Maybe Florentino Pérez might start to appreciate Gonzalo Higuaín now.

The man that Pérez wanted to offload since he returned for his second stint as Real president sits in the stands because he is recovering from surgery that repaired a herniated lumbar disc in his back, and José Mourinho has not developed a successful system to cope with this loss.  The natural deputy for Higuaín is Karim Benzema, the talented and young French international who came with his own expectations when Real splashed a cool €35 million in the summer of 2009, but he has failed to impress since arriving at the Bernabéu.

This injury was so severe for Higuaín that he was an unused substitute in Real’s most important match of the season to this point against FC Barcelona, and Barça drubbed los blancos 5-0.  Benzema, thrown unexpectedly into the Camp Nou cauldron because of Higuaín’s absence, predictably let the moment get to him and became largely ineffective against the Catalans.  To be fair, the whole squad had run out of any plausible ideas against Barça, but setting aside El Clásico, Benzema, in essence, was on trial for his future in Madrid from that match forward because Higuaín’s layoff from action extended from a week to a couple weeks to four months when the doctors recommended surgery.

Without looking deeply into the statistics, since Benzema became the starting striker against Barcelona prior to the Mallorca match on Sunday, he had scored six goals in eleven matches in all competitions.  Any top-notch striker strives for a goal ratio of one every two games, and Benzema surpassed that, but those six goals came in two matches: a hat-trick against Auxerre in the final match of the UEFA Champions League group stage, when Real already secured the top spot in the group; and a hat-trick against lowly Levante in the first leg of the Copa del Rey Round of 16, when Real ran rampant on the Valencians with an 8-0 thrashing.

Seven appearances in La Liga accrued zero goals, and in five of those matches, Mourinho substituted him.  The real indication, however, that Mourinho did not trust in Benzema came last round against Almería, when he was not named in the starting eleven, and Cristiano Ronaldo, an attacking midfielder, played as the lone striker up front with Ángel di María, Mesut Özil, and Kaká supporting Ronaldo.  In their next match in midweek against Atlético Madrid, with the tie still alive in the Copa del Rey, Mourinho opted again to place Ronaldo up front and leave Benzema on the bench.

Since Mourinho settled on his optimal starting eleven after the first few weeks of the season to gauge the situation himself with his new club, he hardly made any changes from week to week, so for Mourinho to experiment wildly with his lineup this far into the campaign showed signs of confusion and desperation within the technical staff about the current state of affairs.

Regardless of whatever happens with Real Madrid, calm or stormy, the rumors always fly around them during any January transfer window about whom they are going to sign, and with the Higuaín injury and the Benzema ineffectiveness, the names floated around.  Hugo Almeida, Emmanuel Adebayor, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Miroslav Klose, Didier Drogba, and now Roman Pavlyuchenko.  The players would never admit to this, but the dissent apparent among Mourinho, Pérez, and technical director Jorge Valdano concerning the striker question is indirectly affecting their play on the pitch, and with Barcelona routinely cruising to three, four, and five goal victories, any slip-up is magnified hundred-fold.

Despite the drama enveloping events at the Santiago Bernabéu, they have won every single match at home in all competitions this season, and after their 1-1 debacle at the Estadio Juegos Mediterráneos against Almería, Real needed the comfort of the Bernabéu to assuage their growing concerns.

Unfortunately, they hosted a Mallorca team that earned a share of the points at the Iberostar Stadium against Real in the opening round of the season, and Michael Laudrup’s team had no intention of bowing for their illustrious opponents.  In three matches as manager against the club with whom he used to play, two with Getafe and one with Mallorca, Real had only scored one goal in those three games, and in a famous 0-1 win for Getafe in February 2008, Ikechukwu Uche fired the lone goal immediately after the Real players were celebrating an Arjen Robben goal that was nullified by referee Arturo Daudén Ibáñez because he correctly ruled Raúl offside.  The win for Getafe spoiled Real Madrid perfect home record that season, and Laudrup’s Mallorca wanted to repeat the same feat on Sunday.

Laudrup has a different type of squad with Mallorca than he had with Getafe, and he cannot play the free-flowing, open type of football for long stretches like he did with Getafe.  Pablo Hernández, Ikechukwu Uche, and Manu worked and created seamlessly at Getafe to play as Laudrup wanted, and while Pierre Webó, Gonzalo Castro, Emilio Nsue, etc. are decent attacking players, they are not the type of players that will scare opposing defenses for more than a few occasions in a match.  What he does have at Mallorca is a pair of central defenders that will rival any duo in Spain, Iván Ramis and José Nunes, and a goalkeeper that continues to be underrated and under-appreciated among the Spanish scribes, Dudu Aouate.

Mallorca limited Real to a few scoring chances in their 0-0 draw in August, and when Real bossed the match in the second half and pinned all ten Mallorca players in their own half, Aouate made a multitude of outstanding saves, and Ramis and Nunes closed down and blocked several shots that would have menaced Aouate’s goal.

With Webó’s strike partner Víctor Casadesús out for eight to ten weeks with a thigh injury, both Jonathan de Guzman and Pep Lluís Martí on the sidelines with minor knee injuries, and right back Pau Cendrós suspended, Laudrup could have expected to defend for most of Sunday’s match, similar to the second half of the reverse fixture earlier in the season.

Mourinho tinkered with his lineup again, benching Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, and Mesut Özil in favor of Fernando Gago, Esteban Granero, and Karim Benzema respectively.  With a Copa del Rey semifinal on Wednesday against Sevilla, Mourinho might have looked to rest a few players against Mallorca, but with Real blundering and bumbling through their last few matches, Mourinho could have easily been sending a message to his squad that no spot is guaranteed.  Without Benzema in the starting eleven for the past two matches, Real struggled to score, so with little choice, Mourinho stuck Benzema back up front.

While los merengues huffed and puffed in the first half, Mallorca’s Emilio Nsue had the best scoring chance of the half in the 13th minute when he shot from the right side of the penalty area across the face of goal toward the left far post and past Iker Casillas, but the post was unkind for Mallorca, pinging the ball away from goal.  Nsue entered into acres of space down the right wing because Marcelo was out of position inside Mallorca’s final third, and Casillas made sure that Marcelo knew that when he confronted Marcelo immediately after Nsue banged the post, displaying the increasingly frayed nerves and tensions among the Real players.

Mourinho admitted to his mistakes when he made two halftime changes, sending in Xabi Alonso and Mesut Özil and taking out Fernando Gago and Kaká.  In his press conference after the match, he stated how the Copa del Rey was a priority and because of that, he made a few changes because, in his words, “We [the coaching staff] have noted the physical and emotional wear and tear of the team at the moment.”

When Webó’s left-footed, pirouette first-time volley forced a stellar save by Casillas early in the second half, and referee Eduardo Iturralde González correctly did not call a handball in the box on Nunes in the 58th minute, it would not have been a stretch to imagine that Michael Laudrup would have done it again to his old team.  In all of this uncertainty, the opening goal went to Real just after the hour mark, and Karim Benzema, of all people, gave Madrid the 1-0 lead.

The build-up play set up Benzema in the box, with Ronaldo setting up Granero, who then played a through ball for Benzema.  Benzema still had plenty of work to do, and after a stepover and a dribble to create a crucial yard of room and to get the ball on his left foot, he rifled it to the left far post and past Aouate for a vital goal not only for this match but for Real’s hope of stealing the La Liga title away from Barcelona.

For the final half-hour, Real pounded Aouate’s box.  Ronaldo had a header that struck the crossbar, he also had a free kick that whizzed by the right far post by the width of a ball, and Benzema had three different chances to seal the victory, none of which he capitalized, reverting back to the Benzema that the Real fans knew.  Mallorca almost had the last laugh in the third minute of stoppage time when Nsue and Webó perfected a two-man game down the right side of the penalty area, leading to a Webó shot that needed the outstretched legs of Casillas to prevent from Mallorca equalizing at the death.

1-0 fulltime, and Real somehow pulled three points out of the Bermellón fire.

Real Madrid cannot stay in this form for too much longer if they want to reclaim La Liga from Barcelona, and while their next eight matches in the league would not worry them too much, save for Espanyol at the Cornellà – El Prat and maybe their match at home against Real Sociedad, it only takes one really poor performance as they had against Almería to squander their chance in La Liga.  They cannot ride the suggestion that Barcelona will drop points even though their world-beating ways must end at some point, and despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s Pichichi-leading twenty-two goals, he is not the answer as the lone striker up top.

There is one full week left in the transfer window, and Real Madrid may well provide the extra striker that Mourinho always wanted since he arrived in Madrid in the summer, but if Jorge Valdano wins Florentino Pérez’s influence over Mourinho, Benzema will be the man to shoulder the responsibility up front.  Speaking about Benzema after the match on the club website, Valdano continued to reiterate his support for Benzema:

“Goals are essential to strikers.  A striker needs confidence and it comes with goals.  He [Benzema] had a good game and scored a goal that allowed us to take three points.  In the past, it was players like Higuaín who had to resolve similar situations as they were heavily scrutinized, and Higuaín has turned out to be a great striker for Real Madrid. We hope the same happens to Benzema.”

While Valdano would definitely back Benzema since he was instrumental in bringing him to the Bernabéu in the summer of 2009, Benzema’s situation is strikingly similar to Higuaín when the Argentinean made his €13 million move from River Plate to Real Madrid in January 2007.  After a hit-and-miss year and a half at the Bernabéu, he banged in the goals at the end of the 2007-08 season to give Real their 31st league title, and Higuaín has never looked back.

Benzema’s goal against Mallorca on Sunday, his first in La Liga since September against Espanyol, could be the watershed moment that he needs to raise his confidence and become the striker that Valdano and Pérez saw with Lyon and the French national team.  Unfortunately, this was also said about his hat-trick against Auxerre and his hat-trick against Levante.

Fueras de Juego

- Valencia and nine-man Málaga’s 4-3 thriller at the Mestalla further ingrained the opinions about each team.  For Valencia, their attack is much more effective when both Roberto Soldado and Aritz Aduriz pair up together, and Valencia’s shaky second-half defense will cost them important points that could determine if they earn a Champions League berth at the end of the season.  For Málaga, their numerous signings this January should keep them from the relegation fight because their attacking talent should carry them through, but their defense continues to leak goals, conceding forty-five, eleven more than the next worst defenses, Almería and Levante.

- Cani did not score another goal from the halfway line, but Villarreal worked hard for their 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad to regain third place from Valencia and maintain a two-point lead over their provincial rivals.  Marco Rubén has been more than a capable deputy for Nilmar, and the jack-of-all-trades midfield work of Borja Valero and Bruno Soriano have returned the Yellow Submarine back to its lofty perch of a top-three Spanish side.

- If Atlético Madrid’s limp performance in the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinal against Real Madrid signaled trouble at the Vicente Calderón, their 1-0 defeat at El Molinón against relegation-fighting Sporting Gijón was outright impotent.  The absence of Sergio “Kun” Agüero and Atlético’s corresponding poor showings without him proves the point that he is more valuable to the Atleti at this moment than Diego Forlán, and whereas Marco Rubén has filled in admirably for Nilmar, Diego Costa has not provided that same spark deputizing for Agüero.  Atlético is starting to fall away from the top-five, seven points behind fifth-place Espanyol and ten points away from Valencia for the final Champions League spot, and Quique Sánchez Flores’ may face a sacking sooner than later.  Is that not the situation with every Atlético manager however?

Part of the Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon, El Palacio de la Aljafería is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that used to house the Banu Dan dynasty, who ruled the taifa (principality) of Zaragoza in the 11th century. Photo courtesy of Anvica.

This weekend, the focus will be on those teams who will play in European competition in the following midweek.  The question of domestic vs. European responsibilities remains an individual club decision, but for some teams, choices become more plentiful than others.

Real Madrid faces Xerez at El Chapín, but Los Blancos have the capability to send out a relatively weakened side and rest some of their regular starting eleven.  Valencia also has a deep squad, and playing against a Sporting Gijón side that has lost four consecutive La Liga matches, do not be surprised if Nikola Zigic or Alejandro “Chori” Domínguez receive starts for Los Che in the early Saturday kickoff.

The Villarreal – Athletic Bilbao clash at El Madrigal will be the most intriguing match of the weekend because both continue to fight for the final Europa League places.  Necessity will force both of their hands, as a loss at this point of the season may come back to haunt them at the end of the season.  Expect strong starting elevens to play both this match and their respective European encounters.

Atlético Madrid, with their 6-3 aggregate win over Racing Santander in the semifinal of the Copa del Rey, booked their place in the final on May 26.  They will face Sevilla, who used their catenaccio tactic in the second leg as they did against Barcelona in the Round of 16, to win 2-1 on agggregate over Getafe.  The winner of the Copa del Rey receives a place in the Europa League, but if that team has already qualified for Europe, the runner-up is awarded that spot.  Sevilla looks assured to finish in the top six, so Atleti, virtually out of the running for a Champions League spot, has a booked spot for next year’s Europa League.

They do not have the same urgency as Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao, and others hovering around sixth place in the league, but the leaders Barcelona visit Los Colchoneros in the late Sunday kickoff, and Atlético boasts a decent record against the champions in the Vicente Calderón.  Even though they will host Galatasaray on Thursday, there is no way that the fans will allow their team to field a less than full strength side against their Catalunyan rivals.

The times listed are Eastern Standard Time (EST) and include the pregame pleasantries, although sometimes the matches on the DirecTV La Liga specific channels may not go to match coverage until right before kickoff.

Feb. 13

Sporting Gijón vs. Valencia – 11:55 AM on ESPN Deportes/ESPN 360

Xerez vs. Real Madrid – 1:55 PM on Gol TV

Villarreal vs. Athletic Bilbao – 3:55 PM on Gol TV

Feb. 14

Real Valladolid vs. Real Zaragoza – 10:45 AM on DirecTV channel 456

Getafe vs. Almería – 10:45 AM on DirecTV channel 457

Racing Santander vs. Málaga – 10:45 AM on DirecTV channel 458

Espanyol vs. Deportivo La Coruña – 10:55 AM on ESPN Deportes/ESPN 360

Sevilla vs. Osasuna – 12:55 PM on Gol TV

Atlético Madrid vs. FC Barcelona – 2:55 PM on ESPN Deportes/ESPN 360

Unfortunately, the Tenerife – Mallorca match at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López will not be shown on US TV, the first Monday night football match in La Liga for many years (twelve years to be exact).

UEFA Champions League

Barcelona and Sevilla will not play the first legs of the Round of 16 until the next Tuesday and Wednesday, so all of the Spanish eyes will lay upon the kings of the European Cup, nine-time champions Real Madrid.  Los Merengues, however, have been dismissed from the competition in the first knockout round for five successive years.  This season, they will hope to move past Olympique Lyonnais, the perennially tough French club, as Karim Benzema faces his previous club for the first time.  They last met in the 2006-07 Champions League group stage, where Lyon won their home match 2-0 and drew at Madrid 2-2.  Lyon would finish top of the group with Real finishing second.

Even though the major summer signings were signed in part to dethrone Barcelona from the La Liga pedestal, Florentino Pérez recruited them mainly for the Champions League.  Real Madrid sees their record in the Champions League in the past few years as an embarrassment, and with the Santiago Bernabéu hosting the Champions League final in May, they would want nothing more than to play and compete as hosts.

Feb. 16

AC Milan vs. Manchester United – 2:30 PM on Fox Sports Net HD (5:00 PM on delay on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español

Olympique Lyonnais vs. Real Madrid – 2:30 PM on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español (5:00 PM on delay on Setanta Sports) (For those who do not have access to Fox Soccer Channel in high definition, certain Fox Sports Net outlets will show the Lyon – Real Madrid match in high definition at 8:00 PM.  As of right now, these stations include MSG+, Fox Sports South, and Fox Sports Pittsburgh.  For those out west, Fox Sports Arizona and Fox Sports Northwest will show this match in high definition at 11:00 EST, 8:00 PST)

Feb. 17

FC Porto vs. Arsenal – 2:30 PM on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español (5:00 PM on delay on Setanta Sports)

Bayern Munich vs. Fiorentina – 2:15 PM on Setanta Sports (5:00 PM on delay on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español)

UEFA Europa League

Not to be overshadowed by the Champions League, Thursday will provide sixteen matches in the Europa League as it also starts their first knockout round.  A rare Spain vs. Belgium double will occur as Valencia visits the Jan Breydel Stadium against Club Brugge, and Athletic Bilbao invites Anderlecht into the San Mamés.

Atlético Madrid, having taken the parachute down from the Champions League as a third-place finisher in their group, will play Galatasaray at the Vicente Calderón.  When these teams fall from the Champions League into the Europa League, they feel as though it is a huge letdown.  Shakhtar Donetsk was the exception last year as the won the UEFA Cup, but generally, the Champions League teams generally lose in the first couple of rounds of the knockout stage.  Atlético will try to emulate Shakhtar and use their frustration from the Champions League to spur them on through the Europa League.

The best matchup of the four Spanish teams will be Villarreal against Wolfsburg.  Both teams have underachieved mightily, with the defending German Bundesliga champions mired in twelfth place and the consistent top five Spanish team hovering in mediocrity at tenth place.  Both love to attack and also leave holes in defense, so if goals are your flavor, this is the match to witness (as this is said, both legs will be 0-0 dour affairs).

Club Brugge vs. Valencia – 12:45 PM on DirecTV channel 464 (464-1 for HD)

Villarreal vs. Wolfsburg – 12:55 PM on Gol TV

Athletic Bilbao vs. Anderlecht – 3:00 PM on DirecTV channel 467 (467-1 for HD)

Atlético Madrid vs. Galatasaray – 3:00 on Gol TV

Denial

Although Real Madrid needed five goals to overturn their Round of 32 tie with Alcorcón, a certain sense of denial was important in this particular situation so that they could believe that their task was not impossible.  Kaká stated, “For the pride and for the history of Real Madrid, we have to win this tie.”  Marcelo and Jerzy Dudek followed in this same vein, declaring, “… for our badge and our shirt, we will not fail.”

Through all these hopeful and defiant player statements about their second leg against Alcorcón, Ezequiel Garay showed their true depth of denial when he proclaimed that the Bernabéu will be the 12th man on Tuesday night.  Apparently, Garay relied upon a historically impatient set of supporters, whose lofty standards often lead more to boos and jeers than blind loyalty.

Anger

After the opening stanza of the game, where Real Madrid came out with guns blazing, reality began to settle in as their exertions led to zero goals on the scoreboard.  Real Madrid knew that Alcorcón would put ten men behind the ball, and Alcorcón knew they had to defend for their lives as Real sent out three strikers, Raúl, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Gonzalo Higuaín, as well as Kaká from behind to break the Alcorcón dam.  Alcorcón manager Juan Antonio Anquela admitted as much, saying, “If they want to crush us, they will crush us.  If Madrid is at its very best then it will be difficult to move on.  They are the clear favorites.  We hope we can win, but not in this leg.”

The Real Madrid players began to get frustrated, as Alcorcón canceled most of their attacking opportunities, and the demanding Madridistas were not shy in their disapproval.  There was no disputable red card to distract the supporters in the Santiago Bernabéu as there was in their La Liga clash with Getafe on Saturday.  The full venom of their anger went directly to the players, excoriating their every move as the minutes ticked toward their inevitable fate.  Whether the fans’ fury fixated on the players, management, ownership, or both, the rampant condemnation within the stadium was more than palpable, especially when Manuel Pellegrini substituted man of the match at the time Lassana Diarra in the second half.

Bargaining

As Real Madrid got closer and closer to breaking the stalemate, many believed that the first goal would open the floodgates.  If only Real could score early in the second half, Alcorcón would feel the pressure for the first time.  Many prayers by the Madridistas were sent to higher powers, asking for a minor miracle.  They will reform their lifestyles.  They will give up their vices.  They will change.  One goal is all they need to spur them on to a historic comeback.  Grant us this one wish.

As Real hit one, then two, then three posts/crossbars, the players and the fans ceased to bargain.  Rafael van der Vaart’s 81st minute goal only helped in ushering a sense of hopelessness.  There was no way Real could score three more times in nine minutes plus stoppage time.  The depression set in as Real Madrid won the second leg 1-0 but lost the tie 1-4 on aggregate.

Depression

After the match, Pepe remarked to Spanish sports daily, AS, “It’s a very sad night.  The attitude and spirit have been positive, but the win could not be.  The effort was there.”  Florentino Pérez, the proactive and ambitious president of Real Madrid, was muted in his assessment of the state of affairs, articulating, “It wouldn’t be a failure if we didn’t win a trophy.  We are in the middle of building a new project.  We’ll give it stability.”

For the players, depression after a loss is only short-lived because their next objectives come at a rapid pace, and they do not have to mull over a loss like this.  Unfortunately, for Real Madrid, there is an international break this coming weekend, which means they will not start avenging this loss until November 22, when they host Racing Santander at the Bernabéu.

Acceptance

As one would expect with professional footballers and managers, they should have the proper perspective after all the loss and heartbreak they have suffered in their careers.  “The players are with me, but it’s not easy overturning a four goal deficit because were playing against the score line, against the opponent, and against anxiety.  But we are a point behind Barcelona in La Liga and leading our group in the Champions League.  This will end well,” declared the levelheaded Real Madrid manager Manuel Pellegrini, according to AS.

“The fault lies with all of the players, who are the ones who play the game. We had a very bad first leg. We lost 4-0, a very heavy losing margin. We have not lived up to what is required at Real Madrid. They worked hard to get through and they deserved it,” Raúl Albiol said to Marca.

Whether Pellegrini and Albiol truly meant these words or if they were hollow statements is irrelevant.  They have to assure both the Madrid media and the Real supporters that their Round of 32 collapse to Alcorcón was merely a blip on the radar and that they would grow stronger from these experiences.  Alcorcón justified their two-legged victory as more than a fluke.  Real Madrid does have bigger fish to fry.  As Pellegrini mentioned, they are second in La Liga by one point and tied with AC Milan at the top of Group C in the Champions League.  Real has not won the Copa del Rey since 1993, so while the manner of their exit was surprising, the exit itself was not.  Understandably, all is doom and gloom in the Real universe, but if Real Madrid wins either of the two competitions in which they are still entered, this Copa del Rey embarrassment will merely be a footnote in their history.

Former Barca star and coach Johan Cruyff (Photobucket)

“I can imagine that he is not going to be involved in football matters.  I don’t know about construction and he doesn’t know about football.  It is obvious.”

In an interview with Cuatro, Johan Cruyff came up with yet another witty line when it came to criticizing former Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez.

“(Real Madrid) are trying to reorganize from the top because that is what is missing.  If it does not work at the top it will never work at the bottom,” said Cruyff.

The former Barca idol and coach is known for not holding back an opinion on any football topic and he was not shy about sounding off on Florentino’s ability to lead.  “He does have enough football knowledge to make decisions.  Others have to take them.  That is why he needs other people to make the decisions for him.  That is the case of the people around him knowing about the game, not him.”