First home defeat in over a year for the Whites in the League
Real Madrid 0-1 Getafe
February 24, 2008 -Getafe were the last team to snatch points at the Bernabéu in March 2007 thanks to their 1-1 draw. Tonight, the Blues broke the locals' brilliant run of standing undefeated at their feud in over a year in the League. The Whites have to defeat Recreativo Huelva next week in order to remain as leaders.
Getafe are currently alive and well in three competitions -League, UEFA Cup, King's Cup-, and were therefore a very real threat tonight at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
The Whites tried to showcase their phylosophy of ball control and attack in order to set their own pace to the game, but they never defined their style. Meanwhile, Getafe took advantage of a mistake and wrote history for the second time this week; not only was winning at the Bernabéu a first for them, but they recently qualyfied for the UEFA Cup Last 16 round.
Missed chances
Ruud van Nistelrooy had the first chance on goal tonight. Robben started attacking strongly down the right wing, but later returned to the left, where he clearly felt more comfortable especially after crossing a great ball into the box that Guti headed and missed by inches (17').
After Robben's move, the right wing became Sergio Ramos' turf. The defender has been niggled all week and didn't attack as much as usual in the game, but he nevertheless posed a threat on Abbondanzieri's goal; Julio Baptista missed a header from one of his crosses on the 30-minute mark.
The game didn't change much at the start of the second half. Gago stood his ground in midfield and made a lot of steals, Robben attacked fiercely down both wings and crossed the ball into the box several times with his left foot, and Guti tried everything in the book. The second captain even assisted Baptista with the chest right outside the box (55') and came close to scoring from a free-kick a few minutes later. Real Madrid had several chances, but their their bad aim became their worst enemy.
The 64th minute gave way to the controversial play of the evening. Robben scored from an assist by Raúl, but the linesman had called the captain's position to be offside. The referee didn't notice at first and allowed the strike, only to suddenly disallow it when he noticed what had happened. Oblivious to this new decision, Real Madrid's players celebrated the goal running towards the right corner. Seeing this, Getafe's keeper served the ball, with only Raúl nearby to try to intercept it; by the time most of the team noticed the ball was in play it was already too late. Casquero picked it up and assisted Uche to score. The Whites were unable of shaking off the hard blow in the remainder of the encounter. Higuaín, who came on soon after Getafe's strike, missed the last chance of the match. Real Madrid now have to work hard to leave this streak of bad results behind them, starting with winning in Huelva next week.
MATCH REPORT:
0 - Real Madrid: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Heinze, Torres (Soldado, 83'); Gago, Guti (Higuaín, 75'), Baptista (Drenthe, 61'); Robben, Raúl & Van Nistelrooy.
1 - Getafe: Abbondanzieri; Cortés (Mario, 9', Albín, 54'), Belenguer, "Cata" Díaz, Licht; Pablo Hernández, Celestini, Casquero, Cotelo; Manu (Tena, 67') & Uche.
REFEREE: Daudén Ibáñez. Booked Cannavaro (42'), Heinze (65'), Higuaín (90'), Cellestini (20'), Casquero (21') and Belenguer (27').
GOALS:
0-1, 64': Uche.
NOTES: Matchday 25 of La Liga. Venue: Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Attendance: 73,000.
Match report by Cristina Monge
Photography by Alejandro González, Víctor Carretero & Fernando Comeche
Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell
Flash Content
