Galacticos? Junk Galacticos? Mediaticos? At the moment the subdivisions of stardom at Real Madrid are blurring to the point of irrelevance before the realisation that points, not prices, win prizes.
So it was numbers, rather than names, that occupied Real as they prepared for the visit of La Liga newcomers Getafe on Sunday. Not so very long ago, Real would have expected — quite rightly — to swagger past a team like Getafe with utterly commanding nonchalance: the footballing equivalent of smoking a fag while operating a power tool.
But as a sign of the pragmatism that has descended over the Bernabeu, the nine points between them and Barcelona held far greater significance than the rather showier fact that the day marked 10 years of Raul’s distinguished service.
If anyone at Real has cause to celebrate the paradigm shift from frying opponents to poaching them, it’s Michael Owen. With David Beckham missing, Raul has moved back to the left side of midfield, with Zinedine Zidane in the middle. Which leaves an Owen-shaped hole next to Ronaldo.
And while everyone’s favourite fatty has been rather sniffy about his new partner, Owen has made the most of the opportunity.
On Sunday, he scored his fourth goal in as many games, a well-struck finish from the edge of the area that set Real on the way to a messy 2-0 victory over tenacious opposition, for whom Riki was a constant menace. But Owen’s reaction to his goal was of unalloyed matter-of-factness.
‘Of course it was great to score, but that’s what I am paid to do,†he said. ‘If I was a midfielder and I scored, well that is more of an event. But I am expected to score goals and at the moment that is what I am doing. I have been in these positions before and you just have to enjoy them while you can.â€
With a glitzier script, it should have been Raul putting Getafe to the sword, but his sole contribution was to hit the deflected shot that Ronaldo tucked away in the 78th minute. The two goals secured three points, lifted Real from seventh to third, and cut the deficit between themselves and Barca to seven points. But the really telling number in the game scoreline was the ‘nil†bit.
Without Iker Casillas on top form, and Getafe generously profligate in front of goal, Real could have been seriously embarrassed. Casillas made at least five crucial saves, including a remarkable double stop after 19 minutes of the first half.
‘We didn’t play as well as we wanted to tonight but it is another win, and, with Barcelona and Valencia dropping points, it obviously moves us higher up the table,†said Owen.
In the barest of practical terms, this was a fair point. But as an unimpressed Bernabeu jeered his late, cautious replacement by defensive midfielder Albert Celades, it was plain that the pragmaticos will have to regain their stellar vision, and fast.
In the meantime, however, they at least narrowed the gap on Barcelona, whose 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao was the pick of last Saturday’s matches. Samuel Eto’o scored his eighth goal of the season to remain Spain’s top scorer by three goals.
With a six-point cushion over Sevilla, a jitter — even against 10-man Bilbao, who lost Gurpegi after he picked up two yellow cards within four minutes — will hardly disrupt Barca’s early dominance.
Valencia, by contrast, are finding last season’s fluidity difficult to approach. Having lost their past four league and cup games, a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid at least stopped the rot. Claudio Ranieri’s side haven’t quite lost touch with Barca, and are only a point behind Real, in sixth place with 15 points. But unlike Real, they aren’t winning the ugly ones. Somebody send Claudio a pragmatico.
Real comeback
Meanwhile, Real came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian champions made a fast start, but Madrid were level by the interval. Raul brought them back into the game with his 48th Champions League goal — one behind the European Cup record set by the Bernabeu idol Alfredo di Stefano — from a Luis Figo pass. And Figo equalised with a 44th-minute penalty after Ronaldo was brought down. —