Athletic Club - Real Madrid
Matchday 27
Liga

Athletic Club - Real Madrid

Athletic Club
Athletic Club
25
Real Madrid
Real Madrid
  • 32' Heinze (Key not found (generic.pp))
  • 45' Llorente
  • Robben 21'
  • Heinze 30'
  • Huntelaar 46'60'

LocationSan Mamés , Bilbo

Like in the olden days

Athletic Club 2 – Real Madrid 5Athletic Club was defeated 2-5 by Real Madrid (Heinze,…

Athletic Club

Athletic Club 2 – Real Madrid 5


Athletic Club was defeated 2-5 by Real Madrid (Heinze, in an own goal, and Llorente; Robben, Heinze, Huntelaar (2) and Higuain) in a match mediated by the ill-fated arbitration performance since kick-off. A duel in which the visitors, mainly in the second half, perfectly took advantage of the numerical superiority, they packed their best punch and had the knowledge of being in this crazy situation in which the ref was able to convert San Mamés with a style of directing matches improper of international referees and with ‘that’s how Madrid wins’ as a backdrop.

Unfortunately, what was lived today in La Catedral recalled old times, some still in black and white, in which Real Madrid won matches through similar scandals of public order. Luckily, it didn’t happen that way thanks to the support of fan’s in San Mamés, who were impregnated with an impressive attachment to their colours and with considerable common sense, and who have taken it with irony and not anger and with resignation instead of wrath. Even with the extenuating circumstance of saving themselves the wrapper (perfect) during and after the sad performance by Casillas; that ideal son-in-law who many mothers claimed to want and that, besides mentioning one, removed his mask and it’s just that nobody is perfect no matter how sure one feels. In our case, we already knew that calmness did not abound either, but today we had neither the luck nor the success.

It’s possible to say, beyond the indisputable 2-5, that it’s been an announced victory as a culmination to that gloomy media topic that covers everything in matches against the whites, that milky mantle as in letter soups that turns the rival into a stone guest (if you draw or win Real Madrid has played badly and, if you lose, Real Madrid is a machine) and that after the European letdown (they complained about the refereeing!) had elevated the match, in different ways and manners, to the category of the end of an era for Real Madrid; even when it comes to its organization!
Nevertheless, the result is another, and the foundations of the Bernabéu remain unscathed: Barcelona is three points ahead, the headline for Sunday’s opinion makers, and on to other things. Let’s see how many ask for some kind of disciplinary sanction for a referee that for a long time, a really long time, had not demonstrated what double standards and lack of criteria are in a field test.


We should apologize through these lines: last week we asked to not see Undiano at all, but we have to recognize that any comparison doesn’t resist an attack and that seeing his performance in both confrontations between teams that play out in the headlines, the work of Undiano, compared to Muñiz, is enough to grant him the best referee of the year award. Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. And the person that invented the refrigerator made a breakthrough for the freezer to later be invented. Our players and technical staff will surely be sanctioned, regardless of whether what is reflected in the report is true or not, but, will the referee be on the same boat?

And it’s just difficult to talk about the match without talking about the referee’s decisions, who, having been consequent with the rules and with himself could have, and in many cases should have, left the field like the old Trade Fair lot is right now. In fact, in the minute 3, ‘txalo (blow)’ by Lass to Javi Martinez and a ‘telefonazo (elbow)’ by Huntelaar on Amorebieta, sanctioned by a red or yellow according to taste, had passed by the referee like water off a duck’s back and by the 5th minute Iraola, for arguing with an imaginary opponent, as there’s no card drawn to any of the rivals, and one assumes it takes two to tango, and Koikili, because of a hard foul on an opponent, already had warnings with all the burden they carried and was particularly obvious in the case of the left winger.

Despite it all, Athletic got back into the match and shortened the rival’s possessions, even enjoying a free-kick by Yeste which Casillas saved in the minute 10. At the quarter hour of play, Real Madrid started, metaphorically, shaking off the pressure and a shot by Sneijder which Iraola parried off, and not so metaphorically as when Heinze left Toquero an easily noticeable message on his right eye. A clear penalty settled with a threat to Toquero: Let it be the last time you throw yourself! And, shortly after, in the heat of the moment, a great play by Robben and the 0-1, who was on the verge of repeating in the 25th, but shot wide.

It’s been a hard five-minutes, between the anger and the blows, but Athletic recovered with a shot by Lopez deflected by Marcelo and another by Yeste, stopped by Casillas… until the second goal with the type of foul that is not sanctioned in continental competition in favour of a team that has a bunch of European Cups, but that in the national Liga is, in its favour, our daily bread; a restrained ball, bad choice on the offside and the start, and the 0-2. The reaction has been immediate, with a shot by Yeste which Casillas cleared, centre into the area by Lopez and an own goal by Heinze, but disappointingly it has been the beginning of the end despite all that was still left to come in the match.

Casillas’ course, who was going for Yeste, first verbally and then personally, and his movements towards his teammates that were celebrating the goal crossed enough for Fran to want to push him aside with his hands and the keeper, so considerate, suddenly had this mind-boggling face pain. The scenery was devastating. Straight red for Yeste and yellows for Martinez and Ocio, this one with the previous risk of being sent off during a clash with Sneijder with no ball in the way and almost since the beginning when the referee assured him he wouldn’t finish the game. Afterwards, the goalie said mass in the press room talking about how Yeste doesn’t hit him in the face but does push him or he might have explained himself at the break or at the end, but the damage had already been done and Yeste will again have to bear the cross that, on this occasion, is not totally his.

Athletic continued showing their mettle, though Real Madrid began taking advantage of its numerical superiority more blatantly. To make matters worse, it’s easy to say that twelve against eleven was not as evident, but with twelve against ten the knapsack weighs a bit. After a shot that Sneijder sent high, Athletic equalized before the interval from a cross by David Lopez that Llorente headed and which Casillas, and his guilty conscience disguised as gloves, introduced into the net. The equalizer and a note of humour, one of many but the first celebrated, after Huntelaar got booked with a yellow the only time he hadn’t done anything.

At restart of play, Balenziaga replaced Koikili to try to remove the hand brake that held up Robben, but the excitement of at least maintaining the draw lasted only a couple of minutes, just what Huntelaar needed to control his first ball and send it low to goal. As happened after the 0-1, the following occasion has been for the whites by way of Robben. Caparrós introduced Gurpegi for David Lopez and Susaeta for Orbaiz to try to revitalize the midfield, but the referee didn’t allow the game to have continuance. Between substitution and substitution, Pepe scored another penalty, with 2-3 on the marker, this time due to a hand and, shortly after, Muñiz took out an incredible card on Amorebieta for cutting a penetration by Robben along the benches, a play in which Ion Velez was also sent off for telling the ref he was bad, an insult he added in the report which the player assures not to have said. A tremendous exercise of auditory sharpness among all the shouting and that perhaps should have been more visual in the truly important plays.

To finish ruining it, once again in the form of football, Casillas deflected a shot by Javi Martinez in the minute 59 and, in the 61, a counterattack meant the end in the shape of the 2-4, the work of Huntelaar and that’s when they looked like the cartoon and the ‘That’s all folks!’. Real Madrid has known to wait for Athletic, who was full of momentum and bad intentions, to dissolve in order to set up repeated counterattacks and create another couple of clear occasions at the boots of Huntelaar and Higuain, both saved by Iraizoz. In the end, when the fans had come through in supporting a team whose pride was hurt, but impossible to humiliate no matter how hard the punishment had been and by how it took place, the referee, brave per se, called a dubious penalty by Iraola on Marcelo. Why argue whether it was or not after everything that had happened? And between the visitors superiority, the joke of referee (for example, Heinze went to the showers without seeing a card), and the security of having fans that honestly deserve a tipping of the hat, the minutes were consumed, but not the indignation.

The press room has been witness to a good match summary: Juande Ramos said that the referee had not influenced in the outcome and Iraola agreed with him after indicating that ‘from the minute 1, we knew that we had to do everything perfectly in order to win’, an elegant way of saying that he was conscious that there was nothing they could do with that type of refereeing against a rival and media stall that needed a win like they need food. With what we’ve seen these last few weeks and as was proven today, Real Madrid is in the heat of a campaign of harassment and demolition on the part of the refereeing body just as Mijatovic so vehemently criticized after the first leg match. Only 19 matchdays later, we see that we continue like in the olden days, but perhaps back then things were done with more style, so much inside as outside the playing field. In short, we must have patience and try to add those points that bring calm as quickly as possible. Our own demerits and other’s negligence, this time jointly, have not made it possible today.