ATALANTA vs REAL MADRID | Champions League Matchday #6 | 10.12.24 | 21:00 CET

That was a big win for us, takes a lot of pressure off of our shoulders for the next CL games now.

The rest of December and January I feel are going to be all about squeezing wins together and avoiding injuries where possible, we’ll build on that with cleaner performances from February hopefully.

As for Carlo, my guy continues to play with fire with the time management, but hopefully he’s onto something good now regarding the defence for big games going forward after the sub; Tchouameni at CB and Asencio at RB, Lucas has had a season full of shocking errors sadly.

 

Carlos needs to take care of the starters.

 

There were definitely things to improve in this game, but overall, we won away at the Serie A leaders who had been unbeaten in 9 and only given up one goal in the UCL coming in. That's a good days work. Mbappe continued his upward trend and Bellingham continued his run of good form. I just hope neither are really hurt. We actually looked dangerous for large parts of the game, which is kind of surprising given our recent form, especially against a good defensive side.

On the downside, we kind of traded that danger up front for control in the middle. Fede didn't have a good game, but we were always going to struggle to control the midfield with our top heavy formation. Brahim did well to track back and help with the defensive work, but he isn't a midfielder.

 

Crucial win. And wow at the Mbappe and Jude goals.

 

Ceballos highlighted as one of the best players tonight in Madrid media which he deserves. Kovacic started some big CL games in 2017-18 and made an impact.

Ceballos can be a contributor in rotation alongside Modric if he stays healthy. Last 1.5 years he had bad luck with injuries when playing well. 2022-23 he was our best player in CDR comeback win at Villarreal, league game at San Mames etc.

Lost his place later on when the likes of Kroos, Modric were fit, but now a midfielder like Ceballos is key with Kroos retired and Modric aged 39.

 

If he can keep things simple he can help a lot this season.

 

Mbappe looked great for the first 15 minutes. Runs, hustle and a good touch. Zero complaints and I hope he can continue to ascend. I'd love to be wrong.

Fran had a decent game. He looked like Maldini out there compared to poor Lucas but that's to be expected. To be honest, the second goal was just as much TBO's fault.

Tchouameni putting in a good shift as CB again, minus the penalty and yes it was a penalty. Rudiger looked back to his best. I'm not sure if it was the combination of Militao playing with one leg or just too similar of a CB pairing but he's looked good again.

I liked the midfield of Ceballos, Fede and Brahim with Jude buzzing around them. A lot of hustle, some steel and guile on the ball.

Ceballos was just a stand out for me. Having someone on the bench that can put in this shift is important. He's good defensively, can run with the ball and is always buzzing around. He does a lot of Gago backward pass specials but he's constantly moving to open himself back up and keep the play moving. Not a fan of the Busquets peekaboo but he's ours so I'll accept it.

Vini was a black hole today until he wasn't. I'm glad he didn't aggravate his injury. Jude is the man right now and playing like he did during the first half of last year. I hope with a couple of weeks off he and Vini can blast off again in the second half.

 

I'd like to see Jude closer to goal but then again I think late runs into the box by him could really help us a lot. Ideally he's not asked to cover as much ground as a full back is because over a season it's not realistic. But that would require a little better discipline with our shape but it's doable.

 

And he needs to always win, and always play fantastic football, an easy peasy job all around.....

 

You sound like all the Kroos haters.

 

I said nothing of the sort. You sure do sound like them though.

 

Just found this on reddit the other day.

"Kroos is really the one i'll always argue against. Really never going to be moved by the player. Really a guy that does the absolute bare minimum on defense, takes zero risks to influence in any significant way. Just unseasoned chicken kind of player."

 

It's a misguided comment, but the reality is that Kroos, like most players, needs the right complementary teammates to excel at what he does best. Too often, we rush to label a player as "good" or "bad" without considering that they are part of a team of 10 other players on the pitch. The way those pieces fit together can make the outcome either extraordinary or disastrous.

 

LOL. Jokes on you, this is actually a big soccer quote, but it does demonstrate some of the low IQ content on here.

 

1866900703089721532 is not a valid tweet id

 

Who said this?