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Week 20	Real Madrid	3	v	1	Cadiz
Date 21st January 2006
	Roberto Carlos 68 mins				Medina 54 mins
	Beckham 70 mins
	Robinho 84 mins
	Casillas				Berizzo
	Cicinho
	Gravesen

Cadiz came close to a historic victory in the Bernabeu but were cruelly denied by three goals in 16 second half minutes. If the difference between the sides in the Carranza earlier in the season was the skill and flair of Robinho, this time it was Beckham and Roberto Carlos’s ability from dead balls. 

De Quintana was joined by Berizzo in the heart of the defence, whilst Bezares and Benjamin were once again picked in the middle of the park. Medina played in a lone role up front after his two goals at Malaga last week, whilst Mirosavljevic played just off him, deeper than his usual striking role. 

Cadiz started well, and were rallied on by 7,000 travelling fans. With Bezares and Benjamin not giving Zidane or Guti any time on the ball, Real found it hard to create many chances. In fact it was Cadiz who had the first efforts on goal, with Estoyanoff twice creating half chances. Cadiz even managed three corners in four minutes, as they surprisingly piled pressure on one of the biggest teams in the world in front of 60,000 of their fans. The home team were kicked into gear, and a corner of their own allowed Sergio Ramos to test Armando for the first time – and he was more than up to the task. Another corner for the home team finished with Robinho’s effort flashing just wide as the home team looked to find their feet. They started enjoying more possession, but the visitors worked tirelessly to prevent the possession turning into the opening goal. In fact on the half hour mark, Sesma, Benjamin and the impressive Mirosavljevic combined to create the best chance of the half, but Benjamin couldn’t find the target. Baptista had a low shot across goal saved comfortably by Armando, while Benjamin forced a super save from Casillas with a fine volley towards the top left corner of the Madrid goal. Benjamin almost ruined all of his superb first half when he lunged in at Robinho in the box, and while replays suggested there may have been contact, the referee waved away the Madrid protests for a penalty.

With Cadiz getting to the break at 0-0, they were instilled with more confidence, and their superb fans started believing that maybe they could come away from the game with a point or three. Indeed Cadiz carried on at the start of the second half as they had played the first, more than matching their more expensive opponents. With Armando untroubled for much of the game, Cadiz started pressing forward, and they were rewarded with their fine start in the 54^th minute. Estoyanoff once again broke free down the right, and when the ball broke to Medina in the six yard box, he coolly slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the net. Cue delirium in the stands amongst the travelling fans. The goal forced Madrid to throw everything forward, and whilst it meant the defence had to concentrate even more, it did mean Real were often left short at the back. The match then turned on its head. First De Quintana fired in a shot which crashed into the side netting, giving the impression on one side of the stadium that Cadiz had doubled their lead. Unfortunately not. It was then time for Madrids freekick maestros to change the score from 0-1 to 2-1. First Roberto Carlos smashed home a freekick which went straight through a gaping hole in the Cadiz wall, then David Beckham curled an unstoppable freekick into the top corner from an identical position. If the wall was at fault for the first goal, then no-one could be blamed for Beckhams. As proof of how well Cadiz played, instead of trying to kill the game off Madrid resorted to time wasting tactics and running down the clock, for which Casillas was booked. With Cadiz pushing people forward in search of an equaliser, a bad ball out of defence was punished when Robinho sent a looping volley over the back tracking Armando. 3-1 was a harsh scoreline on the visitors, and the team did their fans proud with a great battling display. With Benjamin and Bezares once again showing how good a partnership they are, and with competition for places all around the pitch, with performances like this Cadiz have every chance of achieving their pre-season target of survival.