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6th of February 2005<P>Primera Liga - Game 22: Numancia v Cartagonova<P>We’re in Soria to play our opponent Numancia today, who sits comfortably in mid-table and looks rather hard to dislodge. But we have the prolific striker José Manuel Redondo on fire at the moment and after playing a neat one-two with Lacruz, he launches us into the lead with an unstoppable rocket on 13 minutes! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG] Yet, the lead lasts only six minutes as veteran playmaker Pedro Riesco plays the ball at the feet of Dani Torres and he crashes a drive past Vidal into the top corner. Then, unbelievably, Numancia takes the lead as Vidal’s fumbled punch from Dani Torres’ cross lands at the feet of Lunari and he makes no mistake, tucking the ball past the fallen keeper. But their lead lasts only forty seconds as straight from kick off, Clegg jinks his way through the Numancia defence before laying off a pass to the unmarked Esposito and the Italian curls a beautiful shot into the top corner! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG]<P>That brings the first half’s action to a close and I tell the players I would be very disappointed if we threw two points away this afternoon. True to my word, my players are on the front foot early in the second half when a beautiful team move sees Redondo chipping a pass into the path of Esposito and the fleet-footed Italian volleys home a piledriver from twenty yards! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG] [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG] Redondo almost makes it 4-2 on 62 minutes when he drifts past and through desperate tackles, but �lvaro Núñez does well to block his shot. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif" alt="frown[/IMG] On 79 minutes, substitute Iulian Filipescu again inflames my anger with him when he gets himself sent off for a professional foul. I strengthen the defence by taking off the impressive Clegg for Jaliens but Numancia are already beaten in their own minds, and we play out the ten minutes quite comfortably. It doesn’t stop me from dishing out yet another official warning to the Romanian, who is fast trying my patience.<P>Numancia (4-1-3-2): �lvaro Núñez; Gustavo, Babangida (Curro Montoya 83), Juanma (c), Pedersen (Santana 69); Marini; Lunari, Gorka, Acuña; Riesco, Dani Torres.<P>Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal (c); Lacruz, �lvarez (Filipescu 46), Wingård, Ballesteros; Gavião; Miranda, Vucko; Clegg (Jaliens 79); Redondo, Esposito.<P>Final score: Numancia 2:3 Cartagonova
MoM - José Manuel Redondo<P>Surprisingly, the victory catapults us to third place on the ladder, ahead on goal difference of Espanyol, and suddenly we’re only three points from top spot and Barcelona! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG] Redondo is steadily climbing the league goal-scoring charts, with 8 goals this season so far from 15(1) appearances. But Patrick Kluivert is again way out in front with 17 goals from 20 league appearances.<P>Keep smiling! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG]
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9th of February 2005<P>Copa del Rey - Quarter Final, second leg: Cartagonova v Athletic Bilbao<P>Normally on my birthday you’ll find me relaxing down at a nice restaurant with a good glass of wine or beer in my hand. But this evening, I’m on the touchline hoping my players can win by one clear goal to put us into the semi-finals and the chance of having another crack at the Copa del Rey. Athletic Bilbao come out looking to preserve the goal lead it holds over the first leg but that is just an invitation for my players to attack fiercely. Redondo should have scored on 20 minutes, but his delicate header is superbly stopped by Imanol EtxeberrÃ*a. On 29 minutes, we finally have the breakthrough when Esnáider picks out Esposito with a perfect pass and the Italian does the rest! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG] But Joseba EtxeberrÃ*a runs straight through the heart of my defence before lashing home the equaliser. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif" alt="mad[/IMG] I’m on the touchline screaming at my players to pick up those runs from deep while also setting free Redondo and Esposito, but nothing of note happens until the second half.<P>With my harsh words still ringing in their ears my players take the field in the second half looking to bury Athletic Bilbao. Ten minutes after the restart, we have our second goal when Esnáider dribbles his way through tackles from Aitor Karanka and Roberto RÃ*os before thundering an unstoppable drive past EtxeberrÃ*a! But we still need another goal to avoid extra time. The Argentine midfielder has a gilt-edged opportunity to give us that goal on 67 minutes, but his drive went inches wide.<P>So, with little else happening in the second half, we move into extra time, and suddenly the match changes complexion completely. Redondo puts us 3-1 ahead on the night and 3-2 on aggregate after we string together almost a dozen passes! Four minutes later, our corner is lifted into the box by Michel where Esnáider outjumps the keeper to make it 4-1 on the night! Two minutes later, Couto scythes his way through Athletic Bilbao’s defence and then smashes home our fifth goal of the evening! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG] Six minutes into the second half of extra time, Esnáider completes his hat-trick and the scoring for 6-1 on the night, which is the greatest ever victory under my stewardship! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG] The Estádio Municipál de Cartagena is rocking as the crowd chants each player’s name!<P>Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal; Lacruz, Stubbs, WingÃ¥rd, Ballesteros; Michel, Couto (c), Rufete (Vucko 46); Esnáider; Redondo, Esposito.<P>Athletic Bilbao (5-2-1-2): Imanol EtxeberrÃ*a; Lambea, Karanka, Roberto RÃ*os, LarraÃ*nzar, Chema; Óskar Vales (Orbaiz 62), Solaun; Jorge Pérez; Joseba EtxeberrÃ*a (c), Kaiku (Arteaga 53).<P>Final score: Cartagonova 6:1 Athletic Bilbao
Aggregate: Cartagonova 7:3 Athletic Bilbao
MoM - Juan Eduardo Esnáider<P>The Argentine deservedly souvenired the match ball, but he wasn’t the only one to earn full marks from the neutral judges with Redondo and Michel also grabbing perfect marks.<P>What a way to celebrate my birthday! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG]<P>In the other results, Real Betis overturned a 2-1 deficit to win 4-2 on aggregate as they defeated Ourense 3-0 in Seville. Despite winning 2-1 in Barcelona, Espanyol crashed out of the competition 5-3 on aggregate to Numancia. Málaga and Real Oviedo drew 1-1 in La Rosaleda, but the Segunda Liga club walked away with the pass through to the semi-finals 4-2 on aggregate.

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11th of February 2005<P>Espanyol’s manager, Señor Ramón DÃ*az, offers me £1.6 million for Paulo Miranda. I reject his offer.<P>12th of February 2005<P>Primera Liga - Game 23: Cartagonova v Málaga<P>We have the opportunity to move into second place on the ladder if we can defeat Málaga this afternoon in Cartagena. But we’re made to wait a long time to open the scoring today. And that’s not to say we don’t create plenty of chances, as we do, but Pedro Contreras has decided to play well this afternoon and manages to keep the scoreline at 0-0 at half-time. We also help our opponents when some of our shots hit the bar or the post or go wide entirely. But I encourage the boys to keep it up in the second half and that sooner or later, we’ll get that breakthrough. And on 58 minutes, we do get that breakthrough - Michel picks up Clegg’s hopeful header and squares it for Kokmeijer who crashes an unstoppable drive into the top corner! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG] A second goal would be lovely. Alex WingÃ¥rd steps up to deliver it, slamming home a wicked free kick on 81 minutes for his first ever goal for the club! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG] [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG] Looking over the stats page, I’m pleasantly surprised to see that Málaga’s forwards are so inept that they could not even manage a shot on Vidal’s goal!<P>Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal (c); Lacruz, Ã�lvarez, WingÃ¥rd, Ballesteros; Michel, Gavião, Rufete; Clegg; Redondo, Kokmeijer.<P>Málaga (1-2-5-2): Contreras; Ramón; Zepeda (c), Nakazawa (Edgar 65); Agostinho (Rui Jorge 60), Quino, Jorge (Sandro 78), DarÃ*o Silva, Okunowo; Gomez, Ismael. <P>Final score: Cartagonova 2:0 Málaga
MoM - Michel<P>We climb into second place, at least temporarily, and only one point behind Barcelona who were again held to a draw by Real Sociedad and are now in real danger of dropping the lead of the division. As we record our fourth victory in succession in the Primera Liga, the media suddenly fastens upon the fact that we have steadily climbed the ladder and they inquire at the press conference whether I believe we can keep up our ‘unlikely’ title challenge. I politely ignore the question and move onto talking up our chances of taking maximum points from Bayer Leverkusen as the Champions’ League restarts on Tuesday.

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13th of February 2005<P>“… There is a real traffic jam brewing at the top of Spain’s Primera Liga, as Barcelona holds a slender one point lead over three clubs. Valencia leads the chasing pack, but only ahead of Cartagonova and Espanyol on goal difference. Celta Vigo lies a further three points behind and within striking distance of the top four clubs. Real Madrid may have left its run too late for this season, but it is now beginning to climb the ladder, being ninth after dropping as low as twelfth earlier in the season.�<P>More players make the Team of the Week’s first eleven, with Alex Wingård, Michel, Rufete and Niels Kokmeijer all taking spots in the first eleven. José Manuel Redondo sits on the bench.<P>15th of February 2005<P>European Champions’ League - Phase 2, Group C, Game 3: Cartagonova v Bayer Leverkusen<P>If we want to have any chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages, we need to take a victory against our German opponent this evening. But it’s going to be difficult, as we’re required to back up just three days after our game against Málaga and several of my current first choice team aren’t exactly one hundred per cent fit at the moment. So several changes are made, including the return of Couto to the centre of midfield. This also happens to be Iván Vidal’s 100th appearance in a Cartagonova guernsey.<P>But we get off to a great start when inside ten minutes, we have the lead. �lvarez finds Redondo with a nice pass into the area and the striker latches onto the pass before blasting it home! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG] Galletti and Guerrero are Leverkusen’s most dangerous players and they both miss tough chances to bring the German club level but we make it to half time with the scoresheet still reading 1-0. At the break, I tell my players that a second goal would be much appreciated but Butt manages to deny Kokmeijer the opportunity to deliver my demand. On 56 minutes, however, Redondo has better luck - Clegg finds him with a good pass (just as I was about to take him off, too!) and the Spaniard does the rest! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG] Patient probing from Leverkusen is finally rewarded late in the match when Galletti gets his reward for tireless work in front of goal, but it is no more than a consolation.<P>Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal; Lacruz, �lvarez, Wingård, Ballesteros; Miranda (Michel 80), Couto (c), Rufete; Clegg (Vucko 67); Redondo, Kokmeijer.<P>Bayer Leverkusen (4-3-2-1): Butt; Gresko, Meißner, Nowotny (c), Hopp; Dittrich, Vranjes, Ramelow; Neuville, Guerrero; Galletti.<P>Final score: Cartagonova 2:1 Bayer Leverkusen
MoM - José Manuel Redondo

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16th of February 2005<P>There is an amazing match played in Group B, where Anderlecht prevailed over Bayern München in a nine-goal thriller. Alexander Zickler opened the scoring on 24 minutes, but within sixty seconds the Belgian club was level through Berrettoni. Walter Baseggio then gave Anderlecht the lead on 36 minutes, only to have Sergei Rebrov equalise on the stroke of half-time. Christer George put Bayern back in front with a goal on 50 minutes and Zickler extended that lead to 4-2 on 74 minutes. But just when it seemed that Bayern would cruise to an easy victory, Berrettoni pulled it back to 4-3 on 80 minutes. Lamine Traoré then equalised on 86 minutes for Anderlecht and Berrettoni completed his hat-trick in injury time to defeat Bayern München. Olivier Kahn played a dismal game, earning a rating of just 3 for his efforts this evening.<P>17th of February 2005<P>Alavés is the latest club to try to tempt me with a laughable bid of £130,000 for Fernando Couto. I laugh pretty hard down the phone at that one from my counterpart in Basque country before I demand £400,000 for the right to talk to the Portuguese midfielder.<P>19th of February 2005<P>Alavés gives up on Couto. That’s not my problem.<P>20th of February 2005<P>Primera Liga – Game 24: Mallorca v Cartagonova<P>It isn’t a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination, but a moment of brilliance from Redondo gives us the narrowest of victories. Clegg dazzles his way through the Mallorca defence on 36 minutes before laying off a pass to Redondo. The striker turns on a thrippence before thundering an unstoppable drive into the top corner of Roa’s net. Mallorca hammer fruitlessly at Vidal’s net, and aren’t helped by their forwards’ complete lack of composure in front of goal – only half the shots actually end up on target! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG] To make things easier for us, Mallorca’s Michel is sent off for shoving the grinning Wingård on the hour mark. I’m happy to take the three points today and leave the entertainment to other sides. The victory puts us in third position, level on points with Valencia (ahead) and Celta Vigo (behind), with Barcelona clinging to a one point advantage at the top of the ladder.<P>Mallorca (3-5-2): Roa; Uribarri (Carlos 72), Merino, César (c); Ramirez, Cuéllar (Michel 59), Kühbauer (van Gastel 53), Jensen, Pablo; Losada, Luque.<P>Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal; Lacruz, �lvarez, Wingård, Ballesteros; Couto (c); Miranda (Michel 74), Rufete; Clegg; Redondo, Kokmeijer (Esposito 74).<P>Final score: Mallorca 0:1 Cartagonova
MoM – George Clegg

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21st of February 2005<P>Word reaches me from Germany that there are reports circulating surrounding the future of Ghanaian right back, Stephen Tetteh. He is apparently about to become the focus of a £1.6 million transfer bid by SSV Ulm and the German media wants to know my reaction to such speculation. To tell you the truth, I have seen some shadowy figures lurking around our (shabby) training facilities whom have later been revealed over a few drinks down at the local to be scouts working on behalf of Ulm. They do seem to be most interested in what Tetteh does on the training pitch – Heaven knows they’ve had no chance to see him in action this season because I haven’t played him so far this season! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG] If he was an EU national I think I’d play him every game, but that lack of a passport, forged or otherwise, is holding his career back at Cartagonova and I fear that he may have to move on to find regular football. I decide to confirm with the press that I would certainly give due consideration to an offer in the speculated region for the defender.<P>22nd of February 2005<P>They are a demanding set of fans who support Deportivo La Coruña as the chairman, citing their ‘overwhelming pressure’, sacks manager Señor Miguel Casquero just months after he turned around a crippling financial situation and simultaneously guided the club to third in the league. But lying eleventh in the division after half-way with little evidence of a turnaround in the club’s fortunes motivated the fans to produce the white handkerchiefs and the manager was soon shown the door. It could so easily have been me, because you may remember that I was offered the job at Deportivo at the beginning of last season. But I turned it down, thankfully!<P>Fernando Couto may have played recently, but his agent is still busy looking for the exit door out of Cartagonova. Today he releases to the public what I consider to be private details of negotiations between Villarreal, Alavés and myself, and throws in for good measure a fabrication about Braga being interested in the Portuguese midfielder. I confirm the rumour, but there is nobody currently interested in the moaning midfielder.<P>At the ripe old age of 30, Sol Campbell finally leaves Spurs for the ‘fallen giant’ of English football, Manchester United. Manager Simon Hunt used £9.25 million of the £15.25 million generated by the sale of David Beckham to swoop on the English defender. The former Spurs captain hopes that the move to the Lancashire-based club will rekindle his England career as new English manager, Kevin Keegan, has so far ignored his claims for a recall to the national side, preferring to use Chelsea’s Gareth Southgate, Rio Ferdinand of West Ham, Jonathan Woodgate of Rangers, Sunderland’s Ugo Ehiogu and West Ham’s Ian Pearce in the middle of defence.

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23rd of February 2005<P>The scowling voice of Kenny Dalglish, once again manager of Newcastle United, brightens my morning as he offers to wire the club £525,000 but only if we consent to selling the Magpies Francisco �lvarez. Despite the fact that Cartagonova’s uniform bears some resemblence to Newcastle’s strip, I don’t particularly like any type of magpie. And that makes it much easier to reject Kenny’s offer.<P>European Champions’ League – Phase 2, Group C, Game 4: Bayer Leverkusen v Cartagonova<P>I conduct the above business from my hotel room just outside the BayArena in lovely Leverkusen. But it isn’t so lovely after the referee blows his whistle for full-time, as we’ve been comprehensively outplayed and exposed at the top club level in Europe. Time and again, Leverkusen’s forwards and midfielders punch holes through my defence, and I’m not helped by a nightmare performance by Óscar �lvarez, who completes just one tackle out of the eight he attempted in the first half. I don’t let him have another chance in the second half, but Filipescu, his replacement, doesn’t do much better. <P>In any case, the damage is done by the second half, with former Athletic Bilbao midfielder Julen Guerrero delivering the knock-out punch just seconds before the break. My players proceed to ignore my instructions in the second half and go for the flashy and flamboyant, including hopelessly executed overhead volleys which leave the crowd in stitches and me glaring daggers at the offenders, including Redondo and Esposito. Bayer Leverkusen are just more composed on the night and we slip back into third place with two games left to play.<P>Bayer Leverkusen (1-2-4-1-2): Butt; Ritter; Meißner, Nowotny (c); Gresko, Guerrero, Vranjes, Neuville (Dittrich 65); Schneider (Ramelow 54); Urzáiz (Solari 91), Galletti.<P>Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal; Lacruz, �lvarez (Filipescu 46), Wingård, Ballesteros; Gavião; Miranda (Michel 62), Rufete; Vucko; Redondo, Kokmeijer (62).<P>Final score: Bayer Leverkusen 1:0 Cartagonova
MoM – Julen Guerrero

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In the other group match, unlucky Besiktas still remains without a point in the second phase as Parma held out for a 5-4 finish at the Tardini stadium. Stephen Appiah put the Italian club in the lead early, while Catanha extended it to 2-0 on 57 minutes. But Münch pulled a goal back for Besiktas within 40 seconds and they levelled on 72 minutes through Nihat. But Parma restored its lead a minute later when the Spanish international striker Catanha added his second of the game. Yet Münch scored his second goal to make it 3-3 apiece. Two goals in the space of five minutes seemed set to seal Parma’s victory – both scored by Catanha to give him four for the game – but the Italian fans were made to sweat when Nihat scored again in injury time. But the gallant Turks ran out of time, and Parma was mightily relieved to take all three points.<P>The Italian club is three points clear of Leverkusen and only needs a point to ensure qualification for the knock-out stage. Leverkusen is a point clear of Cartagonova, while Besiktas remains rooted to the bottom with no points at all. Parma hosts Leverkusen while Cartagonova braves the cauldron of Turkish football in the next round.<P>25th of February 2005<P>In a replay of last season’s Copa del Rey quarter-final stage, we travel to Oviedo to play Real Oviedo in the first leg of the semi-final.<P>26th of February 2005<P>Mallorca is the next club to enter the competition to throw money at me for Francisco Ã�lvarez as Señor Juande Ramos offers £650,000 for the defensive midfielder. But I’m still not interested.<P>27th of February 2005<P>Primera Liga – Game 25: Cartagonova v Sporting Gijón<P>I decide to drop a couple of players this afternoon as I’ve finally grown tired of their poor performances. That means there are no spots for Paulo Miranda and Óscar Ã�lvarez, and it allows George Clegg and Kew Jaliens to return to the first eleven. And it is Clegg who opens the scoring on 10 minutes when he capitalises on some good work by Jaliens and Vucko to tuck home another goal! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG] Then 16 minutes later, he picks up Ballesteros’ free kick before finding Redondo with a lofted cross. The sharpshooter aims a header towards the top corner and to all our satisfaction, it sails over the finger-tips of Bizzarri and into the net! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG]<P>Farinós wastes two good opportunities to bring Sporting Gijón back into the match, and at the break I caution the defence that they should fall into complacency just because we enjoy a two-goal buffer. But in the second half, we have great difficulty lifting out of first gear and Sporting Gijón control most of the play. But for some superb marshalling of the defence by Gavião and some great keeping by Vidal, we could have conceded a goal and I think that at least one goal would have been a fair reflection of Sporting Gijón’s level of control of the play in the second half. But they can’t find the back of the net and we run out 2-0 winners!<P>Cartagonova (4-3-1-2): Vidal (c); Lacruz, Ballesteros, WingÃ¥rd (Ã�lvarez 77), Jaliens; Michel, Gavião, Vucko; Clegg; Redondo, Kokmeijer.<P>Sporting Gijón (5-2-1-2): Bizzarri; Quique MartÃ*n (Calvo 82), Sergio, Damiani, Otero, Ettien; Barselleta (c), MartÃ*n Rivas; Farinós; Rubén, Madsen.<P>Final score: Cartagonova 2:0 Sporting Gijón
MoM – George Clegg

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Around the Leagues<P>Starting with the English Premier League, Arsenal leads the way with ten matches to play. It enjoys a narrow one point lead over Bolton Wanderers, with Newcastle United a further point behind. Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland are the leading candidates to drop to the Nationwide league. Portsmouth and Everton fill the automatic promotion places in the first division.<P>In Italy, the chase for the Scudetto sees Fiorentina and Parma jousting for top spot. Fiorentina leads Parma by a point after 23 matches, while Roma needs to string some wins together if it wants to close that 4 point gap to Parma. But a lot of interest is in whether manager, Signor Oscar Ruggeri, can avoid relegating AC Milan. Along with Salernitana, Vicenza and Verona, AC Milan is seven points behind Venezia and needs to put some wins on the board. In Serie B, Foggia and Napoli are locked together on 50 points, five clear of Bologna and Cosenza.<P>Across in Spain, Barcelona has led for most of the season, but it has difficulty escaping the attentions of Valencia, Cartagonova and Espanyol. For a long time, Barcelona has had only a one point lead over its closest rivals. It is set to meet Cartagonova in Cartagena in a fortnight, which could be a make-or-break game for both clubs in their bid for the title. Espanyol, despite dropping two points last weekend, still remains in the hunt for title glory, while Sporting Gijón and Celta Vigo are beginning to fall off the pace. At the bottom of the ladder, Osasuna, Atlético Madrid and Real Sociedad have a lot of work to do if they are to avoid relegation. In the Segunda Liga, Real Vallodolid, Tenerife and Rayo Vallecano lead the charge towards promotion.<P><P>Finally to Portugal now, and MarÃ*timo leads Vitoria Guimarães by three points, but the latter club has a game in hand over the leader. Rio Ave and Sporting Lisbon are the clubs with the biggest chance of reeling in the top two, while Estrela da Amadora, Académica and Naval have a lot of work to do in order to avoid relegation. Belenenses, Gil Vicente and Beira-Mar lead the way towards promotion from the Second League.<P>Keep smiling! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG]
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Back in Spain once again!<P>Primera Liga – Game 26: Real Madrid v Cartagonova<P>A visit to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium is always a daunting prospect, despite the fact that Real Madrid is surprisingly struggling to kick-start its season as it is in a lowly ninth position. But Redondo gives us a flying start on 4 minutes when he volleys Vucko’s cross over his left shoulder into the top corner! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="smile[/IMG] A spectacular finish for the striker who is sky-high in confidence. But our defence is pierced all too easily by Fernando Morientes who collects Vivar Dorado’s long pass before crashing it between Vidal’s legs. Real Madrid, having learned the early lesson of giving Redondo too much time and space, shackles my strikers all too well and concentrate upon taking the lead. They’re given the opportunity by Gavião’s foul on Stankovic, and the little Brazilian wizard Ronaldinho easily converts from 25 yards. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif" alt="mad[/IMG] Kokmeijer hits the bar when earlier in the season he would have scored, but apart from that, there’s little to illuminate the rest of the half for Cartagonova supporters.<P>I’m not happy in the dressing rooms, particularly with the defence, as we’ve been too easily cut apart by Real Madrid’s skilful forwards. If we could tighten up, then we could start distributing the ball towards our strikers, but unless we get the back-line right, there’ll be hell to pay come this evening. Michel could have equalised on 54 minutes, but his header from Clegg’s cross goes terribly wide. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif" alt="frown[/IMG] Ronaldinho should have settled the affair in Real Madrid’s favour, but Vidal manages to get behind his strong shot, while a few minutes later, he needs to deny Stankovic the opportunity to score. Redondo is our best bet to score, but apart from his early goal, he’s left his shooting boots behind in the bus because his shots continue to spray all around the net, not inside it! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif" alt="mad[/IMG] But just when I think the points are lost, Redondo finds Esposito, and the Italian launches a rocket from more than 30 yards which flies unhindered into the top corner! [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG]<P>Real Madrid (3-4-1-2): Casillas; Grillito, Iván Helguera, Bornes; Munitis, Stankovic, Simeone, Vivar Dorado; Olivera; Ronaldinho (c), Morientes.<P>Cartagonova (4-1-2-1-2): Vidal (c); Lacruz (Livermore 88), Ballesteros, Wingård, Jaliens; Gavião; Michel, Vucko; Clegg (Morán 69); Redondo, Kokmeijer (Esposito 69).<P>Final score: Real Madrid 2:2 Cartagonova
MoM – JoaquÃ*n Bornes