REAL MADRID vs MANCHESTER CITY | Champions League Quarterfinal 1st Leg | 09.04.24 | 21:00 CET

I’d argue they are rather average when they need to actually defend. The small snippets of us actually going forward, we had an easier time creating clear cut chances. Guardiola was never one to build a solid defense, the strength is outnumbering the opposition in their own half.

My fear is them doing the relentless pressing just like last year and us once again succumbing to it. Need a monster performance from everyone but even with that I don’t see us keeping a clean sheet. They just find a way.

We conceded 7 goals in the last two games against them….

 

That is nonsense. The culture was something developed, not something people told these players which they decided to take on as an identity.

We're lucky we have a team which always fights back... rather than one which doesn't

That tweet show just show stupid and delusional fans can be.. as if we weren't playing the previous champions who have unlimited funds and no regulations with a pretty damn good coach.

 

Myself and a few others earlier in the season had said this formation is going to burn out Jude and that certainly looks to be the case. He's tasked to do way too much - box to box, play as a 10, act as a 9 and battle with CBs, connect with Vini/Rodrygo etc

This is all a trickle down effect of not replacing Benzema and having a pure 9 in the squad.

Also, there's no need for Kroos in a game like this. City are going to possess the ball, and Toni isn't going to do much off of it, so what's the point.

 

Nonsense from a twitter fan who hasn’t even broken puberty.

Resilience is important and it’s not something “someone” just instills in you on any given day.

I’m happy these young players have that, just as important as having a “system”.

 

A few points.

Those saying Jude had a bad game must also take into consideration that he essentially played 2 roles today. He was Benzema AND a CM against a Pep team that makes you run like crazy…..he put in a massive shift defensively….we sorely missed that last year when it was Toni and Luka in the middle. By the time he was in attacking positions, there was not much in the tank.

Fede scored today and was great as usual. We need him to get more adventurous in attacking phases. That will probably take some eyes off Bellingham who City were watching very closely.

Vini and Rodrygo were pretty good but must look to assist a bit more….all throughout the season quite a few times they missed out on their teammates around the penalty spot for an easy finish.

The Saturday game could be good to sharpen the attackers after 9 days off.

City also has a game this weekend…hope the accumulation of minutes starts taking its toll and we see them slow down a bit next week in the second half.

Let’s rest Carvajal, Rudiger, Fede and Kroos this weekend. LV, Militao, Tchouameni and Modric can handle Mallorca.

 

Team had 9 days rest. Jude had couple of weeks more rest due to two match suspension before that. City players have packed scheduled with 2 domestic cups, PL and CL every year. Jude had enough time to ease off with three week vacation recently.

 

I think the last time we won a knockout tie after drawing first match at Bernabéu must be in 2000. We went to Manchester and beat defending champions at Old Trafford in quarter finals.

 

Actually did that against Utd in 2013 too after 1-1 draw at home. Could use City getting a red card like Nani did.

 

Rodrygo is a good left side player, and Ancelotti recognises that. Unfortuniately for him, this might be a preview of the Mbappe/VJ duo next season. I still don't know what Riodrygo's role will be next season.

 

And go back to being a team pre-Mou, Pre-Zizou that can't defend? No thanks. City has endless resources with Pep at the helm. They'll get whoever he wants and he can play however he wants. We can't do that anymore.

Our gameplan is the same gameplan that won us five CLs. We just need Vinicius to finish and Bellingham to not do the Vini sourpuss thing that he's been doing for the last couple of months and we win.

 

But it's disappointing Carlo doesn't have a particular brand of football like Pep, Mourinho or Klopp. He relies heavily on the players coming up with all the ideas rather than studying the opposition, deploying certain tactics, etc.

 

Excuses like fatigue lol. We had more than a week free, Citys schedule is stacked compared to ours and they missed Walker, Ake and KdB who all will be back next week.

 

But we never give up and sometimes they give up
And our pedigree is never in doubt

 

We get it, but we can't keep relying on this 'magic formula' - we need valid changes, tactics, etc. It's the reason my heart sank to my stomach when we renewed Carlo [Yes, I get it - Xabi is not ready yet and wants 1 more season at Bayer].

When's the last time we demolished the opposition thoroughly?

 

Do we have the squad to demolish city? We don’t even have a striker

 

Well the reality is they scored wonder goals... and did so because Kroos gave them space.

The other reality is we wastedd so really good chances.

Doesn't matter who is playing when that is the match

 

Kroos did so last year too

 

Yeah, seems to fall apart in these big matches which have very high intensity and focus demands.

We tend to forget that during the season and get reminded when we play the very high level matches

I mean I was surprised how quickly Carlo pulled Kroos. He wasn't messing around.. he had seen enough.

Also mindgames played by Pep who continually highlights and praises Kroos because he depends on him as our weakness.

 

It doesn’t matter if Kroos is fine in our average Liga matches. It’s days like this where his two lapses cost us key goals. Yes they were great shots but afforded that only because of the time and space they had to hit it. It’s the margins that decide who advances in this case.

 

Easier said than done . Top teams rarely demolish other top teams when they face each other.
City has three ties in the last three games they faced top opponents; they tied against Arsenal and Liverpool.

 

Didn't comment live because I was working but Rudiger is an amazing player, he's only getting better. I was skeptical when I heard we wanted to sign him but I'll admit I was wrong. He's just what we needed at the back. Needs to be a starter when Alaba and Militao are back.

 

Our first two goals were fluky deflections, I don’t feel particularly great after that match with how we played in midfield. Not a good performance IMO.

 

Mbappayed would have scored at least one of those Rodrygo cut in shots. They arent on the same level.

And I'm not even a big fan of the turtle.