Jose Mourinho’s league debut for Real Madrid got off to a torrid start as his side were held to a 0-0 draw at Real Mallorca’s perennially hostile Ono Estadi. Los Merengues looked more likely to score but found their striking options reduced by a tightly packed Mallorca defence and, on the occasions when they did create chances, a magnificent Duda Aouate.
This was one of three games to end 0-0 on matchday 1 as Deportivo La Coruna vs Real Zaragoza and Osasuna vs Almeria suffered similar fates.
There was no such slip-up for Barcelona, who started their campaign with a comfortable 0-3 win over Racing Santander at the Sardinero. It took Lionel Messi just over three minutes to open his league account and David Villa also notched one up on his debut. Andres Iniesta scored a sublime volleyed chip in between those strikes.
Barcelona were kept off top spot by Antonio Alvarez’s Sevilla, who recovered from last week’s Champions League disappointment with a 1-4 victory over promoted club Levante at the Ciutat de Valencia. A rare Abdoulay Konko double and goals from Alvaro Negredo and Renato turned the tie on its head after Ruben Suarez initially got the home side off to the perfect start from the penalty spot.
Both the other matches on Saturday fell in favour of the big teams as Valencia beat Malaga 1-3 at the Rosaleda courtesy of a debut goal from Aritz Aduriz and a brace from Joaquin, who was sporting David Villa’s old number 7 shirt. Seba Fernandez grabbed the Malaga goal on his debut but it wasn’t enough for Sheikh Abdullah Al-Tahni’s new investment.
It was the same old story for Athletic Bilbao as aerial bombardment and set-pieces once again came up trumps for Joaquin Caparros’ men. Hardly a surprise then that their 0-1 win over Hercules came thanks to a Fernando Llorente header from a free-kick.
Getafe are notoriously slow starters and they made no exception in 2010 as they fell to a 3-1 defeat to Espanyol at the Cornella El Prat. Pablo Osvaldo began where he left off last season with a brace and then Ernesto Galan tried to give Michel’s side a helping hand by gifting them an own goal but Jesus Datolo restored the two goal advantage late on.
The shock of the weekend came at the Anoeta in San Sebastian where historic club Real Sociedad returned to the top flight with a bang as they beat Europa League hopefuls Villarreal 1-0. The Yellow Submarine had an atrocious start to the campaign in 2009-10 and Xabi Prieto’s solitary goal here could set them on a similar path again this year.
Finally, European Supercup winners Atletico Madrid shot straight to the top of the table with a 4-0 rout against Sporting de Gijon at the Vicente Calderon on Monday night. Diego Forlan showed no signs of a World Cup hangover as he scored twice, while Jose Manuel Jurado and Simao Sabrosa added the others. Atleti look stronger on paper this year after recruiting wisely in the summer and, as widely predicted, they may just establish themselves as the strongest alternative to Barcelona and Real Madrid this season.
Simon do you think the Madrid fans will like Jose Mourinho’s style to football a much more focused on defence and pragmatic approach to games as opposed to the more flamboyant style the have been use to. Do you think all they care about are results and not style.
ReplyDeleteThe Real Madrid fans are extremely impatient to see exciting football at the Santiago Bernabeu, just as the Catalans are in Barcelona; the difference is, the Barca fans can have little complaint in that department. The real problem is that, to the detriment of managerial consistency at Real (11 managers in 7 years), the president, Florentino Perez - as was the case with his predecessor Ramon Calderon - shares this impatience. Perez's face said it all as he watched the Real Mallorca draw from the Ono Estadi "palco".
ReplyDeleteWinning trophies is obviously the priority at the moment given the recent dry spell but even that will not necessarily guarantee the manager's job. Vicente Del Bosque, Fabio Capello and Bernd Schuster were all dismissed shortly after championship winning seasons and Manuel Pellegrini was unceremoniously booted out this summer after leading Real to their highest ever points tally in La Liga.
Jose Mourinho has a reputation as a manager who grinds out results at the expense of flamboyance and Real Madrid were well aware of this when they recruited him. Looking at the current squad, however, this group is full of flair and skill and should be well suited to stylish displays.
To be fair, with the money that's been spent - and let's not forget that the "socios" own the club and vote in the president - the fans deserve to be indulged. Florentino Perez may not be deaf to their pleas but Mourinho most certainly will be.
Congratulations Simon on your great blog.
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