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Cristiano Ronaldo Fan Club

Cristiano Ronaldo Fan Club
Cristiano Ronaldo Fan Club
Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese football player who currently plays for Real Madrid. He plays as a left or right winger and is one of the highest rated football stars in the world.He is also an important player in the Portuguese National team.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Real Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo says team is unfazed by Malaga draw

Photo by Javier Soriano, AFP/Getty Images


Call it a small blip on an otherwise stellar record this season.

Whichever way you look at it, Real Madrid are not allowing themselves to be fazed by a 1-1 draw with fifth-place Andalusian squad Malaga, who scored the equalizer last Sunday.

Karim Benzema had put Los Blancos up 1-0 on a header in the 35th minute, and the lead lasted for most of the game until Malaga’s Santi Cazorla put his team up on the board with only a couple of minutes remaining, his goal coming on a penalty kick in the second minute of extra time.

 Real Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo says team is unfazed by Malaga draw

And despite the disappointing result, which allows rivals FC Barcelona to catch up to them just a little bit in the race for the La Liga title, Real Madrid are not letting the draw get to them ahead of a match with Villarreal on Wednesday.

“We still have an eight-point lead and there’s nothing to worry about because the league is far from over,” Ronaldo was quoted saying on Goal.com.

“Malaga are a good side, hard to play against, but we didn’t expect this result. That’s football for you.”

 Real Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo says team is unfazed by Malaga draw

Madrid still have some difficult games ahead of them, with matches against Athletic Bilbao, Valencia and city rivals Atletico Madrid still in the offering.

But what this draw oughtn’t do is give Barcelona fans much confidence about their team’s chances in the league race.

Yes, Barcelona beat Sevilla 2-0 over the weekend to put them within eight points of the La Liga title, but manager Pep Guardiola has made patently clear that La Blaugrana are unlikely to catch up to Real Madrid and win the title.

What that suggests is that Guardiola doesn’t want any focus on the league title, and tha the wants his team to focus completely on chasing after the Champions Leaguetitle, which along with a Copa del Rey title could be the only things to salvage what has been a successful, yet underwhelming season if only because of some terrible losses against inferior opponents.

As it stands, Real Madrid and Barcelona could be set up for yet another climactic clash in the Champions League. Currently Real Madrid are up against APOEL and Barcelona against AC Milan, two matchups that would seem to conspire against La Blaugrana’s chances of advancing.

But Barcelona stand at least as good a chance of advancing as AC Milan do. Getting past the Italian side will mean they could face Real Madrid later in the competition, for what would be the climax of the 2011-2012 El Clasico. The teams have already met in the Copa del Rey tournament but a meeting in the Champions League would cap off what has become a fever pitch of a season for both clubs.

They have fought, they have grinded, they have done everything they can to beat each other, and until the last time they met it looked like Barcelona would find its way to another perfect record against Los Blancos. But nothing else would matter if they met up in the Champs’ League, a tournament that determines for good and all who’s the best team in European soccer.

The league may be Real Madrid’s, but the final battle between these titanic clubs has yet to be decided.

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