La Liga - Team news: Pellegrini to face old club

Eurosport - Mon, 21 Sep 13:06:00 2009

Coach Manuel Pellegrini turns Real Madrid's awesome firepower on his former club on Wednesday when the free-scoring La Liga leaders travel to face Villarreal.

FOOTBALL Manuel Pellegrini / Foto EFE - 0

The Chilean rose to prominence at the modest east-coast club, playing an attractive brand of football and turning Villarreal into a fixture in European competitions. He left to head up Real's new project in June.

Pellegrini's team have made a strong start to the campaign netting 11 goals in their three wins from three, to top the standings on goal difference from champions Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao.

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in every game so far but Pellegrini said that while the goals have been flying in, the team are not yet playing to the standard he expects.

"I don't think it is a problem of adapting to a new system," he said after Sunday's 5-0 rout of Xerez. "We have to improve but we aren't doing badly."

Striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will be out of action for up to six weeks after damaging his left thigh muscle while scoring Real's fifth goal.

Villarreal are now coached by Ernesto Valverde, who led Olympiakos Piraeus to a Greek league and cup double last season, but they have yet to register their first win and lie 17th.

Barca visit Racing Santander on Tuesday, and Bilbao fly to face Tenerife on Wednesday.

Barcelona have scored only one less than Real with new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic also managing to find the net in every game so far.

The Swedish striker appears to have quickly settled with his new team and Barca's 5-2 demolition of Atletico Madrid on Saturday was testament to their continuing good form.

Last year's Copa del Rey finalists Bilbao are La Liga's only other side with a 100 percent record.

Their muscular and direct football will provide a tough test for promoted Tenerife, but coach Joaquin Caparros's challenge is to keep his limited resources fresh, "due to the titanic effort the players need to put into every game."

Atletico Madrid are still licking their wounds after the mauling they suffered at the Nou Camp, and a failure to register their first win of the season at home to Almeria on Wednesday will set alarm bells ringing.

Abel Resino's side are second-bottom with one point from a possible nine.

"The season has only just started and there is still too much in front of us for everyone to start feeling sorry for themselves," Atletico striker Sergio Aguero said.

The Argentine international is a doubt after being substituted in Barcelona with a knock to the thigh.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 9 of 9

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  1. all i have say is that was the past real are and will­ always be the better football club, barca are good but­ it take around 5 years to win something real are going­ win something this year, so please shut up about­ history we were better then and now.

    From emiliano m, on Tue 22 Sep 8:13PM
  2. Now i believe these barca fans are the biggest sets of­ useless fans in the world...

    From humpheryigbadumhe, on Tue 22 Sep 1:55AM
  3. If you stand by these comments then i am sure Yahoo­ won't mind handing over your contact details to­ legal reprasentatives when they make contact.

    From Cerberus, on Mon 21 Sep 8:31PM
  4. barcelona is the symbol of value and humanity and the­ club that unit people from all walk of life.the clup­ that help people in need in different parts of the­ world
    mohammad ali.

    From mohamad, on Mon 21 Sep 4:16PM
  5. real madrid is the symbol of the ugly face of the­ dictatorship and they bought all these new players with­ huge money to revenage the humilation they endured by­ barcelona,but they cant and will not happen in this­ century even if hey bought players from another­ planet.
    mohammad ali

    From mohamad, on Mon 21 Sep 3:54PM
  6. Thats how that club was....is.....and will always­ be!........ winning at any cost, no matter who gets­ hurt!!!

    From marilacson, on Mon 21 Sep 3:50PM
  7. all the trophies real madrid won under franco should be­ disclaimed by fifa.they were won under duress and­ intimedation.
    mohammad ali

    From mohamad, on Mon 21 Sep 3:49PM
  8. what was written here is the truth everyone should know­ i support every word in this comment.
    mohammadali

    From mohamad, on Mon 21 Sep 3:46PM
  9. The manner in which Barcelona attempted to maintain a­­ Catalan identity at a time when the language and flag­­ were banned is well recounted. Barça became 'More­­ than a Club' and the phrase Así gana el Madrid-­ that's how Madrid win- became part of Spanish­­ sporting lore. There are two of these stories,­ however,­ that perhaps shed most light on the situation­ in those­ difficult times. In 1942, Barcelona had won­ the Spanish­ Cup- now known as the Cope del Rey but­ then renamed as­ the Copa del Generalísimo. The­ following season they­ were pitted against Real in a­ two-legged semi-final and­ won the first match­ convincingly, by three goals to­ nil, despite having­ their star player, Escolá,­ stretchered off. The second­ leg, though, was rather a­ different matter- finishing­ an astonishing 11-1 to­ Madrid. Not only was the Head­ of State Security known­ to have visited the Barça­ dressing room before the­ match to tell some of the­ players that their right to­ remain in Spain was being­ reviewed, but also the­ sending off of a player in the­ first few minutes made­ sure that the rest of the team­ got the right message!­ The other classic example of­ the manner in which­ Barcelona feel they suffered­ during the Franco years­ concerns perhaps the most­ famous player ever to wear a­ Real Madrid shirt–Alfredo­ di Stéfano, who remains an­ iconic figure in the Madrid­ hierarchy even today. In­ 1953, the Argentinian centre­ forward, described by­ Bobby Charlton as the most­ intelligent player he had­ seen, was signed by­ Barcelona from his Columbian club,­ Millonarios. After­ di Stéfano had appeared in a couple­ of friendly­ matches, and after an involved and­ underhand series of­ negotiations, the Spanish­ F.A. declared that the­ transfer was invalid and the­ player was triumphantly­ unveiled by Madrid.

    This is­ who madrid is and who­ franco was. Franco­ is the reason why madrid won the­ trophies. Di Stefano who­ franco got for madrid, won­ the first 5 CL trophies for­ madrid.

    From indonoob, on Mon 21 Sep 12:18PM
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