Mission accomplished
July 27, 2008 -Lask Linz 2-3 Real Madrid
The most important thing for Real Madrid tonight was to keep up with the pace of the game. Not only did they achieve that, but they won and scored three goals. The Whites incessantly looked for a goal that came on the 20-minute mark thanks to Baptista. Lask were a solid side and scored two strikes. The Madridistas' next match will be against Hamburg in London on 1 August.
As any club that's 100 years old deserves, Linz Lask had a fantastic anniversary celebration. The Austrian club -currently leaders of the league after four games- had a music band play around the pitch prior to the clash. Suddenly, twelve gliders landed on the pitch while music was still playing. The crowd went wild and a large group of people danced and did acrobatics. Moments before the game kicked-off, two singers sang both clubs' anthems.
The opening minutes were as expected: slow and with hardly any pace. Real Madrid found their ground in the first ten minutes and Guti soon had his first shot on goal, but the ball hit the right post (8'). Lask were not going to let the Whites scare them and answered back with a chance on goal; Mayrleb put Dudek to the test and scored from a nice header on the 13-minute mark. Real Madrid continued to showcase their style of late, with Robben playing down both wings and Míchel Salgado being very active down the right.
The Madridistas' first goal came seven minutes later. Guti passed the ball to Robben, who crossed into the box for Baptista to head in (20’). The Whites began to feel more comfortable now that the score was drawn. Raúl and Higuaín upped the pace while Guti and Robben served many balls to the attacking front. Higuaín missed from a ball served by the Dutchman into the box in the 34th minute, but ten minutes later captain Raúl headed in yet another cross from Robben (44').
Substitutions
Bernd Schuster made Van Nistelrooy, Saviola and Sneijder come on for Raúl, Higuaín and Baptista, respectively, in the second half. The new tactical system had three strikers with Sneijder behind them acting as playmaker alongside Guti. The Dutchman had the first clear chance of the second 45 minutes with a powerful shot that hit the crossbar.
The pace to the clash nearly came to a standstill, but there were some plays of note, such as one devised by Robben and Van Nistelrooy that ended in a corner kick (50’), and another shot by Sneijder from outside the box that missed the mark by inches (66’).
Everyone played. Youth system players Parejo and Callejón came on for Guti and Robben, respectively, while Chema Antón replaced Heinze.
MATCH REPORT:
Lask Linz - 2: Cavlina, Gansterer, Baur, Kablar, Wisio, Panis, Klein, Salmutter, Saurer, Freudenthaler, Mayrleb. También jugaron: Zaglmair, Piermayr, Hamdemir, Pichler, Budimir, Mario Mijatovic,Poyraz, Rasswalder, Schreiner, Wemmer & Martin Ivos.
Real Madrid - 3: Dudek, Salgado, Javi García, Heinze, Torres, Diarra, Guti, Baptista, Robben, Raúl, Higuaín. También jugaron: Felipe Ramos, Van Nistelrooy, Saviola, Sneijder, Parejo, Antón & Callejón.
REFEREE: Drabek Diezmar. Booked Mayrleb (9’) and Guti (10’).
GOALS:
1-0, 13': Saurer.
1-1, 20': Baptista.
1-2, 44': Raúl.
1-3, 83': Saviola.
2-3, 91': Mario Mijatovic.
Highlights: Real Madrid's first game of the season. Venue: Linzer Stadion.
By Arancha Díaz (Irdning)
Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell
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