Ian Ladyman In Madrid
With the return leg of their Champions League tie with Manchester United on the horizon, momentum is beginning to gather within the ranks of Real Madrid.
Minutes before the referee called time on a second Real victory over Barcelona in five days here this afternoon, a cry of 'Jose Mourinho, Jose Mourinho' began to drift round the Bernabeu.
As the observer sitting to my right in the press box murmured: 'We haven’t heard that for a while.'
This is what it’s like for a coach in Spain and especially here in Madrid.
Real Madrid: Lopez; Ramos, Varane, Pepe, Coentrao (Arbeloa 70); Essien, Modric; Callejon, Kaka (Ronaldo 59), Morata; Benzema (Khedira 57)
Substitutes: Adan, Ozil, Carvalho, Higuain, Arbeloa
Scorer: Benzema 5, Ramos 81
Booked: Ramos, Coentrao, Morata
Barcelona: Valdes; Alba, Piqué, Mascherano, Alves; Busquets, Thiago (Tello 87), Iniesta; Villa (Alexis 67), Messi, Pedro (Adriano 76)
Substitutes: Pinto, Puyol, Song, Fabregas
Scorer: Messi 17
Booked: Alba, Pique, Thiago, Messi, Alves
Sent off: Valdes
Mourinho has spent much of this season trying to ignore the dissenting voices in the Madrid media and among the Madridistas as memories of last season’s La Liga title have disappeared in the face of such a limp attempt to win it again.
Nevertheless, Madrid can now smell possibility in the Champions League, the competition they want to win more than any other after more than a decade without success.
Certainly, they are improving. This was an odd game at times as a Real team deprived of seven of its regular starters – including Cristiano Ronaldo – faced their great rivals from Barcelona in the glare of a surprisingly powerful March sun.
At half-time, it looked as though it may drift in to stalemate. Karim Benzema scored in the sixth minute from an Alvaro Morata cross and then Lionel Messi equalised with his 50th goal of the Spanish season, scoring with his left foot after Dani Alves played him through.
That apart there had been little to get excited about but, as is often the way between these two teams, things began to get a little tense and fractious in the second half and as the competitiveness of the game increased it was Real who seemed ready for a real contest.
Certainly it helped when Ronaldo came on with half an hour left. Within 15 minutes of his arrival, he had hit the side netting and brought a save from Victor Valdes with a free-kick. Before the game was over he was to hit the bar from 25 yards too.
Ronaldo’s very presence in Mourinho’s team serves to lift them. It is quite remarkable to watch. And even though he was not involved in the winning goal that arrived with six minutes left it came after a passage of play that he had been at the very heart of.
Sergio Ramos it was who headed in the goal from a Luka Modric corner to spark some quite enthusiastic celebrations on the field and off it. There was still time for the referee to wave away what seemed to be decent penalty appeals for a Ramos foul on Adriano and Barcelona goalkeeper Valdes was sent off after the final whistle for the vociferous manner of his protests.
No doubt that ‘injustice’ will dominate the headlines in the Barcelona sports papers tomorrow morning. Here in Madrid, though, it will all be about Tuesday night’s visit to Old Trafford. They may trail Barcelona by 13 points in the league but in Europe it must be said that they look ready.
Assistant coach Aitor Karanka was delighted with the performances of Real Madrid's fringe players after first-team coach Jose Mourinho made seven changes from the side that beat the Catalans 3-1 on Tuesday at the Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey.
Karanka said: 'You need all your players to deliver in a big game like this, including the ones who play less often.
'Of all the performances of the team, I was particularly impressed with those players. The team have shown that, whoever is playing, they deserve to be trusted.'
However, Karanka warned his players against being complacent after the consecutive victories over their biggest rivals, ahead of Tuesday's Champions League last-16 second leg encounter at Manchester United.
'We have to be happy with the result but if we think we have done something extraordinary we could end up regretting it on Tuesday,' he said.
'There's no champagne here to celebrate anything, all we'll be doing is working hard while remaining excited about the rest of the season We have to keep going in the same direction.'
Karanka explained that Madrid dealt with the pressure of having the three decisive games - the two with Barcelona and one at Manchester United - in such a short space of time by just focusing on their day-to-day work.
'We work hard every day and these games make us work even harder,' he added. 'Everyone was saying that the season could be over this week but we haven't let us affect us.
'We just work to make sure the team is as good as possible.'
Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura was happy with his team's performance, despite the defeat.
He said: 'We came here to try and increase our advantage (over Madrid in the Primera Division table) and we have to be happy with the team's attitude, we stood up and were counted and had chances to win at a very difficult stadium.
'We could have got something from the game, but we are still alive and well.'
Roura did not comment on goalkeeper Victor Valdes being sent off at the final whistle for arguing with the referee, simply saying: 'I went straight to the dressing room after the game and I didn't see anything.'
Roura did not complain outright about the penalty which Adriano was denied in the final minutes of the game after a challenge by Sergio Ramos, but implied he was not happy with the decision.
He said: 'I don't have anything more to say about the refereeing. I spoke during the week and to me it is perfectly clear if you look at the replays.'
Barcelona are now 13 points clear of Madrid in the Primera Division table and 12 clear of Atletico Madrid, who play Malaga tomorrow.
Roura stressed the need for his team to return to winning ways and hold onto, or increase, their lead at the top from now until the end of the season.
'The important thing is now to keep trying to pick up points, we still have a significant advantage and we will try to extend it even further,' he added.
With the return leg of their Champions League tie with Manchester United on the horizon, momentum is beginning to gather within the ranks of Real Madrid.
Minutes before the referee called time on a second Real victory over Barcelona in five days here this afternoon, a cry of 'Jose Mourinho, Jose Mourinho' began to drift round the Bernabeu.
As the observer sitting to my right in the press box murmured: 'We haven’t heard that for a while.'
This is what it’s like for a coach in Spain and especially here in Madrid.
Winning moment: Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos headed the winner with nine minutes remaining
Joy unconfined: Ramos celebrates with Luka Modric, who swung in the corner for the winning goal
Delight: The Real Madrid fans celebrate a second win over Barcelona in five days
Match Facts
Real Madrid: Lopez; Ramos, Varane, Pepe, Coentrao (Arbeloa 70); Essien, Modric; Callejon, Kaka (Ronaldo 59), Morata; Benzema (Khedira 57)
Substitutes: Adan, Ozil, Carvalho, Higuain, Arbeloa
Scorer: Benzema 5, Ramos 81
Booked: Ramos, Coentrao, Morata
Barcelona: Valdes; Alba, Piqué, Mascherano, Alves; Busquets, Thiago (Tello 87), Iniesta; Villa (Alexis 67), Messi, Pedro (Adriano 76)
Substitutes: Pinto, Puyol, Song, Fabregas
Scorer: Messi 17
Booked: Alba, Pique, Thiago, Messi, Alves
Sent off: Valdes
Nevertheless, Madrid can now smell possibility in the Champions League, the competition they want to win more than any other after more than a decade without success.
Certainly, they are improving. This was an odd game at times as a Real team deprived of seven of its regular starters – including Cristiano Ronaldo – faced their great rivals from Barcelona in the glare of a surprisingly powerful March sun.
At half-time, it looked as though it may drift in to stalemate. Karim Benzema scored in the sixth minute from an Alvaro Morata cross and then Lionel Messi equalised with his 50th goal of the Spanish season, scoring with his left foot after Dani Alves played him through.
That apart there had been little to get excited about but, as is often the way between these two teams, things began to get a little tense and fractious in the second half and as the competitiveness of the game increased it was Real who seemed ready for a real contest.
Certainly it helped when Ronaldo came on with half an hour left. Within 15 minutes of his arrival, he had hit the side netting and brought a save from Victor Valdes with a free-kick. Before the game was over he was to hit the bar from 25 yards too.
Equaliser: Lionel Messi levelled the scores for Barcelona on 17 minutes with his 50th goal of the season
Sergio Ramos it was who headed in the goal from a Luka Modric corner to spark some quite enthusiastic celebrations on the field and off it. There was still time for the referee to wave away what seemed to be decent penalty appeals for a Ramos foul on Adriano and Barcelona goalkeeper Valdes was sent off after the final whistle for the vociferous manner of his protests.
No doubt that ‘injustice’ will dominate the headlines in the Barcelona sports papers tomorrow morning. Here in Madrid, though, it will all be about Tuesday night’s visit to Old Trafford. They may trail Barcelona by 13 points in the league but in Europe it must be said that they look ready.
Assistant coach Aitor Karanka was delighted with the performances of Real Madrid's fringe players after first-team coach Jose Mourinho made seven changes from the side that beat the Catalans 3-1 on Tuesday at the Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey.
Karanka said: 'You need all your players to deliver in a big game like this, including the ones who play less often.
'Of all the performances of the team, I was particularly impressed with those players. The team have shown that, whoever is playing, they deserve to be trusted.'
Opener: Karim Benzema scored after five minutes to give Real the lead, to the delight of the packed Bernabeu crowd
Karim Benzema celebrates scoring the opening goal
'We have to be happy with the result but if we think we have done something extraordinary we could end up regretting it on Tuesday,' he said.
'There's no champagne here to celebrate anything, all we'll be doing is working hard while remaining excited about the rest of the season We have to keep going in the same direction.'
Karanka explained that Madrid dealt with the pressure of having the three decisive games - the two with Barcelona and one at Manchester United - in such a short space of time by just focusing on their day-to-day work.
'We work hard every day and these games make us work even harder,' he added. 'Everyone was saying that the season could be over this week but we haven't let us affect us.
'We just work to make sure the team is as good as possible.'
Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura was happy with his team's performance, despite the defeat.
He said: 'We came here to try and increase our advantage (over Madrid in the Primera Division table) and we have to be happy with the team's attitude, we stood up and were counted and had chances to win at a very difficult stadium.
'We could have got something from the game, but we are still alive and well.'
Roura did not comment on goalkeeper Victor Valdes being sent off at the final whistle for arguing with the referee, simply saying: 'I went straight to the dressing room after the game and I didn't see anything.'
Roura did not complain outright about the penalty which Adriano was denied in the final minutes of the game after a challenge by Sergio Ramos, but implied he was not happy with the decision.
He said: 'I don't have anything more to say about the refereeing. I spoke during the week and to me it is perfectly clear if you look at the replays.'
Barcelona are now 13 points clear of Madrid in the Primera Division table and 12 clear of Atletico Madrid, who play Malaga tomorrow.
Roura stressed the need for his team to return to winning ways and hold onto, or increase, their lead at the top from now until the end of the season.
'The important thing is now to keep trying to pick up points, we still have a significant advantage and we will try to extend it even further,' he added.
Benched! Ronaldo started the match among the substitutes, but came on with half an hour to play to great effect
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Chapisha Maoni