Real Madrid vs Lyon

 Any bit of fear at having to face our Champions League "bogey team" is hopefully gone from the minds of every Real Madrid fan since: Real Madrid CF beat Olympique Lyonnais 2-0!!
(Yes it's worthy of all bold, all caps even)

We beat our "bogey team" (coincidentally(?), days after Halloween) to maintain our 100% Group record and reserve a spot in the Champions League round of 16 with two matches to spare. (I wonder if Mou will use them to clear some yellows...)

Lyon were looking to protect a year-long unbeaten home record (24 matches) but such hopes were dashed by the 23 minute in which Cristiano Ronaldo netted a free-kick.

The locals were more aggressive after half-time. However, a challenge in the penalty area sealed their fate. Ronaldo converted his 100th goal as a Madridista in the 69th minute.

True or False: Ronaldo's first goal for Madrid was a penalty.



Cr7 nets his 99th goal for Madrid


Madrid will now look to clinch top spot by beating GNK Dinamo Zagreb. A now third-placed Lyon will have to beat Ajax, currently second, in order to continue their impressive record of always reaching the Last 16 for the past eight years.

Real Madrid Beat Sociadad... Narrowly and UEFA preview

Real Madrid had a perfect month, winning all their games in October and all they needed was one goal in the 9th minute from Higuain to seal it.

A good first half effort involving Gonzalo Higuain and Fabio Coentrao proved enough to help Real Madrid emerge from San Sebastian with a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad.

Real Madrid vs Villarreal, Real Sociedad, and the Tale of the Three Forgotten

Real Madrid vs Villarreal Match Summary




Btw, Cris does celebrate with his teamates


It took just thirty minutes of brilliant football for Real to finish off Villarreal. The goals from Benz, Kaka, and Di Maria were enough to secure the three points.

Real Madrid vs Malaga {RECAP}

Real Madrid beat Malaga 4-0 thanks to 45 minutes of pure football. Cristiano and Higuain were the sole owners of the score sheet with Ronaldo racking up a hatrick.

Real vs Malaga

Real Madrid fire four bullets past Lyon and take home three points

Real Madrid cruised to a  4-0 victory over Lyon in the Champions League after a dominant display at the Bernabeu with 63% of the ball at the final whistle. Possession was not all they had. They had goals as well...

Benzema is back! He started shower of goals in the 18th minute giving Real the only goal of the 1rst half. Benz is really becoming a thorn in the flesh of his former side. That goal came thanks to a brilliant corner by Ozil and a (spectacular) glancing header by Ronaldo. Ramos tried to claim the goal (all in good fun) as he attempted to poke the ball into the net. Bezema had him beat though.

Happy Birthday Özil !!



With today being his birthday, some really cute pictures have been circling the web. Below are a few pictures and captions.




Does any other synonym for "cute" besides "simply adorable" come to mind?

Real Madrid Beat Betis (The battle of the Reals)

Here are the stakes before going into the game:

Jose Mourinho hasn't lost a single game in October in the last seven years.


Cristiano Ronaldo could make his 100th appearance with Real Madrid.


In the First Division, Betis, along with Sporting and Granada, have yet to concede a goal to Cristiano Ronaldo. Cristiano will be looking forward to breaking that record no doubt.

Mesut Ozil's 23rd birthday. That says it all.

Real vs Betis Preview

Contrary to what I feared, Cristiano IS fit and (according to Mou) he WILL play tomorrow. Higuaín, di María, Marcelo and Varane also rejoined the squad again from international duties. According to RM'S website, Benzema, Coentrao, Di Maria and Pepe made the cut. We might also see Altintop play his first league game!

On a whole different topic, we now know who and when we'll play in the Copa Del Rey and that team is...

Ponferradina!
(Don't worry; we'll know more about them later ;)

Real Madrid to face Ponferradina in the Copa del Rey Last 16

Real Madrid will play its first game at El Toralin Stadium on December 13th.

So in summary, at 18:00 on Saturday, we will play (and hopefully beat) Real Betis. About two months later, we will start the Copa against Ponferradina. (who we will beat as well... I hope.)

Real Madrid's International Duty is Officially Over (YAY!)

There are two things I hate about international duty (league break). 1. It's a bore... unless you watch the national team games. 2. The players come back injured.

Luckily, this time, only two players are injured, namely: Cristiano Ronaldo and Raúl Albiol. On the brighter side of things, both Benz and Alonzo are back in training.

An already qualified  Spain beat Scotland 3-1 while  Germany (also already qualified) beat Belgium 3-1, with Mesut scoring a beautiful goal thanks to a pass from Sami.

Cristiano's late goal was a good but otherwise meaningless goal as Portugal lost 2-1 to Denmark. Turkey beat Azerbaijan 1 to nil. However, if both teams want to play in the Euro, they’ll have to win their playoff series; Portugal has to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey, Croatia.

France’s U-21 team beat Romania 2-0 (Varane got to play the entire game!!).

Marcelo saved Brazil from an embarrassment against Mexico as he starred in the 2-1 victory scoring the second goal. (Comments on Neymar's behaviour later.)

So this pretty much sums up the international week. Countdown to Betis!

International duty, bans, hype, and side notes

International Schedule.

The players have quite a busy schedule ,no? Higuain and Di Maria will face Chile and Venezuela. Meanwhile, Marcelo and the Brazilian National Team will "friendly" against Costa Rica and Mexico. Off in France's U-21, Varane will probably be looking to carry on his excellent performances with Real against Kazakhstan and Romania. Khedira will face teammate Altintop in Istanbul. (The media is claming that "Ozil is making excuses over a knock he picked up in Real Madrid's 4-0 win over Espanyol in La Liga last weekend, in an attempt to avoid playing against his family's native country.") A few days later, Germany will host a match against Belgium.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal will be without "Cocentrao" (hopefully they will have concentration!) and Pepe as they  face important games against Iceland and Denmark. An already qualified Spain will face Czech Republic and four days later host the match again Scotland.  Last but not least, Turkey!! Altintop will face teammates Real Madrid teamates Ozil (well, maybe not) and Khedira, as well as Azerbaijan, in Istanbul.

The Two- Sided Mou

Real Madrid Bash Barcelona 4-0

O.K so the title is a bit misleading but Real did beat Barcelona Espanyol. After "the great race" and a meal of sorts(check it out), Real Madrid beat Espanyol 4-0. Gonzalo Higuaín had quite a night as completed his first hat-trick of the season ( he replaced Benzema who is out due to an injury concerning his left abductor). Ronaldo also made the headlines by making two (very unselfish) assists.

Jose Mourinho surprises players with barbecue

 All the Real Madrid players and  staff were joined together at barbecue party arranged by our dear coach, Jose Mourinho.  The players were expecting a double training session only to be surprised by drinks and a tasty selection of meats that "El Mister" had waiting for them. Besides the obvious reason of having the players grow closer and more united, it was probably also a good platform to clear media rumours about the team. 

Real vs Ajax

As predicted, Real Madrid comfortably beat Ajax 3-0.  Ronaldo grabbed the opener after a fantastic team effort in the '25. Kaka found the net before the break. Benzema, of course, was not to be left out of the score sheet and took Madrid from 2-0 to 3-0.

{Recap} Real vs Rayo

The good part

So finally after two very despondent matches (the Levente 1-0 stunner and the Racing stalemate) Real finally turned the earth back on its axis, at least for now. The match started with a stunning rebounder goal in favor of Rayo in '12 seconds (the fastest goal ever scored at the Bernabeu). Real were to come before the end of the first half though with goals from Cristiano and Pipita. Cris scored a hat-trick thanks to two penalties. Varane scored his first Madrid goal and became the youngest player to do so. Mercedes Benz also got on the score sheet thanks to "the German engineer" (Ozil). All in all, not a bad game.

Real Madrid beat Dinamo Zagreb... Narrowly

Real Madrid beat Dinamo Zagreb thanks to di María who scored our only goal of the match. The goal came in the '53 minute after a giveaway in the midfield which landed at the feet of Marcelo. Marcelo passed it to Cristiano Ronaldo who made an inspiring run down the flanks. He then passed it to Benzema who passed it right back to Marcelo. Marcelo then passed it to di María who immediately blasted a left-footed shot right into the back of the net.

Real Madrid 4-2 Getafe



 Real Madrid beat Getafe with a brace from Benzema, a forced penalty from Ronaldo, and a spectacular late goal from "El Pipita" (who took only 2 minutes to do so). Real made several chances but couldn't finish them against a stubborn Getafe. Two defensive lapses caused the goals in favor of the opposition but Real finished the stronger as the game ended 4-2. Real hold the La Liga top spot along with joint leaders Valencia and Real Betis with Real Madrid ahead on goal difference. Who scored the best goal?

Real Madrid 11 (with new signings)

How will Real Madrid fit in their new buys with the starting 11? On the left is a possible formation. Do you have a different formation in mind? Voice your opinion in the comments.

Real Madrid's Players Internationally

There has been little news coming from the Santiago Bernabéu and that's due to most of the players being out due to international commitments. Last night was a successful night for Madrid with Spain (3-2 vs Chile), Portugal (4-0 vs Cyprus), Germany (6-2 vs), France, and Argentina (1-0 vs Venezuela) all beating their respective opponents. Which match was your favorite?

Crackòvia of the Day

Today's Crackòvia of the Day is...



Thanks to barcelonistaeslovaco for the video.


For subtitles in your language, click the [cc] button then click "Translate Captions". There you can select your language.

Real Madrid's Carvalho Leaves Portugal

The Madrid center-back left on his own accord and "without communicating that absence to the FPF or to the national coach"(Portuguese Football Federation). Portuguese sports daily Record later said that an incident had boiled over during training involving Carvalho and he left, strangely, in Fabio Coentrão's car.
Carvalho will not fly out with the rest of the squad on their way to a EURO 2012 qualifier vs. Cyprus.

Update: Carvalho retires from internatinal football. He later explained, "I feel in full physical and mental form, as I have shown for my club and country, but if I am made to feel unnecessary and am not told so, then the only way is out," Carvalho said in a statement carried by Lusa. "Having earned 75 caps and been deeply dedicated in defending the national side's reputation, I have never before felt so disrespected and wounded in my dignity."
It sounds like he won't get to add any more to that already impressive number of caps.

Lionel Messi - Road To World Player Of The Year

While we are waiting for the Barcelona vs Villarreal game, take a look at the video. It is a compilation of Lionel Messi's best moments and his road to best player of the year (2010/2011). Video credit goes to AliZubaidi10. Enjoy ;)

Real Madrid Start the Season with a Bang

Real Madrid gave a brilliant performance slaying Zaragoza with 6 goals. The goals came from Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo, Xabi Alonso, Kaká. Here are the highlights. Special thanks to LigaBBVASports.