Without Guti, Figo, Zidane, Raúl and Roberto Carlos, Real Madrid managed to get a point from their visit to Villarreal. It was a match notable for the cold and rain, and which offered no clear opportunities. Even though it was the locals who had the better options. With the draw, the distance from Barcelona stands at nine points. After thirteen matches, the yellows remain without a win over the capital´s team. Without wasting time, the Whites will be training on Monday, thinking about the momentous match against Rome.


With Rome on the horizon, Real Madrid had to win at Villarreal to stop Barcelona escaping even more. García Remón recomposed his team due to the various absences and recorveries. Roberto Carlos and Raúl started the game on the bench, while Guti, Figo and Zidane weren´t even at the meeting. Pavón and Samuel formed the defensive axis, with Raúl Bravo coming in from the left. In midfield, Solari and Beckham on the wings with Celades and Helguera. And in attack, Owen and Ronaldo. A very novel eleven, designed for one objective: the three points.
Nobody dominates
The rain which appeared moments before the clash made the grass very fast. Riquelme and Cazorla took control of the ball in the opening moments, but not with much conviction. Figueroa, who was making his debut, moved dangerously between the lines, but no opportunities came up, and Casillas could breathe easily. Neither were there many frights in Reina´s area. Only Ronaldo, who missed a clear opportunity, (20th minute), woke things up from their lethargy with long shots. The evening was uncomfortable for playing, but they had to get the three points.


Villarreal timidly tried to get a hold on the game, but their domination died on the edge of the area, where Samuel and Pavón formed an unpassable pair. And so came the halftime, with the only fright being a shot from Beckham to the crossbar from a direct free kick. But history didn´t alter itself after the interval.. neither the Yellows nor the Whites managed to get comfortable in attack. Nevertheless, thanks to the tiredness, there were more and more gaps in the local´s defense. But the first fright of the second half came at Iker´s goal, with a corner which Arruabarrena didn´t make the most of.
Morientes and Javi García
García Remón was still trying to get his teeth into Villarreal. His deliberations modifed the eleven with twenty five minutes to go. Morientes came on for Ronaldo, while Javi García replaced Beckham. The Castillans had managed to get possession of the ball, but Casillas always appeared to destroy their dreams. Pellegrini answered back with the entry of the Uruguayan Forlán instead of the intermittent Guayre.


The inertia of the game started to change when there was a quarter of an hour left, Villareal was suffering from their European effort and Madrid was more at ease. The biggest problem was that there were no opportunities on the goal. What happened was the most disputed decision of the game, an annulled goal from Forlán due to the out of play. The performance warmed up the temperature of the final stretch, which showed a new technical modification. García Remón was seeing how his team was suffering because of the pair of Forlán-Figueroa and bet on three central players with the entry of Mejía substituting for Solari.
The scoreboard didn´t move and Real Madrid is nine points behind Barcelona. Now, leaving the League untill next Sunday, where they will welcome Real Sociedad, Madrid must focus their strengths on the crucial game with Olympic of Rome. Against Totti´s team, García Remón will be able to line up his luxury eleven.
STATISTICS:
0 – VILLARREAL: Reina; Arruabarrena, Quique Álvarez, Gonzalo, Javi Venta; Cazorla (Héctor Font 72´), Sorín, Riquelme, Josico (Peña 88th minute); Guayre (Forlán 66th minute) and Figueroa.
0 – REAL MADRID: Casillas; Salgado, Pavón, Samuel, Raúl Bravo; Celades, Helguera, Solari (Mejía 80´), Beckham (Javi García 65th minute); Owen and Ronaldo (Morientes 65th minute).
REFEREE: Mejuto González (Asturias Committee). Booked; Salgado (30th minute), Samuel (36th minute), Gonzalo (41th minute), Celades (47th minute)
OTHER FACTS: 14th day of the Nacional League. Game played in El Madrigal Stadium, in front of 20.000 spectators. Iker Casillas, due to the absence of Raúl, Guti and Roberto Carlos,carried the captain bracelet. Pablo Herrera, silver-medal in the last Olympic games of Athens in Volley-Beach, received a hommage in the prologue of the game.