The match at the stadium "Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan" can not be called the most beautiful or spectacular of the season. There was not much pure art there. And yet, Sevilla and Real Madrid had almost the best game in the Spanish Championship 2006/07. It was a real battle at the highest level: incredible tension, men's struggle and interesting tactical confrontation. Teams became a wedge, faced foreheads. And both passed the test of strength. Fabio Capello did not lose. But Juande Ramos won. Honor and praise be to him.
In English super matches, players often forget coaching instructions already in the fifth minute - in the very atmosphere that prevails in the British arenas, there is something animal, great primitive. This is a struggle of people, not minds. In the Sevilla match everything was different - from the first minutes it became clear who, what and how was going to play.
Ramos tried to stun Real Madrid with a launching onslaught - to sweep Madrid away with one huge wave, cover it with its head and tear it to pieces. Capello did not seek to stop this shaft. He hoped to sit out, endure the bad weather, and then to conquer space with small but verified steps. For Diarra, who inappropriately earned a disqualification, the whole team worked. And Raul and Ronaldo sometimes resembled laborers, not world stars of a football attack.
Beckham's goal from the penalty kick fell on the head of the Sevilians, like Siberian snow, which they had never seen. And then the nature of the team showed itself. The hosts recouped almost instantly, deprived the Capello team of the benefits of a quick goal.
"Seville" well done. However, Real Madrid in the next twenty minutes showed how long the team has traveled this season. Madrid did not allow opponents to even try their goal. They played as if the gates of Casillas were taken in a different life and in a different story. They progressively broke the game and the mood of Seville, did not disdain to spend time, roll the ball in midfield, provoke opponents to fouls. And it worked! The hosts became nervous, hesitated, violated the rules a lot and randomly, and then sincerely resented the referee Munis Fernandez. In this section, Real Madrid controlled the game, but it was strikingly little to be learned from its superiority.
Perhaps Capello failed too carefully. He did not feel that it was then that Seville could be taken. Her players did not fight with an opponent, but with a malicious serpent in the image of a judge. He finally became an enemy when he did not show Michel Salgado the second yellow card - in the 44th minute Real Madrid could well remain in the minority.
On the one hand, Madrid were lucky that soon the first half ended and the defender jumped off the referee's hook. During the break, he was prudently replaced by Mechia. But on the other, this very break completely washed away Seville's lostness. In the second half, the hosts came out without dignity in their head.
35 minutes passed with almost no moments. The teams squeezed one another in an embrace so that they just froze - and you can’t break out, and strangle the opponent also does not work. They were completely equal that day. And when the teams are equal, the decisive effort is always for the personalities. There must be a man who can rise above circumstances and decide the fate of the match with one ingenious technique. Or, conversely, flinch and make a fatal mistake.
Each trainer had his own candidates for the role of miracle workers. Capello believed that at least once they would get a chance and not miss it Ronaldo or van Nistelrooy. And indeed, in the middle of the second half, Ronaldo escaped from Javi Navarro and faced Palop. But the goalkeeper of Seville, so rudely miscalculated in the episode with Beckham's goal, this time saved the team. Ronaldo did not become a hero. He was put forward by the other side.
Ernesto Chevanton, a talented Uruguayan striker who did not score a goal for Sevilla this season, entered the field precisely for a miracle. He completely does not understand yet how the team plays, he is not built into the system. But he is a great master. And, probably, the Ramos coach, desperate to replay Real Madrid ideologically, simply hoped for Chevanton. He believed that in such a match, one who wasn’t blinded by command schemes could suddenly rush. And 13 minutes before the end of the game, the Uruguayan scored an amazing beauty goal in an acrobatic jump - 2: 1!
And then the banner was picked up by the whole team - Sevilla showed how it can play “in a row”. In the new situation, she defeated the “Real” easily - Capello was nothing to cover.
You have to pay for everything. Numerous overhaul improvements have transformed Real. The general from the film about Stirlitz talked about people from the retinue of party bosses that they are gaining diligence, becoming analysts, but at the same time lose their ability to make independent decisions. Caught in the hands of the Capello coach, Real acquired a lot: reliability, tactical training, counterattack skills, and the ability to maintain results. But for all these benefits, the team now pays with former skills. In Seville, with a score of 1: 2, Madrid did not carry out a single normal attack. They do not have a distinct attacking game - perhaps for now. There are ideas on how to attack. There are great masters in midfield and assault. But the game itself is only pointwise good - carpet bombing of the current Real Madrid is not available.
And Sevilla successfully passed another test of fortress, endurance and class. Today she is a real contender for the Spanish championship.
Kirill DEMENTYEV
SEVILLA - REAL M 2: 1 (1: 1)
Goals: 0: 1 - Beckham (12), 1: 1 - Canute (16), 2: 1 - Chevanton (76).
SEVILLA: Palop, Daniel Alves, Javi Navarro, Escudé, David, Jesus Navas, Poulsen (Maresca, 61), Renato, Adriano (Puerta, 72), Canute, Luis Fabiano (Chevanton, 64).
REAL M: Casillas, Michel Salgado (Mechia, 46), Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Roberto Carlos, Emerson, Beckham, Guti (Reyes, 80), Raul, Ronaldo (Robinho, 69), van Nistelrooy.
Warnings: Javi Navaro (34), Luis Fabiano (41), Michel Salgado (43), Beckham (65).
December 9th . "Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan."
Judge: Muniz Fernandez.