REAL MADRID 1 AJAX AMSTERDAM 4 (3-5 AGG)| CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULT

REAL MADRID CF took its 1º leg Champions League 1-2 advantage back to their home Stadium "Santiago Bernabeu" to play tonight the 2º leg away game against AJAX OF AMSTERDAM. The end result was a horror night for the Spanish Club which was overrun from the beginning to finally lose the game 1 - 4 & be eliminated from the UEFA Champions League 3 - 5 on aggregate. 

Above is the starting 11 of the Real Madrid team.

Above is the starting 11 of the Ajax team.

AJAX OF AMSTERDAM had a very clear game plan, exploit their pace with very accurate & efficient counter-attacks. The Dutch would allow the Spanish team to play in their area & with every mistake, missed goal chance or error pounce with deadly surgical precision with overwhelming men in the Real Madrid goal area. Simple. So basic that this strategy was utilized the whole match with Real Madrid not being able to halt the Dutch or find an antidote.

Finding a solution from REAL MADRID would always be difficult if the team is down psychologically for a string off important local League defeats, NOT ABLE to score goals & two injuries to Lucas vazquez & Vinicius JR in the first 30 minutes of play. This is not an excuse, it just highlights that tonight was going to be a nightmare, the worst dream possible for Real Madrid. 

Real Madrid missed goals, hit the post a couple of times & within their growing frustration came the silly mistakes. A terrible TONI KROOS back passed lead to the first goal of Ajax which ZIYECH scored in the 7th min, a deep & fast counter in the 18th min allowed NERES to score the second, this shook Real Madrid. 

The nerves took over, the frustration set in & the local supporters turned on their team in disbelief. However, Ajax kept to their game plan while Real Madrid failed to react or counter their hosts. Forced to attack Madrid had to look for goals, REAL MADRID in doing so "allowed AJAX" to exercise more often the counter-attack, & this is what happened.

Real Madrid started strong in the 2º half but once again without goal effectiveness, the opportunities were created but no one to score the goals. Reality finally made it clear, if you exit a player that gives you 40-50 goals (+10 in Champions) like Cristiano Ronaldo per season, you need to replace that asset with someone similar or spread the goal scoring across players. Its mathematics. Luck finally ran out tonight.

Ajax quickly regained the situation & continued with their work. The third goal came in the 62nd min from TADIC after a long consultation with VAR over a possible over the sideline ball beforehand. At this stage Real Madrid was rattled, but managed to get a glimpse of hope when finally ASENSIO managed to pull one back for Real in the 70th min. But, this was a horror movie for the locals tonight & from a free-kick SCHONE surprised goalie COURTOIS to score the 4th goal in the 72nd min, secure the victory & passage for Ajax into the next stage of the Champions League.

Things got absurd & surreal when Benzema slipped in front of goal to miss a sitter & GARETH BALE injured his ankle towards the end. Not only had REAL MADRID lost tonight, they get eliminated from Champions League & lost 3 key players to injury: Vazquez, Vinicius & Bale. But the terror week was more definitive: in 7 days, just in a week, Real Madrid has been eliminated from the Spanish Cup, lost twice at home to FC Barcelona (with loss of options in the race of La Liga title) & eliminated from Champions League. Basically their season has ended tonight. Ironic, tragic & perhaps bad luck, but the poor planning of pre-season & the unavailability of signing a competent center forward has hit hard.

For Ajax, a great night & excellent historic display & victory. They deserved to move forward into Champions League to keep their chances alive. Young, fast & dedicated players that showed great maturity & calmness. Well done.

Real Madrid? Well, avalanche of criticisms forthcoming, players will be signalled out, Coach Solari can say goodbye to his Coaching position next season... a revolution is in the horizon. Will be interesting to see how things develop & who gets the boot. Stay tuned!  

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | AJAX 1 REAL MADRID 2

UEFA Champions League was back tonight after its "in between phase" break with the last 16 teams knock out home & away stage now in motion. Three Spanish Football Clubs are still in the action & while FC Barcelona & Atletico de Madrid play next week, tonight it was REAL MADRID CF which travelled to Holland to play AJAX OF AMSTERDAM. The Final result was a 1 - 2 victory for Real Madrid which still has to be fully secured back in Madrid in the second leg game against Ajax. 

Here are the starting line-ups for both Teams:

REAL MADRID: Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Nacho, Sergio Ramos, Reguilon; Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric; Vinicius, Gareth Bale & Karim Benzema.

AJAX: Onana; Tagliafico, Blind, De Ligt, Mazraoui; De Jong, Van de Beek, Ziyech; Neres, Schone & Tadic.

The final result and 1 - 2 victory for Madrid was not the real picture of reality for this game. Ajax of Amsterdam played much better most of the encounter taking the initiative & attacking in waves. The Dutch Club created many occasions & forced Real Madrid on the back foot most of the night, especially the first 50-60 mins of the match.

The Ajax midfielders neutralized Benzema, Bale & Kroos not allowing the Spanish playmakers space to move the ball around & forced them to commit many errors. The Dutch exploited the left wing giving Carvajal a busy night of defending & also forcing mistakes to later create opportunities.

Ajax hit the post in the 25th min when Tadic had his chance, & a 38th min "goal" through a Tagliafico header was disallowed when the "VAR" sentenced that an Ajax player obstructed Real Madrid goalie Courtois in attempting to get to the ball. Controversial & will be part of the ongoing post-match debates.

Real Madrid was very quiet upfront with only a very good Vinicius opportunity appearing which was well saved by Ajax goalie Onana. 

Real Madrid has (& had tonight) the "luck of the Champions" & fully capitalised on their little goal opportunities to score both goals. The first was a wonderful play by Vinicius coming in from his wing & dragging up to 4 Ajax defenders to find BENZEMA who scored in the 60th min. 

Ajax kept with their game plan & regained control of the game with excellent midfield work & attacking Football. It was not long that they were rightly rewarded for their efforts when ZIYECH scored the equalizer in the 75th min. Seemed some justice was being done.

However, Real Madrid put on Asensio to give the forward line fresh legs & he was quickly announcing with great opportunities what was to come. In a quick counter attack Carvajal made a run down his wing & made a precision pass to find ASENSIO who knocked in the winning goal in the 86th min. This summed up Real Madrid´s night, 3-4 opportunities & 2 goals! Ajax will be disappointed as they deserved at least a draw, however the experience of the Real Madrid players shone through in this game.

Summarizing, Ajax midfielder De Jong looks like a real fine Football player & FC Barcelona will have a great asset in coming years. Sergio Ramos was solid tonight but will miss the next Champions League match in Madrid due to yellow card accumulation. Benzema is in on a goal scoring streak but went off with thigh problems. 

The tie is still open for the return Madrid tie & Ajax still has a chance, but for now Real Madrid has the advantage.

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ATLETICO DE MADRID 3 ZENIT 1 | FC BARCELONA 4 AJAX 0 | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP RESULTS

UEFA Champions League continued tonight with the two remaining Spanish Football Clubs in action in their respective Group games. Positive night for both Atletico de Madrid & FC Barcelona which managed to get off to an excellent start in the competition. Below is a brief summary of events, the final results - scores & all the goalscorers.

Atletico de Madrid hosted Group G Club Zenit St Petersburg in an expectant & warm home ground atmosphere. The Russians had their ideas clear at the beginning; defend & allow Atletico be the protagonist awaiting a possible slip to then advance & attack. The Spanish team kept running into the Russian wall until a set piece - corner found the head of Atletico defender Miranda who scored in the 39th min.

This forced Zenit to change strategy & came out second half looking for the equalizer. Atletico de Madrid made the mistake to give back the ball to Zenit & the initiative & they paid with a Zenit equalizer in the 58 th min from a Hulk power driver.

Atletico reacted & won back the ball & Arda Turan managed to hook onto a loose ball in the square to put Atletico back in the lead in the 64th min. Then Atletico de Madrid player Leo Baptistao scored the third & the sealer in the 80th min just after coming on as a substitute a minute earlier. 

Man of the match for me was Arda Turan who was brilliant & special & important mention to Atletico de Madrid goalkeeper Courtois who made three vital saves that keep Zenit at bay when Atletico was playing their worst Football.

Great start for Atletico de Madrid.

FC Barcelona played its Group H match at home against Ajax Amsterdam & won 4 - 0 with a Lionel Messi HAT-TRICK included. The game was relatively comfortable for Barça which started showing the initiative & creating opportunities from the beginning, plus surprisingly with a more "counter-attacking" spirit throughout the whole match.

It did not take long for Barça to score when Messi converted a brilliant free kick in the 22nd min. Ajax reacted & bettered their Football but Barça keeper Victor Valdes cancelled out their created opportunities as he is in top form.

The second half saw Barça lift in gears & Messi got the second in a counter-attack that took out two defenders in the 55th min. The third came in the 69th min when Pique headed a Neymar pass into the net, then Messi scored his HAT-TRICK & the fourth for Barcelona in the 75th min.

Top "rub salt in the wound", FC Barcelona goalie Valdes stopped a penalty committed by Mascherano in the 78th min to stamp his authority & to keep the scoreline with a "clean slate" 

Good start for FC Barcelona in Champions League.

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ATLETICO DE MADRID SIGNS ALDERWEIRELD FROM AJAX

Argentine International & Atletico de Madrid defender Demichelis has gone off to Manchester City. Atletico de Madrid has already found a substitute replacement in Belguim & Ajax of Amsterdam defender Toby Alderweireld.

The player is currently in Madrid to pass the medical exam before signing with Atletico de Madrid for the next four seasons. The 24 year old comes with very good references with Dutch League & Cup titles under his belt.

Welcome to Spanish Football!

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RCD ESPAÑYOL LOOK AT AJAX PLAYER EL HAMDAOUA

This piece comes from Spanish Sports & Barcelona based paper "Sport". According to the daily, RCD ESPANYOL is back at it again in their attempts to sign a striker & they have their eyes on  AJAX Moroccan forward EL HAMDAOUA.

This isn´t the first contact between the Spanish Football Club & the player, in fact they had an agreement for this season & things looked a "done deal" until something went wrong the last day of signings ( 31st of August). I suppose it had to do with money as with most cases.

The Ajax player is not in the plans of current Coach Frank De Boer & is training apart from the first team. Espanyol have a "hole" in the forward line since Osvaldo moved to AC Roma & need to fill it urgently.

Everything points that the Moroccan player will be the new signing of Espanyol for the next Winter Market ( 1st of January 2011). Stay tuned!

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THE FOOTBALL COUNTER-ATTACK | CRISTIANO RONALDO - REAL MADRID GOAL AGAINST AJAX IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | VIDEO

Yesterday during the REAL MADRID - AJAX Champions League match we had the chance to all witness a perfect text book example of the use of a "counter-attack" in Football. It occurred around the 23rd min & it all started from defender Sergio Ramos ending up with Cristiano Ronaldo 16 seconds later & goal. Here is the VIDEO:



For the youngsters & the technical profiles here is an image of the build-up:

Quick, sharp, accurate, deadly & poetry in motion. Very difficult to execute but when you have so many talented players in one side it becomes easier, & yes, it gets trained & a lot.
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RED CARDS XABI ALONSO - SERGIO RAMOS VIDEO | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AJAX REAL MADRID 2010

By the massive email request , here is a Video of both Red Cards given to Xabi Alonso & Sergio Ramos yesterday in the Real Madrid - Ajax Champions League match:

Latest is that UEFA will investigate if they were looked for on purpose.

What do you think? Mourinho , Sergio Ramos & Xabi Alonso say that they were unnecessary from the referee. Iker Casillas says he just gave some orders.

As written in the below post on the Spanish Football Sports Blog with the game summary, I knew this would be a grand "Wordwide" talking point.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP G 2010 - 2011 RESULT AJAX OF AMSTERDAM 0 - REAL MADRID 4

REAL MADRID defeated 0 - 4 AJAX OF AMSTERDAM in their Group G CHAMPIONS LEAGUE return leg game. This assures the Spanish Club the top Group position & thus enables them to avoid the "Big Guns" in the next stage after the mini-leagues.

Real Madrid rested habitual players like Khedira, Carvalho & Huguain who did´nt travel & gave Benzema, Leon, Lass & Arbeloa a chance to start from minute zero. The game was fairly even up until the 36th min when Ozil pull a "rabbit out of the hat" with a back pass which BENZEMA found & riffled into the net. 

Karim Benzema

Then a free-kick was awarded in the 43rd min outside the box which Ronaldo fired & hit the wall & in the bounce Spanish defender ARBELOA meet the ball & smashed it long range to beat all the Dutch defenders & the goalkeeper from long - range. A magnificent & aesthetically pleasing goal that the defender will remember for a long time, as we will!

Arbeloa celebrates his goal

The 2º half started with an early warning when Cristiano Ronaldo had a ball stopped by the Ajax goalie that hit the bar. Real Madrid was slowly increasing their ball dominance & game control as Ajax was losing the spring in their heels from the first half. Real Madrid made changes giving Di Maria a run & he minutes later set up CRISTIANO RONALDO in the box who fired home the third in the 70th min.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Eleven minutes later Ozil zig-zagged in the square & was fouled to give Real Madrid a penalty. CRISTIANO RONALDO then took the ball in the 81st min & calmly put in his second & his teams fourth.

However as with most games with Mourinho present there was controversy in the last 10 mins.  Earlier Mourinho had given "mysterious" instructions to 2º Real Madrid goalie Dudek on the bench to which he transmitted to Iker Casillas under the pretext of giving him some water. There both had a conversation while the ball & play was far away in the Ajax square. Minutes later Casillas travelled to midfield & talked to Sergio Ramos. All fine up till here until Xabi Alonso earned himself a 2º yellow card for time wasting & was sent off. Then Sergio Ramos wasted time & earned himself a 2º yellow as well & was sent off with just 1º min left of official time.

We all then caught on that both Xabi & Ramos had been given a yellow earlier & what Mourinho apparently seemed to wish is that they both find a 2º yellow card to serve their punishment against French & other Group team Auxerre were Real Madrid did not risk anything. This way both players serve their punishment & would have a "fresh" ( & clean of yellow card accumulations) cycle when the real business "knock-out" Rounds occur. 

This last apparent strategy from Mourinho - if correct - will cause plenty of debate & talk tonight & in coming days as some believe it is not the "fair way" or "cleanest" way to do things. However, Mourinho has it all very clear, winning is the final aim & the methods justify the end. At least this is how it seemed to us all, the millions watching via TV  & the thousands of fans at the ground. Tweet

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2010 - 2011 | GROUP G RESULT | REAL MADRID 2 AJAX OF AMSTERDAM 0

REAL MADRID defeated AJAX OF AMSTERDAM 2 -0 in the first Group G match of the 2010 - 2011 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE competition. A scoreline that leaves a bitter taste in the fans mouth as it could have easyly been 6-0 or even more. The Dutch team are less effective without their Uruguayan forward Suarez but were very "weak" tonight except for a couple of chances that gave the home team a scare or two.

But it was all Real Madrid tonight who had an amazing 35 shots at goal & only managed to score two goals. Obviously the Ajax goalkeeper had something to say here, but Cristiano Ronaldo missed 8 to 10 chances that ended frustrating the player who must have thought he was cursed tonight. Said this Ronaldo must learn to be more patient & contribute more for the team as he cannot do it all himself, something that ends up causing the poor man to lament & lift his anxiety levels. But he wasn´t the only one, GONZALO HIGUAIN scored twice - the first off a Dutch defender from a corner in the 30th min & the second in the 73rd min - but he also missed half a dozen occasions that were very clear. The "goal missing virus" spread as Di Maria - very good performance tonight - also missed along with Ozil numerous chances.

However, it was OZIL who was magnificent tonight. This player - if he continues progressing - is star bound as his vision of play & quick thinking reactions makes the team play fluently & creates many goal scoring chances for his team-mates. It was he who gave the second goal to Higuain, & he was substituted late in the 2ºhalf to receive a roaring applause from the Real crowd who gave him a standing ovation.

More special mentions need to be made tonight especially for Khedira who was solid along with Xavi Alonso who was majestic in his defending & attacking play; both were excellent. Brazilian Marcelo also tantalized in the 1ºst half & the Real Madrid defence was solid, firm & vibrated confidence. Lastly, Casillas did very little except a miracle one handed reflex save mid 2ºhalf that stopped a certain goal from the Dutch.

In conclusion, a much better performance from Real Madrid who seem to be progressing. The objective tonight was to win & start Champions League well. However, the big guns are missing terribly upfront & Cristiano Ronaldo is going through a nightmare period were nothing will go into the back off the net. This is frustrating mentally Ronaldo, & we all hope he scores soon for the good of his mental health, & the team who suffers in their game because of it.

Good vibes overall, pity there wasn't more goals. Tweet

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FC BARCELONA | AJAX DEFENDER GREGORY VAN DER WEIL INTERESTS

Source : Sp Ftball /

Name: Gregory van der Wiel
Age: 22 years
Nationality: Dutch
Club: Ajax of Amsterdam
Profession: Right Back Defender

FC BARCELONA considers the player as a potential “star” in the making & has been following Van der Wiel for sometime. The player is powerful, offensive minded with the sufficient defensive discipline to ensure that his forward movements do not leave the a "hole" in the defence. Barça believes that they can secure his services for around 6M€, which will be more, simply because it is FC Barcelona.

The intention is to have the young Dutch International available in case Abidal fulls injured or needs a rest ( yes, what about Maxwell?) . Curious if you consider that the player would have to adapt to the other wing as Dani Alves currently hold his “natural position”. Said this, this is not uncommon as Arbeloa of Real Madrid demonstrates in certain occasions when his team needs his services in the other flank (in this case the left side) that it can be done. Lastly
reports indicate that Van Der Wiel has also played as a Central Defender, thus giving himself more tactical value & more attraction for the Spanish Champions.

According to Barcelona based Sports daily “Mundo Deportivo” Barça is already in discussions to examine the demands & all the fine details in order to successfully complete this operation. The only possible set back that may arise is the outcome of next months FC Barcelona Presidential elections, were the incoming new President may have different ideas from the current “Technical Advisors”. Stay tuned! Tweet

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ATLETICO DE MADRID | LUIS SUAREZ THE SUBSTITUTE FOR SERGIO AGUERO ? | MANCHESTER UNITED

Source : Sp Ftball Blog /
The sensation ( the vibe) here in Madrid is that ATLETICO DE MADRID Argentine International forward SERGIO AGÜERO has his immediate future somewhere else that is not his current Club. The player’s comments give the "vibration" that he isn’t shutting any doors & that ATLETICO DE MADRID is sending strategic signals to the fan base that the possibility of Aguero being sold for next season is a reality. The Club needs money & Aguero needs the guarantee of bigger things & better titles.

Two things to say here:

1. It is rumoured that MANCHESTER UNITED has already communicated to Atletico de Madrid that they are willing to pay the contract release clause of 60M€ to make the player their new forward for next season. The English Club would like to negotiate the 60M€ figure but do not eliminate the possibility of going straight in & taking Aguero. The deduction here is that the player is in accord with Manchester United

2. Today, Spanish Sports paper “AS”, publishes that Atletico de Madrid has its eye on Chilean ( sorry folks Uruguayian , thanks to the comment left by a reader) International & AJAX OF AMSTERDAM forward LUIS SUAREZ as the substitute for Aguero. The price being handled here is around 20M€ for the Chilean forward.

Stay tuned, as the World Cup will break much of the negotiations & the players will be concentrating solely on the tournament. But this story has plenty of mileage left in it before the start of the next season. Tweet

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FRIENDLY: AJAX OF AMSTERDAM 3 - ATLETICO DE MADRID 3 (VIDEO GOALS)

ATLETICO DE MADRID has played its third pre-season match against
AJAX OF AMSTERDAM at the Arena in Amsterdam in their yearly
tournament. The result was an exciting 3-3 draw with Atletico de
Madrid exhibiting all its fire power up front but showing its recent
weakness ( or lapses) in defence. The game was equalized in the
end by a controversial penalty awarded to Ajax that was not missed
by the Dutch & blemished a great Atletico performance tonight.

The goal scorers for Atletico were SIMAO, AGUERO & MAXI
RODRIGUEZ while for Ajax their scorers were CVITANICH,
ROMMEDAHL & SUAREZ (p)

Here is the VIDEO (with “interesting” audio) of the goals. Check
the defensive mistakes. Need to work on it Atletico, but there are
signs & good vibrations...



Details

Ajax 3: Stekelenburg; Van der Wiel, Wielart, Alderweireld, Vertonghen;
Kennedy (Rommedahl, m. 60), Aissati, Sno (Donald, m. 71), Emanuelson
(De Jong, m. 81); Luis Suárez & Cvitanich (Sulejmani, m. 65).

Atlético de Madrid 3: Asenjo; Heitinga, Perea, Juanito, Antonio López;
Maxi Rodríguez (Sinama Pongolle, m. 84), Paulo Assuncao, Cléber
Santana (Raúl García, m. 60), Simao (Reyes, m. 67); Forlán
(Borja, m. 81) & Agüero (Jurado, m. 76).

Goals: 1-0, m. 8: Cvitanich. 1-1, m. 29: Simao. 1-2, Aguero m. 41: m.
70: 2-2, Rommedahl. 2-3, m. 76: Maxi Rodríguez:
3-3, m. 90: Suárez, penalty. Tweet

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REAL MADRID SIGNS KLAAS JAN HUNTELAAR

It´s official, REAL MADRID & AJAX OF AMSTERDAM have agreed
the transfer of Dutch International KLAAS JAN HUNTELAAR for
20M€ plus 4M€ more in incentives. The 25 year old player will receive
a cool 3.8M€ per year & surely extras if he cracks them into the net for
his new Club.










Huntelaar is expected to be available to get back onto a ground in
mid January, when it´s estimated that he will be recovered from a
serious ligament ankle injury. Lets wish for Real that this injury does´nt
recurre & turn this investment into a "Black Hole".

Lets be optimistic & wish the player all the luck in the World with his
new Club & that he can show his goal skills & win titles. Tweet

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HUNTELAAR CLOSER TO REAL MADRID

The 25 year old AJAX OF AMSTERDAM forward KLAUS JAN
HUNTELAAR has given his ok to REAL MADRID & now depends
on an agreement between the respective Clubs.

The news of a possible signning in the next hours has put the headline

on all the local media. The player comes injuried with a ankle problem that

will make him elegible to play in January 2009. The plus with this

player is that he is also elegible to play in Champions & that is a big

advantage for all involved.

Huntelaar comes as the first reinforcement to an injury riddle Real

squad dry in the forward line. SFS & everyone will await the official

confirmation, as Real would wish to present the player officially to

media either this Wednesday or Thursday.

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