlos is Excellent IMO!! Helguera and Samuel are hmm.. ok..
I think they should dump Samuel and replace him with Woodgate..
that would be P.E.R.F.E.C.T !!
As for the Forward line i think if Robinho joins madrid he will help them loads..
Ronaldo is going through a bump in the road , Raul is dead, Owen is good and bad at the same time.. i think Owen should be a Starter and Raul the Sub.. :rainbow:

[Becks]

1-0 so far. Goal from outside the box by Roberto Carlos.

[RonaldoD08]

I really hope we can score one more because I don't feel sure...yet

[Becks]

Match over.
1-0

Poor efforts from Madrid I think.

[Rickster]

i saw the first half...

we had possession and didnt do anything, they contained us like mad, all we did was pass it around the semi circle and figo ran wif the ball, lost it or gave lousy crosses that didnt do anything. y did we play a 4-2-3-1 i know gravesan wasnt in tats y lux became unsure. but if u gona hav 1 striker we arent gona score anything. overall i think if we managed to get the ball to the strikers we would have done better. mayb we should have just passed it in midfield and let malaga come out. raul did some good moves but they werent enough to justify a good game from him. this game shows how we needed salgado.

[Becks]

Beckham had a wonderful late cross in for Celades (I think) and it hit the post from VERY close range.

[RonaldoD08]

ronaldo got the assist for the goal at least...lol