The Greatest Christmas Gift...

Madrid have beaten Barcelona 0-1 at the Camp Nou, riding a stunning goal by Julio Baptista to victory.

This season, Barcelona has kept the tradition of turning the Camp Nou into a fortress alive, posting a perfect 8-0-0 record going into Sunday's Clasico with Madrid. Their dominance at home was backed up by impressive statistics, such as a 2.75 goals per game average, compared to a miniscule 0.50 goals against average. They had outscored opponents 22-4 at the Camp Nou, and without question Madrid were in for a difficult match.

Things started to turn in Madrid's favor last weekend, when Barcelona's (and arguably the world's) best player Lionel Messi was lost to injury and ruled unavailable for "El Clasico."


Messi is Barcelona's key player, disrupting defenses with his blistering pace, setting up his teammates (6 assists in all competitions so far), and finishing with deadly accuracy (12 goals in 19 matches in the current 07-08 season). He's a player to behold, and he uses his diminutive size (5-7, 148 lbs.) to his advantage while running circles around defenders.

Barcelona just isn't the same without the Little Genius, but that should not take away anything from a hard fought victory for Madrid. It just needs to be noted, Barcelona wasn't 100%, or even 90% at that, since they were also without Thierry Henry.

To Madrid's credit, they had what is, in my opinion, the recipe for success at the Nou Camp: defend, counterattack, defend, counterattack, score, defend, defend, counter when given the opportunity, defend, defend, etc. Madrid did not leave themselves exposed very often, and their back 4 were exception tonight.

Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Pepe, and Heinze were simply brilliant as a unit, and the fact that Barcelona was held goalless at home in such a big game speaks volumes, with or without Messi.

Special mention must be given to 30 million euro centerback Pepe, who showed today why Ramon Calderon thought it'd be wise to pay thrice what any defender of his pedigree should cost. He was epic, combining excellent endeavor with brave, well-timed tackles. He also put a nice header on frame, redirecting excellent service and showing off some heading skills.


Also flashing brilliance was, surprise surprise, keeper Iker Casillas, who quashed several Barcelona opportunities. He was especially good on a Bojan Krkic missile in the 84th, a shot which could have equalized and kept Barcelona within 4 points of Madrid at the top of the table.

As it turned out, Barcelona dropped a game to Madrid at the Camp Nou for only the third time in a stunning 24 years. Madrid had a plan, stuck with it, and executed to perfection. Madrid even had a few more good opportunities to make it 0-2, but they couldn't finish a couple nice chances against Barcelona keeper Victor Valdez.

Also of note in this game is the continued emergence of Julio Baptista, a player for which this writer has been lobbying for all season. He has gotten his chance, and he is running with it. His goal today was pure magic, and it will be hard for Schuster to do anything but continue to play the Beast. I'm alright with that.

Arjen Robben: Suffering from Anxiety to Impress

Arjen Robben, the 36 million euro summer signing, has once again injured himself.


I have heard great things about Robben and his immense potential, and as a newer fan to football, I have barely seen him play. It surprised me that Madrid would fork over over 30 million euros for a player who: 1) has an incredible history of injury 2) was injured at the time of the signing 3) was two years away from being a free transfer 4) was not needed, given Robinho's play out on the flank and the signing of Roysten Drenthe 5) was unhappy at Chelsea, and wanted to leave...why pay 36 million if he's given Madrid incredible bargaining power?

Apparently Robben has a lot of heart, and he has been trying too hard to get back on the pitch. He hurts himself, recovers, then pushes too hard when he returns, and hurts himself again. Madrid skipper Bernd Schuster summed it up best, "All this is simply a result of anxiety. He wants to play and demonstrate why he is here. That anxiety has worked against him. It's nothing serious, but we have to try and control it."

I beg to differ Bernd, it is serious. Your sporting directors decided to pay almost 40 million euros for a guy who seemed to have no other suitors, and it's time he started to pay some dividends. This is open message to Arjen: please slow down. Make your signing akin to Madrid paying big money for Sergio Ramos (which turned out to be a great signing) rather than becoming the next Nicolas Anelka, a £22m disaster who scored a whopping 8 goals (2 league) for Madrid before being cast away to PSG.

I hope Robben will overcome his physical problems and blossom into the promising winger he was at Chelsea. I've seen flashes of his play, and he can unsettle any defense with his speed when he's right.

The thought of Robben and Robinho on the flanks makes me giddy, but I'll wait to see it first. Robben has only been on the team a few months and he's already filled me with illusion only to dissapoint. I've learned my lesson and I'll let his play inspire me, if he can get ever get healthy.

A Beast Emerges...

As a fan of Madrid, few things make me happier while watching a game than seeing two names in the starting lineup, "Baptista, Julio."

A player with skill, power, finish, and endless heart, Julio Baptista has won me over for life. He can move to Barcelona and score the winning goal in the Champions League Final against Madrid, and I would smile and say, "This guy deserves it."

For all of you familiar with baseball, this guy has the courage of David Eckstein, but with a far greater skill set.

He is strong, possessing a thick, Roberto Carlos like build. He shows vision, with some precise long-range passes and through balls. He shows flair, as evidenced by his magnificent bicycle kick goal earlier this season. He shows power; some of his goals are pinpoint laser shots.

I know some naysayers will say he lacks touch and perhaps pace, but that's nick picking. The man is an asset to any club, with his positive attitude, play, and almost absolute deference to the club.

It's about time he got a few starts in a row, and I hope he takes off with the opportunity. I'd love to see him playing up front, where I feel his skills are best suited, but I'm happy just seeing him play.

Go ahead and say it, it sounds like a man-crush. Make no mistake, it is.

The man has shown what he can do, scoring 20 and 22 goals for Sevilla in 2003-05. I don't doubt that he could net 15-18 if given the same playing time an absolute like Raul or van Nistelrooy gets.

Bernd, continue to show the Beast the love. I love Guti's play, but I don't like his outbursts and sending-offs. I don't envy Schuster, it's not an easy job picking an 11 from 14-15 that are qualified. Julio is one of the 11 in my mind, and I hope he continues this all the way through to June.

The Second Coming of Raul

One of the most talked about players in the last few weeks for both Real Madrid and the Spanish national team has been none other than team captain Raul. These talks were increased after his two goal performance against Racing Santander last weekend. Raul seems to have gotten his second wind career wise and is scoring goals left and right. He currently sits atop the Pichichi race, which is the award given to the player with the most goals in La Liga. He has performed so well that Spain's coach, Luis Aragones, has had to go back on his words that Raul would never play for Spain again. Raul has not been recalled yet but Aragones has said that if his form continues he will find a spot on the national team.

Much of Raul's success in this campaign can be attributed to the fact that Bernd Schuster has moved him back to the postion where he feels most comfortable. Schuster has moved him closer to the goal, whereas Capello had him playing out wide where he became wholly ineffective. Also, he and Rudd Van Nistelroy seem to have a great understanding of one another and play very well together.

While this run of form has been fantastic for Raul and the team, there are some negative effects to this. Madrid have a plethora of talented strikers who have not had a chance to play due to Raul. As of right now no one can argue that Raul doesn't deserve to be starting. However, one can only hope that Schuster keeps a careful eye on Raul because he does have a tendency to disappear from games. This is completely understandable considering his age, but it would be unfair for the other players and the team if Schuster didn't bring in a dangerous striker (which he has in Baptista, Higuain and Soldado) simply because he has Raul.

Raul is a very interesting player because it seems that whenever he is backed into a wall he comes out and does so looking like a hero. Last year when Madrid were struggling, Capello made him an automatic starter despite criticisms from fans. Raul silenced those critics by finding the back of the net and it is no coincidence that Madrid's resurgence came at the same time as Raul's. Now Aragones has kicked him out of the Spain squad and once again Raul has come back and proved his critics wrong.

Will Raul continue this current form he finds himself in? No one knows for sure but for now let's all enjoy watching the hardest working player on Real Madrid reap some of the benefits of his hard work.