SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA MID-WEEK ROUND 5 RESULTS | WEDNESDAY GAMES

Five matches played tonight,  full of high intensive SPANISH FOOTBALL action,  as part of the scheduled mid-week Round 5 SPANISH LEAGUE calender which broke the idea that LA LIGA was a "two horse" race. Real Madrid suffered in their match & has entered into a worrying downward spiral,  & Barcelona drew & suffered at Valencia. Here is a summary of all the games, with results & the scorers.

CR7 against Racing de Santander

RACING DE SANTANDER held REAL MADRID to a 0 - 0 draw that is sweet for the home side but bitter for the visitors. It is a complicated week for Real Madrid that just got more complicated as rumours appear that there is a dressing room "revolt" at Real & that Mourinho may be losing credibility with his players. As always the "worms come out of the woodwork" in the worst moments & there are "enemies" awaiting with glee at any chance at stabbing in the kitchen knife. How Football can change in days, it never ceases to amaze.

Said all this, Real Madrid started with Ramos on the bench along with Di Maria ( Callejon started), some interpret the former as a disciplinary tactic & this adds wood to the "dressing room" problems rumours, but Arbeloa who started tonight has been fussing about not getting a run. With this in the foreground, Real Madrid looked slack, & more so Cristiano Ronaldo & Ozil who look 50% less than weeks back. There is no rhythm & the team plays at the long ball without any midfield creation.

Racing played at counter-attacking, doing some "hard" business on the field & defending with a "wall" to stop the "Whites" from getting the three points. It all worked, Real Madrid left without another away victory. One positive for Real...young defender Varane played & played well, the kid looks good, real fine.


The lastest is that Real Madrid President Florentino Perez went into the dressing rooms after the game to personally hug his players, Coach & his team to send them all a message of calmness & confidence. Something definitely smells... 

Falcao 2011

ATLETICO DE MADRID on the other hand are literally on fire, & new Colombian signing FALCAO is exploding with another two goals ( 71st & 80th min) that formed part of the 4 - 0 victory over a worrying REAL SPORTING DE GIJON. The "Tiger" ( Falcao) could have scored more goals ( hit the wood-work & had a disallowed goal) but  it was team-mate DOMINGUEZ who got his in the 67th min,  & an own goal by Gijon player LORA was the opener for Atletico in the 27th min.

Great match for Atletico.

Baptista for Malaga

MALAGA defeated ATHLETIC DE BILBAO 1 - 0 to put more strain & worries in the mind of Athletic Coach Bielsa who isnt pushing the right buttons with his team. Malaga are doing their job fine & CAZORLA scored the winner in the 61st min with a fantastic free-kick that was worth three points. 

Levante scores against Rayo Vallecano

RAYO VALLECANO lost 1 - 2 to LEVANTE & the former was unhappy with the visitors "theatrics", something practised with great effectiveness against Real Madrid in their last game. In fact, Rayo lost a player in the 76th min to a red card & insist in the "black magic" arts of Levante. Whatever the case there is a referee on the field that should take care of this sort of "voodoo magic" & Levante did score two goals ( KONE in the 9th min & BALLESTEROS in the 28th min), which is one more than the Rayo Vallecano goal from TAMUDO in the 71st min. As some say, Football can sometimes be "magical".

Pablo Hernandez scores for Valencia CF

VALENCIA CF drew 2 - 2 with FC BARCELONA & nearly pulled off the surprise. Valencia run over Barcelona in the first half, but apart from scoring they also missed two-three sitters that made them pay dearly in the second half of the match. The physical effort of Valencia was so tense that they lowered the intensity in the 2º half & Barça began to play their game, equalize & nearly won.

An own goal by Barça defender ABIDAL put Valencia ahead in the 11 th min to which PEDRO answered to equalize in the 13th min. But that was it for Barça,  from here  Valencia defender Mathieu, team-mates Benegas , Hernandez, Canales & company ran riot & PABLO HERNANDEZ scored the second in the 22nd min. Then Valencia ( Roberto Soldado the best case) missed "sitter" that cannot be explained for this level of Football.

Valencia paid dearly for the earlier misses & Barcelona took over from a tired Valencia, & CESC FABREGAS equalized in the 76 th min. Barça continued playing well & nearly won as Valencia held out with all their arts.

Tomorrow : Espanyol vs Getafe; Betis vs Zaragoza.
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