Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich | UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals - 1st Leg|4.23.14[R]

I think it's hilarious that you don't see the difference between how we played, and let's say how Chelsea played against Atletico. Maybe you need to watch more Sesame Street to know we had a different number of attacking players throughout the match (I'll give you a small hint since you need it: it's not 1) and when we attacked we had an even bigger difference.

I doubt Chelsea's midfielders were as tired as Isco, Modric and Di Maria because surprise surprise, midfielders working to get back the ball does not equal them being defensive and staying around the penalty area all night long. The fact they actively took part in all our attacks was a dead give away.

 

The first team to undo the tiki-taka was Guus Hiddink's Chelsea, but Tom Henning went blind that night. Hiddink's tactics were far better that Mourinhos. Chelsea were so dangerous on the counter and could have easily scored 3 or 4 even without the uncalled penalties, but Drogba and his mates were so ********ing wasteful that night.

 

I dont think Carlo copied Mourinho's tactics per say, I think Mourinho's biggest contribution, which Bayern, Inter, Brazil and us made good use of, is that when playing against tiki-taka, the correct approach is to close down their midfielders and aggressively block their passing lanes, then counterattack quickly with numbers. Prior to that teams would either suicidally play their natural game and got destroyed or simply sit very deep and park the bus (like what even Inter did in the group stages). He did that with Inter in the 3-1 win, played very cautiosly against Barcelona for whatever reason, then reintroduced that gameplan in the CDR win and stuck to that ever since. Its no coincidence his results against Barcelona improved a LOT with time.

 

I don't know why people insist on thanking Mourinho. Counter attacking is part of soccer and sports since its inception.

 

Madrid fans, what are your thoughts on Ronaldo in the second half? What I found remarkable about him (aside of being the best in the world of course, duh) was how he - along with some other Madrid-players was pressing Bayern's defense in some moments of the game, it was so efficient that Neuer even made mistakes which led to you getting the ball back.

Yes - and there is a difference in being successful and being unsuccesful at it.

 

I am a little worried about the euphoriac mode about Madrid right now. Its only halftime and we have a long way to go before making it to the final. Lots of talk of the decima already, about how this whole season is a success, etc..., stuff that should be saved till after the 2nd leg at least.

The boys played excellently, surprised pretty much everyone out there, and defeated the invincible Bayern. Very proud of all players, especially our defenders who fought the entire game. Lets replicate this performance next week and then let them get their well deserved plaudits.

 

I agree, but i cant rep your post

Now i can

 

Nowhere to go but up after 5-0 . Also, Barcelona have been in decline as they aged, made some terrible transfers, and lost Guardiola.

Not only that, but we don't even have to look far back before Mourinho to find successful defensive counterattacking tactics.

 

Ronaldo is one of the best passers of the ball. People don't notice because he doesn't use that facet of his game very often, lol. But he is an incredible all around footballer, he can do it all. He can see the game and anticipate movements and weight the ball perfectly. His lacking is that he needs to look to create more. When you are WPOTY you're not evaluated based on your personal performance, it's not about how many goals you score. At that point, you are evaluated by your team, it's about how many goals you create and your team score.

Parking the bus in Germany will not work with this team. Madrid was a constant threat when they were able to retain possession and move forward, they looked mighty threatening. However, they (mostly the back line) gave away possession far too easily. This resulted in Bayern having opportunity after opportunity. If you have 10 "possessions" then you have to be efficient and make them all count. If you have a 100 "possessions" then it turns into a numbers game and you don't have to be efficient. If you have a few thousand "possessions" then it becomes completely a numbers game --kick 2000 balls into the box aimlessly, and you're bound to have 10-20 of them randomly fall to your player in perfect position. So it is a necessity that Madrid are not so careless with possession, that they limit the number of "possessions" that Bayern have. If they park the bus and allow onslaught after onslaught, even with perfect defense they will eventually get lucky.

No one is saything that Madrid should change their strategy. But when they have possession they need to be more careful with it and provide some semblence of cohesiveness.

 

Capello did it too but suddenly Mou gets all the credit.

Thank you Mou and thank you for showing Ancelotti? GTFO.

 

You guys think it's hilarious how almost every Buyern fan is sure they will win in Munchen while hoping that Guardiola can play a different style of football. I mean, is that pure LOL or what...

 

You are 13 posts away from 25,000 by the way. Congrats in advance.

 

Do people who say Carlo just implemented Mou tactics actually believe Mou would have started with Angel-Alsonso-Modric-Isco in a game like this ?

 

Oh come on, copied Mourinho? There's nothing new about ''Mourinho's tactics''. Let's not prasie him for a tactic that has been used for decades. You can give him credit for finding the one that suits us better and so did Carlo, the difference is, Mou needed two year, while Ancelotti figured it out in half a year.

 

The Bayern overconfidence is great, how much of it is false bravado I don't know but who cares. Either they really think they are superior and keep trying the mindless possession game or they are genuinely worried which has it's own advantage.

We just need to stay focused and not do anything ill-advised (Pepe or Ramos). The crowd will be in it so we need to keep our cool and probably weather the initial storm. We are going to get chances without a doubt, just need to take them.

 

Well Isco probably wouldn't be here for a start and Di Maria might be gone too so I'm going to give this scenario a strong "no"

 

José needed 2 years to figure that out against the greatest Barcelona of all time, while your current coach figured it out after losing 2 league Derbies to a very mediocre (compared to the side José had to face) Barcelona-side.

Big difference imo.

José is a whining hypocrite but i don't think you can compare both coaches without acknowledging the fact that your main rival was much stronger during José's time at Madrid.

I have watched your games a lot this season, and the biggest differences are that you significantly became better in terms of ball retention and ball possession. This new 4-4-2 style of game where you give your wingers Di Maria and Isco defensive duties was a great move by Ancelotti and brought you the desired results against Barcelona and now against Bayern.

Just my 0,02 cents.

 

Why wouldn't they be confident though? They have more than enough talent to overturn this lead. What are the chances they're attackers have another night like last night? Or that Pep is completely out coached two games in a row? Even he isn't that bad I like our chances to go through but yeah the hard work isn't over and we do need to be smart and even more committed than we were in the first leg.

 

Ancelotti really needs to stick Varane in there. It won't happen because he didn't work Varane into the #1 CB during the less important matches. I think he was afraid of rocking the boat too much.

 

exactly....it is counter attacking but if i remember, we pressured the shit out of barca.

Now, i did not see that against tiki taka.

 

I hear you, they weren't sharp and will probably be more so come Tuesday (hopefully our attackers will be sharper too). Pep will adjust, most likely player selection but I think the last thing he wants is to open the game up.

Overconfidence is different than confidence though. One tends to lead to more mistakes than the other, with our counterattacking style it gives us more chances.

 

How do we even know Pepe is fit? He was subbed out due to injury? (ankle?).

I haven't heard anything since. Any news?

 

The difference between Carlo and Mourinho (barring the obvious flexibility Carlo possesses) is that Carlo's version of "Mourinho tactics" works. I think that's largely in part to his man management skills as a coach.

The players never fully responded to Mourinho when they were asked to play defensively, but they are with Carlo. Mourinho's man management tactics can't work at a big club like Madrid, much in the same way that his playing style won't work at a big club.

I personally see a huge difference in Carlo's strategy yesterday compared to Mourinho's the past few years, but that's me.

We can knock Carlo for plenty of things, but they can't be any of the following: 1. Learning from his tactical mistakes. or flexibility ; 2. Getting the players to fight for him.

Two things I think we were missing from Mourinho, especially the later.

In the end, I don't think it's fair to say that what we've done over the last two games is the same way we played for three years under Mou. It may not be comparing apples and oranges but in terms of similarity it's at the very most comparing a Granny Smith to a McIntosh.