Friday, May 18th, 2012
Real Madrid posted a resounding season-opening destruction of Zaragoza which was about as clinical and classy as they could have hoped. Supercopa defeat and eye-poking antics notwithstanding, the pre-season sparring has done everything to suggest that Madrid appear increasingly equipped to push Barcelona in the race for the title and, on tonight’s evidence, it is a notion that may be entertained with some justification.
If Madrid are an improved rival to their Catalan rivals, it is in no small measure down to coach Jose Mourinho’s now clear trust in Frenchman Karim Benzema to lead his attack in front of the triumvirate of Mezut Özil, Ángel Di María and Cristiano Ronaldo. The oft-troubled Benzema’s content, confident demeanour is now apparently allied with a tenacity and persistence which played a central role in the visitors’ opening goal. He it was who fought to win the ball back from Zaragoza captain Leonardo Ponzio in the centre circle and, having done so, set Özil running at the home side’s back-peddling central defenders. The German in turn slipped a pass that took out both Da Silva and Fernando Meira, and found Ronaldo to slide the ball left-footed past goalkeeper Roberto.
A second was not slow to follow, as Ronaldo fed the marauding Sergio Ramos on the right flank, and his cutback evaded the Portuguese captain but instead fell to Marcelo on the penalty spot. He showed laudable composure to control and coolly find Roberto’s left-hand corner.
It was difficult not to sympathise with a Zaragoza side certainly not lacking in endeavour or tenacity in a conservative 4-1-4-1 formation. They are an improved outfit since the appointment of Javier Aguirre as coach. Unfortunately, the statistics said it all: with 30 minutes gone, their potent opponents had registered 11 shots to their zero, and possession stood at a Barcelona-esque 72% in favour of Madrid.
While Iker Casillas was finally tested in the visiting goal by Efraín Juárez with almost forty minutes on the clock, worse was to come for the home team in the second half. A further Madrid goal was evidently on the point of arriving, as Di María first spurned an opportunity that was not so much gilt-edged as encrusted with priceless diamonds, before Benzema again exhibited his new-found hunger for winning back possession, intercepting a sloppy Da Silva pass to race through but find himself unable to beat Roberto. And it duly came, Xabi Alonso showing no such mercy as he latched on to the loose ball after Di María was again denied, drilling in a precise shot low into Roberto’s left corner.
Benzema, Özil and Di María were withdrawn for Gonzálo Higuain, José Callejón and Kaká, but if the starting trio had been key architects in Madrid’s hitherto dominance, their exit was to change little of the pattern of the game. Three more away goals followed, two almost identical tap-ins for Ronaldo to complete his hat-trick sandwiching a fine drive from Kaká.
Zaragoza may at least be consoled by the expectation that most (all but three, one suspects) of their remaining 37 league fixtures will not comprise such as hopeless mismatch. For Real Madrid, certainly an impressive start.
FT: Real Zaragoza 0 Real Madrid 6 (Cristiano Ronaldo 24, 71, 87, Marcelo 28, Xabi Alonso 63, Kaká 82)
Zaragoza: Roberto; Juárez, Da Silva, Meira, Paredes; Ponzio; Pablo Barrera (Joel, min. 82), Zuculini (Pinter, min. 53), Abraham (Edu Oriol, min. 53), Lafita; Uche.
Madrid: Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Carvalho, Marcelo; Di María (Callejón, min. 71), Xabi Alonso, Coentrao, Ozil (Kaká, min. 77); Cristiano Ronaldo y Benzema (Higuaín, min. 74).
Tags: Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, Real Zaragoza
