Barca and Madrid win

Things remain the same at the top with Barca beating Getafe away and Madrid winning at Recreativo. The Madrid comic, Marca, said last week that Barcelona will win the league because the referees are on their side. Some decisions went Barca's way in their last home match and this lead to the Marca headline: "Champions by Decree?". Poor Real Madrid, they never get the decisions, especially at the Bernabéu.

It's still six points between them after the weekend matches. Well, it's really seven if you take goal difference into account. The game at the Bernabéu is going to be absolutely sensational. I don't really like that word it's Andy Gray territory, but what else can I say? Sensational, Richard.

Malaga 0 Real Madrid 1

This was painful. I watched the first half and thought: this is one of the poorest visiting sides I've seen this year. I really couldn't see a goal coming: from either side. Duda got into some decent positions for Malaga in the first half but his delivery wasn't up to snuff, while Real Madrid huffed and puffed. Higuain broke the deadlock with a very good run five minutes into the second half, but he really shouldn't have been allowed to progress so far: smarter defenders would've got a "professional foul" in at the start of the run. To add insult to injury, Eliseu was fouled at the start of the move. Ah well. The goal changed the game and Madrid had more room to attack a Malaga side obliged to open-up and could have scored a couple more. They are, however, a terrible team to watch and it's amazing they are within six points of Barcelona. It would be a sad day for football if they somehow manage to win this league.

The FIFA "Virus."

I love this expression. It's the name given by the Spanish media to the problem of La Liga's big stars going away on International duty and coming back injured, or tired, or in Lionel Messi's case, utterly demoralised. Oddly, the expression is hardly ever used with respect to Spanish players on international duty...

Real Madrid's Marcelo will miss the Malaga game. 1-0 to the virus. Hurray!
Arjen "Man of Steel" Robben is doubtful, but whether this is due to the "virus" is a moot point. Maybe he got a paper cut or something.

Barcelona are away, too, against Valladolid. I would be surprised if Messi starts and Guardiola will probably rest players with the Champions League match against Bayern Munich in mind. At least Real Madrid only have to worry about the "virus" as they are allergic to the Champions League. Did you see what I did there?

So, two potential away day banana skins for the top two and a virus to contend with.
I'll be at the Malaga game, let's hope we can at least take a point from it.

Calderón to run against Florentino

Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the television, the biggest mouth in Spanish football is back and he's going to run against Florentino Peréz in the forthcoming elections. He hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of winning - I reckon even Alex Ferguson would stand a better chance - but that's not the point: he wants to put his side of the story to the Madrid fans and Spain at large, and sees an electoral campaign as a great means of doing this. Or it could just be out of spite. He's great fun is Don Ramón, this campaign will be a good laugh.

Cruyff: Florentino knows nothing about football

Florentino Peréz is going to make everything better. This is the opinion of the Madrid press and the vast majority of their fans. Everyone has forgotten about the disasterous final years of his "Galactico" project and the ridiculous quotes:"Claude Makelele only ever passes the ball 3 metres." After he won it back, Florentino, after he won it back.

In any case, Johan Cruyff is not impressed with the construction magnate's credentials.

"I don't understand the construction industry and Florentino doesn't understand football."

Malaga will unveil new strip against Real Madrid

The club will unveil a new strip, which is an homage to the old C.D Malaga one, in the next home match against Real Madrid. C.D Malaga beat Real Madrid 6-2 in the 83/84 season.

I'm worried about the Madrid game. Against Sevilla, Malaga were lucky to get a draw as they were completely outplayed and showed a lack of urgency in closing down the opposition. The less said about the Barcelona game the better. Hopefully they'll "be up" for Madrid.

Ronaldo. No, not the fat one.

According to As, quoting the bloody Daily Mail -you couldn't make it up-, Ronaldo is getting "no protection" from the referees in England. As believes this is the "reality" and "at the same time the perfect excuse to leave Manchester United for Real Madrid."

I don't like Ronaldo. He's too much of a whinger, and what about that pained expression when things go wrong? Eminently slappable. There's no doubting his ability, though. He's fast, can play anywhere across the front, can initiate attacks from deep, is dangerous from set-pieces and is a great header of the ball. Real Madrid is supposedly his "dream move", but things aren't exactly dreamy at Madrid. They're out of the Champions League and although they're only six points behind Barcelona in the league, their football is stone age stuff compared to the leaders. Florentino will be back at the Bernebéu and promises a shake-up, but has he learned from his past errors? Be careful what you wish for, Cristiano.

Malaga to reduce ticket prices for Madrid visit

The club has announced that it will reduce prices by 40% for the match against Real Madrid on the 5th of April. Season ticket holders have the opportunity to buy 2 tickets before they go on general sale. The club say they are doing it as a gesture of goodwill in these dificult times, citing the effect of the economic crisis on many families. On the surface it seems a pretty decent gesture, but some fans see it as an opportunity for the many Madrid supporters in the Malaga area to see their heroes on the cheap, although the club will say that the offer of two tickets to season ticket holders will curb the Madrid presence. That's if the tickets go to Malaga fans. I've already been asked for tickets by some Madrid followers. A friend of mine was moaning about it. "Let those Madrid cunts pay to watch." He has a point. However, it's a fine line. Almeria raised their prices so much for the visit of Barcelona last Sunday that only 9,000 fans turned up: even season ticket holders had to buy their seats. I watched that match on the television when I got back from La Roselada on Sunday and it had all the atmosphere of a pre-season run-out.

Florentino checking out the vibe

Florentino Pérez is carrying out a telephone survey to gauge the opinion of Real Madrid socios.

One of the questions is: Do you think Florentino has learned from his mistakes? In a poll on Marca's website, 79% of those who responded certainly think so.

Will Florentino deliver on his promises? 91% think so.

In today's editorial in As, Alfredo Relaño stated that Madrid need Florentino.

Love him or hate him, we're going to be hearing a lot more about him in the coming weeks. And months.