you would have thought pep guardiola might struggle a bit without messi but no. he really has that something in him. this guy is pure substance. truly an innovator in coaching terms.

but inheriting a treble winning team from jupp and make them play even better is no mean feat. he could well be in the folklore of greatest managers soon.

ancelotti too is doing something to real madrid. it is not very obvious, but 26 unbeaten is no mean feat as well. next season could be even better, lets hope.

luka modric, xabi alonso, angel di maria, bale (to a certain extent) and ronaldo are untouchables. i think the only slot left is benzema. i quite agree with quithrilius, swapping isco for benzema gives real madrid a whole new style of playing as isco is quite capable playing between the lines. extra control with the diamond like shape because i think isco is good with neat touches. that being said, where does that leave morata? further down the pecking order. it's sad.

jese ruptured his knee ligaments. could be out for about 6 months. its a pity for him seeing his performance so far and touted to being called up in the spanish squad (although just an opinion from football writers). he is a good cover for both ronaldo and bale too. but i am sure he will bounce back from this.

could be ACL, which is going to take a long time to heal. but its going to take longer still to heal the confidence he has built up.

actually we have covers. di maria could play but everyone loves him in the modric, alonso and di maria midfield. isco could play there, but the lack of games has made him rusty. morata has been used on the left during mourinho's era. benzema has played as a winger before at lyon.

all that said, we dont know how they will perform and may potentially make the team imbalance.

el clasico this weekend. the wins against malaga and osasuna by real madrid and barcelona does not say anything. if anything, i'd prefer the madrid result (1-0) because a huge score line tend to make the team complacent. i hope that is the case with barcelona. the one advantage barca have is the extra rest that they have, having not played in midweek. physical advantage, but mentally? real madrid had extra drill, you could say, against schalke. hopefully it will turn out for the best.

that was the last season when he didnt have much of an impact during mourinho's years. marca lauds him now.

my thoughts:
ronaldo's penalty is actually a free kick, and the ref should have spotted it. poor decision. but that penalty is very much welcomed for all madrid fans, i would say. but to offset that wrong decision with 2 penalties for barca and a red card as well, well, what to say? i actually thought neymar dived. but sergio ramos' red might be the case of his reputation preceding him even though he very likely didnt do no wrong there. a dive! and even if there was contact, neymar was looking for it. iniesta's penalty was 50-50, i think there were cases where it wont be given.

iniesta's finish was superb. also the build up play to that goal was nice. simple, neat and precise.

benzema's 2 goals were good as well. he exploited mascherano with ronaldo occupying pique. pretty smart move. could have had more. did everything right with left foot shot which pique cleared, that is just bad luck. messi's goal was a demonstration of his movement even though i thought it was a neymar miss control that set it up. an element of luck to get to the ball but messi's movement made that stroke of good luck. that near post finish though, was as good as it gets.

and then there was the 2 messi penalties. both were superb penalties. no keeper could have saved those. that said, i dont think diego lopez is a good penalty stopper. from behind the goal post, i think you can see his leap is short, kinda like his legs were weighed down.

madrid played quite nice despite the lack of possession. they attempted more passes compared to the matches under mourinho, i think. however, i think ronaldo was poor, a 6/10 for me as i thought he did nothing much. if ronaldo was a 6/10, then bale for me is a 4/10. the guy can run but there were a few times he cant stop. di maria is a 9.5. absolutely superb. nothing much from xabi alonso while modric was slightly above average in this game.

3-4 was a fair result but i really cannot stand that xavi face, more so with bragging rights after this game.

he's got more than roy keane and patrick vierra combined, i think