This weekend provided a delightful dish of plump pro soccer treats on both sides of the channel, as Real Madrid fell behind Barcelona, and, in England, the Scouser free fall continued. A picture says a thousand words, but surely a few hundred words, carefully selected and organized, should suffice….
In Iberia…
What can I say about Cristiano Ronaldo which is not best expressed by a series of sentences that increase and then decrease in length according to a complex algorithm?
Cristiano.
Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo plays soccer.
Cristiano Ronaldo currently plays midfield for Real Madrid.
Crisitano did not play.
Sevilla won.
Umppf.
As for the Azulgrana, no such logarithm is necessary. Leo Messi impressed early, and while Zlatan failed to score for the first time this season in La Liga, Pedrito blasted home the only goal of the game.
While Almeria showed signs of life, the twin tandem of Sergio Busquest and back-from-injury Andres Iniesta commanded the midfield, doing the dirty work as Xavi conducted the offense. Although for the ever demanding Catalans, this performance was not worthy of a standing ovation. But perhaps a yawn and a furtive glance.
In Ye Old England…
Chelsea recovered from the Wigan misstep to batter the spineless, gelatinous Scousers in a 2 goal victory. But two surprises stand out: first, Kalou scored a goal. Secondly, Ballack and Drogba took a break from complaining about free kicks to hug. If such embraces continue, this could spell trouble for the rest of the EPL. Only time will tell if this is true love or a fleeting mancrush….
At Old Trafford, Manchester United failed to squeeze three points out of a determined Sunderland side. The good news is that Berbatov finally scored a goal and can breathe a sigh of relief for at least 72 hours. The bad news is that, but for a red card and an own goal, things looked dismal. Nani appeared distinerested, Welbeck inexperienced, and John Oshea proved that, contrary to the stories your mother read you, the hare torches and torments the tortoise. Repeatedly.
At the Emirates, the Gunners continued to leak early goals, but the premature fright aside, absolutely devoured Blackburn. Vermaelen continued his impressive scoring start, but the strikers absolutely decided to play today. Van Persie, Arshavin, Walcotta, Bentdner, only Monseur Wenger himself failed to get on the scoresheet.
Cesc Fabregas was the man of the match, teaching Sharon Stone a thing or two about ice picks with his passing regularly carving up the backline as if it were Michael Douglas back.