Madrid - There was both disappointment and delight in the
Spanish spring air on Wednesday, as a result of the contrasting
Champions League performances of Real Madrid and Villarreal.
Real were slaughtered 4-0 by Liverpool on Tuesday in an
embarrassingly one-sided round of 16 clash, and crashed out of the
competition on a 5-0 agggregate.
Villarreal, by contrast, defiantly won 2-1 at Greek side
Panathinaikos to go through 3-2 from both games.
Real's Anfield meltdown was front-page news in practically every
Spanish newspaper on Wednesday.
As expected, Catalan papers Mundo Deportivo and Sport appeared
pleased with Liverpool's triumph, and gave almost as much coverage to
Real's humiliation as to Barcelona's match with Olympique Lyon
scheduled for Wednesday night.
Catalan television channel TV-3 on Tuesday night compared Real's
defeat to the 5-0 slaughter the whites suffered against the AC Milan
side of Ruud Gullit and Marco Van Basten in 1989.
The Madrid sports dailies AS and Marca were, understandably,
disappointed with Real's lack of resistance in Anfield.
Marca reminded its readers that Real have not got beyond the round
of 16 since 2004. The daily said goalkeeper Iker Casillas was the
only Madrid player who did not let his club down in Anfield.
Marca's radio station said that 'were it not for Casillas, Real
might have conceded seven or eight goals.'
AS editor Alfredo Relano, for his part, said that Real's problems
are due to having had five presidents and seven coaches, plus umpteen
sporting directors, in the past five years.
Relano mentioned Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez as a possible future
coach for Real. Benitez, born in Madrid and a Real junior player, has
never concealed his desire to coach the whites one day.
The two men in the eye of the storm, according to the Madrid
media, are interim president Vicente Boluda and sporting director
Pedja Mijatovic.
Online polls have shown that most 'madridista' fans would like to
see the back of both men. Marca said that Boluda, who took over from
the disgraced Ramon Calderon in January, could be ousted at a likely
stormy March 29 general assembly.
Villarreal, meanwhile, received plenty of praise for their heroics
in Greece.
AS named them 'the pride of the nation' and said that coach
'Manuel Pellegrini continues to make history with his Villarreal.'
Marca was impressed with how Villarreal managed to triumph 'in the
Greek inferno.'
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