Fantasy La Liga? No, not today, says Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo
He scored, he was on the winning side and there were a couple of explosions to illustrate why, in a recession, Real Madrid excavated £80million to buy him.But there were also fluffed freekicks, dead-end dribbles and some sluggishness tracking back. When Cristiano Ronaldo was later asked to convey his thoughts in English, he replied politely: ‘Not today, sorry.’
Ronaldo was en route for dinner with star-struck Usain Bolt, but those three words came close to encapsulating the debut of Ronaldo and Real’s new galacticos on Saturday night. Not today, sorry.
The most expensive player in history, in the most expensive team ever, eventually overcame bluecollar Deportivo La Coruna 3-2, but there was more hard labour
about the victory than the desired fantasy liga football.
‘There’s a lot of room for improvement,’ said Xabi Alonso. ‘We need to gel. As soon as possible.’
Alonso was one of six debutants in the starting XI, so the general response to the £250m investment — that there was enough here for optimism not to suffer — was
understandable.
But euphoria has been placed on hold and ultimately the slight disappointment might be a good thing, asmight Real’s defensive mistakes. It should help new manager Manuel Pellegrini focus minds in the club on the team rather than ‘the project’, on tackling, not marketing.
As Alonso said tellingly of a squad peppered with one-man brands: ‘Team spirit is crucial, this is a collective game. If you don’t have team belief, solidarity, if you are selfish and don’t think about the team, then it’s difficult to be successful.’ Pellegrini must forge a team.
But it is not a straightforward task. Anyone in doubt as to where the power lies at the Bernabeu only had to see the banner hanging above the net where Ronaldo drilled in his first goal in all white, from the penalty-spot. The banner addressed the lavish-spending returning president Florentino Perez. ‘Thank You For Keeping
Your Word. Welcome Home,’ it said.
It is inconceivable an equivalent banner could hang, for example, from the Stretford End. Pellegrini, like his 10 predecessors over the past decade, has been given the tools, but he did not select them.
Yet this is Realpolitik and at kick-off few were thinking about that. The atmosphere inside a sizzling Bernabeu was melting with expectation, Bolt’s appearance made
the noise soar and when Madrid put together a 50-second sequence of passing
from the start it almost climaxed in a goal for Kaka. The magnitude of the occasion could be gauged from Bolt’s reaction: ‘It’s the first time I’ve been nervous in my life.’
But in heat so thick you could nearly see it, the pace dropped. So, too, did Deportivo. Real saw familiar opposition banks of four. Now it was all about football, nothing else.
It took 26 minutes for Real to score. In that time there was warm applause for a 50-yard Alonso pass into touch, a big groan at a Ronaldo mis-control and a moan
from Kaka when he, Ronaldo, Raul and Karim Benzema ended up in the same 10-yard square on the edge of the visitors’ area.
But then Kaka fed Benzema, who hit a post, and Raul, the 32-year-old captain tapped in. New era, old face. Raul then let his defence know their failure to prevent Riki equalising was not good enough. And it wasn’t. Ronaldo restored Real’s lead with a 35th-minute penalty but Juan Valeron equalised straight after the interval.
In the 57th minute there were whistles of discontent inside the Bernabeu but three minutes later Lassana Diarra’s winner arrived. He is subtly derided as being ‘a former
Portsmouth player’ but he was good enough to have played for Chelsea and Arsenal as well his current employers.
And rather than Ronaldo and Kaka, Diarra and Alonso could turn out to be the key pairing at Real. One thing is certain, they will be busy. Asked about the failure of
the front four to help defensively, Alonso smiled and said: ‘That’s the way it is here.’
As he spoke, Ronaldo walked past. Real’s new No 9 had been last on the pitch and first off it. He had been by the touchline, close to the tunnel when the final whistle blew.
Head down, there were no handshakes for opponents or his new colleagues. Not today, sorry.
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