Madrid Crash 3-0 In Hannover
Bernd Schuster's second game in charge of Real Madrid ended in disaster in the Vaterland. Hannover 96 gave the coach real food for thought as they crushed the visiting side 3-0.
Madrid utilised a mixed, non-full-strength squad, featuring new signings such as Diarra, young players like Balboa and established campaigners in Raul and Casillas, but could not stamp their authority on the game at any time, before or after substitutions.
The visitors, playing in front of a full house at the AWD-Arena, started in a tentative fashion, Diarra and de la Red starting in an unusual central midfield pairing that ultimately failed to gel.
Raul played just off Higuain - as van Nistelrooy was still unable to start - while none of the new signings started in defence. Perhaps surprisingly, then, it was a nervy and unsettled backline that contested this friendly tie.
That said, the Merengues had the first real chance, as Raul - who was to have a trying game - failed to find the net after a decent cross from Cicinho, playing on his native right flank.
But the real attacking story came from Higuain. The forward,, looking energetic in a rare start, was a bustling menace up front and perhaps should have ended the game with at least one goal after a series of chances missed in what was Madrid's strongest spell of a satisfactory first half.
But Hannover were allowed to take the lead just before the half hour mark. The defence and midfield had already showed its weakness with some dreadful passing, with the back line then showing some poor marking.
With Cannavaro and Ramos nowhere, Huszti got on the end of a nice through ball to finish off a well-executed counterattack after some awful "possession" play in midfield.
Still, the first half was not a complete disaster. Madrid were proving adept at getting the ball into the final third - the problem, then, was doing something with it, and not seeing it merely fly back into their half. They would go on to rue these missed chances.
The second half saw little continuation of small successes. Hannover, a month into pre-season and starting their competitive campaign next week, began to dominate against this rusty-looking Madrid side who had just a warm-up game against Stoke, and a week of training in Austria, to prepare them.
Guti came on for the invisible Bueno and proved to be something of a creative engine - clearly the midfielder had something to prove - but again it was Hannover who were the better side.
Both teams were trying to push forward, but Madrid couldn't take advantage of the coherent chances that they created, while Hannover's finishing was unsatisfactory.
Coming into the hour mark, both teams made changes. Pepe came on for Cicinho, switching position with Ramos while fellow debutant Saviola replaced the tame Raul. De la Red came off for young Granero.
But within a minute, Hannover had doubled their lead. Sloppy play by Balboa put the visitors under threat; Pepe, attempting to clear, cursed his luck as his harried clearance bounced off Thorvaldsson, who eaglerly claimed a goal.
It was a dreadful shame for the new defender, who in fact was probably the best centre-back to take part all evening for the Madrid side. Cannavaro was a mere shadow of his real self, while Ramos, already fuming on the bench, had not enjoyed the best of games.
But, still, few could argue that Hannover did not deserve their convincing lead and, as the game wound down, it soon became 3-0.
Neither Pepe nor Cannavaro were able to mark Lauth, who charged forward to head a sweet cross past Casillas.
It could have been 4-0 before the game ended, but for the Madrid 'keeper. Iker pulled off a superb one-on-one save to spare the team's blushes and keep the score down.
So, one win and one loss for Schuster so far, but the manner of defeat will be of much more concern than the scoreline in what was, of course, a simple warm-up game.
The lack of fluency in the pass, and the lack of width shown in the second half, both caused concern amongst the Madrid faithful, but it is the defensive panicking that is probably the key issue here. Pepe's debut was not disastrous, but on the whole, even the established players took to the field as if they'd never met before.
Perhaps disturbed by the problems ahead of them - Diarra looking unconvincing and the young players mainly struggling to make an impact - they cut disappointing figures over the course of the 90 minutes. But few can deny that there is potential in this Real Madrid side, anyway.
But can Schuster unleash it in time for the competitive season?
HANNOVER 96: Enke; Cherundolo (Schröter 7
, Kleine, Zuraw, Tarnat (Halfar 62); Balitsch (Lala 62), Yankov (Bikmaz 7
, Pinto (Krebs 62), Bruggink (Lauth 46), Huszti (Stajner 62); Hanke (Thorvaldsson 62)
Goals: Huszti 30, Thorvaldsson 63, Lauth 82
REAL MADRID: Casillas; Cicinho (Pepe 62), Ramos, Cannavaro, Torres; Diarra, De la Red (Granero 62), Balboa, Bueno (Guti 45); HiguaÃn, Raúl (Saviola 62)