Real Madrid's Blank vs. Malaga Underlines Importance of Missing James Rodriguez
The Bernabeu was expectant, and understandably so. Saturday had the feel of the day.
In the build up, we'd said the magic numbers for Real Madrid and, more specifically, Cristiano Ronaldo, were three and 324. Numbers that would result in it. The story. The day.
For Malaga, however, the number was zero.
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As they travelled to the Spanish capital, the Andalusians' win tally for the season stood at zero, their goal tally stood at zero and their all-time victory count at the Bernabeu stood at zero. Ironically, though, here they were after another one: a zero in the goals-against column would represent a job well done.
Three days earlier, relayed by International Business Times (h/t Yahoo), Malaga manager Javi Gracia said his team must "find a way to correct and improve on our lack of goals," but he also would have known that Chamartin wasn't the place in which to do it; visiting teams rarely win shootouts at the Bernabeu. The cost of going on the attack would be too high. So his side did the opposite. And for all intents and purposes, they won.
"Strikeout" was Marca's succinct headline on Sunday, the Madrid-based daily going on to express a sense of disbelief over the previous afternoon's events: "Thirty-one shots, 119 attacks, 42 runs up the wing, 58 crosses, 12 corners and 24 chance-creating passes did not suffice for Real Madrid."
It was one of those days when the numbers were difficult to comprehend.
Intent on netting his 500th professional goal and breaking Raul's club record of 323, Ronaldo laid a personal siege on the Malaga net. In the opening minutes, a toe poke flew over it; after seven minutes, he'd found the back of it but was offside. A minute later, a diving header also went high.
It was a barrage that never relented.
A low drive from the Portuguese flashed wide. An attempt at a glancing header flew into the crowd. A left-footed strike on the break was saved. A thunderous volley ricocheted off the advertising boards. A first-time bullet was cleared off the line. A diving, left-footed shot hit the side netting. A close-range header was thumped away. Another one looped wide. A reflex strike from the edge of the box missed on the right. A last-ditch diving header soared over.
"The ball didn't want to go in," said Marcelo, per Marca. And Ronaldo wasn't the only one trying, either.
Karim Benzema forced saves from Carlos Kameni. As did Jese. As did Luka Modric. As did Isco. The young Spaniard even saw a shot cleared off the line by Weligton in remarkable fashion and later had the ball in the net but couldn't celebrate because of a contentious offside decision.
Real Madrid will feel aggrieved but must also remember it was another such decision that went their way that was responsible for their narrow win over Granada seven days earlier. That dash of luck eluded them against a resolute Malaga, and Gracia, despite his team's aforementioned tallies remaining on zero, will be delighted.
If Malaga's attack this season has had the bite of a new-born goldfish, the team's defence has shown it's as strong as any in La Liga thus far. In August, the Andalusians made Barcelona really scrap at Camp Nou, and here they did the same against the league's other behemoth.
What Malaga do extremely effectively is expand and contract their shape without losing it. When the ball comes centrally, Gracia's men suck in, the wide men concurrently pushing up to deny obvious outlets; when it's pushed wide, the midfield expands a touch, the forwards drop back and the wide men become secondary full-backs.
But more notable than the organisation itself is the fluidity of it, how seamlessly it works. From a good vantage point, it's like watching one of those symmetric and perpetually moving Windows screensavers from the '90s.
On Saturday, Real Madrid couldn't turn it off. What didn't help, however, was that they were without the player best suited to doing so.
Indeed, what this scoreless stalemate served to illustrate is how pivotal the guile and talents of James Rodriguez have become at the Bernabeu. Admittedly, on another day, Madrid might have put three or four past the cat-like Kameni, but there was also a formulaic feel to the way Rafa Benitez's men attacked on Saturday without the Colombian.
A potent scorer and sumptuous provider, Rodriguez has become a formidable weapon in Madrid because of the dual threat he poses. When space is limited, when the game becomes congested around the penalty area like it was on Saturday, it's the unpredictability of Rodriguez that unlocks the game for his team-mates.
On the edge of the box, he's equally as likely to thump a strike into the top corner as he is to dink a chip to a runner; from wide, he's equally likely to beat a man as he is to flash in a devilish cross; without the ball, he's equally likely to run in behind as he is to come and get it.
What he does is make defenders second-guess themselves—his dual threat the reason, the few predictable patterns to his game stirring doubt and confusion in those trying to stop him.
It's what Real Madrid lacked against Malaga.
When full-backs Daniel Carvajal and Marcelo pushed forward, Gracia's men could be confident a cross was coming. When Modric and Isco were in possession, they knew the likely route would be through the middle. But more crucially, what Malaga were able to bank on was that it was relatively straightforward to distinguish the scorers from the providers: the ball was almost invariably coming from Carvajal, Marcelo, Modric and Isco to Ronaldo and Benzema and rarely the other way around.
Essentially, Real Madrid were telegraphing their own route to goal, demonstrated by the fact their closest shaves actually came from the rare moments when Modric, Isco and Jese popped up as makeshift targets in dangerous areas.
Rodriguez, had he been there, could have changed that.
"Creating clearer chances against a side that really sit back is not easy," a frustrated Benitez said in his post-match press conference, reported by his team's website. He's right: It's not.
Particularly when you're without the man most adept at doing so.
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