Butterfingers

Zurich 2-5 Real Madrid

The scoreline makes for good reading. CR9 scoring twice also does, as the Champions League finally got kicked off. Don't forget, this is the Champions League that by rights Real Madrid will win this year because of a) the money the club has spent and b) the fact that the final will be played at the Bernabéu.

Despite the team showing no real signs of being just that - a team - so far this season, they are already hyped as potential winners of the tournament. Spending over 200 million euros also helps to add expectation mind.

The win in Switzerland ended up being a fairly comfortable one, except for three aspects that warrant the blog headline.

Firstly, conceding two goals in a two minutes to make it 2-3. It will surprise nobody that the defence still needs work, and Pepe shows that he hasn't played since stampgate on Casquero.

Secondly, if it wasn't for disgraceful handling by the keeper, it would never have been 4-2. CR9's freekick had all the power and none of the swerve - as the recipe demands his shots from deadball situations should be - but the Zurich keeper (whose name has been instantly forgotten) was atrocious.

And thirdly, yellow cards. It was a simple game. The blancos were 3-0 up by half time. Why the need for Kaká, Guti, Gago and Lass to be booked? If it goes down to the wire for group qualification (anythings possible) and players are ruled out after picking up meaningless yellow cards, who is to blame?

Anyway, so far so good, CR9 settling in nicely, Higuaín got a morale-boosting goal and somehow Raúl and Guti still score goals.

7 + 9 + 10 = 3-2

Real Madrid 3-2 Deportivo

5 goals, three points, plenty of room for improvement... Madrid may not have wowed the world with their win over Deportivo, but for now its so far so good.

Could the season have started any other way? CR9 and Kaká make their Real Madrid full debuts, while the back line was made up of three new arrivals, the midfield has another and up front is yet one more. 7 new faces in total in the side, but it was the 'Eternal 7', the 'Great Captain', yes Raúl Mr. Real Madrid González Blanco, who hit the club's first goal of the season.

Had Benzema gone for precision rather than power, perhaps the goal would have been his, but the shot bounced to Raúl to tap in. Classic Raúl - both because of the nature of the goal itself, but also the timing. First goal of the season. First statement from Raúl that it doesn't matter who the club bring in he's going nowhere (if he has anything to do with it).

Arsene Wenger recently said that any three new signings in the preseason at a club means that it will take time for the side to find its rhythm. And that's assuming you keep the same coach... It is to be expected, then that it wasn't exactly 5 star Real Madrid on day one of the season, but the relief of being back to competitive football is enough to satisfy this particular blogger after the interminable summer

Cristiano scored a well-taken penalty, giving a confidence boost to perhaps the last person on the planet who needs one of those, but the pressure on the Portuguese man's shoulders was immediately eased - just imagine how the press would react if he didn't score for the first month...

As it was, it was neither CR9 nor Kaká nor Benzema who proved to be the match winner. Lass popped up on the edge of the box on the hour mark to drop a shoulder, beat his man, and fire in the third from 20 yards. Perhaps giving him the number 10 shirt wasn't such a bad idea after all.

At least Batman's staying

Everyone complains about your lack of consistency. Injuries are plaguing your career. Your club want to sell you, and the Turks Galatasary are chasing your signature. Your hair is falling out so fast there is nowhere for the hairline to recede further back to... Hold on, this sounds like yesterday's blog.

Indeed. Different day, different balding Dutchman to leave Real Madrid.

Yesterday it was Wesley Sneijder, who signed for Inter. Today, Arjen Robben leaves for Bayern Munich.

That's right, so now instead of it being Real Madrid who have two of the most talented wingers in the world, now its Bayern, because the blancos have sold them one half of the duo. After all the summer's war of words, Bayern turn out to be the buyers in this partnership rather than the sellers.

Sure, there's already talk of the deal paving the way for Scarface to join next season, but that's neither here nor there right now.

Sure, the club needed to sell to bring back some of the outlay on CR9, Kaká and company.

And sure, Robben gets injured a hell of a lot.

Oh, and 25 million for a player who sits out much of the season isn't too bad.

All the same, it comes back to the same conclusion as yesterday. Come March, crunch game, Pellegrini needs to change things around. He looks around for options. No Sneijder, no Robben, just a sulking Van der Vaart.

Wes the sense in that?

Your golden spell at the club feels like it was years ago. Your hair isn't so much thinning as positively leaving no more space whatsoever for it to recede to. Your club decide to take the number 10 off you. Aston Villa are after you. Your Ex rinsed you for 6 million euros in the courts. Times are not the best. For Wesley Sneijder, you'd think it's all over.

Not so.

The Italian champions, Inter, have decided that at the age of 25, Wes has still got a lot to give. At the price of 15 million euros, they have yes grazie. Having bought him in the first place for 27 million, The Real Liga says this is more shocking business by Calder... sorry, Real Madrid. Florentino apparently doesn't do bad business after all...

So maybe you do have to go back 18 months to find the real Wesley Sneijder, the one that pulled the strings, hit in delicate freekicks for fun and terrorized La Liga rearguards at will. Maybe he has had a real dip in form over the past year and a bit, but then it was only really Higuaín who excelled last year. Nobody else got out alive.

As the saying goes, when the sea rises all the boats go up with it. The influx of Kaká, CR9, Benzema, Xabi with a B will improve everybody around them. The Real Liga is trying to keep the preseason blogging to a minimum because there is only so much speculation that cyberspace can deal with, but selling Sneijder forced us into action.

As one poster said on AS.com, 'what happens if Kaká gets injured and is out for 6 months?' That's actually paraphrasing the comment because it was really quite rude, but you get the idea. Another was more succinct. 'Adiós décima.'

Maybe Champions League victory never was going to hang on Sneijder's form, but when Pellegrini looks around for ideas in March and sees Van der Vaart in a huff, perhaps he'll think he sold the wrong Dutchman.

Taking the chance

A couple of seasons ago Real Madrid were in the US for the preseason and won in typically comfortable style. What was essentially a training session was rounded off by a nicely taken goal by Guti, yet the celebration of the third goal was closer to one you would have expected in the Madrid derby, or say the quarter finals of the Champions League. It was the celebration of a man with a point to prove.

It goes without saying that Guti missed his chance to prove a point and become one of the best midfielders of the modern era about 8 years ago. Thats by the bye.

Pipita Higuaín's celebration against DC United reminded this blogger of Guti's a few years back. It was a nicely taken goal, but the jump in the air spoke more of the need to prove a point than of the quality of the goal.

The Argentine would have felt that the club already had a talented young France-born striker on its books without needing to sign Benzema, but such is Florentino's wont. And it still looks like come matchday one it will be Raúl who leads the team out. Higuaín, again, will have to wait for his chance.

Perhaps more of a concern for the Engineer than the side's attack is the left back position. Or at least it was. At a press conference a couple of weeks ago the Chilean coach said he needed a striker, a central midfielder and a left back. Benzema came. So did Xabi with a B. But there was no Clichy. No outlandish bid for Ashley Cole. Never a chance Evra would join CR9 and also defect from Man U.

In the meantime, Operation Leave This Club was under way, and Royston Drenthe was one of the sacrificial lambs. Perhaps it was the lack of interest, or simply an epiphany, but it seems that the club has seen that he and Marcelo could be the solution to the left back quandry.

When Drenthe joined the club he tired of telling everyone he was a left winger. The club tried to say he was also a fullback. Most just said he was rubbish. The Porn Star said he needed experience. In the first two months of his career at the club, Roy played left back, central midfield, left midfield and left wing. He still says he is best going forward. But against DC United he showed he can do a job.

If he came to his senses, Drenthe would see where he is guaranteed a place in the team. If he didn't feel that he needed to prove a point - by taking players on with his skill and explosive pace - perhaps he'd have been first choice left back two years ago. The chance that Drenthe has is not the same as Higuaín. Drenthe could be first choice week-in week-out. Only if he plays his cards right. Higuaín will not have so much luck, whatever he does.

Showtime

Interesting to see that L'Equipe chose its Top Mercenaries the other day and in at the top spot came Robinho, closely followed by David Beckham. Two former Real Madrid players, both Florentino signings by the way, chastised by the French paper for their materialistic ways. Naughty. Funny that the man they all said was the worst of the lot, and Florentino's first signing, Luis Figo, also popped up this week saying that Real Madrid was the most demanding club he ever played for.

The portuguese legend needn't tell The Engineer that. Pellegrini knows only too well what's expected of him and has decided that he's clearly not up to it because the Chilean set himself up for a fall. "With this squad, we will achieve our objectives," the latest Madrid coach believes. Given that the club's objectives at the beginning of the season is always the treble, TRL thinks that Manuel is kidding us. Or himself.

Back to the issue of money, its tonight that we'll see the big name players all alongside each other. Only time will tell whether the same naming and shaming by L'Equipe will happen to the new wave of Florentino signings in the years to come. For now though, let's stick to business. Ricky and Xabi with a B will debut, CR9 will be up there, and Benzema will be leading the line against Toronto. Albiol will partner Pepe in defense, to their side will be Arbeloa, and Granero should be in there somewhere too, meaning that all the new signings will be on show. Well not Negredo, but he doesn't really count, or so The Sage seems to think. Nonetheless, it is just a friendly being played in Canada, so this particular blogger will be paying little attention to the outcome. Needless to say, if the side doesn't win 324-0 there'll be uproar.

In Operation Clear-Out, meanwhile, Fernando Gago has overtaken the whole of Holland to snuck into pole position to be the next to leave the club. Atlético are after him. The colchoneros seem to have a think about former Boca Juniors midfielders who failed to live up to their price tag. Clearly Atleti want more of the Banega solution - they want someone to dictate play from midfield. But hang on, isn't that what Madrid didn't have in the first place and is why they needed Xabi with a B? Tonight we'll find out.

Superman (who has just signed)

There still seems to be a lot of confusion about just what it is Madrid are looking for in Xabi with a B. Judging by the column inches, the price and the amount of time being invested in signing the Basque, Madrid clearly think that he will be the Saviour.

Everyone is banging on about the team needing 'an organiser,' suggesting that in Kaká, Sneijder and Guti the squad doesn't already boast three world class players who can run the show and be the side's metronome. Sure, it depends on whether Guti managed to gel down a rogue piece of fringe to his satisfaction that morning as to whether he performs, and Ricky and Wes are better slightly closer to attack than midfield, but the point remains. Just look at Brazil, who play with Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo in midfield. It's up to Kaká to dictate play.

As for where Xabi with a B would actually play - holding midfield - Pellegrini already has Diarra, Lass and Gago. None of these players distribute the ball as well as Xabi, although there is a suspicion that if Gago didn't have to chase around the pitch like a lunatic making up for other people's mistakes and played 10 yards further up the pitch he could do that.

El País point out today that ever since Makelele was sold, the club have spent 92 million euros on midfielders, and they have yet to find their man. It was a bizarre statement given that for all of the Frenchman's brilliance, that value came from the simplicity of his game. He would never dare a raking 50 yard pass like Xabi, or trying to lob the keeper from his own half. He looked for Zidane. There is no need for things to be different this year.

Perhaps in the Calderón era, a synonym for mediocrity, Xabi with a B would have been a necessity. 30 million euros is too much though, especially when this season is all about getting the ball to Kaká and CR9 as quickly as possible and let them do their thing. Even Diarra could manage that.

Apart from the lunchtime installment of the Xabi with a B soap, the rest of the transfer activity is looking better and better. Michel Salgado has rescinded the final year of his contract, given that he'd be 4th-choice right-back this term. For 7 of his 10 years with the club he was fantastic, but time has caught up with the 'hardest man in football' (copyright of Beckham). Last year it was painful and embarrassing to watch him play. The press lose a man who gives good quotes, the dressing room lose a respected compañero and a real tub thumper, but the club wins, and thats all that counts. The same goes for Gabi Heinze, who gave exactly the same impressions as Michel last season. Taking into account Cannavaro's departure, that's a lot of experience that has jumped ship. Players like Pepe and Sergio Ramos are going to have to grow out of their petulant yellow- and red-card misdemeanours to ensure the rear-guard don't mess this up for the rest of us.

Mind you, if Xabi Alonso is all that he's made out to be, the other 10 players needn't worry - he'll be winning games single-handedly.

Update - Superman Xabi with a B has officially signed for Real Madrid in a 30 million euro deal. The midfielder will earn around 4.5 million euros a year for four years. Is he the missing link? Overvalued and overrated? Your comments below...