Real Madrid 2-2 Espanyol | La Liga Review
Written by Adam Bader on Sunday, 05 October 08, 10:02 PM
So, captain Rau'l scored two goals, huh? Yeah, I know, I hear you saying that I should shut up but wait -- Rau'l gave a good performance and scored because he benefited so much from the rotation system I talked about.
I have criticized him on many occasions on this blog and I was right when I said he should be benched sometimes and tonight was a proof. He was fresh, focused and eager to improve. He really played well tonight.
Unfortunately, we were the ones who needed to comeback -- and not just once but twice. Tamudo put the visitors ahead in the 20th minute of the first half from the penalty spot. It was legitimate and Heinze was stupid - end of discussion.
Just after their captain put them ahead, our captain equalized as he converted Sergio Ramo's excellent cross and sent the ball to somewhere in the net where their goalie couldn't reach.
Our performance improved. We tried to score another goal but we couldn't. Van Der Vaart tried, Ruud tried, Higuain gave it a shot, but the ball didn't want to get in.
The defense wasn't THAT good tonight although it consisted of Ramos, Pepe, Cannavaro & Heinze. As a result, Luis Garcia followed up on a ball and scored Espanyol's second goal. Who to blame? I don't know, but what I know is that there was something wrong back there in our defense.
Rau'l once again equalized. Neither us nor them improved, and I would say the first half was more interesting.
Robben came in for VDV. He allowed us to be more dangerous (hadn't been his turn to be rotated, he should have started) but couldn't score. He was then replaced by Drenthe -- got injured? I didn't notice, but I'm gonna investigate later (It was weird)
Wesley Sneijder made his return as he went in for De La Red. He seemed fine and I liked his new hair style. He had a couple of shots on the goal but it seems he hasn't yet regained everything. Tried to score from a free-kick in injury time but the ball was blocked by the wall -- everyone protested claiming it touched an Espanyol player's hand and it actually did, but the referee said no, so no.
Just one point for us tonight. I think we should have won this one, but it is Okay. International action is back and just lets, lets, hope nobody gets injured. I don't want to hear VDV, Robben or anyone else got injured.
Off to bed now. Let me know your thoughts on the game. More tomorrow.
Hala Madrid!
| Real Madrid | Casillas |
|---|---|
| Sergio Ramos |  |
| Pepe | |
| Cannavaro | |
| Heinze | |
| Diarra | |
| De la Red | |
 Sneijder 68' |
|
| Van der Vaart | |
| Robben 48' |
|
| Drenthe 73' |
|
| Higuaín | |
| Van Nistelrooy | |
| Raúl | Gol 25', 47' |
| Espanyol | Kameni |
|---|---|
| Sergio Sánchez | |
| Jarque | |
| Beranger | |
| Pareja | |
| Lacruz 48' |
|
| Moisés Hurtado | |
| Nené | |
| Román Martínez | |
| Ángel 65' |
|
| De la Peña | |
| Coro 78' |
|
| Luis García | Gol 31' |
| Tamudo | Gol 21' |
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again.....if schuster is rotating players why the hell Saviola hasn't started any games and only played a total of 35mins all season? I can't believe that crap. I know RVN is good but today he should have substituted with Saviola. Heinze is a fool. Never really liked him. So Raul scored 2. Big deal. You know who Madrid reminds me of? The New York Yankees. For anyone who watched baseball,to me Raul is like Derek Jeter.....yes you won many championship with the team and ur captain but ur ageing. Time to start accepting that fact! And time for your team management and owners/presidents to wake up and thank you for your services and stop being too loyal. The world will not end if you don't play. The team/club will survive! The both teams also have a tendancy to pay big bucks for players and both have a load of geriatrics.
That's all I have to say for now.
P.S. I still love both teams. and follow them with a passion. That's crazy haha.
I hate Heinze most of the time and at this point, I think Marcelo really is better than him. He's given away a bunch of penalties and conceded many free-kicks since he came and in my opinion he isn't Real Madrid quality. I think it was an unfair result and we deserved to win, Kameni was just on fire. Good game, hopefully games like these will help improve. I'm just sad Robben had to come off, he's phenomenal and without him we REALLY lack in midfield. Hopefully he'll be fine for Athleti. Though on the bright side, I think Raul's man of the match performance yesterday showed his critics that he has some juice left in him 
Hala Madrid!
Both of Espanyol's goal was created from our left side of defense, and the penalty is clearly from heinze's fault, he failed to make good offside trap, than he carelessly tackle that espanyol guy. The second one is kinda offside for me, but still, both Pepe and Ramos just stand seeing garcia scored. Oh, c'mon, i'm a very huge fan of Casillas, and i really hope he win Zamora again, even ballon d'or, but with that kind of defense, we can't always depend on saint Iker, or our offence to keep scoring goals to win a game. oh, and also, it is such a good game for Raul, the rotation truly works, and Schuster should keep applying this rotation system, especially in defense, Hala Madrid!!! 
Reply to HalaMadrid:
I hate Heinze most of the time and at this point, I think Marcelo really is better than him. He's given away a bunch of penalties and conceded many free-kicks since he came and in my opinion he isn't Real Madrid quality. I think it was an unfair result and we deserved to win, Kameni was just on...
I think Rau'l deserved to play because he was rested the game before. However, as you said, Saviola should have started. I don't know why Schuster doesn't have faith in him although he was the one who brought him.
I'm still waiting for the report on Robben's injury. I just hope it is not serious.
16 Madridistas have commented on "Real Madrid 2-2 Espanyol | La Liga Review"
after look at real madrid last games i am left wondering where is the style gone from the games ....the team can't even put 10 passing sequence together..the passing & Cohesion is horrible..i taught that what schuster was going to bring to the team ..from pre season to now i don't like how the team is play .....guy give me your oppion
Damn why is Heinze always creating fouls in dangerous situations, he used to be a good defender and still is to some extent however he has been using dirty tactics lately probably training for MMA, marcelo is more dimensional and our future he should be playing.