Real Madrid 6-1 Real Betis

 

A lot of things have been accomplished tonight. Real continued their winning streak, Rau'l scored his 311th goal for the club, Huntelaar scored his third goal with Los Blancos, and Higuain scored his 14th league goal.

 

However, the best thing that happened tonight was that Barcelona slipped up as Espanyol put a good performance and became the second team after Numancia to beat the league leaders.

 

As a result, the gap has been reduced just to 7 points making La Liga absolutely hotter.

 

Not only Real can win the Champions League, but also the league now. The key is always to treat each remaining match as a final and devote everything to it.

First Half

Juande Ramos used the same lineup he used against Sporting Gijon:

Casillas, Ramos, Pepe, Cannavaro, Heinze, Lass, Gago, Marcelo, Higuain, Raul, and Huntelaar.

I thought that Ramos would actually start Sneijder over Marcelo, but the Spanish coach made the decision  to reserve the Dutchman for the clash against Liverpool.

Marcelo didn't disappoint and had a good game. Despite the fact he is not a pure winger with the capabilites that Robinho or Robben has, he can still be used in that area pretty effectively.

Now I hear many fans saying that we no longer need a winger because we have Marcelo. Well, I say we DO need a winger, and here is why:

1. Marcelo can't beat world-class defenders like Zambrotta, Maicon or Dani Alves. A player like Robinho, Messi or Robben, on the other hand, can.
2. Marcelo lacks the ability to make creative decisions. In other words, he can't assist his teammates the way Ribery does. Sure he can do crosses, and PASS the ball, but a player in this position needs to be more creative than that.

The partnership between Gago and Lass continues to be one of the main reasons we've been producing good results.

The pair has literally mastered the midfield and cracked down on Betis' efforts to go forward and attack.

But the phenomenal partnership is the one between Rau'l, Higuain and Huntelaar.