Real Madrid (H) | CL SF 2nd Leg | Post-Match Thread

I don’t think I have ever witnessed a better 45 minutes by a City team than the first half last night. To a man they were brilliant. The way we completely dominated the European Champions was almost unbelievable. The way we played, it was inevitable that we would score, and Bernardo took them both superbly. One of the other highlights was Kyle sprinting back to overtake Vinicius, and just bring the ball away.

If it wasn’t for General de Gaulle, the game would have been over by the break. Those two saves he made from Erling were phenomenal.

Phil's through-ball to Julián for the fourth was brilliant.

A brilliant atmosphere throughout, no doubt helped by the flags, but added to by the occasion.

At work this morning, I went to see my Leicester-supporting mate, who said, "Don’t come over here looking for a pat on the back".
 
Millennium said:
In English
www.marca.com

The monster wasn't Haaland

Losing to a team of Manchester City's quality in their stadium is almost to be expected, no matter the opposition, but the way Real Madrid completely capitulated to the rampant Eng
www.marca.com www.marca.com
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From the same publication...

Nothing of note... APART from the defence splitting pass that put Alvarez in for his goal?

1684421011101.png
 
5 Hit Gibbon said:
We talk about the ground being overrun with tourist type fans for the big CL games. Last night I had a Chinese couple behind me, who were at their first City game. When we broke into the Poznan they joined in and the woman had the biggest smile on her face, it was actually brilliant to see.
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There were 3 Americans a few seats across from us and they proper had it for the full game.

I tried to speak to them on a couple of occasions it they couldn’t understand a fucking word!
 
KingGeorge said:
I got two messages from Real Madrid fans congratulating me last night. One guy said "City's day has arrived" enjoy it.

Of course did I hear from any of the Arsenal, Liverpool, or United fans I know? Of course not...crickets from them
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In fairness, I did hear from a friend back in Ireland who is a united fan. She just said "what a masterclass... some of the best football I have ever seen...only we can stop you from the treble now.." etc. Also heard from a Gunner supporter over here who just texted me "Fantastic display all round" I also have a cousin from London who is a huge gooner. A few weeks ago, on Facebook, he told me to "contemplate the 5 point gap" after another City win. I told him that 5 points is nothing to this side and that there were sharks in the water.... Nary a peep from him this past couple of weeks. Wonder why...?
 
Stoned Rose said:
There were 3 Americans a few seats across from us and they proper had it for the full game.

I tried to speak to them on a couple of occasions it they couldn’t understand a fucking word!
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A bit like me the first couple of years over here. Some of them didn't know what the fuck I was talking about. I miss that...:)
 
So first and foremost congratulations are in order. City are the clear-cut best team in Europe this season and you've taken full advantage of your form - basically no goof-ups, which is why you'll likely win the Treble.

From a Madrid perspective:
  • Tactics were not just wrong, they were lazy. Makes me question Carlo's motivation to continue. Playing Kroos as a DM/DLP hybrid, Cama at LB and no Rudiger was atrocious. It was so obvious that he was relying on our CL reputation when he lazily picked a midfield of Valverde-Kroos-Modric. Disgraceful from such an experienced coach.
  • Poor game management from Carlo with his late substitutions. He should've immediately made 3-4 changes at half-time when it was clear that City were outrunning us for every ball. Again makes me question Carlo's motivation.
  • I received a lot of pushback for a previous post but this game should be the final nail in the coffin for our senior starters - Modric, Kroos, Benzema and Carvajal need to be shown the door immediately. Fortunately the first 3 are out of contract so that should make it easy. Experience or winning mentality are useless if you can't get to the ball first. Kroos and Carvajal have fallen off a cliff - so many 5/10 performances since the beginning of last season.
  • For whatever reason - there are a bunch of substitutes who are just happy sitting on their asses and coming in the last 15 minutes. This has been evident since the beginning of this season. They have no motivation to push our starters and are happy collecting checks - Vazquez, Mariano, Hazard, Vallejo and Ceballos being the worst offenders. They need to be replaced with young, hungry youth teamers who want to make a name for themselves: Peter (RW), Arribas (LW/RW), Vinicius Tobias (RB), Rafa Marin (CB) and Alvaro (CF).
  • Players love Carlo but that can't be the only reason to keep him. We need to take a call on his adaptability within a changing, data-oriented game.
My previous post on this after the QF 2nd leg against Chelsea:

ilrm said:
Honestly if we were in the same form as last year, we'd have put 4 past Chelsea. City will have no problems with us in the semis. This season feels like the last title winning season of the ageing Man Utd/Milan/Juve squads. We need a massive clearout next year, no emotions.

Out: Carvajal, Nacho, Mendy, Kroos, Modric, Ceballos, Benzema, Mariano, Hazard
In-First choice: RB, LB, B2B CM, ST
In/Promote-Backup: RB, LB, CB, ST, LW

Unfortunately I think we will keep Carvajal/Kroos/Modric/Ceballos/Benzema.
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ilrm said:
So first and foremost congratulations are in order. City are the clear-cut best team in Europe this season and you've taken full advantage of your form - basically no goof-ups, which is why you'll likely win the Treble.

From a Madrid perspective:
  • Tactics were not just wrong, they were lazy. Makes me question Carlo's motivation to continue. Playing Kroos as a DM/DLP hybrid, Cama at LB and no Rudiger was atrocious. It was so obvious that he was relying on our CL reputation when he lazily picked a midfield of Valverde-Kroos-Modric. Disgraceful from such an experienced coach.
  • Poor game management from Carlo with his late substitutions. He should've immediately made 3-4 changes at half-time when it was clear that City were outrunning us for every ball. Again makes me question Carlo's motivation.
  • I received a lot of pushback for a previous post but this game should be the final nail in the coffin for our senior starters - Modric, Kroos, Benzema and Carvajal need to be shown the door immediately. Fortunately the first 3 are out of contract so that should make it easy. Experience or winning mentality are useless if you can't get to the ball first. Kroos and Carvajal have fallen off a cliff - so many 5/10 performances since the beginning of last season.
  • For whatever reason - there are a bunch of substitutes who are just happy sitting on their asses and coming in the last 15 minutes. This has been evident since the beginning of this season. They have no motivation to push our starters and are happy collecting checks - Vazquez, Mariano, Hazard, Vallejo and Ceballos being the worst offenders. They need to be replaced with young, hungry youth teamers who want to make a name for themselves: Peter (RW), Arribas (LW/RW), Vinicius Tobias (RB), Rafa Marin (CB) and Alvaro (CF).
  • Players love Carlo but that can't be the only reason to keep him. We need to take a call on his adaptability within a changing, data-oriented game.
My previous post on this after the QF 2nd leg against Chelsea:
Click to expand...

Why stop at 9 new players? I can think of 11 players you could buy who would improve your squad. And a manager as well if you want to get rid of Carlo.
 
So can someone help me with a sanity check. As I tried to while away the day on holiday in Italy, waiting for the match in the evening, I saw a sky blue catamaran in the bay. Number one. Next thing when we went into the ceramic shop that my wife insisted on visiting, the main display was white and sky blue pottery. So that’s two. The next thing as we sat and had lunch the building opposite had sky blue shutters on the white house. So that made three. Next thing as I sit down in the bar to watch the game surrounded by Italians, the Moretti Bianchi beer bottle they bought me had a sky blue and white label. So City then scored four goals. Clearly it has “absolutely nothing” to do with those four things. But I just might try it again with the looming finals : )

But then again, I was sat in the bar in my lucky pants! A grown sixty something believing in luck that somehow didn’t work away at Millwall.

Happy days these boys n girls.
 
Out of curiosity .. are, typically speaking, Man United and Man City fans different from each other, personality wise (on average)? From a historical perspective, for example, Inter and Milan fans used to be rather different ... is there a similar thing between City and United fans?
 
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