The Pride of Vallekas

You can follow Rez on Twitter here . A bit about yourself and your background I am currently in my junior year of high school in Iraqi Kurdistan. Watching and playing football are among my predominant hobbies and the sport makes up a big part of my daily life. How long have you been a fan of Real Madrid and what made you support them in the first place? I initially started watching football eight years ago. I grew to admire the Spanish national side which accomplished so much during their so-called “golden generation,” and upon learning that the likes of Ramos, Xabi, and Casillas played for Real Madrid, I decided to watch a few of their matches. It took a while, but after enjoying emphatic victories and defeats in several Clásicos and other big fixtures, I became emotionally invested enough to consider myself a Madridista. Given the transfer windows and the squad that was assembled at the start of the season, is Real Madrid where you want it to be? In this club, the only m...

I found it interesting going through past games and highlighting individual performances - so here's more of them... It’s 2012, Paco Jémez’s first season in charge and it’s a mess. Three wins and a draw from nine games leave them in 15th place. Meanwhile, Málaga had lost just once in that same period, were 12 places above in the league table, were playing in the Champions League and hadn’t dropped a single point. A team that contained Demichelis, Joaquín, Isco, Saviola, Camacho and Jesús Gámez, were beaten at home by a team that had cost a total of €0 to assemble. The win was symbolic of a huge change in fortunes – Málaga were winless in their next four fixtures and Rayo were on the ascendancy, finishing in a record 8th place with a record 53 points – only to be cruelly denied a Europa League place due to financial difficulties. If you really want to understand Piti's impact on Rayo's 2012-13 season, just watch this game. It's not just that he scores both go...