Real Madrid 4-1 Real Betis: Match review

After two weeks of long and boring international breaks, we finally got to see our beloved Real Madrid play last night when they took on Real Betis at the Bernabeu and beat them 4-1.

This was another game where the positive outweighs the negatives and that is what we Madridistas want to see.

The first half was a really tough half for Real Madrid as Real Betis attacked us and came very close to scoring, but some last-moment tackles by Sergio Ramos – who was playing at Center Back and once again did a great job – saved us from conceding before we could score.

Oezil looked in a party mood as he misplaced some easy passes. Cristiano missed (MISSED!) some scoring opportunities to make sure that we Madridistas know that he is a Human and cannot finish all the chances he gets.

Birthday boy treatment

Higuain did a lot of work in the first half as he constantly kept moving around the front line trying to disrupt a very stubborn and hard-working Betis defense.

I actually counted the number of times our back 6 won the ball back (via interception or tackles or clearance, all combined) from Betis and Sergio Ramos was the one with the highest number in the first half (I stopped counting after second half started) as he won the ball back 8 times – 3 of them were very deep inside our own box.

The above stat may NOT be accurate as I counted them myself, but one thing I noticed was that in the first 15-17 mins, Lass won the ball back 4 times. At that time, Xabi had just 2 wins, Pepe and Ramos had 1 each. This shows that when Lass won the ball back higher up the pitch, our defense had to do very little.

But after 15 odd minutes, Betis started penetrating more and started reaching our last line of defense more frequently – by the time the first half ended, Lass’ possession-winning stat was just 5. That is, Lass won the possession only once after the first 15-18 minutes, means more work had to be done by defenders – and they did it well, too.

That was basically what happened in the first half. Betis’ players did really well in going forward but just lacked the finish. And while defending, they were caught off-guard on some occasions but they were good overall, working like a team and closing up spaces.

But, everything changed in the second half.

The second half started like this: play resumed, Marcelo released the ball down the left flank, Cristiano ran towards it with only the ‘keeper to beat … what happens next? If you are reading this review and have not seen the game or the scorers, you’d say, ‘Of course Cristiano scored!’.

But, no. He didn’t. He did something which I didn’t expect him to do even in my dreams. My eyes literally bulged out in [pleasant] shock. He did this: he squared the ball towards the right, between a Betis defender and the goalkeeper, to Higuain, who then tapped it in an empty net.

Big deal? Cristiano just made a simple square pass, what is the big deal? Yes, it is a big deal. Big deal because this is the guy who we often term as a selfish player who likes to get on the score-sheet more than the assist-charts. Big deal because this is the guy who frustrates us with unnecessary step-overs instead of laying of a simple and quick pass.

This IS the Cristiano I was dying to see. If Cristiano does this more frequently, we will something big this year and I am sure about that.

Though, Ronaldo’s game was pretty average in the 1st half. He was playing his 100th game of the season and was under a visible pressure to score due to which he scuffed two easy chances served up by Higuain to him. But that assist to Higuain was enough for me to forget those misses.

Then came Kaka’s goal. A cool finesse shot which curled its way into the net. That goal came just after I made a pun tweet at him. The way he curled the ball into the net was fantastic – that is what happens when you offer him a little space and time on the ball.

Right after scoring, he went and hugged Adan – who was on the bench. That was a beautiful sight. I wonder why he specifically chose to hug Adan. But it was a brilliant sight. He was substituted right after scoring and the Bernabeu crowd gave him an astounding standing ovation – another wonderful thing to watch.

Classy finish

Golazo Higuain: Now let us talk about Higuain (yes, I have saved the best for the last). Oh, my … what does he have for lunch? He has scored 9 goals in the last 4 games (international macthes counted) and there is no stopping him!

That is why, my friends, I have decided to call him Golazo Higuain and not Gonzalo Higuain.

His first goal was mainly because of Cristiano’s selflessness, but his next 2 goals just showed how good a finisher he is.

He reminded of two legendary players with his last 2 goals. His second goal was a very Luiz Ronaldo-esque finish where he rounded the ‘keeper and scored. And his 3rd goal – where he lobbed the ‘keeper to score – reminded me of the symbol of Real Madrid, Raul Gonzalez Blanco.

I just hope that he continues his current form and shuts the mouth of his haters for once and for all.

Di Maria, who was subbed in for Kaka, played a great cameo role as he assisted twice and made some dazzling runs to unsettle the Betis defense. That is what he can do if he stays on his feet more than he falls on the ground. More of that and less of falling to the ground, please.

Now onto the [few] negatives ….

There were not many negatives in this game, but there were some worrying ones. One of them was the Betis goal. Sergio Ramos made a great aerial interception in the Madrid box to get the ball [not to far] away.

The ball was once again brought into the box by Ruben Castro – who couldn’t be dispossessed by Pepe, Arbeloa and Ramos combined. He then passed it to Molina, who then scored for Betis.

The fact that Pepe couldn’t win the ball back worries me as he is perhaps the best tackler we have. But this is a minor problem and I hope that it will be solved soon.

Also, the stuttering motor syndrome that we’re current suffering from is worrying. We take a long time to get into the groove, a dangerous time, where a quality opponent can inflict maximum damage.

Our engine stutters, dies, then stutters again and then finally roars to life. But if we’re racing against a car of similar quality and that car doesn’t have this stuttering issue, we’ll be beaten to the finish line.

But, again, I hope that we can solve this issue too – and solve it fast – so that we don’t fall prey to quality opponents.

Hala Madrid!!