Men of La Mancha: Capital Punishment

Both penalties resulted in Mallorca players being sent off, giving Atletico a two-man advantage with 40 minutes remaining. And yet, predictably, they blew it. Juan Antonio Reyes and Simao Sabrosa squandered good opportunities to put the game away, and the visitors snatched an equalizer in stoppage time.

Backup goalkeeper David de Gea, given the nod over highly-rated youngster Sergio Asenjo in an apparent attempt by manager Santi Denia to show who is (interim) boss, promptly allowed a weak shot by Mallorca midfielder Borja Valero to find the back of the net.

At the final whistle, tempers boiled over as a number of Atletico supporters tried to storm the box to confront club president Enrique Cerezo and sporting director Gil Marin. In the middle of all the madness was Flores, who walked out of the stadium sporting one of those “what have I gotten myself into” looks.

Just think, if Flores had waited a little longer, the Real Madrid job might soon become available. Manuel Pellegrini is slowly beginning to enter the Florentino Perez danger zone after a lackluster scoreless draw against Sporting Gijon; an opponent Real Madrid scored 11 goals against in two meetings last season.

The Chilean actually gave into the wishes of the media and fans on Saturday, fielding two wingers for the first time all season, partially due to the absences of Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain, who joined Cristiano Ronaldo on the injury list.  But Roystron Drenthe and Esteban Granero were both woefully ineffective.

With Kaka yet to find his footing this season, and Raul contributing about as much to a team’s overall play these days as Filippo Inzaghi, Real simply lacked ideas against a much-improved Sporting side. They only looked like scoring in the final 20 minutes, following the introductions of Jose Guti and Rafael Van der Vaart.

Of course, Guti spoiled whatever positive impression he might have left when he turned up late for practice the next day, claiming he forgot about daylight savings. Benzema arrived late as well and offered the same excuse. The galacticos are back indeed.

Real was not the only top side to drop points in a wacky weekend in Spain that saw only two of the top eight teams in the table pick up victories. Sevilla, missing several starters, was held to a scoreless draw at home by Espanyol, while Deportivo, so impressive thus far, suffered a 4-0 trashing away to Valladolid.

Valencia welcomed back David Villa and took care of business with a 3-0 win away to Almeria. As for Barcelona, mini-crisis averted I suppose, as two matches without a victory had actually prompted talk by (Madrid) journalists about the end of a cycle.

The Blaugrana made a mockery of such suggestions with their best performance of the season at the Camp Nou on Sunday, trouncing a shell-shocked Real Zaragoza side 6-1. The result moved Barcelona three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table. As far as the Catalans are concerned, the universe is back in order.
 
Tilting at Windmills (Barcelona vs. Madrid Referee report card)

Ever since Barcelona president Joan Laporta supported Spanish federation chief Angel Maria Villar’s re-election campaign back in 2004, and Florentino Perez did not, the Madrid media contends Barcelona has received favorable treatment by the referees. The phenomenon is known as Villarato.

Naturally, the Catalans say this is nonsense, and Real Madrid is still the club that benefits the most from refereeing mistakes. Since everyone loves a good conspiracy theory, and this season’s title race figures to go down to the wire, I thought each week I would highlight any controversial calls involving the two teams.

Not much to report from Barcelona this week, but Madrid had a goal wrongly disallowed in the second half against Sporting Gijon for a supposed hand-ball by Kaka. The Brazilian contended the ball hit him in the chest and replays seemed to back up his claims.

 
Don Quixote (Player of the Round) – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Barcelona

Midfielder Seydou Keita scored a hat trick in Barcelona’s big win over Real Zaragoza, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the star of the show. He added two goals of his own, the first coming on a spectacular free kick, and provided the assist on Keita’s first goal. He also created numerous chances for his teammates

The brilliant Swede showcased his full repertoire of skills, particularly in a first half where Zaragoza didn’t even see the color of the ball. Ibrahimovic has already hit for seven goals, tied with David Villa atop the scoring charts, and is quickly putting an end to one of the silliest debates of the summer. He is a much better player than Samuel Eto’o.
 
The Impossible Dream (Goal of the Round) – Haris Medunjanin, Valladolid

Valencia’s Pablo Hernandez has a worthy claim, as he caught Almeria goalkeeper Esteban Suarez out of position and fired home from 40 yards out. But Bosnian midfielder Haris Medunjanin scored the best goal of the weekend in the closing minutes of Valladolid’s remarkable demolition of Deportivo.

The victory was Valladolid’s first at home in seven months and snapped Deportivo’s four-match winning streak. While the result was no longer in doubt, Medunjanin capped things off in the 86th minute with a sensational left-footed chip into the upper corner, past the outstretched arms of Deportivo goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia.
 
Sancho Panza (Unsung Hero of the Round) – Joan Capdevila, Villarreal

 The yellow submarines finally came up for air. A fabulous free kick by defender Joan Capdevila broke a 1-1 deadlock in the second half against Malaga, as Villarreal notched its first victory of the campaign and climbed out of last place. The win is likely just a temporary reprieve for manager Ernest Valverde, who has destroyed in just a few short weeks what Manuel Pellegrini built over several years.

Villarreal actually turned in another bad performance, but finally met its match in an awful Malaga side that now occupies the bottom spot in the standings. If Pellegrini does indeed get the sack at Real Madrid, a familiar job may well be waiting for him.

 
Rocinante (Goat of the Round) – Osasuna defense/goalkeeper

It was truly a group effort, as Osasuna defenders Josexto Romero and Miguel Flano, as well as goalkeeper Ricardo, conspired to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory against Racing. Up 1-0 in the dying seconds, each player stood and watched, expecting someone else to go for the ball, as it bounced around the Osasuna area following a throw-in.

Racing striker Manuel Arana took full advantage and pounced on the loose ball to score the equalizer in the 94th minute. The one point was, frankly, more than either side deserved in the worst match of the weekend.

Miguel de Cervantes (Quote of the weekend)

 “This does not mean all our problems are solved”
 
    * Villarreal midfielder Sebastian Eguren apparently feeling the need to quell the euphoria after his side scraped out a one-goal victory at home against 19th placed Malaga.

David Mosse, Goal.com

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