It was a glorious Sunday for Real Madrid boss Claudio Ancelotti, and his side didn't even kick a ball. Surprise draws for both Barcelona and Atletico leave Ancelotti's side just one point behind the co-leaders of La Liga. Plucky Levante put thoughts of the season opener, when they were thumped 7-0 at Camp Nou, out of their head. They played a pressing, containing game designed to shut off supply to the returning Lionel Messi – and Joaquin Capaross's plan worked to perfection. Whilst they defended superbly they also found time to break with menace, and it was the home side who opened the … [Read more...]
Getafe 2-2 Real Sociedad
Getafe had lost five games in a row, but manager Luis Garcia Plaza secured a point in an entertaining 2-2 draw against Real Sociedad in the first La Liga game of the day. It looked as if Getafe were heading for yet another defeat as they went two goals down inside the first twenty minutes. Sociedad's Spanish striker Imano Agirretxe took full advantage of a Getafe defence that was low in confidence, scoring in just the fourth minute and then adding a second on 16 minutes. At this point it seemed as if the floodgates would open but Getafe shook off their lethargy and began to dig deep. Ciprian … [Read more...]
Saturday Round-Up
There were four matches played in La Liga on Saturday, with teams picking up points at both top and bottom of the table. Here is our Saturday round-up. Real Betis 0-5 Real Madrid Two milestones were reached in this one side match. Karim Benzema scored his hundredth goal for the club and manager Carlo Ancelotti gained his 500th career victory. Read a full match report here: http://laligablog.com/2014/01/19/real-betis-0-0-real-madrid/ Elche 2-0 Rayo Vallecano 0 An important clash at the bottom of La Liga saw Elche pull away from trouble thanks to a two nil win over Rayo Vallecano, who find only … [Read more...]
Real Betis 0-0 Real Madrid
Real Madrid moved joint top of La Liga yesterday after a 5-0 demolition of rock bottom Real Betis. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will see an ominous shadow looming as they prepare for their matches today. Cristiano Ronaldo rounded off his magnificent week with the opener, a fantastic power strike, but the greatest smile of the night was on the face of Gareth Bale. On 25 minutes he curled a perfect free kick past an unmoving Stephan Anderson in the Betis goal – his first goal in two months and his tenth for Madrid. The best is yet to come from Bale but he is showing signs of improvement. Madrid … [Read more...]
Muchas Gracias, Xavi!
There were celebrations in the Hernandez household this week as Xavi made his 700th first team appearance for Barcelona. Here we look at the man who has had all of Spain saying 'Muchas gracias, Xavi!' Xavi was born on 25th January 1980 in the Catalonian town of Terrassa. He showed promise from an early age and was snapped up by the world famous Barcelona academy. From 1997 he started playing for Barcelona B, making 61 appearances for them and scoring four goals. He made his first team debut on 3rd October 1998 in a 3-1 win over Valencia – it was to form a pattern. When Xavi plays to his … [Read more...]