Sevilla 2-4 Real Madrid | La Liga Review & Goal Videos and Highlights
Sunday, 26 April 09, 06:52 AM · Comments (134)
If you are a long-time reader of this blog then you know that I'm one of those who demand that Rau'l be benched and even after his performance last night, I still stand by my demand. To begin with, there are much younger and talented players who need playing time in order to develop. It doesn't make sense to bench them and play Rau'l 90 minutes in every game the team plays. Moreover, Rau'l is inconsistent and sometimes limits our strategy in terms of "the way of play" and pace.
However, I won't deny that he helped us snatch a vital win last night. Although I think the way he scored the goals was in no way extraordinary, I pretty much appreciate his great finishing skills. After all, Rau'l is an inside-the-box player and one of the best finishers in the world.
Regarding the match, I missed the first 15 minutes because I was working out in the gym. I still have a few pounds to lose and I'm then declared as "totally fit". Maybe my fitness will attract the eyes of Pedja Mijatovic but whatever. I turned on the TV to find out we were 1-0 down. I was like, damn it, this can't happen to us. I've learned to be patient and have faith in things so I wasn't discouraged but rather optimistic. I knew we could turn things around, heck we did an incredible job against Getafe!
So I was tweeting about Rau'l and saying how he sucked a big deal and then he scored! I just couldn't believe that Metzelder made that assists, It was perfect and the captain knew how to finish it. At that point, I knew we would be fired up in the second half.
Rau'l didn't disappoint and scored two vital goals in the second half. So we were 3-1 and I kept demanding for another. Juande sent in Huntelaar for Rau'l which I found pretty awkward since that when Rau'l isn't scoring he continues to play. But I was glad Huntelaar was there.
We made a defensive mistake that cost us a goal. The result was 3-2 and Sevilla were fired up. For me, Capel was their most dangerous player and he could have caused more damage to us.
However, we managed to score a fourth goal thanks to Marcelo. It was one-to-one and he sent in the ball beautifully. At that point, the game was over and everyone was screaming! It was crazy on Twitter too!
The bottom line is we won thanks to Rau'l. But considering that squad Juande had, I'd say it was a good performance. I hope that Robben recovers before the Clasico because he'll give us that width.
We are now 4 points behind and it aint over till it is over! BRING ON BARCA!
Hala Madrid!
Goals
45' Rau'l
62' Rau'l
65' Rau'l
92' Marcelo
Adam's Twitter Stream
Hala Madrid!
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134 Madridistas have commented on "Sevilla 2-4 Real Madrid | La Liga Review & Goal Videos and Highlights" · Add yours
hi adam how to join this twitter thing!!!
Reply to trooper:
Pretty easy.
Sign up here:
LINK
The usual info, name, password, email, bio, avatar. Make sure that you follow me: LINK
Adam,
Lineup looks as good as anything we have. Hopefully Guti is in a good mood, and Raul puts something in the back of the net. I agree that with Huntelaar on the pitch, we need to have either Guti or VDV creating for him. Early in the season we were hurting for a targetman, now that we have a great targetman we've gotta know how to feed him.
The stakes for these two games are so high, I don't know if I can stand it! I want to go to sleep and wake up two weeks later and not deal with the tension in between... sigh. But honestly, no matter what happens in the end - this has been quite an astonishing season. All we can do now is sit tight and hope for a repeat of 06/07.
If you want to watch the game here is a very nice stream in English and it works very well.. here is the link all you have to do is download the program and its very fast.. LINK
Team is
Casillas
Stats
12 Marcelo
Stats
22 Torres
Stats
21 Metzelder
Stats
4 Ramos
Stats
5 Cannavaro
Stats
6 Diarra, L
Stats
8 Gago
Stats
14 Guti
Stats
20 Higuain
Stats
7 Raul
Stats
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww... come on... stop getting owned, RM...
1-1 at halftime thanks to Metzelder nice pass and Raul putting it in .. we need to come out alot better in the second half and think about replacing Marcelo maybe since he already has a yellow and is not offering much at this point
toe, heel, ear... anything will do.
Half time !! i was shocked by Metzelder with his brilliant assisst(and i gotta admit that it was also a great finish by Raul who was almost totally useless b4 the goal), I thought it was Higuian who crossed the ball in...!! anyway, we gotta pay more attention defensively especially on both flanks. Even S.Ramos has to pay MUCH MUCH more attention on that Perotti, he is freaking dangerous. Navas had been abusing Torres several times already but Metzelder and Cannavaro(the best performer except Iker) covere it well. Man, we could have lost more than 4 goals in the first half, we'got lucky on that shit and neglecting defense on the 2nd half can cost us more than losing this game.....
at last, raul strike. he`s a real specialist on that stick toe thing. pretty decent match he had so far today.
ha ha, second goal. raul, always have faith on you.
real`s going for the win.
Fabolous Raul we are up 3-1 and Juande Ramos should be smart and take out Gago and Higuain now
Raul
1-3!!!
Hala Madrid!!!
can anyone tell 4 corner kick sevilla or real madrid????
Bad english
please answer
or where i can find the text stats for corners and cards
3 words and thats it " Raul , Raul , Raul"
How can you be madriditas and not love El capitano Sir Raul Gonzalez , Fantastic performance i loved Metzelder's performance tonight ( way better than that gangster pepe ) , Canavaro Solid as always .....
Barca Come to PaPa !!!
madrid won. hatrick from raul. thats a statement.
HALA MADRID!!!!
2-4!!!
HALA MADRID!!!
Reply to DayNnight:
Because now you have to wonder if he's in the side week in, week out on merit (especially with Huntelaar on the bench) or for sentimental, or heck - political reasons. But I sure have no complaints about anyone who scores a hat-trick for us!
Raul sucks, sucks, sucks
Fantastic we got the 3 points a very very difficult game and also Gago and Higuain did not pick up yellows so they will be allowed to play next weekend also lets hope we can recover some players maybe Heinze and Robben
Congrats to all Madridsta.....and good Riddance to Barca.....I'm listening to Realmadrid chants with loud voice here....all is a Madridsta here....my hair, skin, blood ,....all.....Who said Raul is finished..he's our spirit.....he's weak from time to time but he's our spirit....and yes he's specialised with this way of scoring...
I'd been critizing Raul to be starter for awhile since he had not been playing well for awhile. However, the captain finally proves his value with a hat-trick. Just like Filipe Inzaghi, the most important thing for a striker is not speed or dribbling skills but knows how to appear at the right place in the right time. Raul proves that he still has this "essence" of a striker. I gave him credit. NO Pepe, not problem!! we've got another wall - Metzelder. The only thing i worry about him is his speed-his weakest part that doesn't show in this game against Kanote. he has no problem against some big guys but im just afraid that he will be struggle against Eto and Messi. Higuain seemed a little bit tired while he didn't have a gd performance today, Lass is still fabulous Lass as usual, Guti had a decent game but nth impressive, S.Ramos made me worried since he didn't seem to pay enough attention with his defensive duty. Besides the second goal we lost, he had couple of soft turnover which should be had according to his level. So far so gd and the morale is high. I thought it was almost impossible to beat them away from home(cuz i thoguht we would lose Higuain), but ironically it's Raul, the former legend who'd been critized by the fans(including me), saved our ass.
good team performance ....yea raul score 3 time goood.....when you don't do that is 5 and 6 games you should be drop and give another player a chance that all ......he didn't play that well be he took his chances ....
Marcello is benefitting out from the forward role he's given by Juan de Ramus.....what do you think guys?...am I right..?...he didn't scored when Schuster was in charge....right?
Juan de Ramus stopped our bad luck in Seville after 6 years....
So now many fans here and over on Twitter are praising Rau'l. Well, he deserves the praise for scoring a hat-rick, but I personally still think he should be benched. He is inconsistent and for a player at his age, it is normal. He can't play in every game and give 100% and the proof is this game. In the first half he was invisible, in the second half he scored three goals in a short time. The reason? He positioned himself correctly and the team was fired up. Do I expect him to put on the same show next game against Barca for a full 90 minutes? No, I don't. The point I am trying to make is we can play Rau'l as long as he is adding value. Start him when he can play well, bench him when he is tired.
So here is a couple of interesting facts. Real hadn't won against Sevilla in their own stadium for six years.
Rau'l hadn't scored against Sevilla in their own stadium for 10 years.
We haven't lost a La Liga game since the Clasico against Barca.
thanks Real for giving me a goodnight kiss....good night all......I'll go on listening to Dale Madrid Dale...
Reply to realmadridguy81:
Nite
well raul showed he still got it and he deserves to play just not the whole 90 minutes. The el classico is gonna be really exciting and the best would be if there happens a miracle and robben is fitt in time. I hope real takes the la liga this year again then it shows real really is the best club in the world.
Great win and I know most of you won't agree with me but I thin Metz should not start against Barcelona if possible...if he couldn't keep up with kanoute imagine what will happen against Iniesta,Messi and most of all Eto'o.We're going to have 2 slow central defenders....so i think Ramos should start in the centre....with Torres playing on the right and Marcelo on the left
Also, I know most of you are praising Raul...but please don't exegerate in both ways....he's not awesome and he's not disasterous...he's somewhere in between and I still think he shouldn't be a started.
Metzelder should start because he knows how to position himself and knows how to clear dont you remember last time he played well in El Classico I think he should start and then Ramos on the right and possibly Marcelo at left back and play with the double pivot with Gago and Lass and then up top play Guti,Higuain,Raul, and Huntelaar.. and off the bench we can put in Robben(if fit), VDV, Drenthe, and possibly Saviola
Cmon adam dont be harsh on the guy , but yea i agree he is inconsistent but heck he scored 3 amazing rebounds ......... night all
HALA MADRID , HALA MADRID , tapa tapa .... the song is difficult Liga is ours and barca will get owned muhahahahahaha SLEEP TIGHT RAAAAAUAAAAL
We should of wore the blue jerseys today because the white socks did not match well with the black outfit
but its all good we got the 3 points
i didn't catch the game, and I am surprised that we actually won, I'll be honest. I was expecting a collapse over there in Sevilla - but they came through with flying colours. At least that will give them confidence for the Barca game.
I'm not going to jump on the Raul bandwagon just because he's bagged 3 goals today. If you play centre forward for Real MAdrid, and you play ALL the minutes + every game laws of probability state that you will score goals. Not because you're good, but simply because there will be moments where it is easier to score than miss.
I won't be surprised to see Raul score with his arse at some stage. Why not? He's already scored with his RIGHT EAR this season!
I will jump on the Metzelder bandwagon though. What a player! Rarely gets a start, but when he does he NEVER lets us down. Thanks Cristophe!
Marcelo's good form continues. Are you sure we really need a left winger? Can you believe how cooly he finished that 4th goal?
I'm the happiest Madridista on Earth , from the first Goal till the end of the game...
Hala Raul Hala Madrid!
Raul the Eternal Legend, I can't imagine Real without your magical touch , what a hero!!!
Metzelder was the star in the back , he is incredible he led the counter attack on the right that causes the first goal and he was Rock solid in the back , we didn't feeled the presence of Kanoute! I'm very proud of him
this win shows for all the world that Real Madrid is not any team IT's the Real Madrid with the spirit of heroes, even if the half of the squad is missing there's always clues
yes we can but its still gonner be a big and difficult match against barca we need to stay focused because raul scored three i am still not convinced about his overall performance also there is the two away games to valencia and villareal we got to watch them two even if we beat barca
Last week someone on this blog told me to get a life when I suggested that their criticism of Raul overlooked the fact that he brought experience and professionalism to the team as captain and that he played a vital role.
After today's performance I would like to invite that person to remove their head from their a$$.
Great game today. Unless injured, Raul should start every game. He should be subbed as needed (stamina) but someone that has been with the club for as long as he has, deserves that respect.
Barca will be tough but all of Madrid has been talking about this game for months. Bernabeu is gonna be rocking. Lets cheer for a rough match against Chelsea to fatigue Barca.
It's a shame I'm returning to the States 4 days before the biggest game of the year. Any recommendations on a place to watch the game in Chicago?
What I noticed from the game was that since Huntelaar was not starting Raul played up top the whole time resulting in him being given more chances to score but also this is his primary position but when Huntelaar plays Raul seems to drop back alot and play as an attacking midfielder and that is not his game.. this is something I believe Juande needs to work on when both of them play at the same time and I believe they will in El Classico
How can you not be a fan of Raul after all he has done for Real Madrid? You are not a true supporter. You focus on the stats too much to know how important of a player he is. Sure he don't score as many goals these last few years (although 18 last year and 18 so far this year is pretty good) but he does so much more. He leads the line, tracks back, runs his ass off, wins headers, provides assists, provides leadership, etc. But you are too busy looking at the stat sheet to see all this. Every striker is going to have his off days and scoring droughts but whenever we need a goal most Raul is there. He scores important goals.I wouldn't say he is the go-to man, we are more of a team than individuals. Higuain has stepped up and been a hero this year but our scoring is much more spread out. We get goals from everywhere example: Marcelo today. Hala Madrid!
Reply to soccerlovee:
Just the La Liga title can't prove that we are the best in the world. That's kinda naive. Juande deserves so much credit for the La Liga comeback. If we win the title again this year but ironically Barca wins the CL. That's too naive for us to say that we are the best. we gotta face the truth somtimes but not just blindly worship our favorite club.
Reply to Caracoleo:
we definitely need a winger. relying on a left winger to play at that position can just be temporary(no matter how hard he plays). We need to bring in a Classic one. a world class one
Reply to Danniel:
i totally agree with u on the Metzelder thing. He is our best defender in this game, but if we think Barca as same as Seville, we will get our butt kicked real bad. He is a classic defender in Bundisliga and he showed us his value and international level against Seville. But one strategy can't be repeatly used against different types of team. Barca is the best in Euro now(at least the top 3), and the Valencia draw was somewhat resulted from their Preparation of the Chelsea match. So we can't let this victory overwhelmed our heads cuz we are gonna play against our rival which is in a great form lately. but i personally don't think it will be a gd idea to put marcelo against messi. I prefer Torres but i can't come up with anyone RB(Sagaldo.........no....!!!) for us if we put S.Ramos in the middle......!! so i think we still have to use metzelder and thank god he showed us he is in a gd form now. Hopefully Cannavaro and him can cover each other up properly.....!! and, indeed, i appreciate Raul's effort and the goals but he is just somewhat averaged but not in a perfect form. He shouldn't be started but i think we will still be started...
just RAUL
he was the best & the first one!
three goals!!!wow!!!
now we are going to win the cup,in RAUL's hands!
Reply to Anti-Mijatovic:
That's not the only reason we need a left winger...once again Robben is injured and we just have to accept it that he's not going to play consistintly.So Now we've ended up with just one winger and at the beginning of the campaign you can't honestly think that just two wingers are enough.(I'm saying this because even though we have Drenthe...he'll be probably loaned out next season)
Reply to Anti-Mijatovic:
Does anyone know if Heinze will be ready for the classico?Because in that case he could play as left back and Messi would be scared of him haha
(However I'm not 100% convinced that Messi will start in the classico) 
and besides....they've had an excellent season and they do deserve to win it this year.(either them or Chelsea)
And also I'd like to point out that we have a whole week to prepare for the classico and Bercelona have just a few days since their match against chelsea is away if I'm not mistaken. Lastly, I don't get why Real Madrid fans don't want barcelona to progress in the champions league...don't forget guys....the more they play the better and I'm sure it will show
Reply to Danniel:
couldn't agree with ur point more, ONly ONe world-class winger's arrival is not enough for us. We better get two. "Silva and Ribery" Robben is imaged as a plastic man and I think 3 wingers will definitely not be overcrowded if we wanna establish a champion team.(CL level)
Reply to HalaMadrid7:
WHERE THE F*** WAS Raul when we got our asses handed to us against liverpool? ًDidn't we need him most at that time?
Reply to Danniel:
I don't think MEssi is necessarily scared of MEssi, he is indeed the best player in the world and has the ability to beat up every defender one-on-one. Heinze is such a glumsy defender who knows how to commit foul in dangerous area. he doesn't even had the speed to catch up with Messi. And i will say Messi will start at the classico cuz unless he is hurted in the CL game. The classico is also meaning to them. And they will try their best to beat us, so are we. think about it this way, the EL Classico for barca is as important as for us. They will try to beat RM to extend the deficit as much as possible since the next week they have to take out some Main characters in order to prepare to CL.
Reply to DayNnight:
Next game say Rau'l sucks sucks sucks (three times) as loud as you can he'll score three goals. It works!
To be honest, this game was way too different in both halves. If we play like we did in the first half against Barca thne I wouldn't be surprise by a 0-5 scoreline but the second-half was very encouraging. lets hope Robben and Sneijder can make it, we'dd be all set for a grand showdown then. Hala Madrid!
Reply to Anti-Mijatovic:
i meant scared of Heinze
Sevilla;DONE,Barcelona and Valencia next
,i didnt see the game but i can see that all of you say that we sucked in the first half but Juande made his calculations,Raul scored his first hatrick in this season i hope he score another against Barca next week,now we have a great chance to win La Liga. 
Keep up the good work lads.
Hala Madrid!
you know people think it's all good now raul have scored some goal .......so we can be satisfy with him going back to playing shit for 6 and 7 games....
my thing is if you are play bad you get bench...that all...you shouldn't play because of your but name but because of your form ....this is a modern football team.....
Reply to Anti-Mijatovic:
No no you're totally right infact don't like Heinze one bit...but I was refering more about the mental aspect where in the previous classico messi was allagedly kicked all match long.if this is true I'd point my finger at Heinze as the culprit who did it haha.
obviously he would be great and he would be almost impossible to get...but it could happen I guess 
I think Messi won't necessarily play because the Barca fans think they're "safe" because they have a 4point lead and they're playing better than we are...so they'll give their all against Chelsea. Well the best solution would be Messi getting injured for the rest of the season but i find that abit difficult haha.
Lastly I've read that Perez wants Iniesta
all this arguing leads to one thing.....TOO MUCH POLITICS AT REAL MADRID!.....sure raul can score a hatrick after playing shit for months, but that still doesn't change my mind that he should not play a full 90 mins game/benched/subed. as I see, Real have no long term future plans when it comes to him, I believe they are leaving it up to him to decide when he wants to end playing which is wrong! Yes, he did marvelous things for the club and i appreciate it, but it's time to move on. He continues to play until 2010-11 we will still be in CL drought, he will be even slower and banged up by then. IMO, Raul is being selfish! He is only thinking about his legacy and not the triumph of Real....once he can play, score, break records, be captain all the while trying to crack the Spanish national team, he is fine. A noble player who loves his club and want to see it garner titles will slow down or step back and allow it to happen even if it means he will contribute less or not at all. I'm sure if he was on the Spanish national side playing shit like he's doing at RM, national who are RM fans would want him off....oops that happened already! So why is he ruing RM chances of titles in Europe etc. Winning La Liga is easy, as a european club manager once said, it's a petty league compared to others and he's right....I'm tired of watching my team scrape wins week in week out and are under pressure to win all the time. I want dominating stuff and we don't have that. I don't want to sit on a weekend and watch toe and ear tap ins....I want bullets from near and far. I want spectacular shit! You know how stupid it is when we say things like we hope barca drop points blah blah blah, you think Barca gives a shit what we do....they are where we supposed to be, leading! and are laughing there asses off cause we sound desperate. The other teams have young home grown players shining, we crave other teams stars. It's madness! Real is a joke to other big name clubs. They fear us not! CHANGE!
i was laughing my ass off when raul scored every goal he did yesterday.. the commentators on goaltv were retards... they were saying look at that superb finish, look how coolly he took at shot. did they even see the goals?!? they were ALL tap-ins... the only one that can't really count as a tap-in, however, that was a fluke! he just stuck his foot out and hoped it went in the goal.. raul WAS a great player, i know this because he was my favorite player for eight years.. he is barely a shadow of his old self.. play VDV in his position.. i was amazed that hunterlaar was on the bench, and not him..
Reply to madridtrini4:
BTW, madridtrini4...i've been meaning to ask u is the trini in ur username for the country you live?...if so then ahem .....waves*
The big merengue heart made the 2 great victories!No fear, we can "fight" with Barcelona!
i know realmadrid r going to beat barcelona!!!now what i dont know is whether i am being realistic or optimistic!!!the reality is barcelona is too good for real madrid...and fighting spirit as well as determination cannot ensure real madrid win!!!!!let's be honest with ourself///barca is capable of scoring 5 past us if we give them more than 50% ball possesion
Reply to realfreak:
yeah, i'm from trinidad .. but my grandparents were from venezuela and spain..
Reply to realfreak:
i'm guessing you're from trini also?
i have good news !!! today i heard that there is a good chance that robben is fit for the el classico
Were gonna have a better chance if we have robben playing againt barca and then we can finaly see when robben en messi play against each other who really is better.
Reply to soccerlovee (L):
That is amazing news I have also been hearing of late that there is a chance that Robben makes it as well even if he is not fully fit which I doubt he will be it would be great if he can come in off the bench and provide us with a spark.. is there any word on Heinze making it? because I believe that if Heinze dont make it then Marcelo will play left back
Reply to Kris in Toledo:
Raul should start every game? Have you watched many games this season? Are you living in the last century? Or are you just a secret Barcelona fan?
Raul's form has been VERY VERY POOR. Somebody here accused the anti-Raulista fans of being over concerned with stats. But it is Raul's supporters who constantly point out the number of goals he ha scored this season. How's that for hypocrisy?
We are told we have to respect what he has done for us. But at the expense of team objectives? No thanks.
In my view Raul does not have a role to play in this Real Madrid. All great strikers come to an end. Santillana, Hugo Sanchez, Butragueño; they all accepted their retirement gracefully. Why not Raul?
The fact is we are carrying Raul. He is not leading us. His experience counts for nothing if he can't dribble, lose his marker, or make a run from deep due to his lack of pace. Are we supposed to carry him in the Champions League next season? Do we have to constantly sacrifice the ambitions of the team so Raul can better his own personal records?
Raul needs to be ditched, and we fans need to wake up and drag ourselves into the 21st century. we need a forward line that inspires terror, like manchester United's, Barcelona's, AC Milan's, Chelsea's or Liverpool's. Wake up and stop harking back to the last century people.
Reply to realfreak:
You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
Thank God there are Madrid fans with some common sense!
Reply to Danniel:
yeah man, i thought the same way too, hahaha, i told RealMadridFan several dayz ago that i hope Messi, Xavi, and Inesta can be injuried after encountering with Chelsea but i fould myself too naive and unrealistic. Anywayz, I think they will look up to the el classico rather than any other games remained cuz if we kicked their ass, their lead will drop to 1.(unless they look for a drop but i think they will try to earn as more point as possible at the games after which they can have a week to rest). it can be extremely dangerous for them in La Liga cuz their next game after the el classico will be played several dayz b4 the chelsea leg, so they have to take out some key players to prepare for CL. They will try their best to beat us cuz after the el classico, they can have a week left to rest. Damn, i reall hope the EL CLASSIco can be played couple dayz b4 their 1st leg.
So are we really trusting raul because he scored some tap ins. That was good positioning of an experienced striker but he is far below his best. On barca i think its going to be a tough match if we give them those chances infront of goal then we will be buried 3-0 by half time.Whatever the result madrid needs to keep juande ramos for next season and then add four quality players ribery and david villa as two of them,what do you guys think if perez wants to get rid of juande ramos there is no good replacement michael laudrap is no proven coach .perez should listen to people not what he thinks remember last time he fucked up by firing delbosque.This the very reason iam sceptical about the nomination of perez as the next president, wrong footballing decisions.
If we have same point with barca in the end of season in order to win la liga we must win more than 2 goals agains barca right?because what i know is in la liga they see the head to head records first
Raul will not withstand the wrath of Perez or the fury of fans who know shit about football, he's gotta be benched, it's as simple as that.
REPORT: Arjen Robben has made an incredible recovery over the weekend by working overtime and if all goes to plan, he should return to training on Thursday, giving him three days to train. AS reports that Juande is developing a special plan to stop Barcelona which includes refernece to Schuster's 4-1 triumph. Juande believes that if Heinze does not make the Clasico, Marcelo will take his place, not Torres due to Marcelo being more pacey. He will use the double pivot of Gago and Lass with both them being told to mark Messi heavily. Robben and Higuain will play as wingers while Raul and Huntelaar will start upfront.
Personally, I like his plan but i'm not too sure about Marcelo at left-back but his last Clasico was amazing. I would want Marcelo and Robben on the wings with Torres at left-back and Higuain-Hunte;aar upfront. Lets hope Robben and Higuain give Puyol and co nightmares. Hala Madrid!
Heinze has made a full recovey n trained with the team today
Reply to Caracoleo:
I completely agree. Sure, Raúl has done a lot for us in the last 15 years he's been here. But in THIS season, there are players who've contributed so much more to keeping the campaign alive: Casillas, Higuaín, Robben when he's played, heck, even Lass.
We should not allow the hat-trick to obscure the fact that Raúl's contribution to our game has been sorely lacking.
I missed a good part of the match against Málaga because I forgot about Daylight Savings Time. When I started watching, I had no idea Raúl was playing. I only noticed when he got booked. Anecdotal evidence, to be sure, but I think it does say something!
Adam Bader when is the El Classico Preview coming?
Adam I'm having problems seeing comments....the new ones can't be seen....
(the problem might be my computer) do you know what I can do?
Reply to Madridista4:
In the next couple of days.
Reply to Danniel:
If you can read this comment then everything is fine. Just a note to all of you, OleOle has changed hosting and it is recommended that you clean your browser's cache and buffer data so everything is fetched again.
Reply to Adambader:
I don't know....now it's all fine
just a few minutes ao I was only able to see until coment 76.
Reply to TheAngelOfMadrid:
Now that Heinze will probably play I guess that he should play....either in the middle or as left back.I think left back is the best option with Marcelo playing as a left winger (and helping Heinze during the match).I would like both Higuian and Huntelaar to start but I don't think it's a reality.So I think either Higuain or Huntelaar will be sagrificed for the game.
*Now that Heinze seems fit I think he should play
Hey dude, i just watched Bara's 1st leg against Chelsea and Chelsea gives us a perfect example about how to "STOP"(only) Barca, they did exactly wut i said in one of my previous comment discussing with u about how to withstand their possession futbal, the key is to "DENY THEIR SPACE IN THE MIDFIELD" and this couldn't be done only by the hold midfielders. In today's game, that tactic was perfectly done by the efforts of all the chelsea attacking players(other than Mikel and Essein), especially drogba who's done a lot of dirty works while dropping back. He makes me missing RVN a lot since he will have done the same thing for us. I believe this is the key to reduce their possesion time but i don't think it's possible for us to imitate cuz we need the 3 pts. We have to play aggressively which can place us in a very dangerous position against a dangerous team like barca, having the ability to kill their oppenent in just one moment. tactically, im still not that optimistic....!! more importantly, I've got a feeling that they might launch a sudden attack right at the beginning of the game like wut liverpool did. If our backline doesn't pay enough attention, it can cost us a lot..!! moreover, i don't think Heinze is a gd choice as a starter. Torres is a gd choice with his right foot which is more capable to block messi's left foot. but i don't think defending messi can be done by one guy. We have to deny all the space for him to cut "INSIDE"cuz it's gonna be much more dangerous. and we have to imitate wut chelsea did to him- to tightly mark the players around him and block all the possible direction he can pass to them. we gotta force him to dance outward not inward. Marcelo will be important in the left wing position cuz his man will be Daniel Alves, the biggest helper of Messi in the left flank.
Reply to Anti-Mijatovic:
I only watched the second half and in my opinion Barca should have won it. Chelsea played very defensively and yes to some point they managed to stop Barca, but had Eto'o and Bojan been effective, Barca would have won.
What I am trying to say it is very dangerous to play defensively during the 90 minutes especially against a team like Barca. No defense can handle the pressure Barca's midfield and excellent attacking line can generate so the best is to defend, dominate and attack. We should learn our lesson; in the first Clasico we had no choice but to defend, and we did a good job at that but they eventually managed to score after our defense had collapsed.
In order to play defensively and win, you need to score from any chance you can get.
I Never Really Leave Comments on this blog cause I'm a Barca fan and I feel Its not my place, I just like to see how the other side thinks a. But For those of you who says you should play like Chelsea did today, Well Sorry But this is not Madrid. Yes I'm A HUGE Barca fan but never the less Chelsea today didn't play at all, 10 players in there own box ! Pathetic Really !. I really expect more from Madrid. I think that Barca was better tonight even though we didn't score. If you ask me, Football is so much more than scoring and extremely more than defending too. I expect more from Madrid fans. Even though Madrid isn't one of teams I cheer for but I certainly expect so much more than just to defend.
Barca are used to thrashing laliga teams that dont defend EPL is very different they met their match today.At least football is not all baout sexy football its about winning trophies ask arsenal you play sexy and dont win nothing then you are still not recognised in the books of football.ask madrid during the galactico they ended up with nothing forcing perez to resign.in football if you use techniques to stop the other team winning then well done.Teams play differently you must understand that.
Reply to Joe_Henry:
i respect your comment, and furthermore, you.. i also totally agree with you, chelsea is killing the beautiful game.. barca clearly deserved to win, and they should have.. if henry had stayed on, or even eto'o, one of the two would have buried bojan's missed shot, or hleb's chance
Reply to Adambader:
I totally understand and agree taht defensive football is not gonna work for us whether or not we need the 3 pts. wut i tryna point out is that we have to give them as much as pressure right in the midfield. And im not saying we have to concede like Turtle CHelsea. What i'd emphasized is that we can't neglect at the defensive end. we need to maintain the balance as mcuh as possible.
Reply to Joe_Henry:
At a RM fan point of view, I don't mind to see my team to use any method to acheieve their goal. But i can tell u taht im one of the most annoying fan in this blog who is shouting about beautiful football which RM have been playing for a long time. Honestly, I admit that our team is not as gd as barca(technically). But it doesn't mean we have no choice to beat barca. I admit that barca is the best team in EUrope and playing the most beautiful futbal. But it doesn't promise the trophy . Chelsea played ugly football but u gotta accept the fact that u guys cannot simply take them down at Camp Nou. BE practical, it's all about the come out, the result. ANd whatever tactic can bring about the most considerable result is considered to be a gd tactic.
Reply to madridtrini4:
If we do have an availale squad like Chelsea or man Utd, I will advocate the "beautiful" attacking football tactic when we face barca.
All we need is the 3 points and it does not matter how we get it from now on till end of the season we are just trying to get 3 points and next season when Florentino comes we can play beautiful football.. by the way still no word on Florentino Perez
looking at the final 4 teams in CL and I was wondering....would Raul be in the starting 11 on any of them? (place him into their current squad for yourself and see) heck tevez can't get in the starting 11 at ManU...WHY RM? WHY?!!!!!!! Then i went easier in the non CL playing teams all over europe, I tried to pick a team that he would be a full 90 min player week in week out and got maybe the clubs in the bottom half of each table. But in MLS....Heck he'd be another Beckham. Not even in ATH MD, Villareal or sevilla in the top half of the La Liga would have him starting unless kanoute or someone is injured. I wish the owners of Man City would come get him and hand RM a boatload of cash.
Reply to realfreak:
that's impossible. Raul will retire in RM cuz he'd already signed a life-long contract with RM, so is Saint Iker. I don't want to see him leaving even though i don't like to see him being started every single game. I still respect him at wut he'd contributed to Real Madrid, but it's so unfair for some who really deserves to be starter but is not even given enough chance. he should have imitated Ryan Giggs if he still wanna retain his fame. He will be still The RM "ICON" but not necessary to be the one whom we have to rely on to score every week. He deserves some time but i suggest only the last 15 minutes or sth. Just give him the armband whoever the captain is but it's tired of us to see him playiing all the 90 minute games weekly. We still respect u captain, but sometimes we gotta face the truth.
I'm still at my point. Just for a second imagine if every team played like Chelsea. Every team will be inside there own box passing the ball
. Such a joke ( No offense ). The object of the game is to take the ball to in the 3 woodwork not to stop your opponents there are some sports that defending is part of the game like American Football. I just can't get in my mind that football should be played like Chelsea played. Sorry I still think Barca is better. And as for the Reader that said something about Arsenal. Why do you think people still cheer for Arsenal ? I'm not saying that they shouldn't still win anything. Its just I respect Arsenal ! I still expect more From Madrid
Reply to Joe_Henry:
I don't exactly agree with you mate...I think clubs are remembered and respected by how many titles they win in the end.When last year chelsea were VERY VERY close to a double...and they won nothing in the end....their season was considered a big failure...and man u's a very big sucsess.
Also, I guess you can still remember the Capello era at R.Madrid....which would you have chosen....to be Real Madrid (and play ugly football...but win the league) or to be Barcelona (and play better football but lose the league). 
There are teams which are strong enough to play nice football and win at the same time but I beleive that they are only two (Spain and Barcelona)...you can't expect other teams to do the same 
As I said before, I have no place here. I have tried to have a Conversation but it seams I'm not welcome. Thank you for those of you with decent comments in my favor . furthermore, Its one point of view. If we all have the same point of view we all would be cheering for the same team. Again I only wanted to know how the other side is thinking, not to disrespect you ( or your team ) nor did I come here to talk about Barcelona's success this season ( so far at least ).
exactly mate!!! since when barca and ther fans started teaching us how to play football!!!!intelligent passing and possesion football was introduced by real madrid galacticos not barcelona!!!the term entertainment football belongs to real madrid and there fans who were the first to demand exciting football not barcelona and besides donot expect to much from real madrid cause they have to sacrifice sexy football due to several injuries!!!my apologies
Very good news in todays training session both Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder trained outside and Arjen Robben even managed to train with the team at some parts and there is a very good chance Robben will make El Classico and Sneijder has a less of a chance but he can still make other important games we have coming up .. however bad news is Guti recieved a blow to his left ankle at the end of the training session and his injury will be determined
Reply to Madridista4:
All of that is good news technically beause Guti sucks
I told you people a while back that Sneijder is a tough cookie and he will NOT miss the rest of the season. Our doctors seem to be lousy at predicting the lenght of injuries. This Clasico is shaping up to be a stunner. Hala Madrid! 
Reply to TheAngelOfMadrid:
I agree with you
According to a report Perez has offered Ibrahimovich a 12m a year contrat and promised him that Ronaldo will join Real madrid at the summer....don't know what to say if this is true
Reply to Danniel:
I think it's becoming pretty obvious Ronaldo will join Real. The biggest of footy pundits have said they believe the transfer will take place. Ibra is a wonderful player and would hugely benefit a CL push but at the expense of RVN. I think we should wait one more season before buying another striker and if we need one, we should make use of Negredo's contract. He's amazing and worth a buy-back. Hala Madrid!
Id like to have Guti avaialbe for El Clasico because he is a good set piece taker and since Sneijder is unlikely to make it for El Clasico, VDV is our only option really for set piece and he has not been playing well when give a chance.. so we need Guti
See what I've got for all of you folks. A comparison between Barca and Rau'l LINK
Reply to Madridista4:
Van der Vaart is a way better set-piece taker and honestly, Guti was bound to not perform well so i'd rather have VDV there. If Robben makes it, we'll be all set for a proper showdown.
How are Real Madrid going to play this one? Not like Chelsea did in the first leg of the Champions League. We need to win. A 0-0 draw doesn't suit us.
They've lost Marquez, so we need to drive them right back into their own half and put pressure on the centre of defence. We need to keep Toure busy with bursting runs from midfield - Snjeider?
Don't let Barca have the ball. They'll kill us. We need to take no prisoners - full court press and strangle them in their own half so they can't supply Messi and Eto'o. Hopefully Chelsea will have worn them down a bit for us.
Reply to caracoleo:
Valencia showed everyone how to play against a team like barca... with fast passes in counterattack's with mostly two touches, therefore the ball movement will be fast and barca's defense can be broken that way... Valencia was unlucky in the finish of the game, otherwise they should have won.
Reply to caracoleo:
they still have keita besides toure, honestly, i think all they need is a draw, and if they played like wut they did at the second leg against bayern munich, it will be extremely hard for us to even score cuz they can keep possession so well. once again, i don't advocate any kind of defensive football which is impossible cuz we need the 3 pts. But wut i emphasized is that we gotta "DENY THEIR SPACE IN THE MIDFIELD" and this goal is not necessary to achieve by conceding like CHelsea. IT's so depending on the whole team's effort, especially for those attacking players. they have to sacrifice like Lampard and drogba, dropping to the midfield and do all the tackles and marking wheneve we dispossess.
Reply to Joe_Henry:
don't distort the fact, no one is not welcomed but even for us, the RM fans, are sharing some different opinions here. first of all, i think u should critisize Chelsea way of playing Until u guys BEAT them, otherwise, the beautiful football theory is not yet convincible for everyone. Though, i personally admire beautiful football rahter than the style that RM is playing now but the players we have now are somewhat difficult for us to play beautiful football. the tactic has to be flexible. We played sexy football at the year of 2001, in which we'got Figo and Makelele. We still got beaten by Bayern Munich who defended like a turtle. we control the possession so well and created all the dangers but we couldn't just beat them. We couldn't say anything cuz we lost.
Reply to Anti-Mijatovic:
We have to go at them from the first minute and just attack them non stop without allowing them any space what so ever and with that in mind Guti has been ruled out the game because of a sprained ankle that he recieve in training today following a collision with Dudek.. but the good news is Robben and Sneijder are making fast recovries and especially Robben who trained with the team at some parts and played with the ball.. and there is still 2 training sessions left
Reply to Joe_Henry:
of course you are welcome if you have a normal thinking and behavior... I agree with you that this type of football is ugly but chelsea was only thinking on not to receive a goal... the same thin happened to us playing against Liverpool in Bernabeu... a team like liverpool playing a whole match in their own half, but they got a goal from one of their two trips to our half and the rest is history
...
I was totally pissed at that point but that's football, sometimes you play against a team like that...
Reply to Madridista4:
we are better off Guti in this game because he is to slow to play against Barca, his pace is week and movement without a ball is nonexisting...
Snaijder is a better choice in my opinion...
i really hope robben is fit in time for barca. He can make up for the last time when he missed the el classico. If robben is in form and we have a huntelaar and a hiquain who play there best and then ofcourse the rest of the team who play there best i think we have a good chance to beat barca.
Reply to real madrid lovee:
Robben will make it and he will most likely start to get us off to a good start and I think he will go as much as he can.. and Sneijder is unlikely to make it for El Clasico but he is recovering better than expected.. now no Guti and no Sneijder our only true set piece taker is VDV but I doubt he will start.. as of right now I think the lineup will be Casillas,Ramos,Cannavaro,Metzelder,Marcelo,Lass,Gago,Robben,Higuain,Raul,Huntelaar.. and off the bench VDV,Saviola,Drenthe,Heinze,Javi Garcia are options depending on how the game goes
Reply to Anti-Mijatovic:
agree..
the midfield is the most important part of our team that must work in el classic, and in that case attackers must come back and help midfielders...
I know that this could sound strange but i would use saviola in this game. i know that he is not playing this season and that he is missing first team football but his speed and movement would do great damage to Barca's defence... he can come back to help midfield and get the ball, or stretch the Barca's defence with his speed and dribbling. Higuain would be more relived and had more space.
With everybody talking about the Barca game I couldn't help but notice...but I think Messi,Xavi and Alves in particular are getting fatigued and I think it's showing.This could be good news because if they don't play great basically only Eto'o and Iniesta are their strong points.
Also I have to say that their defence certainly won't be weak since Puyol is almost certain to play since he got suspended for the Chelsea match.
Reply to Rireal:
i gotta accept the fact that Juande wouldn't share the same thought with us. Everyone in this blog notices Raul shouldn't start or play for 90 minutes, but don't u think it's possible to see him at the bench this saturday?? Juande is given a hard task and i personally think he is already doing his best. He wouldn't risk to start saviola. But i really think VDV deserves to take Raul's place. however, it seems impossible for Juande to take Raul off the started 11 since he'd got the hat-trick... anyway, it's gonna be extremely hard for us to win. But we should still cheer for the team. Last two games were superb. I ain't talking about hte overall performance, it's the spirit that got us through the darkness. But i have to say this b4 the el classico --"if we played like the last couple minutes against Getafe, we could lose more than 3-4 goals instantly. Barca is not the type of team that we can take advantage with ONLY the spirit. they have the ability to keep everything under their control even though they can't score. I just hope Robben can play that we can have more hope.
Reply to Danniel:
Agree about Messi getting tired. He looked very poor against Chelsea.
If Puyol plays, that's better for us, because frankly he's in dire form. He should have been sent off against Chelsea. He was a great defender, but he's a weak link now.
Reply to TheAngelOfMadrid:
VDV is very under-rated..!! the guy is one of the best midfielders in the world, he can pull something out of nothing! he could be better than iniesta, and i believe he is, just play him!
Reply to Rireal:
even though i am a huge madrid fan, i was really pissed at the way chelsea played.. they just killed the game for those who wanted to watch a good match
CONFIRMED: Arjen Robben completed an entire training session with his team-mates and seems to have recovered completely from his knock. Sneijder and Guti are both certain to miss out but will more than likely be ready for the game with Valencia.
I knew we sucked at predicting the length of injuries. Hala Madrid!
There's no need to hail my great earlier prediction that both Sneijder and Robben would be back for the big games
AS is reporting that Juande Ramos tested his line up today in training behind closed doors and the team will be Iker Casillas,Ramos,Cannavaro,Metzelder,Heinze,Lass,Gago,Marcelo,Robben,Higuain,Raul... if this is the lineup that leaves us with Huntelaar,VDV,Drenthe,Saviola,Javi Garcia with nice options coming off the bench.. the only problem is no true set piece taker except VDV
Reply to Madridista4:
That's probably our best line-up at the moment and I can't believe i'm saying this but Raul should play on Satirday because a) He has big match and experience and b) Huntelaar seems very much off-form.
I disagree with us not havinjg a set-piece taker. Robben is great at corners, Higauin too. Raul, Higauin or Robben can take free-kicks and if Huntelaar plays, he's a set-piece taker too. Hala Madrid!
Reply to TheAngelOfMadrid:
I meant big match experience...stupid typos
Reply to Rireal:
It would be funny if Chelsea got a big win against Barca. Some English teams, Liverpool and Chelsea in particular play some of the least impressive football in Europe yet still win though Liverpool's doing well recently.
good and bad comments but the truth is you play to win trophies and those that go into the history books are those that win trophies and championships look at the history of Man utd Liverpool, Real madrid, ac milan,thats what makes big teams sexy footy no results is not counted to be best you need to win your local league and UCL SO FOR NOW THE BEST TEAM IN EUROPE IS Man utd. we have wait for the next best team after the ucl and championships.
Reply to TheAngelOfMadrid:
exactly mate!!!i think it is to do with having tactical managers not becuase the team is good///secondly do u think there is hope in el clasico, we all know how good barca is at opening defences
Barcelona can win the CL ....but only if we beat them on saturday...and force them to do that!!!
Reply to trooper:
Yes, they're good at opening defences but their own defence is really bad so if we can expmloit that, then we can win. We have an advantage over them too. Guardiola can't afford to put his strongest side out 3 times in 7 days or he'd be asking for injuries. We want it more too, it'll be an interesting match.
Reply to TheAngelOfMadrid:
even a half strength barca would be tough to contain.especially iniesta and messi.looking at this match and we'll be hoping for gago and heinze to neutralise them scared the life out of me.im sure barca will score even if casillas is magnificient like the earlier clasico.we just need to show our attacking prowess and overwhelmed them in midfield.we just need to score MORE ! i hope madrid turns on the style at the big stage.
this is a match about reputation. We gotta rescue the Real Madrid fame which has been declining these years. This is more than a match!! we have to kick their ass at home whether we can win the title or not!!! Hala Madrid!!
Clasico Preview.
Reply to Adambader:
LINK
We will beat them!!!That was my real intention to say above!