Rayo Vallecano 0-1 Real Madrid

Real Madrid suffered to take three points in Vallecas against Rayo, who always fought hard and proved to be a worthy opponent. A brilliant heel shot goal by Cristiano Ronaldo gave the team a victory that could very well prove to be key in the outcome of the championship.

Kaka, Marcelo and Higuain made Mourinho's starting lineup and the game had an intense start, with both sides looking for their strikers with long passes. Rayo were very motivated and complicated things for Real in set pieces. Mourinho's men didn't have possession as much as they're used to and weren't able to play their usual football, but they had the first chance to score nonetheless through Higuain, who was unable to dribble past Joel (17'). Ronaldo also tried seven minutes later with a distance shot that missed the mark, while Diego Costa proved threatening and a pain for Real's centre backs, and Piti sent the ball to one of the posts close to half-time (38').

Both sides continued to use long passes in the second half and the Whites soon scored from an Ozil corner-kick that was amazingly finished off by Ronaldo with a heel shot with his back to goal (54'). The locals suffered from this and the Madridistas started to dominate the encounter, with Mourinho looking to dominate more in midfield by replacing Kaka with Coentrao (60').

Rayo brought their lines further forward in pursuit of a goal, leaving spaces for Real Madrid to counterattack in. Higuain nearly tallied another strike in a one-on-one with Joel, but the keeper won the day. Michu sent the ball off target as he faced Casillas alone (72'), and the goalie was forced to make an amazing save a couple of minutes later to clear a spectacular distance shot by Casado (74'). Callejon came on for Higuian one minute later.

The locals put more pressure on the Madridistas, who suffered and kept counterattacking on occasion. Callejon missed the goal on the 81-minute mark and the final minutes became crazy, with either looking the winning part. The locals had an amazing chance in the 90th minute when Armenteros found himself alone facing Real's goal, but he missed the ball. Ronaldo nearly finished the match in the ensuing counterattack, but the ball went over the crossbar. Moments later, when Rayo were besieging Real's goal, the ref ended the match.

Kaka With Enrico Celico (Caroline's brother)

Pictures Of Game: Real Madrid Vs Rayo Vallecano

Twenty men tabbed for duty against Rayo Vallecano

Jose Mourinho has included 20 men on his squad list for tomorrow's match against Rayo Vallecano. Castilla's Joselu and Jesus have made the cut. Benzema, Sahin, Altintop, Di Maria and Lass are injured .

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas, Adam, Jesus

Defenders:Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Pepe Carvalho, Varane, Raul Albiol, Coentrao, Marcelo

Midfielders:Khedira, Xabi Alonso, Granero, Ozil,Callejón, Kaka

Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Higuain Joselu.

Training 25/2/12

Kaka Trained with the squad

Kaka In Hala Madrid Magazine Event

Hala Madrid magazine Junior periodically presented the awards granted to the winners of the various raffles held in each publication.Kaká was one of the players who gave signed jersey's & balls to the winners.

Caroline skiing With Her Mother & Giovanna

CSKA Moscow 1-1 Real Madrid

Only bad luck and the strange things that sometimes happen in football prevented Real Madrid from winning tonight in Moscow. The Whites perfectly adapted to the stadium's synthetic grass and to the city's low temparature, dominating the match from the start, but unfortunatley leaving without a much deserved victory due to a defensive mistake in injury time. The tie will be decided at the Bernabeu.

Mourinho decided to use Callejon, Khedira, Arbeloa and Coentrao in his starting lineup, ready to play a more tactical game against CSKA. Real Madrid found it a little hard to adapt in the opening minutes and the Russians used this to their advantage. Bad luck struck the Whites when Benzema injured himself attempting a long strike and had to be replaced by Higuain (13'), who had the first chance in the game with a shot that was cleared by Chepchugov. The ball fell at Khedira's feet, but the keepr saved the day again for the local side.

CSKA hardly reached Casillas' goal, but they were well positioned throughout the match. They also fouled whenever they had a chance, but Real scored their goal after Higuain stole the ball, crossed it and Ronaldo netted it with a crossed shot (27'). Only Doumbia troubled the Madrid defence occasionally with his speed after the strike, but no real danger came from CSKA.

The Madridistas tried to seal the match as soon as the second half began, and Callejon missed a couple of good chances (50', 51'). The locals started to look for a goal of their own and left room for Madrid to attack in. Musa shot on target in the 61st minute, but Casillas grabbed the ball easily as it lacked force. Real Madrid continued to dominate the encounter and looked for a chance to counterattack.

Mourinho made Kaka come on for Callejon on the 74-minute mark and a Ramos header was saved by the keeper one minute later. Ronaldo nearly scored again the minute after that, but Chepchugov cleared the shot by an inch. Honda led his side in reaching Casillas' goal more often and Mourinho decided to strengthen the defence by replacing Ozil with Albiol (84'). CSKA tried hard for a draw that would ease things for them in the return leg and eventually found it through Wernbloom in a messy effort in injury time.

Pictures of the game

Article 20 February 2012 Mourinho: "We won't kid around against CSKA; we will give our all in the match"

Jose Mourinho analysed today's match against CSKA Moscow in a press conference given in the Russian capital.

"I will not say who's going to play because my men don't even know yet. We've analysed CSKA, but we haven't analysed our own strategy yet. We'll miss Lass, but we have Xabi, Kaka, Granero, Sahin and Khedira with us. We'll try to earn a good result to reach the quarterfinals. The tie is won in two games."

Real Madrid land In Moscow

Kaka headed for Moscow with the Team

21 Men tabbed For Duty against CSKA Moscow

Goalkeepers

Casillas, Adan, Tomas Mejias

Defenders

Arbeloa, Carvalho, Varane, Albiol, Pepe, Coentrao, Marcelo, Ramos

Midfielders

Khedira, Xabi Alonso, Ozil, Callejon, Sahin, Granero, Kaka

Forwards

Cristiano Ronaldo, Higuain, Benzema

Ricardo Kaká vs Racing Santander -

Kaka's Stats Vs Racing Santander

Kaka was brilliant last Niight . Set up Cristiano with a corner which the Portuguese headed against the post, before heading across goal for Ronaldo to make it 1-0 moments later. Won the applause of the crowd as he chased to win a ball back, hit the side netting with a very good effort and was involved in much of Madrid's good work.


Yesterday KAKÁ recieved his 2nd yellow card of the season. The 1st was against Villarreal on 26-10-2011.
KAKÁ Stats vs Racing : 1 assist, 87% passes (39|45), 2 key passes, 6 crosses, fouled thrice, 2 shots (1 on goal), 58 touches on ball.1 long ball (1|2), 1 interception, 3 tackles, dispossessed just once.KAKÁ did 3 tackles in last night's match against Racing, only behind Marcelo

Jorge Valdano : Marcelo and Kaká were great in the first half.

Jorge Valdano : Marcelo and Kaká were great in the first half.

Kaka: "We controlled the game for 90 minutes"

"During warm-up we all said we shouldn't concede any goals because it's always harder to make a comeback. I will have chances to score in the future. We must now win more games and take as many poinst as we can. Our objective is to win La Liga."

"The cold weather in Moscow will affect both teams. It won't be a problem for us because the return leg will be held here. We'll have to prepare well in order to give a phenomenal performance."

Pictures Of The Game

Real Madrid 4-0 Racing Santander

Real Madrid earned another comfortable La Liga victory as they defeated 10-man Racing Santander 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu to move one step closer to the league title.

Los Blancos were ahead in the sixth minute through Cristiano Ronaldo's header before Racing went down to 10 men after the referee awarded Domingo Cisma a second yellow card. Madrid were 2-0 up at the break when Benzema netted in injury time. 

Angel Di Maria marked his return from injury with a superb strike in the 73rd minute, before Benzema added his second and Madrid's fourth in the 89th minute to put the icing on the cake for the home side ahead of Tuesday's clash at CSKA Moscow in the Champions League

The win gives Jose Mourinho's men a 13-point cushion at the top of La Liga with rivals Barcelona not in action until Sunday evening where they face a tricky test against third-placed Valencia.

Madrid made a lively start to proceedings and could have found themselves a goal to the good in the fifth minute. Kaka's inviting corner was met by a downwards header from Ronaldo who could only watch on in despair as the ball struck the post before the visitors cleared the danger.

However, Mourinho's side only had to wait another minute before finding the back of the net. Benzema's through ball fell to the feet of Kaka, who saw his shot parried by Tono. The quick-thinking Brazilian then headed the rebound across the Racing goalmouth for Ronaldo to nod home for his 35th goal of the season in 34 appearances in all competitions.

The visitors' fortunes turned from bad to worse on 39 minutes when they were reduced to 10 men after Domingo Cisma was shown a second yellow card. The full-back was adjudged by the referee to have intentionally blocked Ronaldo's cross with his hand, but replays showed the former Almeria man was harshly given his marching orders.

Madrid doubled their lead with the last action of the first-half when Benzema netted in added time. Xabi Alonso was alert to slide a set-piece through to the Frenchman, who clipped an effort over the head of an onrushing Tono with Sergio Ramos on the line to make sure the ball ended up in the back of the net.

The home team looked comfortable throughout the second period and added a third in the 73rd minute. Substitute Angel Di Maria, making his first appearance for Los Blancos in 12 games, cut in field from the right wing before smashing the ball past Tono and into the far corner of the net from the edge of the box.

Benzema added his second of the game in the 89th minute after the striker picked up a rebound from Di Maria's parried effort. The former Lyon striker smashed the ball high into the goal via a deflection from Bernardo as Madrid easily secured all three points.

Madrid now head to Russia where they will face CSKA in first leg of their last 16 Champions League encounter while Racing are next in action in La Liga versus Sporting Gijon on February 25.

Leaving all the Rest Kaka was the man of the Match He played truly like a World Class player!! So many passes!! He was brilliant in defense & In Attack. He was Surely Man of The Match

Real Madrid-Racing Santander

Whites look to keep ten-point lead with eighth straight league victory.

Real Madrid are set to face Racing Santander at the Bernabeu on Saturday to defend their 10-point lead with an eighth straight victory in the championship. The Whites will look to continue thrilling their home crowd with more goals, having already tallied 16 so far in 2012 at the Bernabeu.

Mourinho's side is the only one in the First Division to win all its games in 2012. Real have the largest number of victories in La Liga (19) and top the goal ranking with 75 strikes. Cristiano Ronaldo is well on his way to winning the Golden Boot award again with a 27 goal tally already this season.
The Madridistas have scored in all their games at their stadium this year, something no other First Division side has achieved. They score four goals on average per home clash, and their total tally of strikes at their stadium under Mourinho is an impressive 106.
Jose Mourinho has called-up 21 players for the match, including Castilla's Tomas Mejias. Di Maria and Marcelo made the cut, while Altintop and Lass will miss the match due to injuries, and Arbeloa due to being supended.
Ever since Juan Jose Gonzalez took over Racing on Week 14, the team has completely transformed itself for the better. They've only lost one of their last nine games, but they are still in the relegation zone. Team lead scorer Stuani is suspended for the match, and Colsa and Jairo are injured.