El Clasico - Copa del Rey

  Barcelona 1-3 Real Madrid (Agg 2-4)
Relentless Ronaldo demolishes hosts to book Copa final berth
Los Blancos put together a sterling performance in all areas of the pitch to humble their great rivals in their own back yard, and seal a place in the cup final

 

 Real Madrid stormed into the Copa del Rey final in the most stunning manner possible, with an emphatic 3-1 victory over Barcelona at Camp Nou in the second leg of their last-four clash on Tuesday.

 With a 1-1 home draw to overcome from the first leg, Jose Mourinho looked on in jubilation as his team executed their gameplan to perfection, frustrating the Catalans at the back, and through an inspirational Cristiano Ronaldo, giving a counter-attacking clinic up front.

The Portuguese opened the scoring from the penalty spot 12 minutes in, becoming the first player to score in six successive Clasicos away from home, and finished off a surging break shortly before the hour mark to put Madrid in the driving seat.

Raphael Varane put the finishing touches on an unbelievable night for the visitors when he headed home a corner, with Jordi Alba's late goal coming as little consolation for the hosts.

Los Blancos now await either Sevilla or Atletico Madrid in the showpiece event on May 18.

Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas and Xavi returned to start in midfield for the hosts, with Carles Puyol partnering Gerard Pique in defence. For Madrid, Varane, the standout performer from the first leg, started alongside Sergio Ramos at centre-back.

Barca started positively, and with only two minutes on the clock, were nearly ahead. Pedro did brilliantly to turn Fabio Coentrao inside out and square for Lionel Messi, who narrowly missed the target from a tight angle.

But instead, it would be Madrid who would take the lead. Ronaldo was simply too quick for Pique, and was tripped up inside the area, leaving the referee with no choice but to award a penalty, from which the Portuguese forward slotted coolly into the bottom corner.

The Catalans exhibited their customary dominance of the ball, but Mourinho’s men were ready with discipline and numbers at the back, and a pacey threat on the counter whenever they won possession.

Referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco‎, already the villain of the piece in the eyes of the Camp Nou faithful for the decision against Pique, was showered with further vitriol from the stands after correctly denying penalty appeals for Fabregas and Pedro.

And the home fans were left frustrated again moments before half-time, when Messi drilled a free kick agonisingly into the side netting, with half of the stadium already celebrating a goal.

The Blaugrana went close again minutes after the restart when Diego Lopez parried an effort by Busquets, with Alvaro Arbeloa taking the rebound off the toes of Fabregas from point blank range.

But much like the start of the first half, the chance was spurned, and again, Madrid would punish their profligacy on the counter-attack, this time putting the tie virtually out of reach.

Sami Khedira’s sublime first-time pass after winning the ball released Angel Di Maria against Puyol. The Barca captain was left on his backside by the skill of the winger, whose initial shot was parried by Jose Pinto, only for Ronaldo to bury the rebound.

And with 22 minutes left, Madrid were in dreamland again, when Varane rose highest to head home Mesut Ozil’s corner in almost identical fashion to his goal in the first leg.

Flares were set off in the stands as a few home fans lost patience with events on the pitch, but their mood improved ever so slightly just before injury time when Alba ghosted in behind the full-back to slot Andres Iniesta's clipped pass beyond Lopez.

But the damage was long done by the irrepressible visitors, who will now contest the final in three months. The Clasico drama is not quite done, however, as both sides will lock horns at Santiago Bernabeu in la Liga on Saturday.

Source: goal.com

Happy 2013!

HALA MADRID!

Pepe: “We are Real Madrid and we are going to fight until the end”

“There are still many points to be contested, what counts now is that we keep playing better and better and that the Real Madrid fans feel proud of us,” added Ramos.

Pepe was pleased with Real Madrid’s work in the Nuevo Zorrilla stadium and he analyzed the win over Valladolid: “Today we worked a lot to come out of here with a win and thanks to God we got the three points. It was an extremely difficult game for us. They scored two goals from set pieces, but I think that we could have won by a much bigger margin. We have to keep fighting, we are Real Madrid and we are going to fight until the end”.

Ramos was in the starting eleven in the hard-won victory against Valladolid, which he analyzed: “It’s obvious that today’s game serves to keep us improving and growing. The team is always trying to improve. There is still a lot of Liga ahead of us and many points to be determined. What counts now is that we keep playing better and better, and that the Real Madrid fans feel proud of us, despite everything. It’s undeniable that we have to keep improving. In the first half we were too confident on the set pieces, but that is no excuse. When you mess up you have to admit it.”

His teammate Pepe is aware that the team has to keep working on set pieces: “We know very well that it is a weak point, but we are going to improve. We work a lot to not let those types of goals in, but they are things that happen in the game for which we need to be prepared. We have to keep fighting, we are Real Madrid and we are going to fight until the end.” Even so, the Portuguese player was pleased with the players’ work: “Today we worked a lot to come out of here with a win and thanks to God we got the three points. The most important thing for us is to do our job, we are Real Madrid and we have to win every game.” He also dedicated a few words to his teammate Özil: “Not only Cristiano makes foul shots well, so does Özil, but the most important thing is for all of the players to work together to help the team.”

When asked about his goal that was annulled due to an offside call, Ramos said: “I’m happy because in the end we were able to win, but if there had been a different result, it would be another story. There has already been more than one game in which we’ve been hurt. That’s football, some decisions hurt you and others don’t. We stress this issue, because despite the fact that a big distance separates us from those who are on top, we know that any type of slip-up would make things impossible. And we don’t want it to be because of an issue with the ref.”

Source: realmadrid.com

Sergio Ramos has scored in all of his eight seasons with Real Madrid

The second captain has accumulated 27 goals with the white team, which he joined in the summer of 2005

Sergio Ramos has scored in all of the eight seasons that he has worn the white shirt. Since his debut with the team on September 10, 2005 against Celta de Vigo, he has scored in all of the official competitions that he has played with Real Madrid and in all of his seasons with the team. The second white captain has scored a total of 37 goals in the 327 games that he has played.

He netted his first goal for Real Madrid on December 6, 2005 in the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium, in a Champions League game against Olympiacos. He was the first to score in the game, in minute seven. Since that goal, Sergio Ramos has scored 36 more. His most recent goal for the team, which started up his record this season, came last Saturday against the Athletic Club. With an average of 4.62 goals per season, Ramos continues to prove himself one of the best defenders in the world.  

Source: realmadrid.com

Mourinho will reach 100 matches in the Champions League against Manchester City

The Portuguese coach, who has won the competition twice, will become the youngest coach ever to reach this figure

José Mourinho will accumulate 100 matches in the Champions League with Real Madrid’s next scheduled European match, which will take place on Wednesday, November 21, when the white team visits Manchester City on the fifth day of play in the Group Phase. The Portuguese coach has totaled 54 wins, 25 draws, and 20 losses over the course of his 11 seasons in the Champions League, in which he earned two titles, in 2004 and 2010. Mourinho will coach his 100th game at only 49 years of age, making him the youngest coach in history to reach this figure.

Only four coaches have coached 100 games in the history of the Champions League. After the game that Real Madrid will play in Manchester, José Mourinho will join this privileged list. What is more, he will do so at the age of 49, thus becoming the youngest coach ever to do so. Up until now, Ancelotti had held this honor, having reached 100 matches at the age of 51 years two seasons ago. Wenger and Hitzfeld did so at 58, and Ferguson, at 62.

Over the course of his 11 seasons in the Champions League, Mourinho has been at the helm of four different teams. He started his career with Oporto in 2001/02, and played 17 games with the Portuguese team, with final statistics of eight wins, five ties, and four losses. It was with Oporto that he won the first of his two titles, in the 2003/04 season, beating Monaco in the final. He spent four years as the Chelsea coach, reaching the semifinals twice. He left England with a record of 16 wins, nine draws, and eight losses. From 2008 to 2010 he coached Inter in 21 Champions League games, winning the championship in the final game against Bayern 0-2.

Mourinho’s best statistics have been as the Real Madrid coach, since he has won 20 of the 28 games played. The Portuguese came to the white club in 2010 and reversed a six-year-long negative dynamic of not advancing beyond the round of sixteen. In his first two seasons, Real Madrid once again placed among the favorites to win the title, reaching the semifinals both times. 

Source: realmadrid.com

Casillas continues to make history

Iker Casillas is now the keeper who has played the most matches for the same team in the history of the League

The captain of the white team played match number 467 for Real Madrid against Zaragoza in the championship

Iker Casillas continues to make history in Real Madrid and the Spanish League. After playing 90 minutes against Zaragoza, the white team captain has become the keeper with the most matches for the same team in the history of the First Division with 467, beating by one the Athletic de Bilbao keeper Iribar (466).

On reaching the figure of 467 matches in the First Division, Casillas has become the keeper who has played the most matches with a single team in the history of the League, and he is also the keeper with the most victories without changing clubs. With 303 wins he is above all other keepers, and is only beaten overall by Zubizarreta, with a total of 333 achieved with three different teams. 

The Madrid captain is now the keeper with the fourth greatest number of matches played, only at present beaten by Zubizarreta, who`played 622 between Athletic de Bilbao, Barcelona and Valencia; Buyo, who played 542 in Sevilla and Real Madrid; and Esnaola, who reached 469 as a player with Real Sociedad and Betis.

In his tenth campaign as a Madrid player Casillas is already the player with the third highest number of matches played with the white team in the First Division. Only Raúl, with 550, and Sanchís, with 523, have played more. Among all teams Casillas is twelfth in the number of matches played in the tournament. 

Source: realmadrid.com

Champions League's top scores!

Real Madrid are this season's Champions League top scorers

The Whites who have seven goals in the competition also lead number of shots and assists.

Real Madrid have two wins from the two matches played so far in the Champions League group stage and lead group D after victories against Manchester City at home and Ajax away. The Whites have scored seven goals and are top scorers in the tournament this season. Furthermore, Real Madrid have had the most shots (33) and also the most assists (6) in the competition so far.

The team lead by José Mourinho started this season’s European journey with an epic comeback in the Bernabéu against Manchester City. 3-2 was the final score in this first victory thanks to goals from Marcelo, Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo and was followed by a more forceful (1-4) display against Ajax in Amsterdam on match day two. Ronaldo, this time scored a hat-trick, and Benzema found the net once again.

With seven goals in two matches Real Madrid have scored the most goals, followed by Málaga, Bate Borisov (Belarus) and Chelsea (England), with six goals each. Mourinho’s men have had good attacking performances and are also the team that have had the most shots on goal with 33 to date, followed by Braga (Portugal) with 29 and Dortmund (Germany) with 25.

The Real Madrid squad also have the most assists in these first two matches with six decisive passes made by their players. Benzema and Di María have two assists each and top the list along with Giroud (Arsenal), Rooney (Manchester United), Cole (Chelsea), Messi (Barcelona), Eder (Braga), Volodko (Bate Borisov) and Sougou (Cluj). Marcelo and Kaka are the other two players with assists.

Source: realmadrid.com