Sevilla 2-4 Real Mierda; Lower than Low

By: Anthony | April 28th, 2009

So I’ve finally left my bed after three days and am currently in the recovery mode from my depression due to the match this past weekend where we once again let a lead slip and lost to another rival.

Juande Ramo$ and the mierda visited Nervión in a match which held so much at stake for both clubs. Real in their pursuit of Barça for the glory which is La Liga and us to end our three game losing streak and also solidify our Champions League spot.

We came out of the gates flying and playing the most beautiful football we’ve played all year and on the 16th minute Renato scored off a pin-point Diego Perotti cross. I can’t emphasize how much I’ve come to love this kid over the past couple months and his effort on this play shows exactly why he’s passed Diego Capel in the pecking order. A perfectly executed cross with the outside of his right boot was absolutely mouth watering to anyone who knows football.

We didn’t even stop after the goal though as we continued to dominate possession and for the most part, Real could barely get it out of their own half. On the 20th minute we should have been two-nil ahead when Adriano made minced meat out of Real’s whole left flank and eventually crossed in only for Kanouté not to expect the ball to come all the way through and watch the ball roll wide of Casillas’ goal. This would come back to haunt us as on the 45th minute, just before the half time whistle was blown, Cristoph Metzelder broke down the right side and put in a low cross which would usually be harmless but Raúl got around Escudé way too easily and tapped it in to level the score at one goal a piece.

1-1 at half, no big deal right? We still have the support of our loud, faithful crowd and they will be able to give us a lift come the second half.

The second half was kind of back and forth with both teams unable to settle on the ball and knock it around. That all changed though on the 62nd minute when Miguel Torres put in a cross only for Raúl to once again get around Escudé and smash in a left footed volley and put the capital club up 2-1. It didn’t end there though as just a few minutes later Higuaín hit a shot which Palop (who had an aweful match) spilled only for “El Capitan” Raúl to pounce on the volley, complete his hat-trick and put Real up 3-1. We did get some consolation when in the 80th minute Jesús Navas led a counter attack in which he whipped in a cross that Diego Capel got ahead of Sergio Ramos and put it in to create a tense finish to the match. As the game was so close we committed basically our whole team to attack and were punished at the death when Huntelaar sent Marcelo through our weary defense and the Real defender made no mistake in beating Palop to put the mierda up 4-2 which was also the final score.

Valencia’s draw with Barcelona means that our third spot in the table is looking less secure than ever. We are only one point ahead of Valencia for third and 2 points ahead of fifth place Villarreal.

Next week we take on the Yellow Submarine which (I’ve said this a million times before but it’s more true now than ever) is a must win match. We cannot afford to lose anymore points to the teams which are rivaling us for the top Champions League berths and a loss against Villarreal would probably seal our passage to Europe, but it would be in the lesser of the two competitions – The *new and revamped* Europa League.

The rest of the games on schedule are winnable and I think anything other than a third place finish and Champions League qualification would be a serious failure for the club, especially after all the high moments of this year. Jiménez looks likely to be headed out the door next year whether or not we maintain this third spot and I really don’t know what to think about it. I think it’s important for a club to have stability but at the same time we need a coach who can take us forward and the inconsistency of this year is unacceptable for a club who wants to challenge for the domestic titles as well as progress further in European cup competitions. Qualifying for the Champions League will mean two things; 1) We now have the prestige of being considered a Champions League club and will be able to attract new talent and new managerial personnel to the club over the summer and assemble a more solid squad for the beginning of next season and 2) We will have more money to play around with in the transfer market to buy the type of calibre players we need to distance ourselves away from the competition of Villarreal, Valencia, Málaga, Atlético and Depor in the league.