Real Madrid might be seven points behind Barcelona in La Liga, but Los Blancos took a huge step Wednesday night in Italy to challenge their hated Spanish rivals for the Champions League crown this year. In the first leg of their Round of 16 clash with Roma, Cristiano Ronaldo did what he does best and scored a 57th minute curler from 18 yards out to put Real Madrid ahead after a scoreless first half. Jese would add a second away goal with five minutes left in the match to earn Real a comfortable 2-0 victory; the first in Italy in over a decade. The return leg will be played in two weeks in Madrid. Real are all but through to the quarterfinals with the result in Rome.
Ronaldo goal, Jese insurance
Luka Modrić played the full 90 minutes in the win and held the midfield together as he does week in and week out. Modrić distributed the ball nicely as Real Madrid held ball possession for 61% of the match. Mateo Kovačić came off the bench for Isco in the 64th minute.
Ivan Rakitić played the full 90 minutes for Barcelona Wednesday night as they played Sporting Gijon in a make-up game from December, when Barcelona took the week off from La Liga to play the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan. Barcelona would easily dispose of Gijon 3-1 with Messi scoring twice and Suarez adding a third.
Sporting Gijon’s Alen Halilović, who is currently on loan from Barcelona, also played the full match and looked quite comfortable with the ball against his parent club. If he was putting on an audition for Barcelona to bring him back to the A-team next season, the 19 year-old has to be happy with his performance.
Halilović highlights vs. Barcelona
@ Dannyj
Jedvaj is a stud.
All defenders/wing backs need to run like horses to compliment the intelligence Modric and Rakitic bring to the middle of the pitch.
We need to express a more athletic brand of soccer to the world.
Major tournaments are for young legs.
I have had my fill of slow, old, tired and boring soccer from one of the most talented footballing nations on the planet.
Need to see Operacija Oluja this summer in France.
@Rk
Ti jebem babu, mater, i sestru u srid usta.
Are you a fag? You want to know his address? Get a life jock sniffer.
Anybody know Franko Andrijasevic’s address?
with jedvaj impressing already from this injury this kid really does seem to be the real deal
does he deserve to start in france?
Nobody cheering for Robert Muric to make it big more than me. He reminds me so much of my favorite non-Croatian player of all-time, Gheorge Hagi.
Plus him and his father both told Mamic to fuck off. Gotta respect them for that,
As nice as it would be, dont expect it any time soon. Croatia Airlines doesnt have the equipment to fly that route and no American based airline is gonna go near it. The demand just isnt there for them to make a profit. Tourism is at an all time high but more than half of the foreign tourists entering Croaita, either drive from Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, etc…or a large number arrive by cruise ship. Those numbers are deceiving. Most people, when they hear the number of tourists that visit Croatia, assume they fly there, but thats not the case.
Great news for Robert Muric.
The 19-year old is selected for the first team of Ajax in their competition game against Excelsior. Will he play his first official minutes for Ajax 1. Ajax-coach De Boer was impressed by Muric’ latest games and decided to include him into his team.
Little bird also told me that soccer tournament in San Pedro this Memorial Day. Anyone have any info or confirmation on that?
I will always fly Croatia Airlines because nobody has better looking flight attendances, period.
I mean even a small airport like Pula has the capacity to handle large aircraft (747’s).
Hoping to fly into ZAG for the first time this summer.
There is a Pearson-Zagreb non-stop flight now I want to say? You know Canadians on here can validate that, I assume.
I’m not sure who started the petition. CroatiaWeek was first to report on it.
I agree with Ziva Istina that cro airlines has been disappointing to say the least. It looks like they are starting to turn things around and lower their prices.
I’m getting a good laugh from that petition.
You know what the biggest stumbling block or reason there is for no direct flights from the USA?????? Croatia Airlines. They don’t want it.
Plus, are the runways big enough in Split and Dubrovnik to accommodate the type of planes that fly from the US to Europe? I’m guessing they should be, but no totally sure about it.
anyone else get that the link couldn’t be displayed?
Does anybody remember the old JAT direct flights? They used to do New York Zagreb and Chicago Zagreb direct.
(JAT = Jao ako tresne!)
@ Denis
Awesome link, I signed it.
There is also a movement on Facebook.
Non-stop to Croatia is imminent!
@ Svima
Forgive the optimism as it has not been since ’98 that we made a run … but …
We have 2 world class CM’s.
Solid goalie.
Core of elite euro players in their prime.
Young elite euro core.
Enough quality of depth to cut old mediocrity.
Is this shaping up to be “Operacija Oluja – 2016?”
@ mixed grill
from my understanding about real, is they’ve struggled b/c of a lack of balance. you constantly have ronaldo, benzama, bale etc pushing forward and not coming back for much in the way of defensive duties. for modric and kovacic to consistenlty push up as well would make that imbalance arguably even worse
i think modric/kovacic are serving a similar role to rakitic in barcelona. each team has a incredible trident of attackers and its the job of everyone behind them to pick up the defensive duties as a result and recycle the ball forward
Jedvaj in Europa League team of the week.
Come on, you should know better. The middle of the field is reserved for sponsors and special guests of UEFA and the federations.
This is why I suggested you will have better luck getting the seats you want with a broker.
this is rather infuriating, when i bought category 1 i was under the impression that there was a chance for the whole middle section, than i find out the the 18 is the furthest central
https://englandsupporters.thefa.com/cfs-file/__key/widgetcontainerfiles/1bf2123b75e04b72a939d6c7804aad6b-s-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-page-0eurofaqs/Stadiumimage.png_2D00_940x0cc44.png
Yea, but Kovačić doesn’t rip them on goal like Halilović does.
Kovačić has a very soft, weak shot similar to Milan Badelj. Until he learns to rip them on net after he makes his slalom runs, he will always be limited.
…although I agree that Kovacic is the one that needs to make more runs at the defense ( like his run against Iceland in the playoff game) – he from one side and Halilovic from the other will be a nightmare for opposing teams.
As it stands right now, Kovacic is trying to play too much like Modric – when, in fact, he really is at his best when he plays like Halilovic.
A petition, created by who?
Looking for a faster way to Croatia? Please sign this petition. I did.
http://www.usacroatia.com/
.
@Mixed Grill:
Marcelo is a wing back. That is what they do, especially at a high level
@ Svima
I can read posts about Modric all day!
Tell you this if he brings the goods this summer in France then he will become immortal.
@ Mixed Grill –
So, if you were coach, you would take Modric away from what he is the best player in the World at doing – pulling the strings from a deep lying midfield position – and have him attacking down the wing, taking chances, etc.
just so he can look more impressive?
Are you for real?
So sorry he bores you so much.
@mixedgrill – Modric plays anything but a “risk adverse soldier”. check out his stats for Real Madrid and you will see that his passing rate is so impressive because he plays many forward passes and passes in the attacking half. Kroos, on the otherhand, is being vilified for playing backwards too often.
When players like Sergio Ramos say that Modric is the “spine” of Real Madrid, that is all that you need to understand about his importance to the club.
Is he perfect? No. But for what he is asked to do, he is excellent.
http://m.24sata.hr/sport/mila-horvat-zahvalila-sukeru-nogomet-je-vazan-dio-mene-461766
KURVO
Jedvaj with great assist against Sporting right now.
@ Mixed Grill
Point well stated.
In fairness both Croatos for RM have distinct midfield balance and defensive duties.
They lose the ball once and the counter is on.
Plus back line for RM is not the most steady.
You put those boys forward, especially Kovacic and you will see attacking prowess. Also front three for RM demand the ball.
I am just impressed that our boys are playing in meaningful CL play-offs that demand focused intent.
France this summer is our coming party !
If Modric keep his Real playing style for the Repka we are doomed. Its boring to watch him, I must say, since he plays like a totally risk averse foot soldier. By contrast, Marcello is far more impressive, moving forward, taking chances, etc.
I hope the coach tells Modric to play freely and go for it when he plays for us.
Kovacic is starting to play in the same mold. At one point Ronaldo basically gestured for him to go forward as if he needed an invitation.
We need some players with balls if we are going to go anywhere in France.