GaudinoMotors
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"Tiredness", the days of steak 'n' chips and a couple in the Parkside are long gone.
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Real Madrid (H) - Wed 17th May, 20:00 | Pre-Match Thread
- Thread starter MCFC1993
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Tbh we never had to get out of 1st gear today and second half especially we just managed the game perfectly and conserved energy.Tiredness is definitely going to play a big part. They had an extra day off and rested most of their big ones. We had to play Rodri, Walker and Akanji 90 mins.
city warrior
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I rewatched the 1st leg yesterday, and I am pretty confident we have this.
1) Madrid cannot play much better than the first leg, because as a team they are not as cohesive as us, and all their individual players had really good match (good passing, dribbling). The only player for them who can be better is Benzema. The same cannot be said for us. As brilliant and cohesive as we were as a team, and as good our mentality and resilience was, I think we had our worst match individually in a while (at least in the offensive). We misplaced some really easy passes, the weight of some of our passes was poor. Stones and especially Gundogan and Bernardo had really poor passing. KDB crosses weren't as sharp, even Haaland decision making was rather poor (I think he should have strike as hard as possible instead of crossing in his chance, and his header should have gone back instead of trying a goal). This means we can only play better.
2) I think Madrid has a really clear weakness. Their 2 CBs are too narrow to defend Haaland, so both Valverde and Modric/Kroos get in between the FB and the CB, leaving only Kroos/Modric outside the box. That means we should cut inside with the wingers quickly and pass it to the center for a hard strike (like Mahrez/Gundogan against Leeds). Rodri should push a little forward so we have 2 players ready to shoot at all times Rodri + Gundo/KDB. Our best wingers for this are Grealis and Mahrez/Foden.
3) We cannot be worse at free kicks and corners. Something that I didn't noticed until my rewatch is we were also poor defending them. Our players were too close to our own goal leaving a lot of RM players free outside the box. In the 2nd half, we were in control for the first 10 minutes, and we lost the control when Madrid got their first corner around the 56 min. After that they had 3-4 consecutive corners because we defended them too deep, and that gave them confidence to have a really good 15 min until KDB goal.
4) I counted all the shots from Madrid or dangerous counters or dangerous crosses (crosses inside the box or having time to cross it). They only had 3 in the entire match that weren't preceded by a bad pass (missplaced pass without a big pressure from any Madrid player) from us, or a corner or free kick. And 2 of them came from Camavinga/ Modric/ Vinicius connection in their left. Bernardo just doesn't have the physicality to match him either offensively or defensively. Bernardo was rested today, so he will probably play, but I really hope Foden plays instead of him. Foden can match Camavinga speed and physicality. Also, Vinicius doesn't track back, so a good goal threat on that side could make a lot of damage. Even if Bernardo dribbles Camavinga, Camavinga will catch him back easily.
Bascially, Madrid cannot play much better, we are incredible at home and individually we can only have better performances. I am extremely confident.
Cmon City!
1) Madrid cannot play much better than the first leg, because as a team they are not as cohesive as us, and all their individual players had really good match (good passing, dribbling). The only player for them who can be better is Benzema. The same cannot be said for us. As brilliant and cohesive as we were as a team, and as good our mentality and resilience was, I think we had our worst match individually in a while (at least in the offensive). We misplaced some really easy passes, the weight of some of our passes was poor. Stones and especially Gundogan and Bernardo had really poor passing. KDB crosses weren't as sharp, even Haaland decision making was rather poor (I think he should have strike as hard as possible instead of crossing in his chance, and his header should have gone back instead of trying a goal). This means we can only play better.
2) I think Madrid has a really clear weakness. Their 2 CBs are too narrow to defend Haaland, so both Valverde and Modric/Kroos get in between the FB and the CB, leaving only Kroos/Modric outside the box. That means we should cut inside with the wingers quickly and pass it to the center for a hard strike (like Mahrez/Gundogan against Leeds). Rodri should push a little forward so we have 2 players ready to shoot at all times Rodri + Gundo/KDB. Our best wingers for this are Grealis and Mahrez/Foden.
3) We cannot be worse at free kicks and corners. Something that I didn't noticed until my rewatch is we were also poor defending them. Our players were too close to our own goal leaving a lot of RM players free outside the box. In the 2nd half, we were in control for the first 10 minutes, and we lost the control when Madrid got their first corner around the 56 min. After that they had 3-4 consecutive corners because we defended them too deep, and that gave them confidence to have a really good 15 min until KDB goal.
4) I counted all the shots from Madrid or dangerous counters or dangerous crosses (crosses inside the box or having time to cross it). They only had 3 in the entire match that weren't preceded by a bad pass (missplaced pass without a big pressure from any Madrid player) from us, or a corner or free kick. And 2 of them came from Camavinga/ Modric/ Vinicius connection in their left. Bernardo just doesn't have the physicality to match him either offensively or defensively. Bernardo was rested today, so he will probably play, but I really hope Foden plays instead of him. Foden can match Camavinga speed and physicality. Also, Vinicius doesn't track back, so a good goal threat on that side could make a lot of damage. Even if Bernardo dribbles Camavinga, Camavinga will catch him back easily.
Bascially, Madrid cannot play much better, we are incredible at home and individually we can only have better performances. I am extremely confident.
Cmon City!
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The only real question for me would be who plays wide right in this game, Bernardo, Foden or Mahrez. Madrid's left back proved a real handful for Bernie so I'd be tempted to go with Foden in this one. My mind drifts back to the job Foden did on Robertson at Anfield, not only defensively but also giving him a lot to think about going forward. Be interesting to see what Pep does.
lightning Rodri
Well-Known Member
Rodri, Akanji and Walker looked tired at the end.Tbh we never had to get out of 1st gear today and second half especially we just managed the game perfectly and conserved energy.
Totally this, the game was the perfect warm up for Wednesday and Everton obliged by offering noting. Far better to have actually played this game than to have no game, team confidence must be through the roof.Disagree. They’ve had a nice run out today, almost a training game 4 them. Will be pumped and raring to go on Wednesday :-)
Gundogan's Moustache
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Going on my ones due to the ticket fiasco and my dad not getting a ticket.
Anyone in a similar situation and fancy a few beers beforehand to calm the nerves?
Anyone in a similar situation and fancy a few beers beforehand to calm the nerves?
D
D
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I initially thought this would be an easy line-up to predict but I'm not sure now.
Ederson, Rodri and Haaland are absolutely nailed on.
Walker, Stones, Dias and Akanji will probably be the back four but you could make a case for Laporte.
Gundogan and De Bruyne will almost certainly occupy the two number eight positions unless Pep wants Bernardo's energy in midfield. How can you possibly leave either of those two out though.
The positions that are probably most up for debate are the wingers.
On the right, Pep may opt for the pressing machine that is Bernardo although you could make an argument for Mahrez or Foden starting on the back of their performances against Everton.
On the other side it's between Grealish and Foden. I think most would assume it'll be Jack as he's been an ever present in the side since the world cup and, like Bernardo, only played a few minutes against Everton.
However, whilst Grealish has not been bad recently I don't think he's looked quite as sharp in the last few games probably due to fatigue. If Pep goes for Foden it'll probably be because he wants a bit more pace and directness in this game as opposed to the more controlled approach we sensibly took away from home.
Ederson, Rodri and Haaland are absolutely nailed on.
Walker, Stones, Dias and Akanji will probably be the back four but you could make a case for Laporte.
Gundogan and De Bruyne will almost certainly occupy the two number eight positions unless Pep wants Bernardo's energy in midfield. How can you possibly leave either of those two out though.
The positions that are probably most up for debate are the wingers.
On the right, Pep may opt for the pressing machine that is Bernardo although you could make an argument for Mahrez or Foden starting on the back of their performances against Everton.
On the other side it's between Grealish and Foden. I think most would assume it'll be Jack as he's been an ever present in the side since the world cup and, like Bernardo, only played a few minutes against Everton.
However, whilst Grealish has not been bad recently I don't think he's looked quite as sharp in the last few games probably due to fatigue. If Pep goes for Foden it'll probably be because he wants a bit more pace and directness in this game as opposed to the more controlled approach we sensibly took away from home.
The only real question for me would be who plays wide right in this game, Bernardo, Foden or Mahrez. Madrid's left back proved a real handful for Bernie so I'd be tempted to go with Foden in this one. My mind drifts back to the job Foden did on Robertson at Anfield, not only defensively but also giving him a lot to think about going forward. Be interesting to see what Pep does.
Yeah I think I'm tempted to drop gundogan or Bernardo to get foden or Mahrez in the front three for this one.
Ahsan on 9320 made an excellent point that we don't have anyone to come off the bench to settle us down and control, kill, or slow down the game when both Bernardo and gundogan start. So bringing someone into the front 3 to have Silva in reserve or drop Silva back and have gundo in reserve.
Heath Park
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Remain calm blues...
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