Real Madrid vs. Espanyol

By Emerald Gao
Written on on May 12, 2007

Oh, Espanyol of the ridiculous, ridiculous pink-striped away kits. I love them because they aren't spectacular and they aren't flashy. They have no pretensions of playing silky, world-reknowned football because they simply don't have the resources, and how could they, sharing a city with the most popular club in the world?

This afternoon, neither their captain and annual hero (Tamudo) nor the player with the most flair on the squad (Luis Garcia) were on the pitch, and the lack of real inspiration showed, with Espanyol running very simple, direct attacks. But Real Madrid, with their attack-minded fullbacks, has shown a tendency to succumb to diagonal passes and balls across the box, and that's how they got caught out for Pandiani's goal. A routine one-two between Domingos and Rufete freed the winger behind R Carlos, and an equally routine cross to the near post found Pandiani completely unguarded. It's a goal I've seen Espanyol score many times this season, though, and undoubtedly they run this drill a million times each week.

If it had happened once, I would have chalked it up to the element of surprise, as the goal was scored on Espanyol's first real penetrating attack of the afternoon. But because it happened again, and not long after the first one, one can only fault the Real Madrid defense for not locking up the corners of the defense. Another short diagonal pass setting Rufete tearing down the right wing (as well as he could manage with his aging legs, anyway), another ball flashing across the box before finding Pandiani unmarked at the near post.

To think that Real Madrid were by far the more dominant team in this game up to this point. They had been kept at bay by the continuous harrassment of Guti by the Espanyol midfielders and by goalkeeper Kameni's strong performance. The mystery of Guti has been commented upon by many a journo -- he is such a successful passer and such a creative force, and yet, those dynamic qualities only seem to surface when he acts as a super sub. He rarely makes a profound impact as a starter (the most recent Clásico being a pleasant exception), probably because other teams know that they can disrupt his flow with physical play. Kameni, on the other hand, is as streaky as they come. On his day, his ability to stop shots is world-class, but when confidence is low, he is liable to receive boos from his own fans. It was a good day so far.

Real Madrid are rarely kept off the scoresheet these days, and sure enough, a similar marking mistake at the heart of the Espanyol defense gifted RVN with an easy goal to give the home team hope of equalizing, perhaps even before the half. But those hopes were dashed with the third piece of simple brilliance from the Espanyol attack. On the left wing, Moha found Domingos in the middle. Domingos then slid the ball to Pandiani, who finished off an astonishing first-half hat trick. The Madrid backline wanted an offside call, but replays showed that Pandiani was well in line with the last defender.

Capello's halftime substitutions -- Helguera for Cicinho and Reyes for Guti -- were designed to do two things. Shoving Sergio Ramos to rightback gave Madrid a more secure backline, and taking Guti off displaced all the pressure and allowed for more freedom of movement from the other midfielders. The changes had an immediate effect, as a cross from R Carlos was flicked on by Higuaín to Raul, who beat Kameni at the far post with a strong right-foot finish. This got the crowd going, and Raul nearly repeated the feat a couple minutes later, but this time shot high. But Madrid of the post-break changes suddenly looked a lot more threatening, and the scoreline was much more precarious.

Here is where Espanyol's plainness got exploited. The first-half mirage of security was exposed as they are trying to adjust to the new changes on the pitch. And the goalkeeper, who looked invincible in the first half, became anxious and skittish. A sudden burst from Higuaín in the middle promped Kameni to rush out, appearing to handle the ball just outside of the box. The clearance wasn't a good one because of his awkward positioning, and the ball fell perfectly for newcomer Reyes to blast into an empty net.

You have to watch a game ninety minutes through to discover the ridiculous fragility of Espanyol. They can look dominant against the best of teams, or terrible against the worst. They can blow a team out of the water in the first half, and collapse in the second half. Real Madrid deserves a lot of credit for picking themselves up and watching their fundamentals, but I can't help feel that Espanyol could have held this one out. It was a moment of individual brillince by Pipita Higuaín, a one-two leading up to a brilliant low finish, that elevated his team above the opponents, but that degree of difference, the one that separates a utility player from a star, is magnified to the point of being a chasm. Real Madrid didn't outplay Espanyol by much, but I wonder if the narrative of the match, one that in most cases would spell them out as comeback kings, necessarily obscures their wider status in the league as Big Bad Real Madrid. We'll have to wait for the headlines, I suppose.

On the other hand, I have enjoyed this whole "late, late title challengers" storyline that Madrid has fabricated for themselves, and this match, like the Sevilla match last weekend, is wholly indicative of La Liga's inability to inspire a clear winner this season. No team was dominant all the way through, and I have a feeling the champions won't be crowned until the very last jornada. And that's fine by me, if it can produce more games like this one.

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