La Liga: Atletico Madrid wins their first league victory over Real Madrid for 14 years.

The Whites fought until the very last moment, but the early goal from Diego Costa gave Atletico the win in the derby in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Real Madrid stumbled at home against Atletico. A Diego Costa goal in the 11th minute decided an exciting derby in the Bernabeu. The Whites kept trying until the end and came close to equalising with an acrobatic Morata shot, but it was not to be.

Real Madrid returned to their stadium to face another team from Madrid. After beating Getafe in the Santiago Bernabeu, the Whites played against Atletico in the standout fixture of this round of matches. The derby did not start in the best way for the Whites. A pass from Koke in the 11th minute put Diego Costa through to beat Diego Lopez in the one-on-one. They would need to come from behind again. That was something that did not perturb Real Madrid, having already turned the scoreboard around in two of their previous three home matches this season. Benzema, with two headed shots from Di Maria passes, had chances to level the match in the 23rd and 26th minutes, but Courtois was on form for the first and the ball went a few inches wide from the second. Cristiano Ronaldo, also with a header following a pass from the Argentine, had the last chance of the first half, but the ball went over the bar.

After the break Ancelotti decided to bring on Bale, for his Bernabeu debut, and Modric for Illarramendi and Di Maria. The Whites pressured their opponents, who tried to stifle Real Madrid’s attempts to play out from the back and to run the clock down. The could have even scored a second from a counterattack in which Diego Costa found himself alone against Diego Lopez, but the goalkeeper came out on top. From that point on it was all Real Madrid and Bale, in the 65th minute, and Cristiano Ronaldo, five minutes later, came close to levelling the match with shots from the edge of the area. Atletico looked to decide the match on the counter and Koke hit the crossbar in the 80th minute. There were ten minutes left and Real Madrid didn’t stop trying.

The match was end-to-end and equaliser nearly came in the 84th minute. Khedira’s cross followed by a spectacular acrobatic shot from Morata forced Courtois to show his best. Five minutes later the home team had another opportunity. Modric’s shot from distance was close to catching the visitors’ goalkeeper out. It was not the last chance and Morata’s 90th minute effort went a few inches wide of the Atletico goal. The Whites tried until the end, but it was not to be.

by Real Madrid Official

• After the poor performance against Eltche few days ago, another bad performance from Real Madrid in the first real challenge in La Liga against Atletico Madrid last night. Coach Ancelotti failed to break the defensive barrier for Atletico Madrid. The game started with an equal performance and each team was trying to score the first goal. After a mistake from Real Madrid Player Di Maria, koke passed the ball to the striker Diego Lopez who was alone in front of  the goal and scored the first and the only goal in the game. After the goal, the opponent fell to half the pitch to protect their goal from Real Madrid attacks. They were disciplined defensively and were able to repel all attacks. Overall, Atletico Madrid deserved to win this match. This should be an alert to the coach and the players that this season is not going to be easy whether we play home or away and we should be fully prepared for each game as if it’s a final. We hope that Real Madrid recover from this poor performance quickly and we should forget about this game now and focus on the upcoming UEFA Champions League match against FC Copenhagen on Wednesday. Good luck to the Los Blancos!

La Liga: Real Madrid looking for sixth win of the season away against Elche

The Whites, who have scored 10 goals in the last two matches, are unbeaten so far this season and play Elche 24 seasons after their last league meeting.

Tonight against Elche, Real Madrid will be looking for their sixth league win of the season (22:00, C+ Liga & Gol T). The Whites are having a brilliant start to the season in which they are undefeated, with five wins and a draw, and are improving the level of their play match-by-match. Ancelotti has both Cristiano Ronaldo and Isco available for the fourth away trip of the season, both of whom are in stunning form with 12 goals between them in official matches. They come up against Elche, last season’s second division champions with the best record in the division and that have not lost at home in this campaign, but after five matches, they have yet to get a win under their belts.

The Whites are having a near-perfect start to the season having racked up five wins and a draw in the six league matches they have played , and in which they have scored 18 goals, 10 of them in the last two matches, which is an average of three goals per match. The team is improving the level of their play match-by-match and the new faces in the squad are gradually becoming embedded with the rest of their teammates showing all of their quality and putting in great performances.

STANDINGS BEFORE MATCH DAY 6
HOME				AWAY
Pos.	Pts	P	W	D	L	P	W	D	L
R. Madrid	3º	13	3	3	0	0	2	1	1	0
Elche	17º	3	2	0	2	0	3	0	1	2

Carlo Ancelotti has picked 20 players to travel to Alicante. The Italian coach has a variety of resources to call upon and several of his players are in great form. Isco, who has scored four goals in five matches, is the highest scoring midfielder in the league, Ronaldo, who is the club’s fifth leading scorer of all time, has signed five goals in the last two matches and Benzema has added a further four goals this campaign. On the assists front, Di Maria is in blistering form, and has already made three assists for his teammates.

The Whites will play against Elche in the league for the first time since the 1988/1989 season, when they won both home and away. Of the 38 times that the teams have played in La Liga, Real Madrid have won 23, drawn nine and lost six, with a record of 96 goals for and 36 against . These figures make Real Madrid the team that have won the most matches and have scored the most goals against the team from Alicante in the league.

Elche were last season’s Second Division champions
Elche are back in the top flight of domestic football after a 24 season absence and host the Whites in the sixth match day of the season sitting in seventeenth place in the table after three draws and two losses. They won a deserved promotion last season after being leaders of the second division from the first to the last day. They also achieved the best record in the division, being the team with the most wins, fewest losses and that scored the most goals.

LA LIGA MEETINGS BETWEEN THE TWO TEAMS
TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF	GA
Real Madrid	38	23	9	6	96	36
Elche	38	6	9	23	36	96

The team coached by Fran Escriba, making his debut in the first division, has Botia, Manu del Moral, Javi Marquez, Stevanovic, Domingo Cisma, Lomban, Ruben Perez, Sapunaru and Tono as the main additions to the squad this season. The team led by the Valencian coach are unbeaten this season at home after managing two draws. Defender Edu Albacar, with two goals, is their top scorer.

by Real Madrid Official

• Personally, I believe this is going to be an easy game for Real Madrid. Even though the whites are playing away and several players are missing this game including Gareth Bale because of a minor injury, there is a huge difference in the players quality and skills. The players experience and the games history between Real Madrid and Elche will play an important role in this match and will give confidence to the players. and the Madridista are optimistic in winning this match with a minimal effort. Good luck to the whites.

• predicted lineups for the game

 

Real Madrid vs. Getafe: Final score 4-1, Real comfortable despite rocky start

Real Madrid came from behind to earn what turned out to be a fairly comfortable win against Getafe. Pepe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Isco all found the net en route to a 4-1 win, and after the hosts cancelled out Getafe early opener they never looked like getting anything but all three points.

It was an inauspicious start, however. The hosts lost record signing Gareth Bale during warmups, and Getafe added insult to injury by going ahead after just five minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo was dispossessed (unfairly, he thought), and while he was protesting Getafe pushed towards goal. Lafita then sent a deflected shot past Diego Lopez from outside the box.

The man who did the deflecting, Pepe, soon made up for it with the equalising goal. Getafe played a dangerous attempted offside trap on a free kick, and it didn’t work. That allowed Ronaldo to sneak in at the back post, and although his initial shot was well saved by Miguel Moya, Pepe scrambled in the rebound from close range.

Getafe didn’t learn their lesson, and came within inches of going behind from a similar situation — this time Ronaldo couldn’t get his effort on target. But the second goal was coming, and the Portuguese was the man to score it. His free kick was blocked in the box by Michel; the referee pointed to the spot and Ronaldo blasted past Moya to make it 2-1.

Karim Benzema could and should have made it 3-1 as the half came to a close. Daniel Carvajal did wonderfully on the right, beating his man and playing in a cross which bent just out of Alexis‘ reach, but Benzema didn’t manage to get clean contact and saw his bobbling ‘shot’ clawed off the line by Moya. Moya denied Benzema once more just after halftime, pushing away a crisp strike after the striker had been found by Ronaldo with a cutback.

Madrid needed a third, and if their centre forward wasn’t going to provide it, someone else would. And so Isco stepped up. Ronaldo played him into the box with a quick free kick, and Isco drifted inside before bending a delightful curling shot into the back of the net.

Benzema then embarrassed himself further, somehow contriving to miss an open goal from point-blank range after a lovely cross from Alvaro Arbeloa and then spurning another easy chance by hitting Carvajal’s delivery wide of the post.

But despite Benzema’s cavalcade of failure in front of goal, things got even worse for Getafe. Michel was shown a straight red for scything down substitute Jese Rodriguez in the 86th minute, and after going down to ten men the visitors had absolutely no hope of clawing back the deficit.

There was time enough to add some gloss to the victory, with Ronaldo backheeling in a cross with the final kick of the game to make it 4-1. All in all, and despite the early setbacks, it was an easy enough win.

Real Madrid starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Diego Lopez, Alvaro Arbeloa, Nacho Fernandez, Pepe, Daniel Carvajal; Asier Illarramendi (Luka Modric 77′), Sami Khedira; Cristiano Ronaldo, Isco (Jese Rodriguez 84′), Angel di Maria; Karim Benzema (Alvaro Moratta 80′).

Goals: Pepe 19′, Ronaldo 33′, Isco 59′.

Getafe starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Miguel Moya; Sergio Escudero (Roberto Lago 45′), Alexis, Lisandro Lopez, Alvaro Arroyo (Rafa Lopez 70′); Pedro Mosquera, Michel; Diego Castro, Lafita (Sarabia 45′), Pedro Leon; Miku.

Goals: Lafita 5′.

By SbNation

• It was unfortunate to not see Gareth Bale for the first time playing in the santiago bernabeu. All Madridista were excited when they saw Gareth Bale warming up few minutes before the game starts and prepare to play from the beginning, but unfortunately he got injured before the game and was substituted for Isco. Even though Isco was not prepared to play from the begining, he did a great job scoring the second goal and assisting the team to win. However, in my opinion, Angel di Maria was the best player in the game. Even though he didn’t score goals, but his tremendous performance made him the man of the match. He helped defenders to stop the enemy’s attacks, and helped Real Madrid’s attackers to score goals. Although he was a midfielder, he was everywhere in the field and was running after the ball all the time and that made the coach and Madrid fans proud of him.

• Real Madrid vs Getafe 4-1 All Goals & Highlights 22/9/2013

La Liga Preview: Real Madrid vs. Getafe

Real Madrid

A decisive win and a major thrashing against Galatasaray, guarantees Real Madrid’s campaign in the Champions League. Likewise, the club’s impressive performance in Primera Division ensures the club’s bright future this season. The Los Blancos shows no signs of slowing down. Recently, it destroyed Galatasaray with a 6-1 victory courtesy of Isco, Karim Benzema and of course, Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick. Amidst the chaos in the pitch, Umut Bulut was the only entity that prevented Real Madrid from having a clean sheet.

Powered by unstoppable pitch warriors, Carlos Ancelotti expects his men to carry the momentum as they face Getafe in the domestic league. Although the latter is neither a threat nor a rival, the club has another victory to clinch in order to compensate for the draw that they incurred against Villareal. Not only will it give them the opportunity to reach the ranking’s top spot, but also the chance to steal the spotlight from Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, which continue to remain undefeated.

Getafe

It seems like Getafe will have a hard time replicating their first victory over Osasuna. Pitted against Primera Division giant, Real Madrid, winning seems to be a futile effort. Getafe’s current form is neither satisfactory nor acceptable.   Occupying the 14th spot in the ranking, the club is just a few notches away from the relegation zone. Out of their last 5 matches, they have already lost twice, drew twice and only won once. Up against Real Madrid, the pressure becomes even worse as they will be playing in Bernabéu —the Los Blancos’ known territory.

The Verdict: Real Madrid to score a hat-trick

The battle against Getafe is no more than a breather for the Los Blancos. As mentioned, they should take such opportunity to compensate for their disappointing draw against Villlareal. Real Madrid plays strong when they are at home. As a matter of fact, they won 13 out of their 20 home matches and scored more than 2 goals. Seeing another hat-trick either from Isco, Ronaldo, Benzema and who knows, Bale, is highly possible.   Unfortunately, for Getafe, they have been pretty unsuccessful in their away matches. Figures show that they lost 6 of their most recent away matches and they are in danger of being thrashed and pushed down to the bottom of the domestic league ranking.

By 12tipster

• Personally I think it’s not going to be an easy task for Real Madrid to win this game. Even though the team is ecstatic after their win in the last game against Galatasaray, this could harm Real Madrid if the players enter the game with Overconfident. Also, Getafe is not a weak team and they have really good players. Overall, We are confident that Real Madrid is going to win this game and we hope that continues in the upcoming games.

• predicted lineups for the game

Champions League: Great Victory – Galatasaray 1-6 Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo hits a hat-trick as Real Madrid ran in the second half against Galatasaray to send a threatening message to the other teams about their ambitions in the Champions League with a 6-1 victory in Istanbul In the opening match of the tournament for the Los Blancos.

Galatasaray started the game with enthusiasm and threatened Real Madrid several times, but they crumbled after Isco scored the first goal after 33′ minutes. After the first goal, Real Madrid dominated the rest of the game and scored five goals in the second half two of them were by Benzema (54′, 81′) and three by Cristiano Ronaldo (63′, 66′, 90′). Six minutes before the end of the match Galatasaray scored their first and only goal in the game (84′). Gareth Bale started the match on the bench, but came on midway through the second half and created one of Ronaldo’s goals and made a great performance.

Iker Casillas was the goal keeper and started ahead of Diego Lopez after being told by coach Carlo Ancelotti that he would be the goalkeeper in Champions Leage while Diego Lopez plays in La Liga. However, his night soon came to a premature end when he took an elbow to the ribs from his colleague Sergio Ramos and was substituted in the 13th minute for Diego Lopez who did a great job in protecting Real Madrid from many attacks. Most of Madrid fans were disappointed when they saw the team’s captain leaving the match injured. Casillas spent a lot of time on the bench for technical reasons since his injury last season against Valencia. At that time, Real Madrid bought Diego Lopez to take over Casillas place temporarily until the Captain comes back from his injury. However that did not happen because of Diego Lopez’s Amazing performance and that is why Casillas lost his place and spent most of the games in the bench. This game was the chance to see the Captain of Real Madrid and Spain playing in competitive games again. After all, Madridista were happy of the victory and the great performance of the players.

Here is the game facts by eurosport.com

• Real Madrid have won more games (106) than any other club in the history of the Champions League.
• This was Real Madrid’s first ever win in Turkey in European competition, having failed to triumph in their previous three attempts.
• Cristiano Ronaldo now has 206 goals in 204 matches for Real Madrid

PLAYER RATINGS –

GALATASARAY: Muslera 6, Eboue 5, Chedjou 6, Dany 5, Riera 6, Selçuk 6, Melo 6, Sneijder 5, Engin 5, Burak 5, Drogba 6. Subs: Bruma 7, Amrabat 6, Bulut 7.

REAL MADRID: Casillas 6, Ramos 6, Pepe 6, Carvajal 6, Arbeloa 6, Khedira 6, Modric 6, Di Maria 8, Isco 8, Ronaldo 9, Benzema 8. Subs: Lopez 6, Bale 6, Illaramendi 6.

MAN OF THE MATCH – Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid): The irrepressible Portuguese ace was in devastating form in the second period, netting yet another treble and a stunning third and final goal of the night.

• Galatasaray Vs Real Madrid 1-6 2013 All Goals and Full Highlights 17/09/2013

UEFA Champions League Draw

Recently, the UEFA Champions League Draw was held. 32 teams were divided into 8 groups. Each group has 4 teams and only two will advance to the first knockout stage. The team in third place in each group will be qualified to enter UEFA Europa League round of 32. the teams will play home and away against each other.

UEFA Champions League Draw:

• Manchester United, the defending Premier League champions should be happy with their draw. They were able to avoid the strongest teams and they will be able to easily take the lead in the group and advance to the next round. The other clubs will have to fight for the second knockout berth.

• Real Madrid and Juventus were drawn into the same group, This made Group B one of the hardest groups this year, and it didn’t get any easier when Turkish giants Galatasaray were added to the group. Madridista are very excited and ambitious of winning the 10th title after signing in really good players, such as Gareth Bale and Isco. On the other hand, Copenhagen considered the weakest team in the group and it will struggle to make an impact.

• Group C is an interesting group, as all four clubs could make a strong case to proceed to the next step. Benfica benefited for being with a mild competitive teams that have no big history of achievements in UEFA Champions League. Big-spending Paris Saint-Germain are also likely very pleased with their draw result.

• Bayern Munich and Manchester City have to be happy about the draw. Although being in the same group wasn’t the best case scenario for both teams, but they didn’t have another top club in the group in order to turn it into a true Group of Death. The other two teams are not so lucky for being with these strong teams.

• Chelsea won the Champions League title two seasons ago. Being in this group would almost guarantee them a place of the knockout stage . Even though Schalke and Basel are both solid clubs, the Blues are undoubtedly the best team in Group E.

• This is a tricky group and it is hard to predict which team is going to the next round. Arsenal has signed in one of the best midfielders in the world Mesut Ozil and that gave them confidence. Also, Napoli singed in several good players in different positions this year. On the other hand, Marseille has a lot of experience and proved that they are not an easy Competitor. Borussia Dortmund achieved the final of UEFA champions League, but they lost the title for Bayern Munich last season.

• Group G should be wide open. Porto, Atletico Madrid and Zenit should all be confident about their chances to move on, but one of them will be left behind. Austria Wien face an uphill battle, but could still have an impact and surprises the other competitors.

• While Barcelona and AC Milan will enter the final group expecting to advance, they can’t afford to overlook Ajax and Celtic. Ajax are the defending Dutch champions, and Celtic reached the UCL knockout stages last season. This is a solid overall group and each team has to work hard in order to go to the next round.