Real Madrid face their toughest test of the season when they visit The Riazor- a stadium where they last won 19 seasons back. Nothing short of a win would suffice the Madrid faithful and iSporter Karan Shah analyses how daunting the task ahead is…
For starters, the last time Madrid won against Deportivo La Coruna was in 1991 when Fernando Heirro was a star at the club, Bryan Adams was #1 around the world, Leeds were top of the old First Division in England and Cristiano Ronaldo was only 6 years old! That’s quite some time for a major European club to register its first win against an oh-so-not-elite club. Add to it the fact that their major players are a big doubt for the clash. The Club’s appeal to overturn Ronaldo’s red card was denied by the Spanish disciplinary committee and this could be the first of his two match ban. Los Blanco’s, nevertheless, have included him in the squad to travel to Deportivo with a hope that the Spanish Disciplinary Committee for Sports (CEDD) accepts the appeal.
Then there are the injury woes. First, the in-form Argentine Gonzalo Higuain is out with a fibrilar tear. Dutch midfielder Van der Vaart is out with a similar injury. And add to the list – Pepe, Diarra, Gago, Garay and Lass. Deportivo are going to be without Felipe Luis but have a strong home record and if it’s Madrid-every team is that extra determined.
It looks like Raul and Benzema will spearhead the attack for Madrid with Alonso, Guti, Granero and Kaka filling in the midfield and Ramos, Albiol, Arbeloa and Metzelder completing the defense in front t of St. Iker in goal.
A loss or a draw means Los Blanco’s could be trailing Barca by 7-8 points- a margin which most likely wouldn’t be acceptable to the Madrid head honchos. So it’s pretty much the most important game of the season for Manuel Pellegrini as his team looks to heaven to break this almost 2 decade old jinx…
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