Match Report: Osasuna 1 Real Madrid 0

Osasuna shocked Real Madrid and put a further dent in their title hopes, beating Jose Mourinho’s team 1-0 in the Reyno de Navarra stadium in Pamplona. The result leaves Real Madrid seven points behind Barcelona at the top of the league table while breathing life into Osasuna’s campaign to beat the drop.

Before the game, 31 points separated the two sides in the league table, with each team desperately needing a result, albeit for contrasting reasons. However, someone ignorant of the league table watching tonight’s game would have been amazed to discover the disparity in points between the teams, as they were evenly matched throughout the game. Nor was this a case of the inferior team putting ten men behind the ball and hoping to nick a goal – Osasuna played with attacking intent from the start and had Madrid on the back-foot on several occasions.

Perhaps it was the bitterly cold Pamplona weather which shook Madrid, with a large number of their players sporting snoods to keep out the cold. It could also have been the unwelcoming atmosphere inside El Reyno Navarra, traditionally a unforgiving stadium for Madrid, and tonight was no different. In addition to the expected whistling and booing, fans threw balls onto the pitch when Madrid were attacking on two occassions, breaking up the play. Madrid have now failed to win in any of their last three visits to Pamplona.

Alternatively, it could have been Mourinho’s head-turning team selection, opting for Lass Diarra instead of Xabi Alonso, who was definitely missed as the visitors struggled to maintain any fluidity in their passing, faced with a determined and battling Osasuna.

The first half was one short on incident and action, with both teams cancelling each other out and neither team dominating. Osasuna winger Coro gave Madrid an early scare when he drove a right footed shot from inside the area just wide of the far post, with Casillas well beaten. Madrid’s first chance came when Di Maria put in a telling cross across the face of Osasuna’s goal that Benzema tried in vein to get on the end of.

The best chance of the half fell to Pandiani, who evaded the Real Madrid defence and found himself with a free header, which he glanced over the bar. At the other end Benzema had a decent chance on goal but Ricardo was equal to it and Ronaldo was later brilliant denied in a one on one situation by the Osasuna ’keeper, who was having a far better day than his counterpart Casillas, who looked shaky and nervous, nearly gifting Osasuna a goal when he could only feebly pat away a cross by Camuñas when it would have been easier to catch it. Fortunately for Madrid, the ball drifted out for a corner.

The second half began in a similar manner to the first, with no clear cut chances for either team. Carvalho came close to giving Madrid the lead but could only head the ball over the bar from a corner after winning the aerial battle with Osasuna’s defence. Not long afterwards, Di Maria thumped a hopeful shot high over the bar but then it was the hosts who took a shock but ultimately deserving lead on the hour. Aranda raced onto a long ball, controlled it well and evaded the advancing Albiol and Carvalho, playing in Camunas who was clearly onside, and the winger made no mistake as he approached Casillas, slamming the ball off the post and into the net.

Mourinho responded by making a triple substitution, giving a debut to new signing Emmanuel Adebayor, who entered with Alonso and Kaka. Their response was positive, and for the first time in the game Madrid were able to force themselves on Osasuna and create several openings in a frantic five minutes. Benzema was very close to heading in the equaliser but couldn’t keep his header under the bar, while Ronaldo’s opportunistic long range shot went several feet over and Ozil’s left footed strike flew narrowly across the face of goal. Despite this brief revival, the Pamplona side defended valiantly and successfully prevented any clear cut chances being made, pulling off some great blocks.

However the most impressive block came at the other end, as Arbeloa denied a second goal for the hosts. Some fantastic skill down the left handside by Aranda opened up a fantastic chance for Vadocz that was destined for the bottom corner of Casilla’s goal. Amazingly, the Brazilian left back was able to get his leg in the way of the goal-bound shot to keep the game alive for Madrid.

The remaining minutes saw Madrid desperately try to find an equaliser, but were unable to get beyond a resilient defensive effort from Osasuna, who were more than worthy of their win.

Tags: Osasuna, Real Madrid