Real Madrid (A) | CL | Post Match Thread

[micky_blue]

We certainly deserved to lose this tie, and probably didn’t even warrant making it through the league phase… that said,

I would love to know the betting patterns for the score line… the late free kick was certainly in the penalty box, yet VAR didn’t review, then VAR looked at our goal trying to find any offside….strange indeed, I wonder who needed zero goals from City

 

[Gone for a Burton]

Reckon Madrid will get him next.

Thomas Frank & Alonso should also be in the mix


It'll take a strong and good man to be the first to step into the great man's shoes.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

Xavi Alonso to be next RM manager??

Especially, if his team get RM in the next round of CL and go through??? :0)

Maybe. Don’t think they beat Madrid but he could well be in the frame. Think what the feller at Bournemouth is doing is unbelievable though.

 

[blue by birth]

Deep down we agree.

Only if you have changed your opinion lol

 

[TheGhost]

I’m not suggesting it is but, if it isn’t, why is he often found 20 yards inside the opposition half with over half a football pitch behind him?

Because the players in front of him aren’t creating the space or making runs for him to pass to?

 

[Boris Yeltsin]

Only if you have changed your opinion

Only if you have changed your opinion lol

I trust my gut. Can't change that.

 

[bluegaz13]

I think the team last night gave everything but

Dias is a good player. Is he elite when it comes to world class defending, No way. I would have no issue if he was sold. We need to stop being sentimental. The cull will be a big one and we have to accept it.
The club messed up post Istanbul. The reliance on an ageing team has caught up with us. I will be eternally grateful for what they gave us but it is time for some huge changes.

One of the main problems is that we have a different back four ( Dias partner) in nearly every match.

Although the Stones /Dias partnership is the one that usually works best.

Pep has got to play Khusanov most of the time now ahead of the injury prone Ake and Stones....he looks very promising and the only one with blistering pace and also hopefully he will stay fit.....it's the only way he will learn.

I think Dias has until the end of the season to prove he can stay fit and get back to the player he was a couple of years ago and cut out the costly mistakes......I'm sure there would be plenty of takers should we decide to sell.

I think our midfield makes the defence look worse than they really are.... last night on numerous occasions the Madrid attackers outnumbered our defenders who got very little help in the way of backtracking from the middle three.

 

[Bluewars II]

We have 4 new players from the January window in an effort to maximize our chances of qualifying for next years Chumps League and we loaned out a player who for at least 18 months wanted to leave and has played his last game in a City Shirt.

Early days of course but it looks like these players have a future at the club and Pep wants to play them.

In the summer we know that Gundy will leave , KDB will leave , Silva will leave , Ederson is most likely to leave and you could argue for at least two others of Grealish , Stones , Ake may leave so they will need to be replaced and of course replaced by quicker preferably younger , more physical and of course less injury prone players in their positions.

UCL qualification is not in doubt, who are our contenders? N'Forest, Newcastle, Villa, Chelski??

All this talk of 'we need to focus on qualifying for next seasons ucl' is all BS, I'd be suprised if we finished lower than 3rd.

What we need to see is a new system that works, we need new ideas from Pep an enjoyable style of play, trust the new players, utilize the squad better, small squads are a thing of the past, we still need another DM/CM, a back up striker, right back and new GK.

Id keep KDB too, but i feel the relationship between him and Pep isnt what it was, i hope im wrong.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

Dias is a good player. Is he elite when it comes to world class defending, No way. I would have no issue if he was sold. We need to stop being sentimental. The cull will be a big one and we have to accept it.
The club messed up post Istanbul. The reliance on an ageing team has caught up with us. I will be eternally grateful for what they gave us but it is time for some huge changes.

I think he used to be elite in defending but not for quite a while. He was always one of the first players I wanted on the team sheet but not so much now. That penalty he gave away at Chelsea last season suggested he was on a downward curve and he’s never really come out of it. I think he perhaps needs to move to a team that defends a lot of the time as opposed to having a lot of the ball.
Not only that, his pace that often bailed him out has now gone to AC Milan!

Surprisingly enough we’re still the team that gives up the fewest attempts on target but, with 10 players in the opposition half a lot of the time, those chances are often gilt edged, which should have be sounding alarm bells all season.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

It might be part of the Russian Empire by then.

So might Munich, Paris and London..

 

[colinthewindowcleaner]

And the BBC says our era is over. So I guess that's it then?

Not so. Football teams aren't built overnight. We saw that in Pep's first 2 seasons. But the re-build is possibly already done in terms of transfers. We won't know until we see how the new players develop. The biggest issue is not the midfield but the defence. Is Khusanov and Reis enough? I am not sure Khusanov is a right back.

The most significant aspect of the game last night was that in a struggling side, Khusanov had a fine game.

Pep says City lack physicality, well Khusanov has it in spades.

I thought Khusanov had a good game. I read one of the red tops incl scored him a 3.
Only negative incident to me was the 2nd goal, and that was down to him getting o help from his co defenders when against Mbappe and 1 other.
On a different note he needs to grow a beard as he looks like Jack Webster off Coronation Street , and he’s about 14 .

 

[blue by birth]

Likewise mate..enjoy your evening

 

[Scaley]

I thought Khusanov had a good game. I read one of the red tops incl scored him a 3.
Only negative incident to me was the 2nd goal, and that was down to him getting o help from his co defenders when against Mbappe and 1 other.
On a different note he needs to grow a beard as he looks like Jack Webster off Coronation Street , and he’s about 14 .

My lad and I thought exactly the same yet McPointy and the other dipstick were constantly digging him out. The bellends we’re even questioning why Marmoush was taking set pieces, for fucks sake do a bit of research!

 

[noseve]

Personally think we have to win the FA cup for there to be remotely any upside now. Sure we're in transition but I think we're beyond that stage of being a side where a decent cup run is something to get too excited about. Plus looking at the teams who are left in it, i think being knocked out by any of those could only be considered a failure (I can accept failure btw, and I know we won't be amazing every single season, but I also just don't believe an fa cup run will do much to paper over the cracks)

Maybe so, but ending such a lousy season with top 4 and another FA Cup would at least keep the noisy neighbours in check?

 

[Lord Blue]

We certainly deserved to lose this tie, and probably didn’t even warrant making it through the league phase… that said,

I would love to know the betting patterns for the score line… the late free kick was certainly in the penalty box, yet VAR didn’t review, then VAR looked at our goal trying to find any offside….strange indeed, I wonder who needed zero goals from City

I thought they said VAR did review it but didn’t see any need to intervene
Could be wrong though

 

[blueabdi]

I thought Khusanov had a good game. I read one of the red tops incl scored him a 3.
Only negative incident to me was the 2nd goal, and that was down to him getting o help from his co defenders when against Mbappe and 1 other.
On a different note he needs to grow a beard as he looks like Jack Webster off Coronation Street , and he’s about 14 .

You made laugh
I cannt image how khusanov with beard look like , the guy has a baby face but looks innocent and calm.

 

[tackeds]

It’s an emotional rollercoaster this season. We have a good game where everyone looks relatively in sync and dangerous, we’re back. We then immediately have a shocker where the players look like they’ve been introduced seconds before kick off and have no idea what positions they’re playing in. Last night they all, to a man, looked crap, so now it’s Pep out, Foden to be sold and Gundo/Bernie banished.

Same pattern all season. Hopefully means we’ll be on the upswing against the dippers! CTID

 

[Stiff Little Wingers]

Maybe so, but ending such a lousy season with top 4 and another FA Cup would at least keep the noisy neighbours in check?

Never mind the Cup or others, getting back into the CL is priority.
Anything else like the cup would be a lovely bonus

 

[big gaz]

The better team won, and we deserved to go out.

But, WTF was Dias doing on that 1st goal? Missed his header, off balance and fell over. But, was there the slightest of pushes on him by Mbappe? I thought so when I watched it live, but it's very difficult to see on the replays. Dias didn't complain though, but, I thought at the time that if Haaland had been on and he'd done that to Rudiger - a slight nudge - it would have been disallowed for us and a free kick to Madrid.

Superb finish though, and the next 2 goals were superb as well. Overall, we were shite. But, we should have had a penalty for the foul on Macatee near the end, and VAR didn't even look at it.

Anyway, that's just me with my blue-tinted spec's on, trying to look for a positive after some very poor performances from a team of largely anonymous players on the night. It'd be lovely to get something against the scousers, Spurs and Notts Forest in the coming weeks, but, I'll settle for us beating Plymouth ....... not holding my breath though.

Love blue tinted specs matey , para 1 bang on the finish Eddie helps out the French bugger imo.

 

[Blue2112]

I honestly think we've somehow rattled Real Madrid over the past few years, got under their skin and become a little bit prickly for them. When you look at what they've won it really does surprise me but yes I think we have ruffled their oh so delicate feathers. They've admitted they found the atmosphere in past games their most intimidating, the 4-0 battering damaged them and the game at the Bernabeu where they won it at the death have all contributed to them wirrying about us probably more than they should.

I was on the front row of level 2 literally right next to the Madrid fans when they knocked us out on penalties and their fans were going proper mental at us and watching St. Jude jumping in their end and celebrating with the fans like they were the minnows knocking out the Royalty of Europe was actually quite confirming that City have arrived at this level and we are taken very seriously. I kind of found it all funny and very much a compliment to us. The Balon d'or was pathetic watching a club of their stature throwing their toys out of the pram and not turning up over little old City was reaffirming for me that we've got to them. Then watching them last clearly pumped to knock us out with their constant chest bumping every tackle with each other and urging their fans to get behind them at every opportunity. Yes I think the boys in blue have clearly aggravated our Spanish rivals.

Excelente!