Espanyol Vs Real Madrid

Real Madrid travels to the beautiful Cornella El Prat to continue their upswing in form against RCD Espanyol. This match has always a bit of significance because whether the Espanyol fans want to admit it or not, the two teams have always been very chummy. That has to change the contest from being a passionate and fiery affair in the past, nor will it this time, but it cannot be consider a derbi, or even a grudge match. In fact Real has a great recent record against Espanyol, having not lost or drawn against them in a few years. Last year Real came away with two convincing victories, and they did the same the previous year under Pellegrini. Much of the same is expected this year, although Espanyol are undefeated at home this year and the Cornella has earned a reputation for being a very difficult venue to visit. Espanyol themselves are not in the greatest of form, but this hardly ever stops teams from putting their best foot forward when facing Real Madrid.

Mourinho (technically Karanka) was able to oversee a largely satisfying revival of form against Rayo Vallecano and then Ajax at the midweek. The goals have papered over some of the more glarring issues, such as the obviously errors at the back, the poor judgement Iker Casillas has been using lately when stopping shots, and a midfield that has trouble getting anything going unless they are running at full speed. This was perfectly evident against Levante and Racing Santander, who were more than happy to sit in their own half and afford Real most of the possession, knowing that by closing down space quickly our offense would simply run out of ideas. Ajax did this fairly well also, and even had more (if marginaly so) possession in the game. No one is saying that the lighting counter attacks are not affective or easy on the eye, but the lack of creativity and ability to pull a team out of position when they are firmly in their own half has to be worrisome for the remainder of the year. Not every team will play open football, not every defensive unit will straddle the half way line. This will be the case with Espanyol, who will press hard but will have their defensive line sitting a bit further back from their midfield in order to guard against those lighting counters. A spirited home crowd will cheer them on as they snap at the heels of the Real Madrid players also.

Espanyol has been in a financial crisis for some time now. On a smaller scale, their plight is similar to Arsenals’. Think building a fantastic modern stadium and loading up on debt to do it, and then needing to turn higher than normal profits each year in order to service the front end of that debt, typically a bit higher than the back end. Espanyol staked much of their future on the new Cornella, and while it is a remarkable stadium, it has had a mixed affect on the team. As I mentioned it is a difficult and noisy place to play, and gives the team the security of knowing they have a home for the next 50-70 years or so. But it also means they have limited means in the transfer market, and have had to sell many of their best players, most coming through their youth system, in order turn a profit every year. This has handicapped a team that continuously produces exciting players from its cantera, and also has a strong South American scouting network that finds unheard of players. If Espanyol was able to keep its team together for the past four or five seasons the same way say Villarreal or Atheltic Bilbao has (I know Bilbao looks bad now, think last year’s strong side), they might have been more of a force in the European places race. They proved just that last year with a fantastic start to the campaing before they ended up selling local lad and defensive lynchpin Vicotr Ruiz amongst other players, and stumbling back down the table. This summer was no different, with Daniel Pablo Osvaldo off to Roma and Luis Garcia to Real Zaragoza at a strong profit, but they are now thin up front.

These constraints have not seemed to bother their coach, ex-player Mauricio Pochettino. He has plodded along working with the youth team players he is constantly promoting as well as the handful of players he either finds for cheap in South America or is able to get on loan. This year is no different, execpt that he has to rely on the unproven youth players much more than past years. The composition of the squad is actuallly 34% youth team player, with a couple of other young players who have been with the B team on the fringes. As I mentioned, the big name strikers and defender are gone, and now they are left with little known players outside of the Espanyol fans base. Up front they are probably the weakest, with Sergio Garcia, Walter Pandiani and Alvaro Vazquez the only recognized strikers. Garcia has had a career of ups and downs, but has never been a clinical finisher, while Pandiani is near retirement and Alvaro, although promising at this years u-20 World Cup, has very little experience in the top flight. Thievy, another youngster, has been play as an attacking winger and could chip in with goals, but much like Alvaro, his promise will take time to come to the forefront. Pochettino can also call upong Rui Fonte, who had spells with Arsenal and Sporting Lisbon, as a striker, but much like Garcia, he is more of a creative player, and not prolific, atleast not yet in his career. Pandiani can thus be the only out-and-out striker, but he is getting on in years and can only be considered a substitute at this point. Pochettino went with Rui Fonte and Sergio Garcia against Levante, but they did not come up with any goals, while in the 1-0 win against Getafe Alvaro got the start but Pandiani came off the bench to tally the lone goal.



I like the promise of the forward line for the future, while when on, Sergio Garcia is a great player to watch. But without a prolific scorer, it is hard to see the team as being very competitive. Goals will thus have to come from the midfield, which may not be a problem given the talent that Thievy and Javi Lopez, another canterano, have shown this year. Javi Lopez has scored this year while Thievy rung up a hat trick against Barcelona in a preseason friendly. Those two look likely two start out wide for Espanyol, but Pochettino has other option. Rui Fonte can be utilized out wide, or Pochettino can use Vladimir Weiss, on loan from Man City. Pochettino also has Jesus Datolo but he is currently injured and will be unavailable. Juan Albim, former Getafe player, is also in the squad but I believe he also is carrying a knock and will not be available. With those two out, it paves the way for the two youngsters to start the match. Thievy is very fast, but he sometimes over runs the ball. He still does not have a finished product at the end of some of his runs, but he will none the less be a handful for Segio Ramos. Ramos’s obvious size advantage may affect the match up also. Javi Lopez is a typical winger who gets to the byline often and puts in decent balls. His flexibility as right back will be a huge plus as he will have to contain Marcelo who moves forward frequently.

The center of midfield is an obvious pairing of Javi Marquez and Baena, who share the responsibilities of being central midfielders well. They swap positions, cover one another and rarely attack at the same time. Both are combatitive but strong on the ball with adequate passing abilities. One of the better central midfield pairings in the lead, at least in terms of all Spanish ones. One of the two would probably be in contention for the Spanish national team if there were not already a glut of midfielders in the team, and several other to come. None the less, very good players. Romaric I do not think has the same level headed approach to the game (his temperment is probelmatic) and he is rather woeful in his defensive duties. I cannot see him as a starter in the side, and it is a bit curious that they decided to sign him on loan at the first place given his indifferent campaign last year. Maybe he is just another warm body in the squad. Verdu is the other option in the center of midfield for this game, but given his creative nature, I have seen that Pochettino often tries to push him closer to the striker in a bid to get him more involved in setting up chances as well as creating space for Verdu to easily distribute the ball. Baena and Javi Marquez may dictate the pace of the match but Verdu is the one who creates most of the chances. If Sergio Garcia is played in the hole, Verdu would most likely start from the bench, given Marquez and Baena are better all-arounders. Juan Forlin has played as a defensive midfielder in the past, but he will be needed in defense for this game.

Speaking of Forlin, does anyone remember that he was very close to signing for Real Madrid a few years back, but we wanted to place him in the Castilla team and since he was a foreigner and the Castilla side were in the Segunda B, this was not possible. He signed for Espanyol instead, and has had a strong career with them so far. He will start alongside the Mexican Hector Moreno since Jordi Amat is suspended for the match. They are excellent players, but they both have the habit of getting pulled out of position by tracking a striker to far in field. This often creates exploitable space, something that the two midfield players are not capable of covering as neither is a defined “defensive midfielder”. At wing back, Didac Vila returns after leaving in January for AC Milan. He is on loan for the season, which should be good for his career, but I cannot see him succeeding at Milan. Maybe it is me but I have a feeling he is not suited for Serie A and particularly for Milan’s system under Allegri. He is a good player though, who is quickly developing in to a two way left back that may have a future with the national team. He has stiff competition from several other young left backs of course, so he next step after this year will be important. On the right I think they will have to use Galan, as Felipe Mattioni is out with a knee injury and Pochettino has injuries in midfield meaning Javi Lopez will be needed there. Galan is a journeymen and I doubt Pochettino wanted to use him against Real but it is what it is. He would be the weak point in the backline, so expect Ronaldo to have more than a few goes at him.

Finally, with Carlos Kameni having a contract rangle with the club (which happens every two years or so for some reason), Cristian Alvarez has been made the starting keeper. He is not nearly as athletic as Kameni, but he commands his area better, has sounder technique and is a very emotional and vocal member of the squad. He often celebrates any and every save, and while it may be annoying for viewing fans, it usually lifts the spirits of the team mates. You know what doesnt help your team mates spirits? Yelling at them and calling them puta madres….cough….Iker….cough. Sometimes its deserved though.

The one wrinkle in the lineup for me will be how Pochettino deals with the 4-2-3-1 system with his normal 4-4-2. He will need to be able to cover the playmaker in the band of three, probably Ozil. But he will be using a flat midfield, so he may rely on Baena and Marquez alternating tracking him, or he may assign one to deal with him, and the other to harry Xabi Alonso. This may create space in the center of the park, unless Verdu plays in the hole, which would give Pochettino essentially three central midfielders, allowing for one player to screen the back four and watch Ozil. This may also help because besides clogging up the middle, one of the players can screen the play to the wings, where Espanyol will hope for a numerical advantage and a quick counter through one of their pacy wingers. Thievy has impressed me this year with his ability to get up and down the field very quickly.

Thus I foresee this lineup for Sunday:

—————-Alvarez————–
Galan——Forlin—-Moreno—–Didac
J. Lopez—Baena—J. Marquez—Thievy
—————-Verdu—————-
———–Sergio Garcia————–

Javi Lopez has been utilized as a right back and may slot in their in place of Galan, but the other three will definetly comprise the backline due to the suspension of Jordi Amat. With Pandiani also suspended, Alvaro is the obvious choice up front, but Pochettino may go for a more attacking look and utilize Sergio Garcia from the start. The question remains whether he will play as the lone striker, or behind Alvaro. I think Verdu will start in the hole because he is more versatile than Segio Garcia in that role, able to be a playmaker with some knowledge and experience as a central midfield, effectively coupling both positions. I would like to see how Alvaro fares against the Real backline, especially Varane who is right around his age, but we will have to wait until the second half possibly to see him. Rui Fonte looks like a probable substitute, while Romaric and Vladimir Weiss have both seen most of their time off the bench so far this year.

Real Madrid Team News:


Karim Benzema took a knock against Ajax and looks unlikely to feature in this match, as is Di Maria who will be suspended for the match. Sahin is still injured, and the status of Pepe and Coentrao is still up in the air. Both have slight muscle tears that they are still recovering from and I would doubt Mourinho would risk either player for this game. To compensate for these losses, Mourinho has had Morata, Nacho, Alex, Lucas, Joselu, Merchan, Carvajal and Pedro Mendes training with the first team on Thursday. Of course not all of them will make the team for the game, but it looks very likely that Nacho will be called up again, and their is a slight chance he will bring one of Morata or Joselu along with Benzema and Di Maria out.

Those two absences will allow for Kaka to continue without hesitation in the side, something many fans would have expected none the less. It will also allow Higuain to start after scoring twice from the bench in the past couple of matches. In many respects the team could look almost identical to the one that played against Ajax, but with Marcelo available, this is how I would approach the match:

—————Casillas————-
Arbeloa—Carvalho—Ramos—Marcelo
————Xabi–Granero————
——-Ozil—————Kaka——-
———-Higuain—Ronaldo———-

I do not know if I would need to use a “defensive” midfielder in this game given that Espanyol do not really employ one either. I think the best way to beat Espanyol is to out pass them, out possess them and out ‘chance’ them if you will. By using Lass or Khedira, you may have loose the ability to get the ball to the creative players quicker and more often. Let Kaka, Ozil and Ronaldo run the show, but provide them with the best platform to do it. I do think that using Khedira as a box to box player would still have its advantages, and he would obviously break up the play better than Granero, but sometimes I get the feeling Mourinho applies a blanket solution to several different problems, and it may hinder the team in solving some of those problems. Just a thought.

I will be traveling again this weekend, so I will miss the match and the liveblog. I have yet to make a liveblog this year I think, which is a pity and I do apologize. I guess that is part of being an adult, always having something to do and no time to sit down, except to write this preview every week. If I missed anything in terms of team news feel free to add it in the comments, I finished this a bit early for a Sunday match. And if you have a better take on a potential line up or tactical adjustment, that would also be appreciated. Have a nice weekend everyone.

Ganso wrote:ozil shouldn't rest now,benz and di maria arent available

Ganso wrote:callejon is unreliable,lets wait for di maria to rest ozil

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:Morata is still top quality, for once he will be playing CF with Castilla and hopefully he scores.

call up to the first team is a reward system, so he deserved to be called up. just like Pacheco, for being awesome

futbol_bill wrote:

Ganso wrote:callejon is unreliable,lets wait for di maria to rest ozil

Is it just the brasilans that impress you? Callejon was the best player we had out there in the one half game that he played.

Ganso wrote:

futbol_bill wrote:

Ganso wrote:callejon is unreliable,lets wait for di maria to rest ozil

Is it just the brasilans that impress you? Callejon was the best player we had out there in the one half game that he played.

since when is di maria brazilian?


stop being biased,Calejon is unreliable.

Turok_TTZ wrote:

Ganso wrote:

futbol_bill wrote:

Ganso wrote:callejon is unreliable,lets wait for di maria to rest ozil

Is it just the brasilans that impress you? Callejon was the best player we had out there in the one half game that he played.

since when is di maria brazilian?


stop being biased,Calejon is unreliable.

why are ye defending di maria? callejon > di maria anyways.