Real Madrid (A) | Post Match Thread

“Grealish and Bernardo didn’t offer enough. Gundogan making poor decisions.”

They worked their bollocks off, appreciate the gargantuan effort the players put in.

The above quote you've picked out is a fair enough take. Those three had average second halves (Grealish less so than the other two).

Every four or five posts on here calling out fellow blues for having the slightest negative opinion makes it far more unbearable than the odd moan.

People need to remember that a couple of sentences in a post on a football messaging board is unlikely to be the only opinions they have about the match / team / player / manager and are just off the cuff thoughts.

I often wonder what people's conversations are like at the pub when I read posts having a go at bits of negativity.

"Bernardo had a bit of a shit second half didn't he mate?"

"How dare you say Bernardo had a bad game, he tried his hardest and he's been wonderful all season! I only want you to say nice things about him or I'm going to find new friends. Call yourself a City fan!? rag more like "
 
Dropping Haaland for the second leg would defy his whole purpose for being at the club. I see what's happening here - he's not scored in his last two games, so now he becomes dispensable. The whole team is starting to be built around him being in it. He's been truly sensational. He makes other teams fearful. I just can't get my head around this suggestion at all. We've got the crowd behind us and an animal in attack, but you want to ditch it all for a formation we've not played all season because it's won us league titles in the past? Well OK then, but answer me this - how many CLs has it won us?
It wouldn’t defy the whole purpose though would it. No player in the team is indispensable when there’s possibly a better fit for a particular game. Last night we had less control than we have in the previous games against Madrid except for a crazy last 5 minutes when they knocked us out, we were lucky to draw that match imo. There’s no doubt Haaland has been a phenomenon but Rudiger had his number last night. It hasn’t won any, but then nor has any formation yet. Last season our lack of defensive options caused that, not the formation.
 
These days if I'm not actually at the match I only ever really follow City matches on the official website commentary. (I even try to' synch ' it when we're live on terrestrial TV)
In previous posts I've mentioned the coverage (although obviously pro City) is a hell of a lot more balanced than the mainstream media outlets. Last night they were saying how in control we were until they scored, but also that Madrid were on top for periods in the 2nd half. They give credit to both teams where due.The Real Madrid 'shithousery' /dark arts as they called it was mentioned several times, diving, dodgy fouls, surrounding the ref, play acting etc..
As for Twitter!! I don't do that stuff , only read it when stuff is posted to links on here. Wow fucking hell, you really do get some right ignorant, moronic dickheads on there, is it always as bad as that??
Reaction from media is predictable I have to say, as was the one from Ferdinand (I bet old Jackie Boy was tempted to join in with the chants, now that would have been fun to see!).
Reaction from City(??) fans on here, a bit strange in places! Almost a feeling of 'oh that was a shit performance and result'.
One guy prior to the game (on the matchday website coverage) predicted 4:1 to us! That wasn't ever really going to happen was it!
Good away result I felt against a very good team FFS (can't blame him either come to think of it).
We are capable of doing so, and hopefully we can get the job done next week at The Etihad if we play as well as we are capable of ( and don't fuck about!)
With regards to the 2nd lag, although I don't go to enough games these days to qualify for a ticket It does sound as if the club haven't exactly covered themselves in glory with the ticket arrangements does it?
It sounds as if a lot of genuine regular match goers( who should be there for such a game)have been 'shafted' by the stupid/greedy ticket arrangements for next week, which is really pretty fucking crap isn't it! Especially when so many go for extortionate prices on ticket agencies.
 
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.
 
Have to say though, what a player Vinicius Jr is. For me, he is the best representative of the modern winger - less reliance on fancy tricks/dribbles, more emphasis on space and efficiency. Very intelligent winger.

Not too many players like him these days. Gets you on your feet sort of player. That being said, I thought Walker did very well against him and equally I still think Vinicius had a good game. A top battle between two top players.
 
Vini did nothing down the outside thanks to Walker. It’s when he came inside he looked most dangerous. We need to take that away next week.
Yep, only looked really dangerous when he started to take up the more central roles, the further away from Kyle the better for them, won’t be surprised to see Ancelotti use him more that way in the return if Kyle starts again.
 

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