La Liga Lowdown, Jornada 29: Real Madrid win derby, world keeps turning

22 Mar, 2011 Luke Colbourne Europe, Latest, Spain

Reyes was falling, Diarra was fouling – two predictable features of the latest edition of the Madrid derby. There’s another thing that was equally as predictable: Atlético Madrid’s failure to beat their local rivals in a derby game once again. It has been an astonishing 12 years since the last time they managed that, when an Atlético led by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink won 3-1 at the Vicente Calderón.

On Saturday night, Atlético’s annual nightmare at the Calderón recommenced. They went a goal down early on after Karim Benzema put Real Madrid ahead in the 11th minute with a casual, flicked finish that beat young David de Gea. It was Benzema’s 10^th league goal of the season. The man who Marca once pronounced “dead”, after failing to find his feet at the club early on, was decisive again.

Benzema’s life at Real Madrid hasn’t been easy. He has been almost constantly second-pick to Gonzalo Higuaín in the striking pecking order since his big-money move from Lyon back in 2009. Off the field, the Frenchman struggled to adapt to life in Spain. He was having a hard time learning the language, which often isolated him from his teammates. On top of that, though, was an even worse problem – his attitude.

“If we arranged things around you, we would have to start training at midday because you are not awake when you turn up at 10, and you are still asleep at 11,” José Mourinho said angrily to Benzema during one Madrid training session. The striker was often criticised for being arrogant, lazy, and refusing to put in any effort – the opposite of what any manager would want, never mind one like Mourinho.

However, things were soon to change, as Mourinho’s first choice striker Higuaín was ruled out for the season with a back injury. It left the manager with a huge dilemma and two options – gambling on Benzema coming good, or buying a new striker. The Madrid press spent months obsessing over Mourinho wanting a new striker, a ‘9’ to play at the front of their 4-2-3-1 system. Names like Diego Milito, Hugo Almeida, Fernando Llorente, and Ruud van Nistelrooy all came up, but Madrid president Florentino Pérez said there would be no spending in January.

In the end Mourinho’s wishes for a new striker were granted, although it was only a short-term solution that Pérez commissioned. Emmanuel Adebayor was brought in on a six-month loan deal from Manchester City. But Benzema wasn’t fazed. In fact, it spurred him on.

Benzema began to find his feet, and Mourinho began to trust him. After several impressive substitute appearances, he was given the starting role and his performances were excellent. Soon enough he was scoring goals again, and was starting to look more and more like the player people remembered from his time in France.

The relationship between the coach and him was much better. “Thanks to Mourinho I want to score and I want to run more. I feel much better than before,” he said recently in an interview. His latest goal in the derby wasn’t just his 10^th in the league; it was his 21^st in all competitions – a remarkable return for a player who not so long ago looked well short of confidence. Even the Madrid fans, who have given him a hard time since arriving, have begun to trust him, as they demonstrated by demanding Benzema be the man to start against Lyon in their recent Champions League game.

But back to the derby, and 20 minutes after Benzema’s opener Mesut Özil made it 2-0 to Real Madrid. Flying Brazilian full-back Marcelo put a cross in from the left and Özil was perfectly placed on the edge of the area to sweep the ball (via a deflection) beyond De Gea. Again, the game looked over before half-time, and the Atlético players wore the familiar, desolate expressions of beaten men. They’d seen this all too many times before.

No matter how hard Atlético tried, they couldn’t beat Iker Casillas in goal. Several chances came their way, mostly via José Antonio Reyes and Kun Agüero – Atlético’s two-man team. Those two, and keeper De Gea were the only bright sparks for Los Rojiblancos. Even Diego Forlán, who was so prolific last season (and seasons before), looked off-colour. Some say that his efforts at the World Cup with Uruguay have had an effect on him, and it certainly looks that way.

In the dying moments of the game, Atlético got their goal through Agüero (obviously). He linked up with Reyes and youngster Koke, before slotting the ball into the bottom corner of Casillas’ goal. It was too late for a comeback though, and the final whistle blew. Atlético had lost the derby. Again.

As bad as the result was, their supporters made sure it was even worse. The game was marred by a torrent of racist abuse aimed towards Real Madrid’s Marcelo. “Marcelo, eres un mono” – “Marcelo, you’re a monkey,” they chanted. As if that wasn’t disgusting enough, there were also choruses of “Cristiano die” ringing round the stadium. For some reason the referee chose to ignore this in his report, meaning that in all likelihood, there will be no action taken against Atlético. This is of course beyond ridiculous, especially considering this kind of thing has happened before at the Vicente Calderón, yet the Spanish authorities are still bizarrely reluctant to step in, or in indeed, even acknowledge it.

Ironically, during the Franco era Atléti fans chanted that Real Madrid were “la vergüenza del país” – the shame of the country. How times change.

Lower down the Lowdown

It was a low-key affair at Camp Nou as Barcelona beat Getafe, thanks to Bojan and a stunning Dani Alves strike. Pep’s men wasted chances, but did enough in the end to take all three points and stay five points ahead of 2^nd placed Real Madrid.
Valencia lost at home to Sevilla, thus losing their 3^rd place spot to Villarreal. It was a tight game, but January signing Ivan Rakitic was able to score the only goal of the game midway through the second-half. Sevilla goalkeeper Javi Varas was in outstanding form at the back, producing a number of fine stops, helping to ensure victory for the Andalusians.
Recently appointed José Luis Mendilibar has got Osasuna scoring goals again – ‘the Mendilibar effect’ as the press seem to like calling it. They fired in another four against Hércules on Sunday, with Kike Sola continuing his good form up front. Hércules slipped to the bottom of the table, and this result, along with others, saw Esteban Vigo sacked a day later.
Salomón Rondón bagged a brace, taking him to 12 goals for the season, as Málaga overcame Espanyol at La Rosaleda. The young Venezuelan has been brilliant in his debut season in La Liga, and has established himself as an integral member of the first team at just 21-years-old. His goals might just be the key to keeping Málaga in the division.
El Molinón played host to a huge relegation clash, as Sporting Gijón secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Almería. The only goal of the game was a dubious one, as it looked like Miguel de las Cuevas handled the ball before smashing it home. But referee Turenzio Álvarez, a controversial figure throughout, gave the goal and Sporting earned three incredibly important points.

Results

Mallorca 1-0 Zaragoza, Barcelona 2-1 Getafe, Atlético 1-2 Real Madrid, Deportivo 0-1 Levante, Racing 2-1 Real Sociedad, Hércules 0-4 Osasuna, Sporting 1-0 Almería, Athletic 0-1 Villarreal, Málaga 2-0 Espanyol, Valencia 0-1 Sevilla.

Goal of the Week

Dani Alves (Barcelona 2-1 Getafe)