Steven Petrov
The Paw Print
The leader in La Liga, Real Madrid C.F., won its visit of Malaga in a game of the 28th round of the Spanish Primera Division. The one and only goal in the game was scored by the Portuguese winger, Cristiano Ronaldo, in the 23rd minute after a beautiful solo action on the left side of Real Madrid’s attack. After receiving the ball to the left side of Malaga’s 18-yard box, the world’s best for 2013 dribbled past 3 Malaga defenders and put the ball in the back of the net. The bad news for “los blancos” is the injury of their French striker, Karim Benzema, who unintentionally collided with CR7 and ended up leaving the field after it. The Frenchman has been in a tremendous form since January, and Real Madrid will definitely need him for the huge derby against FC Barcelona on March 23rd. There are still no clear indications on how serious his injury might be, but it is definitely of importance for “los blancos.”
Real Madrid’s coach, Carlo Anceloti, gave a starting spot to the young and superbly talented Isco Alarcon and left Angel Di Maria on the bench, presumably resting him for the upcoming weekend. The Spanish central defender, Sergio Ramos, was also unable to play in the game on Saturday due to the accumulation of too many yellow cards throughout the last games. The attacking trio for the white upfront was as usual: Ronaldo, Benzema, and Bale. On the other hand Malaga’s coach, Bernd Schuster, decided to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation, counting on Roque Santa Cruz up front.
The game started in a quick pace with Real Madrid being the more aggressive and organized team in the first minutes. “Los blancos” should have been given a penalty kick in the 6th minute when Marco Angeleri clearly fouled Gareth Bale, but that remained unseen by the referee. The home team from Malaga managed to create a couple of chances in front of Diego Lopez but was unable to put some of them on frame, and Real Madrid’s goalkeeper easily saved the others. The game went under the complete domination of Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo had 3 dangerous shots between the moment he scored, the 23rd minute, and the end of the first half. In the 63rd minutes Malaga’s fans showed complete respect and admiration to Isco Alarcon, who previously had couple great seasons with Malaga before joining Real Madrid’s squad this past summer.
After another strong and solid performance, “los Merengues” are looking to the upcoming Champions league game against Shalke 04 in Madrid. However, after the significant win with 1:6 in Germany in the first leg, Real Madrid pretty much secured its place at the UCL’s quarter finals. The next big game ahead of “los blancos” is the derby against the all time rivals, Barcelona, on March 23rd in Madrid.
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