Our midfield did seem strangely 'unambitious' last night. I wonder if Pep has finally learnt to be pragmatic and was going safety first to ensure we came away with something.
Also, I think they thought they could handle most of our team but really feared Gundy and his movement between the lines. It would go someway to explain the attempted cheekbone break from that cheating twat (which I was totally expecting) and the tackle from Kroos (which I didn't expect), which surprised me.
Kroos tackle was an act of desperation and was probably instructed to do, whereas Rudiger's was just pure violence.
Unfortunately it seemed to really put Ilkay off his game. He was finding pockets before that, after he was more passive and made a few mistakes (but thought he did well overall).
I think the heat played its part, especially after the run of ‘must win’ games we’ve had, which I think made our midfield seem a bit more lethargic than usual. It’ll be different in Manchester I hope.
I just can’t help but feel total admiration for all the players. There is so much against you at the Bernabeu, you’re not just playing against a quality team there is so much more to it than that.
I was in disbelief last night at the ref and the treatment some of the lads got, and the way the Real players kicked, barged, tripped, dived, waved imaginary yellows - all ‘unnoticed’ by the infield ref and the VAR.
Now the dust has settled (I shouldn’t) but I feel grateful the ref didn’t make it worse. They had opportunities to give a couple of handballs in the box against us (they were not handball) and rule our goal out. I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if those had gone against us.
With all those factors I think it’s a great result, and fingers crossed we can overcome them at home will the full weight and will of the crowd behind us.
The only credit I will give Real is Camavinga played very well in my opinion. I wonder if we can risk playing Mahrez at home to challenge him more, his physicality overpowered Bernie a bit. Mahrez would be more of a threat in play and from free kicks / corners which weren’t brilliant from us.