Madrid hits full speed

An exhilarating performance which left Madrid so breathless they could barely manage a sigh of relief at the end of this high octane performance, enabled Real to overcome a spirited but injury plagued Espanol 5-1 in the Bernabeu.

Real played with style and panache from the opening minutes as they took the game to Espanol with a first class attacking display. It was a night when Del Bosque’s men lived up to expectations and quashed the critical tones of the Spanish media. Prior to the match much had been mentioned of Zidane struggling to fit into the team’s system. Yet the Frenchman was incandescent, as he caressed the ball as Romeo would the cheek of Juliet, to prove the doubters wrong by delivering his most accomplished performance to date.

It was the French maestro who opened the scoring after just four minutes as he rifled home a low right-footed drive. Brazilian wing-back Roberto Carlos doubled the advantage before Luis Figo got in on the act, with a third inside twenty minutes to overwhelm the visitors. The hosts could have had a hatful more if it wasn’t for the superb agility of Espanyol goalkeeper Agrenso, in a totally one –sided first half performance.

Espanyol came out guns blazing in the second half and within a minute reduced the deficit through De Lucas, but it proved to be a brief respite as a Real team eschewing supreme confidence, soon laid siege to the Espanyol goal. Spanish international Raul ended his goal drought to restore the three-goal lead on 58 minutes, before England’s Steve McManaman rounded off the scoring with a fifth goal in the 78th minute.

Elsewhere Barcelona were less robust in their approach than Real but the Catalan giants secured all three points at the expense of Tenerife. New signing Geovanni opened the scoring after 34 minutes and that’s how the score line remained until the death. The Argentine wonder-kid, Javier Saviola who’s hailed as the next ‘Maradona’ scored the decisive second in stoppage time.

In other Primera Liga action, Deportivo La Coruna again suggested their title aspirations to defeat last year’s UEFA Cup finalists Alaves 3-2, Amavisca scored a brace for Deportivo and Sergio added a third on 87 minutes. Llorens and Coloccini bagged Alaves goals. Meanwhile Villareal caused somewhat of a stir by inflicting a defeat on John Toshack’s Real Sociadad 1-0, thanks to an 85th minute Martin Palermo finish.