No. 41—Spanish Soccer—Real Madrid vs. Valencia: Real Dominated Offensively but Lost Defensively

by Soccer Coach Albert M. Luongo

On March 23, 3008, Valencia beat Real Madrid at Madrid 3-2. Most of the game was dominated by Real Madrid's attacks on goal, but Valencia managed to thwart most Real Madrid’s attempts at scoring.

The goals in the first half were scored in the following manner. At minute 33, Valencia’s David Villa controlled the ball in a breakaway and caught Real’s defense off guard: It looked like Real's offside trap failed. He dribbled up to about the penalty spot and kicked the ball into the net. One minute later, Real’s Rabino sent a long ball to Raul’s head as he was standing about 7 yards directly in the center of the goal. He headed it into the net with no chance for Valencia’s goalkeeper Hilderbrand to stop it.

The goals in the second half went like this. At 11 minutes in, with no one guarding Raul, he received a pass in front of the goal with only the opposing goalkeeper to his front. He easily shot the ball into the net. At minute 21, the equalizer came when Villa scored his second goal on a penalty kick: The keeper went right and the ball went left making the score 2-2. The penalty came when Real’s Cannavaro pushed down Valencia’s Silva in the penalty area. The final goal came at minute 43 when once again Real Madrid’s defense was caught too far up field. Angel Arizmendi of Valencia received a long pass at the right wing. He trapped the ball and curled in towards the goal. Only one defender was to his front. He managed to dribble the ball (a few yards in parallel with the goal line) in towards the goal after beating the defender. With no other defenders near, Real’s goalkeeper Castillas only opposed him. With only a slight angle to the goal, he shot the ball passed Castillas making the score 3-2.

Valancia had only a few chances to score in the second half as the ball was mostly played at the other end of the field. This fact made it apparent that Real Madrid’s players became overconfident due to the numerous scoring opportunities causing them to drop their defensive guard. Nevertheless, the game was exciting and action packed with few dull moments. The referee should have called more fouls however.

Discussion:
What circumstances were attributed to losing the game for a team that continually dominated the forward line of attack? There are two obvious factors: Lack of concern for defense and causing a foul to take place in the penalty area. These are described succinctly:

Defense: I believe that the first and third goal was due to the offside trap backfiring. I have never been a big fan of the offside trap as it can be fatal when it goes wrong. This can and did leave the goal defenseless.
Penalties (or excessive roughness): Fouling a player in and around the goal area can cause a defeat: in this case it did cause a defeat.

Valencia, it seems, played a strong defensive. Many attempts on scoring by Real Madrid were stopped. And, it seemed that Real Madrid became over confidant based upon their dominance near their opponent’s goal. When Valencia had a chance to score, they took advantage of the Real’s over-confidence: This type of football (soccer), where a team is strong in defense but weak in offense, more than occasionally wins the match.

All of the above information is the author's opinion. This article in no way is meant to degrade, discredit or defame any team or person. Its sole purpose is to improve the skills of young soccer players, coaches and the game itself.