Smarting Real seek Copa del Rey relief
Reuters - Monday 12 December 2011, 10:41
King's Cup holders Real
Madrid travel to third-tier Ponferradina for their last-32 first
leg on Tuesday smarting from Saturday's La Liga humbling at the
hands of bitter rivals Barcelona and stung by criticism of their
top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.
Jose Mourinho's side squandered the lead and crashed to a
3-1 reverse to Barca at their Bernabeu stadium, a result that
lifted the champions back to the top of the standings on goal
difference, albeit with one more game played.
Portuguese forward Ronaldo missed two excellent chances and
fluffed a slew of free-kicks. He suffered the indignity of being
whistled by his own fans and was slammed in the normally
cheer-leading Madrid-based sports media.
The former World Player of the Year's performance again
prompted unflattering comparisons with the current holder of the
award, Barca's Argentine forward Lionel Messi, who had a
relatively quiet night by his standards but whose brilliant run
and assist created Barca's equaliser.
Roberto Palomar, a columnist in Marca sports daily, accused
Ronaldo of selfishness on Monday, saying the 26-year-old was
"obsessed" with winning a second World Player award and too
often shot at goal instead of passing to a team mate.
"The club are going to have to bribe [Ronaldo] so that he
behaves like a footballer and not like a child," Palomar wrote.
"Cristiano wants the Ballon d'Or at any cost and is so
obsessed that he thinks the only way of getting it is to play
his way," he added.
"And his way of playing is to shoot at goal whenever he gets
the ball, from any position... whether there are team mates
free or not."
NOT FAIR
Club captains Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos have rallied
behind Ronaldo, who became the world's most expensive player
when he joined Real from Manchester United for a fee of around
90 million euros at the end of the 2008/09
season.
"Here [at Real] we all win and lose together," Ramos told
reporters after Saturday's match.
"It's not fair to single out the guilty or blame the defeat
on one player," added the Spain defender.
"Cristiano is a great player and he always helps us."
Three of the Cup last-32 first legs have already been
played, all featuring top-flight teams at third-tier opponents.
Barca, who lost 1-0 to Real in last year's final, won 1-0 at
Hospitalet, Atletico Madrid were beaten 2-1 at Albacete and
Athletic Bilbao won 1-0 at Real Oviedo.
Four of Tuesday's first legs are all first-division clashes,
with Getafe hosting Malaga, Granada playing at Real Sociedad,
Racing Santander at home to Rayo Vallecano and Sporting Gijon at
Real Mallorca.
The return legs are next week.