PSG 0-1 Real Madrid. Starting 2014 with the right foot
Real Madrid and PSG agended an unusual club friendly for the beginning of 2014, with theMerengues coming on top of it to start the year in the best possible way. Jesé Rodríguez scored the only game of this match and in order to avoid any unnecessary injuries, Cristiano Ronaldo has only played the first 45 minutes.
How often do we see two top sides in Europe taking a club friendly in the first days of a new year? Not much that's for sure, but that's what happened this Thursday afternoon, as Real Madrid clashed with PSG in Doha, Qatar. Even though the result didn't matter much, it was the Spanish club who came off the pitch with more reasons to smile, after defeating the French champions by 1-0, thanks to a goal scored by the "canterano" Jesé Rodríguez. Curiously, this was the exact same score from the last match that both teams have played against each other, back in July of 2013, during these two clubs' pre-season preparation. Real Madrid will now kickoff their official 2014 agenda next Monday, as they'll host Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabéu, for another La Liga fixture.
Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in PSG vs Real Madrid
PSG 0-1 Real Madrid goals and highlights video:
All Cristiano Ronaldo actions vs PSG:
As expected, a club friendly being held at such a stage of the season brought us a lot of rotations in both teams (a lot more in Real Madrid to be more fair) and a bit of an uncharacteristic game. Ancelotti went into the game with Jesé, Cristiano Ronaldoand Morata upfront and a midfield formed by Xabi Alonso, Illarramendi and the "canterano" José Rodríguez (not to mistake with Jesé Rodríguez). At the back, Diego López was the chosen goalkeeper, who then had both Sergio Ramos and Nacho in front as centre defenders, backed by Arbeloa on the right and Casado on the left. In the other hand, PSG had picked quite a strong line-up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic,Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi all starting...
For those wondering about several Merengues players that haven't participated in this match, let's start by point out that Iker Casillas was left in Madrid due to the fact that his girlfriend, Sara Carbonero, is expecting to give birth at any moment. Gareth Balein the other hand, also didn't travel with the team to Doha because he's still recovering from an injury on his calf muscle. Both will most likely be eligible for next Monday's game against Celta de Vigo though...
No one will probably dare to argue that Real Madrid always look more dangerous when Cristiano Ronaldo is on the pitch. The Portuguese has closed last year by setting a new personal record of 69 goals scored for both club and National Team, and is certainly looking forward to improve that mark in such an important year as 2014, especially with a FIFA World Cup taking place next summer. Ronaldo has only played the first half against PSG, but it was precisely during that period that theMerengues scored the winning goal. It all started on a nicely built play from an unusual run made by Illarramendi, who then left it over to Alvaro Morata right in the center. The 21-year old forward showed off his game vision and assisting skills when he sent through a perfect weighed pass to Jesé, and his teammate finished it off to send Real Madrid to the lead.
PSG didn't change much after that opening goal and they were actually the side who got to create the best goalscoring chances throughout the rest of the game. Fortunately for Madrid, either due to the very poor aiming from many headers they've had, or simply because they got to bump into a very in-form Diego López, they failed to score the equalizer and get a positive result from Doha. They'll now focus on their commitments in the French League, where they still lead the standings 3 points ahead of AS Monaco, with half league left to be played.
Curiously and after having played already twice this season, this might not have been the last time PSG and Real Madrid have faced each other. Both sides have made it through the UEFA Champions League group stage, and even though PSG will take on Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid will lock horns with Schalke 04 on the next round, they can still meet again in the quarter-finals or even on a further stage of the competition.
Real Madrid line-up vs PSG:
Goalkeeper: Diego López
Defenders: Casado, Sergio Ramos, Nacho, Arbeloa
Midfielders: Xabi Alonso, Illarramendi, José Rodríguez
Attackers: Jesé Rodríguez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alvaro Morata.
| Match stats
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
PSG
|
vs
|
Real Madrid
|
|
0
|
Goals
|
1
|
|
-
|
Shots
|
-
|
|
-
|
Shots on goal
|
-
|
|
-
|
Corner kicks
|
-
|
|
-
|
Fouls commited
|
-
|
|
0
|
Yellow cards
|
0
|
|
0
|
Red cards
|
0
|
|
-
|
Ball possession
|
-
|
Cristiano Ronaldo next game will be in Real Madrid against PSG, in the club's first friendly game of 2014 (January 2). You can watch Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo,Barcelona vs Elche, Blackburn Rovers vs Manchester City and Arsenal vs Tottenham, all matches provided from our soccer live streaming section.
Real Madrid next game:
Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo kick-off time (06-01-2014):
Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+7: 01:00
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+1: 19:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+0: 18:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-2: 16:00
New York (United States) | GMT-5: 13:00
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-8: 10:00
Beijing (China) | GMT+8: 02:00
Sources: realmadrid.com / laparisien.fr / cuatro.com
