Left back - a football blog

Some weeks back Real Madrid had an 8 point lead in the race for the Spanish title. Barcelona clawed them back to just 2 points but in the space of a couple of weeks the gap is 8 again.

A tepid performance against Villarreal last night saw them lose 2-1 and without Lionel Messi they look pedestrian in attack. Remarkable when you consider the front three last night was Ronaldinho - Eto’o - Henry. The former Arsenal man was so poor he was hauled off with about 25 minutes to go, Barcelona one down, for the 17 year old Bojan.

The Spanish adventure isn’t really working out for Thierry, is it? He’s scored some goals but has never looked even close to reaching the heights he did at Arsenal. Say what you want about unfamiliar systems and having to adapt to a new country but Henry is a hugely experienced world class player going from one top club to another. He looked like he didn’t much care last night.

A rot has set in at Barcelona now. Rijkaard looks likely to move on in the summer, or be moved on. They seem stale, even with young talent like Bojan, Dos Santos and Messi coming through.

To have opened up the title race again and then let it slip so badly is definitely the sign of a deep malaise at the club. Two years ago Barcelona were ruthless and, while they wouldn’t have found themselves 8 behind in the first place, they certainly wouldn’t have capitulated like they have in recent weeks.

It’s Madrid’s title to lose.

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As Real Madrid were celebrating a ‘goal’ which was given offside the Getafe players kept playing and ran upfield to score the only real goal of the game.

Funny stuff.

Not for Madrid though. Barcelona’s 5-1 means what was an 8 point gap just a couple of weeks ago is now down to just 2. It might be just a two-horse race but it’s better than no race at all.

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Arsenal weren’t interested in the FA Cup game on Saturday. United deserved the win but Arsenal fans deserved more from their team. While people talk about psychological advantages and all that, the extra game or games that United have to play might be telling.

Sheffield United v Boro was worse than Chelsea v Liverpool last week. The only bright spot was United’s unsual free kick routine which seemed to involve making it look like they were having an argument. Beattie’s shot hit the post in the confusion. It’ll be interesting to see what they try next.

Preston were unlucky against Portsmouth but miss penalties against higher league opposition and you’re always asking for trouble. The own goal was a little cruel.

Liverpool - well, what can you say? They battered Barnsley but still got beaten. Sucker-punched right at the end. Nothing is going right for Benitez and with Inter Milan on the way it could get worse. It wouldn’t be beyond Liverpool to beat Inter though but you have to think the FA Cup was probably their best chance of silverware this season. If you take away the remarkable Champions League win the Spaniard’s record is not great the league title the Liverpool fans so desperately want still looks light years away.

Also, why the calls for DIC to take over from the Americans? It’s just one group of speculative investors after another. If the fans think DIC will be any different from Gilette and Hicks I think they’re mistaken. They probably do have a bit more welly behind them though.

Spain - Real Madrid beaten by struggling Real Betis. Barcelona grind out a difficult away win at Real Zaragoza. The gap is down to 5 points. It’s getting interesting.

Your thoughts on these points, or any others, most welcome.

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Barcelona could only draw 1-1 with Sevilla. Real Madrid bounced back from their surprise defeat to Almeria last weekend by beating Valladolid 7-0.

There’s now an 8 point gap at the top of the table and with all clearly not well at the Camp Nou it’s going to take a miracle for Barcelona to close the gap. And by miracle I mean a total Madrid collapse.

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You are Carlos Puyol. You are a Catalan boy now captain of that great symbol of Catalunya, FC Barcelona.

You have won league titles, the Champions League, you play with such great players as Thuram, Zambrotta, Ronaldinho, Henry, Eto’o, Deco, Xavi and Messi, plus incredible youngsters like Dos Santos and Bojan. Your team, the one that you captain, plays football that draws praise from all corners of the globe.

Do you then, for one second, consider a move to Spurs? Bearing in mind that they haven’t won a league title in over 40 years, have never played in the Champions League let alone won it, that their only success in recent years (and recent is pushing it) is a League Cup in 1999 and that you’ll swap playing with the greats to line up alongside the likes of Darren Bent, Ricardo Rocha, Michael Dawson, Younes Kaboul, Tom Huddlestone, Teemu Tainio and Paul Robinson.

I think Tottenham can want to sign Puyol all they want but it’s the same as any of us wanting to get busy with Angelina Jolie. It’s just never going to happen.

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Cheryl from Girls Aloud says Ashley Cole left Arsenal because:

It got to the stage at Arsenal where he couldn’t even have a conversation in the dressing room because nobody spoke English.

She also says she made him turn down a move to Real Madrid:

Ashley was offered a hell of a lot of money to go… the deal was there on the table. I stopped him living his dream playing out there.

Which does beg the question: What language did he think they would speak in the dressing room in Spain?

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Spanish press report this morning that Antonio Puerta remains in critical condition in hospital. Doctors have also indicated that he has suffered some brain damage although the extent of it is not yet known.

Sevilla have set up an email address for anybody who wishes to send messages of support and goodwill.

puertaestamoscontigo@sevillafc.es

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Watched the game against Valencia last night and the home side were well and truly battered. Of course ending up with 9 men, the second side in the first La Liga weekend of the season to do so, didn’t help but there’s a lot to like about Villarreal.

They don’t have any big stars or ‘cracks’ as the Spanish like to call them. The most high profile player, Riquelme, fell out with the president last season and could end up back in yellow unless he sorts out a new club before Friday. Robert Pires, Marco Senna, John Dahl Tomasson and Pascal Cygan are all experienced professionals but they’re surrounded by some exciting young players like Rossi, Nihat (who has got a lot to prove after missing most of last season with injury) and Mati Fernandez. It looks like a good blend.

Obviously you can’t jump to too many conclusions after just one game but I like the look of them. Whether or not they can cope without the goals of Forlan remains to be seen though.

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If you saw the images of Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta this weekend you can’t not have been shocked.

22 years old, fit as a fiddle and it seems he suffered a series of heart attacks. For those of us in our 30s who run around a football pitch and pretend to be halfway fit it’s a sobering story. He doesn’t drink pints at the weekend, he doesn’t smoke the odd joint when it’s there. He’s a fit, athletic man and hopefully that will save his life.

Stories of fit athletes dropping dead during their sport of choice are growing. It’s happened, more than once, in Gaelic football. It’s happened in the football we love. See here, and who can forget Marc Vivien Foe during the debacle that was the Confederations Cup? It happened recently with a youth player at a Championship club too.

A friend of mine recently lost a colleague who was simply playing 5-a-side on a Sunday evening. He was fit, didn’t smoke, didn’t drink to excess, but he was dead on arrival at the hospital despite a team-mate being a doctor and applying CPR immediately. Most of these guys don’t have a chance, they just drop dead.

Antonio Puerta is lucky, he’s in critical condition but he’s got a chance. Let’s hope he pulls through.

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Ray Hudson commentates as Real Madrid win La Liga.

(Sorry, I can’t seem to embed the video here)

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