Real Madrid (A) - Tues 9th April, 20:00 | CL | Pre-Match Thread

[deano ou812]

Interesting,probably only 3 of them start if I’m right,I’d hazard a guess if we are reffed correctly I’d say at least 2 of them will be carded Bellingham being one ..

 

[supercity88]

They're excellent on the counter but can be dominated at times as shown by Leipzig. I can't tell if they're better or worse than the past couple of seasons.

I would imagine we play a lot like last season. Safety first, keep the ball. No high risk passes, not losing our defensive shape forcing things on attack and try to come away with a win but snap their hand off for a draw to make it a one leg game at home where we can get at them.

They have the players to really carve through us. The counter has been an issue all season.

Ortega
Walker
Stones
Dias
Akanji
Rodri
Kovacic
Bernie
De Bruyne
Grealish
Haaland

But Pep might decide to just fucking bury them in the 1st leg this time and no Foden hints at him starting this one.

 

[supercity88]

Big names potentially missing there. If we can get them booked it's half the job done! Grealish will sort Bellingham out, Camavinga and Tchoueameni can be rash so he will probably sort them out too! Just need someone to take a tumble near Vinicius!

 

[deano ou812]

Any players missing for Madrid due to either injury or suspension..edit ..Courtois which we knew about and Alaba ..

 

[Alvin-blue-qhd]

Real Madrid is shit.

 

[alexmcity]

Any players missing for Madrid due to either injury or suspension..edit ..Courtois which we knew about and Alaba ..

Militao is fit but has played about 3 minutes after his ACL injury...He is unlikely to start in both games, especially in Madrid.

 

[Gorbachev]

I would be doing all I can to wind Bellingham up and getting him suspended.

Out of all the potential suspensions, he is most likely in my opinion.

Going forward I am not worried at all, I think we will create a chance or two.

Just concerned about the counter attack. I can't see how we don't concede at least 2.

Could be a ridiculously high scoring this game in my opinion because Real Madrid will know they have to win at home, a draw is as good as a defeat for them.

 

[alexmcity]

I would be doing all I can to wind Bellingham up and getting him suspended.

Out of all the potential suspensions, he is most likely in my opinion.

Going forward I am not worried at all, I think we will create a chance or two.

Just concerned about the counter attack. I can't see how we don't concede at least 2.

Could be a ridiculously high scoring this game in my opinion because Real Madrid will know they have to win at home, a draw is as good as a defeat for them.

You can see us creating a chance or two but also a ridiculously high scoring game...

We are likely to create more chances than them if we are at our normal level.

And if they want to attack us with many players and leave free spaces for KDB, Foden and Haaland to exploit, they might make a mistake there.

 

[feedmpenzaandhewillscore]

You can see us creating a chance or two but also a ridiculously high scoring game...

We are likely to create more chances than them if we are at our normal level.

And if they want to attack us with many players and leave free spaces for KDB, Foden and Haaland to exploit, they might make a mistake there.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kovacic next to Rodri and turn it into a slow tempo game to stop their quick counters.

 

[alexmcity]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kovacic next to Rodri and turn it into a slow tempo game to stop their quick counters.

They'll be with Nacho or Tchouameni at CB. Their FBs are good attacking wise but not the best in the world defensively. Pep will try to exploit that. Imo, we'll try to bring the game to them and play to win.

Real shouldn't be underestimated and may be the fresher team. We'll try to win, though.

 

[Chippy_boy]

I think we've had too much instability in our back 5 (injury-induced of course, and including Ederson) and have looked less that solid in our last couple of games. Sure we ran out easy winners in the end against both teams but Villa in particular caused us real problems and a more clinical side would have punished us. I fear Real is that more clinical side and I think they will bag a couple at least. The question for me is will we score more than 2, and I am saying no. So a 2-2 draw or perhaps a 1-2 defeat is coming IMO.

 

[alexmcity]

I think we've had too much instability in our back 5 (injury-induced of course, and including Ederson) and have looked less that solid in our last couple of games. Sure we ran out easy winners in the end against both teams but Villa in particular caused us real problems and a more clinical side would have punished us. I fear Real is that more clinical side and I think they will bag a couple at least. The question for me is will we score more than 2, and I am saying no. So a 2-2 draw or perhaps a 1-2 defeat is coming IMO.

We won't play like vs Villa or Palace, though. We were solid vs Arsenal even though we were without Ederson, Walker, Stones and then Ake...Our tactics at Bernabeu will be more like vs Arsenal than vs Villa. If KDB, Foden and Haaland do better than vs Arsenal, then I wouldn't be surprised to see us wining 1:2 or 2:3.

 

[ercbkippax]

I’m well aware this is too premature and I’m really not trying to tempt fate, but I need to know for Annual Leave - the away leg of a potential semi final will be on either 30/04 or 01/05, is there anything in the schedule for all sides involved that means one date is more likely than the other?

 

[Chippy_boy]

We won't play like vs Villa or Palace, though. We were solid vs Arsenal even though we were without Ederson, Walker, Stones and then Ake...Our tactics at Bernabeu will be more like vs Arsenal than vs Villa. If KDB, Foden and Haaland do better than vs Arsenal, then I wouldn't be surprised to see us wining 1:2 or 2:3.

You may be right but I don't see it that way. I think we were solid against Arsenal because they didn't bother attacking.

And regards our tactics, I don't think we can help ourselves. We always play 75% of the game in the opposition's half and are always vulnerable to counter-attacks when we lose possession high up the pitch. Walker's pace gets us out of a whole load of trouble (and Akanji does too to a lesser extent) but not sure if Walker will be fit? I'm not confident of a positive result unfortunately. But hopefully even a narrow defeat is something we can overturn at the Etihad.

 

[alexmcity]

I think we were solid against Arsenal because they didn't bother attacking.

They were afraid to leave free spaces because that could mean multiple goals vs a team with KDB, Haaland and Foden. It's not like they weren't bothered to do it.

There are trade-offs. If you dare to attack us in numbers, then you open yourselves to attacks, and virtually all teams would be wary of doing that.

Liverpool had success in the 2nd half at Anfield, but even then Foden had a good chance to make it 2:1 and Doku hit the post. Real are a more talented side than Liverpool but they can't press like Liverpool and dominate us physically. Even when we lost the tie in 21/22, Real didn't have a shot on target in the first 90 minutes at Bernabeu...Of course, Real are Real, especially at Bernabeu. You might be right, but I think we'll do better than many expect.

 

[The Lightbowne Cowboy]

I'd kill for a draw right at this moment and even a 1 goal deficit wouldn't be the end of the world. We can murder em at home. C'MON CITY !!!

 

[Gigant]

Ederson
Akanji
Dias
Stones
Gvardiol
Rodri
Lewis
Doku
Foden
Grealish
Haaland

 

[CotswoldsBlue]

Ederson
Akanji
Dias
Stones
Gvardiol
Rodri
Bernie
KDB
Foden
Grealish
Haaland

 

[uwe rosler 28]

Super confident for this game the only thing that concerns me is the officals Madrid and the European darlings. Rodri will be targeted for sure by the play actors. But let's get it right this not a great Madrid team of the past both fullbacks are dodgy ruddiger is a mistake waiting to happen kroos can't get round the pitch like he use too they will play a holding midfielder on the right wing and rodrigo as a make shift striker. For me we are better in every department.

 

[supercity88]

You may be right but I don't see it that way. I think we were solid against Arsenal because they didn't bother attacking.

And regards our tactics, I don't think we can help ourselves. We always play 75% of the game in the opposition's half and are always vulnerable to counter-attacks when we lose possession high up the pitch. Walker's pace gets us out of a whole load of trouble (and Akanji does too to a lesser extent) but not sure if Walker will be fit? I'm not confident of a positive result unfortunately. But hopefully even a narrow defeat is something we can overturn at the Etihad.

Our issues on the counter are down to a combination of our attacking players not putting the work in to chase back, and our defenders following the ball rather than the men. We need to just stand off the ball and try and delay the counter so others can come back, and be ready to anticipate the pass. Against Villa it was a simple one-two as a result of us chasing the ball instead of holding our discipline. But only Grealish was back in the defensive third, the rest hadn't really bothered.

We will work our socks off at the Bernabeu. And it's worth watching their games against Leipzig. They might not play so poorly but Leipzig absolutely dominated and carved out chances with ease. How they didn't win that game I don't know. It's typical for Real to advance despite being the lesser team, but we'll create plenty and all we need to do is have an extra man to cope with the counter. Or, Real will accept a reduced attacking threat by having more discipline in their game to cope with us. They might not allow Bellingham/Rodrygo/Vinicius as much freedom and ask them to do more defensive work.