La Liga returned to the
Santiago Bernabéu this past Sunday, where los
Blancos faced Valencia to a 1-1 draw.
The current titleholders had a brilliant start to the match, with Pipita
Higuaín scoring within the first 10 minutes of play. There were opportunities beforehand,
Cristiano Ronaldo in the second minute and Ángel di María in the fourth. Valencia's GK, Diego Alves, did well to deny
Madrid, but could not put a stop to Pipita's attempt. Di María set up the stage perfectly, getting
through Valencia's backline and passed to his fellow Argentine. Pipita then made a tremendous effort from
inside the area and scored Madrid's first official goal of season. He certainly does enjoy making those
important goals, doesn't he? The title
winning goal last season... the first goal this season...
Real Madrid and Valencia
shared possession of the ball, but the home side seemed to be the only one to
have possession translate into opportunity.
However, Alves did well to not let another one slide past him. With the minutes winding down, excitement
escalated. In the 41st
minute, Tino Costa's freekick resulted in an equalizer for Valencia when
teammate Jonas headed it home. The
excitement did not end there. In fact,
account of this FK, Pepe and Iker Casillas clashed heads...literally.
In their attempts of
denying the equalizer, the two men had a rather nasty collision, after having
clashed in the air with Xabi Alonso.
Pepe received the shorter end of the stick, ending the first half with a
bandage wrapped around his noggin, having to be substituted by Raúl Albiol
after the break.
Madrid was unable to
regain their advantage in the second half, leaving the men and their supporters
frustrated. Los Blancos were dangerous on the attack, but Valencia remained
steadfast with their defense. Di María
and Pipita teamed up yet again in the half, but Alves saved the effort. ¡Qué lastima!
The men return to action this Thursday for the
first leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. My enemy Clos Gomez will be officiating the
game. Well, that's something to look forward to. Good luck, men! Until then, ¡Hala Madrid!
written by Gail Hidalgo
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