Ramos (Ultimate Football Heroes--the No. 1 football series) by Matt Oldfield

Author:Matt Oldfield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Templar
Published: 2019-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

LOSING BATTLES WITH BARCELONA

‘Turn it off,’ Sergio called to René as they sat in his living room, watching Barcelona celebrate with the Champions League trophy. Red and blue confetti was scattered on the pitch and the players were halfway through a victory lap. ‘I can’t watch any more of this.’

René knew better than to argue. He reached for the remote and the room went quiet. Sergio stared at the floor.

‘Don’t get me wrong,’ he said eventually. ‘I’m happy for Xavi and Andrés. I love those guys. But all anyone wants to talk about is Barcelona. What about Real Madrid? People are forgetting all about us.’

It had been a tough year for the Galácticos. When they won La Liga in 2007 and 2008, all the talk was about Real Madrid. But they had been blown away by Barcelona during the 2008/09 season. Led by Lionel Messi, Barcelona had now landed the Treble. Guardiola, Sergio’s old Olympics hero, had made history in his first season as Barcelona boss.

‘We should all be watching this and getting angry,’ Sergio said. ‘If we need a reason to be doing extra training and fighting even harder, this is it. Barcelona have raised the bar. Now we have to respond. We better get things right next season, or the fans are going to be fuming.’

It didn’t help that Real Madrid had been changing managers so regularly. Bernd Schuster was in charge for less than two seasons, then Juande Ramos lasted just six months. Now it was Manuel Pellegrini’s turn.

As Sergio looked around the pitch during preseason training, he was confident that Real Madrid had a squad capable of battling Barcelona all the way. They had top new players in every position: Raúl Albiol and Álvaro Arbeloa in defence, Xabi Alonso and Kaká in midfield, and Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo in attack.

The new Galácticos were ready to bounce back, and the early signs were good:

Real Madrid 3–2 Deportivo de La Coruña

Espanyol 0–3 Real Madrid

Real Madrid 5–0 Xerez

Villarreal 0–2 Real Madrid

Real Madrid 3–0 Tenerife…

‘We’ve won five out of five, we’re scoring goals for fun and we’re keeping it tight at the back,’ Sergio told his parents one night. ‘This is exactly the response we needed.’

But Barcelona were always looming. When it came to head-to-head battles, they always seemed to have the edge. Sergio was up all night wondering how Real Madrid had lost at the Nou Camp when Barcelona played most of the second half with ten men. It got worse when Barcelona won 2–0 at the Bernabéu late in the season, with the Real Madrid fans jeering Sergio and his teammates at the final whistle. Guardiola’s men won the title by just three points.

‘We can’t beat them,’ Sergio said to Iker, throwing his arms up in the air in frustration. They had also been through the pain of an early Champions League exit. ‘That’s another season without one of the big trophies. Now what? Another coaching change? No wonder the fans are booing us.’

Iker shook his head.

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