Can't question the team's effort last night. We were done by Real's 93:20 Aguero moment!
The boys left nothing out there on the pitch.
Despite have a 'big and expensive' squad, the reality is that Pep is playing with 15-16 players, and with the number of games played in all competitions, most looked burned out. Bernie and Phil still running at the end (probably still running now), but others dead on their feet.
Walker was first a big gain and then a big loss having cancelled out their main threat.
The bit I cannot understand is the performance of the substitutes.
Real swapped all 3 of their aging midfield with youngsters, freshening up their midfield.
We swapped 2 for Gundog and Ferna, and while they contributed (particularly Gundog doing forward) we gained no more energy in midfield. Then we bring on the 'freshest legs' in Jack and later Raz and stick them so far wide that they are hardly in the game. Okay Jack frightened them with a couple of near misses from out wide when put into space, but the battle was in the middle of the park.
(I'm still not sure Jack brings enough of a threat, or enough positional options for our team. I fear the jury is going to be out for a long time - time which we cannot afford)
I lost patience with Raz's first touch and lack of final ball or shot a long time ago. However, when you bring on a fresh-legged whippet as a substitute, at any level, the least you expect is that they will run themselves into the ground chasing down the opposition, fully committed, not half hearted.
So all-in-all Pep put out the strongest 11 for both skill and work rate and we came up short away from home in one of the cauldrons of Europe. For me the lack of squad depth and ability to rotate without having the levels slip has been key this season. I hate to mention the scousers, but they've been putting faith in their squad and changing as many as 7 players between CL legs, and for PL games.
Now we need to regroup quickly, and win the next 4 matches. CTID.
