La Liga Preview: Hercules - Real Madrid

Posted Saturday, October 30, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

Why Not?

Neither Hercules nor Real Madrid supporters will need reminded of the potential danger of the Alicante side when the two outfits clash at the Jose Rico Perez on Saturday evening. Protagonists in the greatest shock of the Primera Division season to date when they defeated Barcelona at Camp Nou, los Herculanos are aiming to bring their giant killing road-show home at the weekend.

Paraguay striker Nelson Valdez, who won immediate hero status from his new fans when he struck twice against Barca, doesn't believe three points are outside the Alicante club's reach. “Why can't we beat Real Madrid as well, if we have already defeated Barcelona?” the attacker mused to 780AM on Monday.

Some of the early momentum picked up by that famous triumph has dissipated in recent weeks, despite being briefly reignited by victory over Sevilla. Hercules have specialised in defeating Spain's giants only to come unstuck against weaker opposition, having been held to draws by Zaragoza and Almeria.

Given a tricky start to the campaign by the fixture computer, Hercules can be well pleased with what they've achieved to date, though beating an in-form Blancos side would probably eclipse any feat previously attained by the club, given the timing of the fixture and the rampant nature of their opponents presently in La Liga.

Still Moving Forward

Real Madrid might not have suffered any upset of the scale Barcelona had against Hercules, but in midweek they would endure an unexpected set-back of sorts when they failed to breakthrough Real Murcia in the first leg of their Copa del Rey encounter. Jose Mourinho sent many of his big guns out for that game, but despite thriving on several fronts of late, los Blancos were blunted.

“I'm happy with the team. My players worked hard and played well enough to win,” the Portuguese general told the press, praising in particular Murcia goalkeeper Dani Hernandez. “In general, the attitude towards the match was good. We wanted to win.”

Mourinho, however, would indicate that the performance of certain members of his side was not good enough. Maintaining a veil of secrecy over the identity of those players, ‘Mou’would not be drawn into naming names, though the press have been quick to speculate that he was pointing the finger at Karim Benzema, who has been linked in the media with a move to Serie A.

Keeping the matter in house is clearly a tactic the Portuguese is using to maintain team spirit and momentum after a few weeks in which Madrid have made very definite strides forward. Criticised for not scoring enough in the opening rounds of matches, los Blancos have scored 16 in their last three Liga matches and are looking every inch potential title winners.

Hercules

If Royston Drenthe is to play, a €2 million clause in his loan contract will have to be paid to los Blancos, his parent club. Though the Dutchman has threatened to raise this money himself, it's likely he'll watch on from the stands come Saturday evening.

David Trezeguet, on the other hand, will be in the starting XI, having served a two-match suspension.

Real Madrid

Ricardo Carvalho, Mesut Oezil and Xabi Alonso will return to action after being given a midweek breather, but there are still injury problems for Lassana Diarra, Kaka, Fernando Gago and Ezequiel Garay.