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

[alexmcity]

Had forgotten Curtois won't be available either. He was crucial in the 2022 CL semis, made several extraordinary saves in both legs.

Given their problems at CB and Curtois's absence, Pep's tactics will be very attacking. Expect Grealish/Doku instead of Kovacic then?

 

[SWPISHOME]

Had forgotten Curtois won't be available either. He was crucial in the 2022 CL semis, made several extraordinary saves in both legs.

Given their problems at CB and Curtois's absence, Pep's tactics will be very attacking. Expect Grealish/Doku instead of Kovacic then?

I'll be shocked if Doku starts on Tuesday, One of the main reason we won the Champions League last season was down to playing Grealish and Bernardo in wide areas.

It's incredibly important to keep possession and not give the ball away cheaply, Having Grealish and Bernardo out wide gives us that and it stops us being countered attacked on.

Unfortunately Doku does give the ball away cheaply and that's down to the type of player that he is as he loves to try take on the full back.

It's going to be an interesting line up to see what he goes with.

 

[uwe rosler 28]

Looks more of a home leg team for me, think this leg we play Kovacic, not sure who instead of though to be fair.

Think if we play a back 4 instead of a 3 and play Phil or bernie next to rodri it would work. But pep will have something sorted.

 

[alexmcity]

Unfortunately Doku does give the ball away cheaply

He's more direct, sometimes that's a problem, but Pep seems to trust him in big games.

Doku started the home game vs Liverpool, which was probably our best performance against a top 3 team this season, and he was our best player. And Pep subbed him in at Anfield when we were losing the midfield battle in the 2nd half and the last man you would trust in that moment is one who "does give the ball away cheaply". Pep was right, Doku's pass completion was 90%, the best from our attacking players.

I wouldn't be upset if Pep started with Doku at Bernabeu. Jack was fantastic at Palace and might be the better option. Or Kovacic... Pep knows better.

 

[DMA's]

Think the team pretty much picks itself tbh

ederson

akanji stones Dias gvardiol

rodri Bernardo

foden kdb grealish

haaland

Unless there are anymore injuries I’m pretty certain that will be the line up. Fancy us to win again over the two legs just don’t rate Madrid

 

[alexmcity]

Think the team pretty much picks itself tbh

ederson

akanji stones Dias gvardiol

rodri Bernardo

foden kdb grealish

haaland

Unless there are anymore injuries I’m pretty certain that will be the line up. Fancy us to win again over the two legs just don’t rate Madrid

Probably the best line-up on paper, but Grealish played two full games vs Villa and Palace. Only Ortega and Dias played 90 minutes in both games. Defenders don't run as much as midfielders and attackers. Therefore, a 3rd start in 6 days for Grealish is not likely. Guess Kovacic is the more likely option.

Who knows, though, momentum is important. Grealish could play 50-60 minutes, so a start wouldn't be surprising, but it's not likely.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Think the team pretty much picks itself tbh

ederson

akanji stones Dias gvardiol

rodri Bernardo

foden kdb grealish

haaland

Unless there are anymore injuries I’m pretty certain that will be the line up. Fancy us to win again over the two legs just don’t rate Madrid

Guardiol is the weak link in that team giving us a shortage of pace on our left side.Is Ake definitely out?

 

[MichaelBBack]

He doesn't, otherwise Pep wouldn't trust him in big games.

Statistically I believe he does. On average, he gives the ball away 12.2 times per game (Source: Premier League stats from SofaScore), which is higher than any other player this season except Kev. For reference, Foden is at 11.8, Alvarez is 10.8, Rodri also 10.8, Jack 7.8.

Also worth noting that Doku has only played an average of 60 minutes per game in the Prem (for comparison's sake, Phil is at an average of 82 minutes per game). So his average amount of possession turnovers is actually worse than it looks at first glance (12.2 every 60 minutes compared to, for example , Phil at 11.8 every 82 minutes).

Doesn't mean Doku won't play and can't be a great asset in this game but I don't see any merit in overlooking or denying one of the weaker aspects of his game at the moment. We'll want to keep Madrid's chances as minimal as possible, especially at their ground, and I'd probably prefer to see a more control-oriented lineup, even if it means we don't create quite as much, just to make sure we get back to our place with the tie alive and within our grasp.

 

[alexmcity]

Statistically I believe he does. On average, he gives the ball away 12.2 times per game (Source: Premier League stats from SofaScore), which is higher than any other player this season except Kev. For reference, Foden is at 11.8, Alvarez is 10.8, Rodri also 10.8, Jack 7.8.

Also worth noting that Doku has only played an average of 60 minutes per game in the Prem (for comparison's sake, Phil is at an average of 82 minutes per game). So his average amount of possession turnovers is actually worse than it looks at first glance (12.2 every 60 minutes compared to, for example , Phil at 11.8 every 82 minutes).

Doesn't mean Doku won't play and can't be a great asset in this game but I don't see any merit in overlooking or denying one of the weaker aspects of his game at the moment. We'll want to keep Madrid's chances as minimal as possible, especially at their ground, and I'd probably prefer to see a more control-oriented lineup, even if it means we don't create quite as much, just to make sure we get back to our place with the tie alive and within our grasp.

Doku attempts more crosses and passes in the box than the other players not named KDB. That is, he loses the ball mostly in the oppo box by not finding a teammate, which I wouldn't characterise as 'cheaply'. This is related to his directness. But when he is told to pass it around and be more careful in possession, his pass completion is really good. IIRC, it was 87% in the home game vs Liverpool and 90 % in the away game.

 

[MCFC1993]