When Real Madrid fans reach into their pockets and start waving the white hanky, it’s a sign of things to come, writes Sid Lowe of the Guardian. The white flag waving is a classic gesture of Spanish disgust, he explains, and Sunday’s showcase was the biggest mass hanky wave since at the Santiago Bernabeu since Real lost, 5-1, to Zaragoza in 1999. Their target, of course, was President Ramon Calderon and Coach Fabio Capello. It was a sea of protest, with fans screaming “Resign! Resign!” in unison as Real Madrid succumbed to another pathetic loss at home.
However, it looks like no amount of luck will be able to save Calderon and Capello. As Lowe says flatly, “their football team sucks,” losing 1-0 at home to Levante, a club that had never beaten Real before and looks to certain to wind up in the Second Division next year. Capello put it down to bad luck to miss so many chances; Lowe says Madrid must have been suffering from bad luck all season after scoring just 28 goals in 21 games-the worst record in the team’s history.
Quite the contrary, Lowe says, the team has had incredible luck, because somehow, somehow, Real is still just five points out of first place despite losing its fourth in six games. While Capello’s team can’t score, its competitors can’t seem to put games away: both Barcelona and Sevilla could only manage 0-0 draws, while Valencia, which lost last week, leapfrogged the Merengues with an impressive 3-1 win at home to Atletico Madrid.