Cristiano’s hammer blows crown Madrid winter champions

This was a game, in icy conditions, that required the patience of using the defrost setting in a microwave. When the time came, Madrid were too strong for Getafe, melting the ice as if it were a spring morning. Three goals, and a brace from Ronaldo, brought back that spring joy. Well, for now at least; Atleti are looming on the horizon, on 7 February to be precise.

Fortunately for the game as a spectacle, and unfortunately for the locals, it came to life and was sealed in the second half. Until that point, the sleet had almost replaced the early kick-off as the schoolboy excuse. Whoever thinks there is no desire to play at tough grounds and in icy conditions needs to look at the weekend exploits of footballers on show here. Getafe was a good game to watch pure vocation at work: Isco was at the heart of it, a player who still maintains that child-like will to play anyplace, anywhere. Marcelo can also be thrown in there, as can, perhaps surprisingly, the cold-blooded Benzema, who did not want to miss out. For some time now, the Frenchman has been putting in high-quality performances that inspire and pay no heed to that age-old issue of ‘scoring goals’.

Getafe, meanwhile, are a side that could play inside a fridge, no problem. They’re not concerned with the temperature; their problems come from the fact they refuse to look at the manual. They came out well organised, taking Sammir’s lead, and for half an hour took possession of the ball with aplomb, impressive, particularly against a rival such as Real Madrid. Yet tidiness and punctuality don’t always pass these tests and win games.

As the minutes ticked by, Quique’s men began losing metre after metre until they ended up inside their own area – the final step before scooping the ball out of your own net. As they say, it was just a matter of time. For the first 30 minutes Madrid’s efforts were snuffed out by the Getafe defence, with the speed of some and slowness of others coming up for discussion. The red line, distinguishing the before and after, came after 28 minutes when Benzema danced and skipped over to the by-line, squaring it back for James to hit the ball straight at the defender.

It was that point that Getafe’s umbrella just wouldn’t open, at the time, like in high winds and rain, when they needed it most. Codina was at hand to deny Isco, Benzema and Bale, and even spoiled Kroos’s party by tipping the German midfielder’s effort on to the bar. At the other end, Pedro León’s flashes on the right wing were barely enough to scoop out the water gushing in.

The second half was measured by logic. Benzema skipped over, around and under Getafe’s defences with tightrope-esque prowess, sending the ball over to Cristiano on a silver platter as the Portuguese lapped it up and stabbed in his 27^th league goal of the season. Shortly after, Bale made it two after a fine pass from James, before Cristiano bagged the third with a bullet header, also set up by the Colombian.

So Madrid won, proclaimed themselves winter champions and Cristiano retrieved that grin with a brace. It seems almost anything can be cured with a goal or two. Getafe return to normal life and their igloo: cold until you look down and see fire rising up from the bottom that starts to burn your feet.

from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/15o1xXn

via IFTTT