SPANISH PRIMERA LIGA:JUANDE RAMOS departed Camp Nou at the head of a defeated team but not as a defeated man. Hitting rock bottom has its advantages.
By insisting that Real Madrid could not win here, Ramos's predecessor Bernd Schuster did the former Tottenham Hotspur coach a favour. Real Madrid did not win; Ramos, on the other hand, did.
His first La Liga game may not have brought a vital victory, or even the draw his side held until the final stretch of a dramatic and compelling game, but his position is reinforced.
The coach may have arrived as an emergency solution but, despite defeat, he has impressed over the past few days - days in which he has conducted more press conferences than training sessions. There is a willingness to view Ramos as more than just a stopgap now, as other options are denied the Spanish club and Madrid's president, Ramon Calderon, last night admitted that he has given up on signing the Liverpool coach, Rafael Benitez.
"Benitez is a very good coach, he is Spanish, and he was with us, training the youth team at Real Madrid, but he is the coach of Liverpool and I am sure he is going to be for a very long time. He is not an option for us," Calderon said. "Let's see what happens with Ramos. I would like very much for him to continue for more than six months."
The question now is, what constitutes success from here to May? After all, Saturday night's agonising defeat against their most bitter rivals means Madrid no longer even occupy a Champions League place.
Two late goals broke Madrid's dogged and occasionally dirty resistance, as Ramos employed an aggressive 4-4-1-1 formation with Sergio Ramos at left back and Raul providing an extra man in midfield. Madrid had largely frustrated Barcelona and even enjoyed chances to win the match, Royston Drenthe wasting the best of them in a first-half breakaway.
They appeared to be on course for a draw that would have been a triumph when Iker Casillas saved Samuel Eto'o's penalty with 20 minutes to go. But Eto'o found redemption in the 83rd minute and Lionel Messi rounded it off with the second seven minutes later, clipping beyond Casillas and the lunge of Fabio Cannavaro.
"It was a cruel way to lose," said Ramos, who denied that he had told his players to single out Messi for a kicking. "We had a lot of players out and we did what we could: the players were perfect. It is true that Barcelona had more of the ball but the best chances fell our way."
As Cannavaro clattered into the post and Messi dashed round the pitch, swirling his shirt in the air, Madrid slipped 12 points behind Barcelona - a gap that no side in Spain has ever recovered to win the league. But there had been a reaction, a system, evidence of a manager's hand after Schuster appeared to have given up entirely. That is not something Madrid are willing to do just yet.
"Twelve points is a big gap but there is a long way to go," Ramos said. "And let's see what happens when the Champions League starts up again." Barcelona's players, too, played down the importance of their lead at the top of the table. But their reaction on the pitch said it all .
- Guardian Service
BARCELONA:Valdes, Marquez, Puyol, Xavi (Keita, 90), Gudjohnsen (Busquets 64), Eto'o (Hleb 88), Messi, Henry, Alves, Abidal, Toure. Yellow cards: Marquez 40, Eto'o 85, Messi 90.
REAL MADRID:Casillas, Salgado, Ramos, Cannavaro, Raul, Gago, Sneijder (Palanca 34), Guti (Garcia 73), Drenthe, Higuain (van der Vaart 73), Metzelder. Yellow cards: Metzelder 22, Ramos 28, Drenthe 43, Salgado 69, Casillas 90.
Referee:F Vazquez.
