Preview: Ronaldo tasked to redeem himself at the Nuevo Los Carmenese
Real Madrid’s match against Granada comes in between two friendly encounters. Los Blancos are set to play Deportivo La Coruna to raise funds for the latter on Thursday. Meanwhile, they recently featured in the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy match where legend Raul Gonzalez was honoured on his emotional return to the stadium.
Carlo Ancelotti will hope to see a considerable improvement from his players on Monday. Despite warming up perfectly for the new competitive season, the 2013 International Champions Cup winners displayed an unconvincing performance on Matchday 1 of La Liga.
Real Betis almost got the better of Real Madrid. If it was not for Isco’s late show, Los Blancos would be in an embarrassing situation by now. It appears Ancelotti is still adjusting his formation – with the arrival of Gareth Bale looking imminent and the departure of Angel Di Maria and Karim Benzema looking possible.
Key man Cristiano Ronaldo could not find comfort in the coach’s tactics in their opening league match. As a result, goals did not flow. On Monday, Granada will be hoping to frustrate the Portuguese winger. It is at the Nuevo Los Carmenese stadium that Ronaldo scored an own goal – his first and only thus far – last season. The game finished 1-0, sinking Real Madrid’s hopes of defending their league crown with three months left till the end of the 38-match marathon.
Looking at Atletico Madrid and Barcelona’s form over the first two Matchdays, goal difference could end up being a deciding factor in the 2013/14 Spanish La Liga. Although it is very early to bet on this, the current league standings have Atletico and Barca on top with maximum points and a big goal difference. Both have scored eight goals already, putting pressure on the 2013 Copa del Rey beaten finalists to hit their groove as soon as possible.
Granada, however, may not be that cheap. Boosted by their victory away to Osasuna on the first weekend of the campaign, the hosts will try to destabilize the flow of Los Blancos’ play and cause an upset.
