Real Madrid C.F. - Galatasaray S.K. (Friendly) Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu

Today a match was played between the Galácticos, better know as Real Madrid C.F. versus The Lions, Galatasaray S.K. The friendly game took place in Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu stadium and the winner would win the ''Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu''.

After a exciting first half with 1-1 on the scoreboard the match ended in a 2-1 loss for Galatasaray S.K..

First half:

• 10 minutes into the game and our new transfer from Arsenal F.C. Emmanuel Eboué booms his first match with 1 assist. He smartly leaves defender Sergio Ramos behind him, dashes into the penalty area and gives a clean pass to Selcuk Inan.
• Selcuk Inan immediately shoots with his left foot and it is 0-1 for Galatasaray S.K.. Of course it would also be unfair to let Colin-Kazim Richards first cross go unnoticed.
• I think a lot of supporters have seen the importance of Servet Cetin and thanks to this match we can easily say that we need a CB for when he is injured. But I believe we can handle the Spor Toto Super Lig with the reserves!
• In the 22nd minute Servet Cetin gets a minor injury and gets subsituted with Caglar Birinci. Fatih Terim lets Hakan Balta slide in the CB position and Caglar Birinci on the LB position.

1. 20 minutes later Real Madrid gets a free kick by a foul done by Tomas Ujfalusi. Xabi Alonso takes the free kick but Caglar Birinci ''who has not played enough games to handle this level of football'' forgets to mark his man. Sergio Ramos seizes the opportunity and heads it in for the Galácticos. 1-1 for Real Madrid C.F.

• Immediately it was noticable that Tomas Ujfalusi was used to the opponent and as his previous matches he succeeds with his nice crosses! Although he did  lose the ball a few times he is still in ''the good'' category for me!

1. Minute 43 and Real Madrid's Marcelo sends a through pass, where Angel Di Maria takes it and passes between the legs of our ''snail'' Gökhan Zan to Gonzalo Higuain. Higuain tries to move behind Fernando Muslera but fails to do so thanks to Muslera's long octopus arms!

• Felipe Melo a true warrior on the field and I love to watch him! In the 45th minute right after Emmanuel Eboué's minor Injury he did a little speech to the team and got mad at our defenders. He acted as if he was wearing the Captain's band. Ohh I wish he was! 

Ofcourse there will be a few discussion about if a foreigner or a player on loan should wear the captain's band but Felipe Melo looks like a true captain and in my  humble opinion he should wear the captain's band.

Second half:

1. In minute 50 Xabi Alonso give a well timed through ball and Karim Benzema is 1 on 1 with Fernando Muslera unfortunately this time Benzema succeeds to score and its 2-1 for Real Madrid C.F.

• In the 58th minute we swith our player with Ceyhun Gulselam, Engin Baytar and Ayhan Akman.
• Minute 60, Colin-Kazim Richards moves fast on the right flank and decides to give a cross instead of passing to one of 2 players whom are completely free! The cross hit the defenders and Adan kept it safely in his hands.
• Bringing to attention that I like the link between Çağlar Birinci and Engin Baytar, but Çağlar needs to level his defensive skills and be more focused! This will be a suprising left flank this season.
• Minute 75 and Aydin Yilmaz + Emre Colak gets in the game!
• In the corner for Real Madrid C.F. on the 89th minute Ayhan Akman and Sergio Ramos have a small chat about what hair products they use.
• In the final minutes Galatasaray S.K. gets 1 more opportunity to make the draw with Çağlar Birinci doing a Tikki Takki with Elmander leaving open space for Elmander to shoot, but this time Adan stretches his arms and saves the ball from going in to the net.

Yes the match ended 2-1 could we do any better? YES definitely this match really was a good test for the team and immediately it was noticable that Sabri Sarioglu is not fit for the CM position and the Captain's band! Milan Baros looks like he lost his touch but I do not want to speak to soon as we have many matches to go! Gokhan Zan as always stares down at the ball. Hakan Balta playing simple standard LB position with litte support to the attack!

But lets not be negative we made approx, 10 new transfers this summer and this is a whole new team! Even though nothing much changed in our defence, Our midfield is one of our strongest points and attack does well also, ofcourse when playing with the right players!

Anyhow I was satisfied with the match against Real Madrid C.F. but what makes me wonder is ; If Servet Cetin did not get injured and Sabri Sarioglu was replaced by lets say Yekta Kurtulus would we then have won? That is a question which wont be answered anymore!

Im proud at Galatasaray S.K. and will always support ''this'' board, coach and players!

''HAYDI BASTIR CIMBOMUM!!!.''

Match: Real Madrid C.F. 2 – 1 Galatasaray S.K. 
Place: Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
Date: 24.08.2011 Time: 22.30

Galatasaray S.K.:
Fernando Muslera, Tomas Ujfalusi (Min.92 Semih Kaya), Gökhan Zan, Servet Çetin(Min.28 Çağlar Birinci), Hakan Balta (Min.81 Emre Çolak), Felipe Melo (Min.60 Yekta Kurtulus), Selçuk İnan (Min.61 Ayhan Akman), Emannuel Eboué (Min.60 Engin Baytar), Sabri Sarıoğlu (Min.62 Ceyhun Gulselam), Kazım Kazım (Min.75 Aydin Yilmaz), Milan Baros (Min.50 Johan Elmander) 

Real Madrid C.F.:
Adan , Sergio Ramos, Pepe(Min.49 Raul Albiol), Raphael Varane (Min.49 Ricardo Carvalho), Marcelo (Min.86 Pedro Mendes), Xabi Alonso (Min.91 Nacho Fernandez), Fábio Coentrão (Min.75 Alvaro Morata), Kaka (Min.49 Mesut Özil, Min.92 Mandi), Callejon (Min.48 Cristiano Ronaldo), Angel Di Maria (Min.69 Alex Fernandez), Gonzalo Higuain (Min.48 Karim Benzema).

Yellow Cards: Tomas Ujfalusi (Galatasaray S.K.), Colin-Kazim Richards(Galatasaray S.K.),

Goals:
Min.10 Selçuk İnan, Min.33 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid C.F.) Min.50 Karim Benzema (Real Madrid C.F.)