A Match Wrapped in a Clean Sheet

Who doesn’t like clean sheet days and a bit of Sergio wedgie action? More of both for me please! It’s been a while since we’ve faced a team that didn’t manage to slip one past Iker so, Holla! for our defense & wonderful Saint for making it happen. There was good & bad in this match but most importantly, we held on to our ten point lead over La Liga’s 2ND BEST team 😉

Captain Luis Amado & Carlos Ortiz, of the Spanish National Futsal Team, presented their sixth European Championship trophy to the Bernabeu crowd before the match kicked off. It’s their fourth consecutive Euro Championship win so, congrats to them! They’ve also got two World Cups under their belts.

Ahhh, Keepers' love.

Carlos Ortiz took the honorary kick off and we were off! The boys took action right away, getting that opening goal scored & putting us in an early lead.

Kaka goes for the nipple...err..ball!

With high energy in the 6th minute, Cris scored with a header from a POW POW POW play & pass from Kaka. Both Kaka & Cris had made big efforts to score previous to the goal forcing Tono to get a workout in.

Tono continued to make big saves and with the boys being continually denied, the team was forced to work even harder.

Lollipop Guild Redux?

Racing got reduced to 10 men when Cisma was sent off after a second yellow & second handball. Most people were in agreement that his 2nd booking was a bit harsh as Cris’ kick wasn’t diverted…but then again, he did have his arms out. He was shown his red card, walked off, and without complaint.

Benz who thought he had allllll the time in the world, scored his first goal in injury time. How cute is it seeing bebe Varane celebrate with the big boys?!

DI MARIA!!! made his return to the game after almost two months out, he came on for Ozi in the 62nd minute and shortly after Sami came on for Pirata. After just 10 freakin’ minutes on the pitch, Di Maria goes and freakin’ launches a rocket of a shot!! DAYYUMM boy, what a way to make your comeback.

"That's a golazo!"

"How boss was that?!"

"AMAYSING!!!"

The last sub of the match was Carvalho coming on for Pepe, who received a standing ovation. Ten minutes left of the match & once again Benz was in no rush to score! He must like the thrill of scoring whistle beaters because his 2nd goal came in the 89th minute. It actually could’ve been a Xabi goal but the Mr. Perfecto didn’t shoot!! *sigh* Oh, what could’ve been…but no matter, I’m still happy for Benz.

Things you don’t imagine happening on your comeback night? Getting injured in the 90th fuckin’ minute. After a challenge with Christian, Di Maria was left with a bruise to the thigh so he’ll definitely be out for tomorrow’s match. 😦 We need a healthy Angel.

Four goals & remaining 10 points ahead of Barca, I think that’s enough to keep us happy & thinking positively 🙂

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Post Match Comments:

Mou:

“I like the final score, but what I most like is taking another three points and having one game less to play. We won without much brilliance, but without much effort either. It’s important to have as many players as possible available to us now that we’ll play a game every three days.”

“Di Maria brings certain characteristics to the team that we’ve lacked in his absence. He allows us to make different transitions when we recover the ball and attack. His recovery is very important.”

“Khedira is a very good option for us. Everyone’s available save for Lass and Altintop. The former may not be able to play in Moscow, but he’ll be back soon. Altintop is still recovering.”

“Higuain didn’t train all week, but, as the professional he is, he wanted to be here. It is important to have him on the bench because we only have two pure centre forwards. He would have played had I needed him, but there was no reason to take risks. I didn’t want him to play because he is very important to us.”

“I love my former sides Inter Milan and Chelsea, and their fans as well. I’d rather those fans supported their teams and their coaches rather than me. I’m their past, and a very good one at that, so they remember me. I’m no longer there and they should fight together instead of thinking about those who aren’t there any more.”

“People criticise us managers when we do a bad job, and sometimes this can be very harsh. The press is also criticised for doing a bad job itself. I believe it’s bad journalism when a newspaper demands that a suspended footballer plays.”

“Our eyes are now on the Champions League and we must focus on our match against CSKA Moscow. We’re all happy. We have two days in which to recover. We’re a happy bunch and we are very motivated for the match, but we know playing in Moscow will be difficult.”

“Di Stefano is Di Stefano and no one at this club can be compared to him.”

Benzema:

“It was a great game for all of us. I don’t know if the first goal is mine or not, but I don’t care. There is one game less now and we must keep this up.”

“We should play all games like this one. We’ll start focusing on our Champions League match today. We know it will be cold in Moscow, but we will overcome that to try to win the game.”

Xabi:

“There are many games left still and we could have unpleasant surprises any day, so we’ll have to work hard to avoid that. We must concentrate hard and remain calm. We have to take things slowly.”

“We’re about to play a championship that’s very important to us again this week. We all know what’s at stake in the UCL and it will be essential to earn a good result on the road. We will adapt to the Moscow climate.”

Di Maria:

“I saw what Benzema was doing and I passed the ball to the post he was close to, but I didn’t expect it to go so high. I was ready to play, having worked all week to be as fit as possible tonight. We must continue to work this way.”

“We have to continue improving in defence to make the job of our forwards easier. This is a team sport. I’m very happy about everything. The beautiful thing is we won and took three more points. We’re on the right path.”

“Hard work has its benefits. The Champions League is back now and it is very important to us. We must remain calm and start to focus on our Moscow game.”

Granero:

“We’re all happy because we gave a good performance. We’ve improved in defence and attack, and continue scoring many goals. We’re on the right path. Our lead allows us to focus solely on ourselves. We must go game by game; there are fewer left.”

“We’re fit and focused. We prove this whenever we play. We’re confident and the cold in Moscow will only be a problem before the game because once you’re on the pitch you warm up quickly.”

Kaka:

“During warm-up we all said we shouldn’t concede any goals because it’s always harder to make a comeback. I will have chances to score in the future. We must now win more games and take as many poinst as we can. Our objective is to win La Liga.”

“The cold weather in Moscow will affect both teams. It won’t be a problem for us because the return leg will be held here. We’ll have to prepare well in order to give a phenomenal performance.”

Sergio:

“We must keep a cool head because the league will continue to be complicated despite our lead. Any opponent can cause us problems. Each game should be like a final.”

“I don’t care where I play; I’m just happy to play. I won the World Cup as a right back, so I’m used to it. I feel comfortable there.”

“I think everyone experiences something different in the Champions League. Everyone is very focused in that competition.”

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The Champion’s League is back tomorrow, y’all! First leg of the last 16, I’m excited to see the boys play & maybe some red kits? HALA MADRID!!

-Maisougio