Full-time: Sporting Gijon 0-0 Real Madrid
The Rafa Benitez reign is up and running.
90 min+4: Ronaldo’s free-kick tamely hits the wall and Modric’s hopeful volley loops wide. Oh dear.
90 min+3: Real have a free-kick 25 yards from goal after a trip on Marcelo! Ronaldo has the ball.
90 min: There will be a minimum of four minutes of stoppage time.
88 min: Carvajal’s cross is headed over by a frustrated Ronaldo and time is running out for Rafa Benitez’s Real Madrid.
85 min: Modric’s low drive from 20 yards goes a yard or two wide. Sporting Gijon bring on Rachid for Carmona. Real bring on Dani Carvajal for Danilo. “If Real Madrid fail to score, I’m sure it’ll be seen as their failure,” says Kari Tulinius. “However, I’ve been very impressed by Sporting Gijon tonight. They’ve managed to keep Real at arms length, reducing them to difficult passes and shots unlikely to go in. The teams below the La Liga top four get disparaged quite often, but on this evidence “the rest” is quite good indeed.”
84 min: Sporting Gijon have now been out of their half, but it didn’t last long, and the pattern resumes when Ronaldo blasts a shot towards the top corner from the left. But what a save from the redoubtable Cuellar, who brilliantly tips the ball over the bar!
83 min: I can’t remember the last time Sporting Gijon got out of their half.
82 min: Modric tries his luck from 18 yards. His luck is out. The anxiety grows.
78 min: Ronaldo twists and turns and shoots from the left. Cuellar beats his way and Marcelo awkwardly heads the rebound over. Sporting Gijon are hanging on now.
77 min: Alex Menendez replaces Jonny Rodriguez for Sporting Gijon.
76 min: Real slice their way through on the right but Danilo’s pass across the six yard box is somehow missed by Ronaldo, who was offside anyway.
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74 min: Sergio Alvarez is booked after cynically pulling back Bale.
72 min: Juan Muniz is on for Sporting Gijon. Guerrero is the player who makes way.
71 min: Jonny Rodriguez has been booked, while Mateo Kovacic is on for his Real Madrid debut after his arrival from Inter, replacing Isco.
70 min: James Rodriguez shoots from the right. All of Real Madrid’s shots appear to have gone straight at Cuellar.
69 min: A couple of stepovers from Ronaldo, a shot, a block. Corner. Sporting Gijon are giving this everything.
67 min: It’s all Real. James dinks a cross in from the left and Ronaldo skims a header wide from close range.
66 min: Carmona is booked for fouling Marcelo.
64 min: Would Jan Kromkamp improve this Real Madrid side?
63 min: Isco swings a corner into the area from the right and Bale puts his powerful header straight into the grateful arms of Cuellar.
61 min: Bale rams the free-kick over the bar and the frustration grows for Real Madrid.
60 min: Bale attempts to play a one-two with Isco, but he’s bumped over off the ball. Real have a free-kick in a shooting position.
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56 min: James Rodriguez replaces Jese. Has anyone got David Ngog’s number?
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54 min: Ronaldo dashes inside from the left and lets fly with his right foot. Once again it’s straight at Cuellar. James Rodriguez is getting ready to come on.
51 min: Where’s Dirk Kuyt when you need him?
48 min: What an escape for Real Madrid! Carmona attacks a cross from the left and bursts in front of Marcelo, only for his thumping header to fly an inch past the post with Navas beaten!
47 min: Isco cleverly sways to the left to shake off his marker and shoot from 20 yards. Again it’s straight at Cuellar.
46 min: Off we go again.
Half-time: Sporting 0-0 Real Madrid
Sporting Gijon are pleased. They’ve played well and they could even be ahead.
44 min: “Nicklas Bendtner has scored three goals in four cameos for Wolfsburg,” notes Admir Pajic. “Perhaps the world-class striker destined for Arsenal which last name starts with “Ben-” isn’t Benzema.”
43 min: Sporting’s manager, Abelardo, is on his haunches on the touchline. How very AVB.
39 min: “Never mind Benzema and Illaramendi, what has Mrs. Benitez said about Pedro’s debut, the John Terry sending off, and the disarray in the Chelsea back four?” says Justin Kavanagh. “The world needs to know.” She’s on record as wondering why John Terry’s shinpads are so tiny.
38 min: Pictorial evidence of Benzema to London, eh?” says Victor Bukarov. “This was the scene at Madrid airport this afternoon as passengers boarded their flight to Gatwick. If you look really closely you can see Benzema looking out of the third window from the front. He had speedy boarding.”
I understand that Benzema is currently having dinner in an Aberdeen Angus Steakhouse.
36 min: Sporting Gijon go agonisingly close to taking the lead! They thought that they had scored! But it’s still 0-0! A cross comes in from the right and Sanabria beats his marker to the ball and bullets a header past Navas. It hits the underside of the bar, bounces down and appears to just catch enough of the line for the officials to rule that it wasn’t over the line. What an escape for Madrid. The visitors counter. Bale swings a cross into the area from the right and Ronaldo goes down under a challenge from Hernandez. No penalty is awarded. It sure looked like a foul.
34 min: Now it’s Jese’s turn to have a shot. It’s straight at Cuellar. Are Madrid getting frustrated?
33 min: Ronaldo almost scores. He rams one goalwards from 25 yards but Cuellar is equal to it and pushes the ball away down low to his left.
29 min: Ronaldo hasn’t done much yet, which means he’ll score soon.
26 min: Space opens up for Isco on the edge of the area but he blasts his shot over the bar. That was a decent chance. “No Benzema but the real story is Illaramendi,” says Niall Mullen. “Is he on his way to a disappointing spell at my beloved Liverpool?”
25 min: Karim Benzema is rumoured to be looking at houses in London. Various homeowners across the capital are asking him to step off their front step.
22 min: Gijon’s Rory Delap, Hernandez, lobs a long throw into the Madrid area. Carmona volleys over under pressure.
21 min: Isco’s sweetly struck shot swerves wide. It looked like it took a deflection off a defender but a goal-kick is awarded.
19 min: Bale romps through on the left again but his cutback fails to find Isco. Moments later, Jese’s shot from the right slithers wide of the far post.
Updated
18 min: A speedy counter attack from Gijon ends with Sanabria crossing too near to Navas.
15 min: It’s still 0-0. Rafa out!
12 min: From just inside Gijon’s half, Modric stabs a wondrous ball through to Bale with the outside of his right boot. Bale rounds the onrushing Cuellar but his touch forces him wide and he can only hit the side netting from an acute angle.
10 min: Bale has a swipe from the edge of the area with his right foot. It goes wide.
9 min: Ronaldo cracks the free-kick into the wall.
8 min: Madrid have a free-kick in Ronaldo Territory. There’s that familiar pose.
7 min: I understand that Karim Benzema is stepping off the London Eye and is now mulling over a move to the nearby London Aquarium.
5 min: The pace is furious; in Gijon, that is, rather than on the London Eye.
3 min: Gareth Bale storms through the middle, charging ominously towards goal. He’s tackled but the ball ricochets to Ronaldo on the left. He doesn’t catch his volley correctly, however, and Cuellar claims the ball confidently. I am hearing reports that Benzema is enjoying his London Eye experience.
2 min: Manchester United legend Sergio Ramos wins a foul. I am hearing reports that Karim Benzema is having a ride on the London Eye.
And we’re off! Newly promoted Sporting Gijon, in red and white striped shirts and blue shorts, get the game going. Real Madrid are in white, the ground is rocking and there is no sign of Karim Benzema. Karim? Where are you?
Barcelona have won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao, a goal from that dastardly Luis Suarez sorting them out. Read more about it here, then return for live coverage of this match.
The other notable thing about Madrid’s team is that Gareth Bale is starting in the No10 role, which is where he played his best football for Tottenham in 2013. James Rodriguez is on the bench. Will it work? Bale has the explosiveness and individual brilliance to be devastating in that position, but does he have the touch, awareness and vision for it?
Of course, Benzema might just be injured. But that’s not juicy enough, is it? I want someone to send me a pictorial evidence that he is on his way to London right now.
Tongues are wagging. The official line is that Karim Benzema is injured, but how about this for a theory: his absence from the squad surely means that he is on his way to Arsenal. Or West Ham.
The teams
Sporting Gijon: Cuéllar; Lora, Hernández, Bernardo, Isma López; Sergio, Cases; Carmona, Sanabria, Jony, Guerrero.
Real Madrid, minus Karim Benzema: Navas, Danilo, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; Kroos, Modric; Isco, Bale, Ronaldo; Jese.
Preamble
Rafa’s back! That’s right, after two unconvincing years at Napoli, he’s landed himself one of the top jobs in world football, the Real Madrid! It’s one he’s coveted for a while - presumably Antonio Nunez had a word with Florentino Perez - and not even Jose Mourinho’s jibes can ruin this moment for Benitez, who will presumably be aware that this is a role with a limited shelf life, given that Carlo Ancelotti was sacked a year after winning the Champions League.
Indeed there is an argument that Real are slightly running out of options after parting ways with so many managers, which is why they’ve turned to a man who hasn’t won a league title since 2004, but Benitez does bring with him excellent organisational qualities, a keen tactical mind and a fine record in Europe. Perhaps he will work out how to make Real strike the right balance between defence and attack, while making sure not to emulate one of his predecessors by picking a fight with, say, everyone in Spain. But how will Cristiano Ronaldo respond to him? Will the supporters like his style of football? Will he see eye to eye with Perez? It begins tonight against Sporting Gijon and I am intrigued to see how this unfolds.
