Saturday was a ridiculously busy day for me. I woke up early and met some teammates on my 30+ team for a little pre-season workout. Then it was home for a quick shower before taking my son to a Cub Scout activity. AFter that I dropped him off at his friend's house so I could head to the bar to watch the FA Cup semi between United and City.
Not too much to the game. Take away Berba's back to back chances, the first half was pretty stale. City were very muted and United could not take advantage. The second half had more incident, but not too exciting, and these moments favored City. Carrick undid his great performances against Chelsea in the Champions League with a turnover that led to Yaya's goal. The back and forth between the teams was suddenly interrupted by Scholes' ridiculous challenge on Zabaletya. Never the greatest tackler, his loss of a half a step created a red card circumstance. United bravely tried to rally but never found the equalizer. So City finally have a chance for silverware. God help them if they blow it Arsenal style against Stoke. The game wasn't that great. Pretty boring to be honest. Just showed that United missed Rooney more than City missed Tevez.
Then it was back home to clean for my poker party before going back to the bar for el clasico. No one could expect another 5-0 thrashing and that was far from the outcome. Real Madrid were much more organized, putting more pressure on the FCB players and fouling them at every opportunity. The addition of Pepe to the center of midfield was a major tactical shift, as he harried any Barca player who entered the space between the circles. I'm a little surprised Mou used it in this match. I would have thought he would have saved it and maybe used that wrinkle to steal the Cup or the Champions League semi.
Messi's PK was not the defining moment I had hoped for as Casillas almost got there. Then CR7 finally got on the el clasico scoresheet from a PK, the result of Alves getting caught out. So Real's title chances are officially dashed as the Copa del Rey looms tomorrow. My guess is that Real will somehow win. It will give them a piece of silverward and set everything up for the epic Champions League semi.
Rarely do rivalry games live up to the hype. Saturday was no exception. But my poker party went well and I cleaned up. I guess drinking all day and not caring is my new strategy.
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