They haven’t quite hit the heights of last season, but Madrid’s ‘trident’ were back at the weekend. Remember all the talk of the ‘trident’ last year at Madrid? The trio of Ronaldo, Higuian and Benzema and the record number of goals they scored between them? Well, on Saturday night against Mallorca the three played together and all three of them scored, bringing back memories of their amazing feats last season (116 between them in 3 competition).
Higuain and Benzema who have struggled in front of goal this season, both found the back of the net. But, El Pipita scored twice and despite the fact he was on a hat-trick, he unselfishly passed to his French team mate for Madrid’s fourth in the 5-2 win over Manzano’s men. One man who hasn’t had any trouble in front of goal at any point this season though, is Cristiano Ronaldo. He has already scored 20 goals in 2013 and 43 so far this season in all competitions. It’s too late for La Liga, but with two cups left to play for, Madrid are finally finding their best form ahead of their most crucial phase of the season.
Another positive to take from the game was the goal scored by Luka Modric. After being termed as the “Flop of the season”, with only 4 months of the campaign played, things are looking better for the Croatian play-maker. Modric has scored two great goals in less than two weeks against Manchester United and Mallorca respectively, which have allowed him to regain his confidence.
Talking to the press after the game, he said:
“I feel much more comfortable now. The game at Old Trafford helped me a lot and I now feel confident. Before things weren’t going in the direction I’d have hoped, but now it seems that they are.”
And Madrid will be hoping that the midfielder continues this way for the man that was nicknamed “Lucky Luke” by his teammates after his first game (the Spanish Supercopa second leg against Barca) finished in silverware.
Barcelona 3-1 Rayo Vallecano:
League leaders Barcelona continued their dominance in the league after a 4-0 thumping over AC Milan in the midweek Champions league clash which saw them through to the Quarter finals of the competition. A 3-1 win over Rayo re-established their 13 point lead over Real Madrid. A 25th minute opener from David Villa followed by a brace from Lionel Messi was enough to secure all 3 points at the Camp Nou.
Rayo pulled a goal back through Raul Tamudo but it was all but over for them. Messi has now scored in 18 consecutive league games but the highlight of the match was his understanding with fellow forward David Villa. Their link up play and the ability to find a pocket of space for each other was mesmerizing to watch, dispelling rumours of a rift to combine for all three of Barca’s goals.
Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid closed the gap over second placed Real Madrid with a 2-0 win over Osasuna thanks to a brace from Diego Costa. The Capital rivals are now within one point of each other.