Real Madrid vs. Almeria: Winners and Losers from La Liga Game
Real Madrid moved back to within two points of Barcelona at the top of La Liga after a routine, but unimpressive, 3-0 victory over Almeria on Wednesday night.
A rather uninspiring first half ended with a fantastic strike by James Rodriguez into the top corner to give the home side a lead they barely deserved. After the break it was easier going, though, with Cristiano Ronaldo twice ending slightly frustrated as Mauro dos Santos and Alvaro Arbeloa tapped home inches ahead of him for goals two and three, the former netting into his own goal.
Here are all our winners and losers from the match.
Winner: James Rodriguez
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In a game of little ingenuity and creativity in the final third, it was Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez who came up big for Real Madrid.
His goal was stunning—full on the run, instinctive and inch-perfect, aesthetically pleasing as well as being the most effective trajectory to beat the goalkeeper.
"It was a quick bit of play," the Colombian told RealMadrid.com. "I practice that move all the time in training and thanks to God it came off today. It was a cracker. I just want to help the team and if it means scoring goals like that, all the better."
The goal drew plenty of praise from onlookers, with Deadspin's Billy Haisley writing:
"Seriously, there is nobody who can take a bounding ball and lay that perfect amount of force and accuracy with his boot as James Rodríguez. This one may not be as good as the one that made him famous, but it’s still plenty pretty.
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During much of the remainder of the game, he was often the one pushing forward at pace, swapping passes with the front players and trying to create space, and he was probably the best player in the opening hour until he was subbed off for a rest.
Loser: Almeria Running out of Games
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Almeria had won two of their last three games coming into this fixture, taking the pressure off them a little in needing to pick up an unexpected result.
Those six points had moved them up to 17th, one place outside of the relegation zone, but it remains very closely fought in the battle to escape the drop from La Liga, and Almeria now only have four more matches to salvage enough points to ensure survival.
Those matches are all against top-half teams, including Valencia and Sevilla.
Winner: Carlo Ancelotti, for Rotating the Squad but Keeping the Suspense
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If there's one thing Carlo Ancelotti does well, it's balancing the personal needs of his squad against the political wishes of the club. Ego against nametag, shirt sales against tactics—it's the endless battle that is the truth of managing Real Madrid.
This time out, he piqued interest in an otherwise low-key (relatively, for Real Madrid) match by naming two youngsters on the bench in Martin Odegaard—who would have been the club's youngest ever league performer had he come on—and Borja Mayoral, though neither of them eventually played.
The seniors, however, all got game time that was needed: Fabio Coentrao and Alvaro Arbeloa, Asier Illarramendi and Jese Rodriguez, Keylor Navas and Lucas Silva. Time on the pitch, three points in the bag and media interest in the club. Wins all around.
Loser: The Lack of Final-Third Quality Produced by the Squad Players
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Of course, that "win" for Carlo Ancelotti was because the result went his way. What he would have witnessed for 44 minutes though was a procession of listless, featureless attacks from his team, who showed little ability to break down the relegation strugglers until James' superb intervention.
Jese had pace and direct running, but no end product. Javier Hernandez was barely involved in the box until the closing stages of the match. Illarra drove forward down the channels but had no idea what to do once there.
With Luka Modric and Gareth Bale injured, Karim Benzema sidelined and Isco on the bench, there was a real lack of ability in picking the final pass for Real for much of this game.
Winner: La Liga's Title Race, Going to the Wire
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The win brings Real back to within two points of leaders Barcelona, regardless of how impressive the performance was.
There's little doubt the table-toppers have the easier fixture next time out, bottom club Cordoba compared to Real Madrid's trip to Sevilla, but after that it's Real Sociedad—a team Barcelona have struggled against—and Atletico Madrid, while Real face Champions League hopefuls Valencia and Barcelona's closest rivals Espanyol.
All told, it should make for a few more weeks of extremely entertaining cat-and-mouse action from both teams as they seek to lift the title...all the while without losing focus on their positions in the last four of the Champions League.
