Real are wracked by goalscoring struggles
AFTER their domestic season was left in tatters by back-to-back defeats to Barcelona, Real Madrid have been left to focus yet again on winning the Champions League as the only way to salvage a turbulent campaign.
Yet as the triple European Cup holders prepare to host Ajax Amsterdam tomorrow in the second leg of their last-16 tie, they are suffering from a goalscoring crisis, having only netted once from open play in their last four matches.
Real hold a 2-1 lead in the tie after riding their luck in Amsterdam, meaning a draw or even a 1-0 defeat would see them into the quarter-finals, but their inability to put the ball in the net is becoming a concern.
Ajax meanwhile have been in imperious form since losing the first leg, scoring 13 goals and conceding one in three games.
They will also be feeling refreshed after the Dutch federation postponed their game this weekend against PEC Zwolle in order to give them more rest time ahead of their trip to the Bernabeu.
Real were wasteful in last Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat to Barca in the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg, repeatedly missing the target from inside the area.
They had even more shots in their 1-0 defeat to the Catalans in La Liga on Saturday, but kept having their attempts blocked by Barca’s defenders, with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen rarely called upon.
Both goals in last week’s 2-1 win over Levante came from the penalty spot, while their last goal from open play was a header from Casemiro in their 2-1 defeat at home to Girona on 17 February.
Coach Santiago Solari does not appear to be overly concerned by the team’s struggle for goals.
“These things go in spells. Sometimes everything flies into the net, sometimes it doesn’t,” the Argentine said after the 1-0 defeat to Barca.
“We will try everything so that what did not go in today, or on Wednesday, does in our next game. We will keep trying.”
Yet on the team’s current form, it is difficult to see where goals against Ajax will come from, as none of the club’s players have managed to go close to filling the void left by all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Juventus in July. | FIRST-HALF goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Jorginho earned Chelsea a 2-1 win over struggling Fulham in an entertaining southwest London Premier League derby yesterday, but they had to work hard for the points.
On-loan Higuain, volleyed home Chelsea’s first after a perfectly-timed run on to a 21st-minute cross by Cesar Azpilicueta overlapping with Willian down the right.
Yet barely six minutes later Craven Cottage erupted when Calum Chambers drifted unmarked to the back post and scored from a Ryan Babel cross following a corner. Fulham’s players rushed to celebrate with new interim coach Scott Parker. It was Parker’s first game in charge following the sacking of Claudio Ranieri after less than four months in charge.
The jubilation was short-lived. Brazilian Jorginho put Chelsea back in front in the 31st, thumping in a cut-back ball by Eden Hazard from outside the area. Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga was back in goal after being dropped in midweek over his refusal to be substituted during last Sunday’s League Cup final.
Fulham were on top for significant periods of the second half and had a goal disallowed for offside but the result kept them 19th, 10 points from the safety zone while Chelsea stayed sixth but moved to within a point of fifth-placed Arsenal. |