Real Madrid post match post mortem

StillBluessinceHydeRoad said:
All the tactical analysis in the world cannot get round the facts that Real scored 4 goals in the tie, of which two were cruel deflections and one was a shinned finish which came straight back to the eventual scorer. Their other was a worldie but it only ranks with the three great goals we scored at their place. Our domination at the Etihad was such that Madrid were saved bt the woodwork and a shot over the bar from a chance that KdB would bury 99 times out of100. And that's only two of the 33 shots we had in Wednesday's game. I'm not arguing with the result or denying that RM go through, but what I am saying is that on any other occasion one of the 32 attempts would have gone in as well the one KdB scored from. Lady Luck was on RM's side on Wednesday for 120 minutes and that's all there is to it. They were resolute and determined but they had the rub of the green from start to finish.

The penalty shoot out was different. It was not a lottery because it does test real skills and abilities, such as being able to perform under pressure, but everyone who takes a penalty knows that one day they will miss and they hope it will never be the one they are just about to take. For Kovacic his penalty was too near the keeper: for Bernado he made his mind up, took the kick and for once the goalkeeper didn't move. Ice cool from Bernado but...

So, there's no magic in the Real badge, no inheritance of football genius that transmits to all Real players and no success built into their badge - simply that on Wednesday they got away with it and eliminated a much better team, the best team in Europe and all the world.
Click to expand...
The problem is Madrid have got the better of us twice now without being the better team. They are Kings of this competition for a reason perhaps. They seem to be able to find ways to win whereas we find ways to lose. That said the demolition of them at our place last season was probably worth watching the collapse in Madrid and that ridiculous penalty from Bernardo. Most likely we will cross swords again in the future and maybe it will be our turn to get lucky.
 
I haven't read this entire thread but I'm assuming it's been mentioned that this ref also refereed the game City lost against Madrid in the 21/22 CL semi-final. ****.
 
Father Paul said:
The problem is Madrid have got the better of us twice now without being the better team. They are Kings of this competition for a reason perhaps. They seem to be able to find ways to win whereas we find ways to lose. That said the demolition of them at our place last season was probably worth watching the collapse in Madrid and that ridiculous penalty from Bernardo. Most likely we will cross swords again in the future and maybe it will be our turn to get lucky.
Click to expand...
The problem with the view that RM are "Kings of this competition for a reason perhaps" is that no-one can say what that reason is! They have won the competition 5 times in the last 10/11 years and 14 times in all, going back to 1955. Even if we confine ourselves to the years since 2014 and their 6 wins, they have had a series of different managers and a host of different managers. This raises the question of what exactly the reason for their success is! We have never been treated to an explanation which is in any way convincing, and increasingly we are thrown back on the kind of lunatic explanations of the rags' success in the nineties and noughties: "winning is in their genes", "it's part of their DNA" or "there's success built into the badge" and of course "they always find a way". But, of course, they've lost their way now! And RM did not win it between 1960 and 1998. Then it was the galacticos and 3 wins, then another "fallow" period until 2914. So, they don't ALWAYS find a way to win and we don't always find a way to lose. RM certainly didn't in 2020! It's fair to point out that in 10 CL matches against them since 2016 Madrid have won 1 in 90 minutes and 2 if extra time is included. They have never found a way to win at the Etihad. And if we think back two years part of their strategy was for City to miss a string of chances at the Bernabeu culminating in a prone Courtois scraping one off the line with his studs with the score at 1-0 to City. That is before RM's "way" to win in the final was for the goalkeeper to be man of the match ... On Wednesday RM certainly didn't plan to have 30% possession, let Haaland hit the bar and the rebound go fractionally wide, KdB to put a golden chance over the bar... We can criticise City's finishing, but we have to say that RM seem to have the rub of the green and the run of the ball at some very important times.
 
StillBluessinceHydeRoad said:
The problem with the view that RM are "Kings of this competition for a reason perhaps" is that no-one can say what that reason is! They have won the competition 5 times in the last 10/11 years and 14 times in all, going back to 1955. Even if we confine ourselves to the years since 2014 and their 6 wins, they have had a series of different managers and a host of different managers. This raises the question of what exactly the reason for their success is! We have never been treated to an explanation which is in any way convincing, and increasingly we are thrown back on the kind of lunatic explanations of the rags' success in the nineties and noughties: "winning is in their genes", "it's part of their DNA" or "there's success built into the badge" and of course "they always find a way". But, of course, they've lost their way now! And RM did not win it between 1960 and 1998. Then it was the galacticos and 3 wins, then another "fallow" period until 2914. So, they don't ALWAYS find a way to win and we don't always find a way to lose. RM certainly didn't in 2020! It's fair to point out that in 10 CL matches against them since 2016 Madrid have won 1 in 90 minutes and 2 if extra time is included. They have never found a way to win at the Etihad. And if we think back two years part of their strategy was for City to miss a string of chances at the Bernabeu culminating in a prone Courtois scraping one off the line with his studs with the score at 1-0 to City. That is before RM's "way" to win in the final was for the goalkeeper to be man of the match ... On Wednesday RM certainly didn't plan to have 30% possession, let Haaland hit the bar and the rebound go fractionally wide, KdB to put a golden chance over the bar... We can criticise City's finishing, but we have to say that RM seem to have the rub of the green and the run of the ball at some very important times.
Click to expand...
I think the honest answer is they're a billion pound football squad set up precisely to be an excellent cup team, back themselves in big games, have been willing to sacrifice other competitions at the expense of Europe when needee, and that have had a bit of luck along the way.
 
Brightwell Bros. said:
I think the honest answer is they're a billion pound football squad set up precisely to be an excellent cup team, back themselves in big games, have been willing to sacrifice other competitions at the expense of Europe when needee, and that have had a bit of luck along the way.
Click to expand...
I think all this is true - I notice that Ancelotti, for example, has a much better record in the CL than he does in the domestic league which doe indeed suggest his team and his own talents lie very much in planning the "one off" big game. It's clear that a team has to be an excellent football team, have a resilient attitude and never give up to win competitions like the CL. BUT you also need the rub of the green, over which you have little or no control, and if we look at Wednesday night we can see many, many moments when fortune smiled on Madrid and turned its back on City. Last season Tony Kroos thumped on against the bar when Madrid were one down at the Etihad and had that gone in it COULD have changed the game. The year before Madrid could have been dead and buried but for Courtois' studs before they "found a way"?! So whatever sacrifices RM have made they've certainly not kissed Lady luck goodbye against City. But I know that in the long run luck as a decisive factor may well even itself out. As Pep says, yu compete and do your best at all times but sometimes you lose football matches.
 
StillBluessinceHydeRoad said:
I think all this is true - I notice that Ancelotti, for example, has a much better record in the CL than he does in the domestic league which doe indeed suggest his team and his own talents lie very much in planning the "one off" big game. It's clear that a team has to be an excellent football team, have a resilient attitude and never give up to win competitions like the CL. BUT you also need the rub of the green, over which you have little or no control, and if we look at Wednesday night we can see many, many moments when fortune smiled on Madrid and turned its back on City. Last season Tony Kroos thumped on against the bar when Madrid were one down at the Etihad and had that gone in it COULD have changed the game. The year before Madrid could have been dead and buried but for Courtois' studs before they "found a way"?! So whatever sacrifices RM have made they've certainly not kissed Lady luck goodbye against City. But I know that in the long run luck as a decisive factor may well even itself out. As Pep says, yu compete and do your best at all times but sometimes you lose football matches.
Click to expand...
I think the problem with Madrid it never really does balance out. This is why we end up talking in cliches about them. That run in 2022 with PSG, Chelsea, us and Liverpool was one of the most blessed runs in a sport I've ever seen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.