REAL MADRID vs MANCHESTER CITY | Champions League Round of 16 1st Leg | 11.03.26 | 21:00 CET

Thiago has to play,every team has their Vitinha,Neves,Pedri,Zubimendi,Kimich etc ,enough with the names who dont work together .He has to play going back to Tchoueameni,Camavinga,Jude ,Arda etc midfield is a road to nowhere ,we saw how the midfield lost control on the ball once he was subbed

Thiago over Arda and Camavinga it is easy ,the team need his profile more than theirs

 

Vini's new penalty technique is awful. It can only work if he observes the keeper and send him the other way. But he pre decides the spot and all GK has to do is wait to save a weak shot that's not close to the corner.

At least previous technique had some power though he rarely found the corner and missed the target completely at Atleti in QF last season.

Coach should have assigned PK taker with better technique when Mbappe isn't playing. Carlo, Xabi and Arbeloa have failed to do this.

 

Pure gold from @sidlowe

“On the tunnel wall is a slogan from Alfredo Di Stéfano: it says that no player is as good as all the players put together. That is true of course, but it had been tested here, and not just because Valverde sometimes seems to be all the players put…

— Mehedi Hassan (@MHassanFootball) March 12, 2026

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ester-city-federico-valverde-champions-league

 

You could argue that Carlo wanted to let a player who hadnt missed any of his highstake penalties to gain that confidence back but this season is when you should have drawn a line and just given him that cold truth. Its on AA now to assign someone else to penalty duties. The order should be Mbappe, Jude, Valverde, Vini

 

what a game by Jeremy doku the best winger in the world tho….

 

The skip was mistimed, he looked at the ball not the keeper, and he didn’t place it in the corner. It’s a terrible penalty and I have been banging on for ages about how he is a very bad penalty taker.

People were comparing Mbappe and Vini earlier in the season and saying how Mbappe’s stats were inflated because of penalties, completely ignoring the fact that Mbappe is great at taking penalties, one of the best in the world, and Vinicius is about as good as me at them.

 

Fede doesn't have the confidence so it'd have been Vini again yesterday with that order.

It should be Trent if Mbappe and Jude aren't playing. Has experience taking penalties in shootouts and good FK shooting technique. Vini didn't last till PK shootouts vs City and Atleti iirc.

 

🚨 Trent Alexander-Arnold: “We have to go and win the Champions League.

Playing for Real Madrid, there’s no excuses… we have to win, we have to win the competition, no matter who's in front of us." pic.twitter.com/r4oKY0MkhV

— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) March 12, 2026

🚨 Pep Guardiola: “Normally they play 4-4-2 but they put five in the middle with Vini and Brahim in a free role. It was difficult because Real Madrid defended very well with all 11 players at all times.” pic.twitter.com/6Md9zGcJ2M

— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) March 12, 2026

 

I don't know if it's only me but I see myself liking Pep more as a person over the years.

 

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but if we get past City, then we face Bayern
Man we got the shit end of the draw!

 

Vini's missed penalty could be our Dembele moment. I think this tie is far from over. City will start strong at home and if we concede early, everything is possible.

 

If we concede 4 goals without reply then we dont deserve to go through anyways. I fancy us scoring at least one goal. Will be huge if we can have Jude or Mbappe at least on the bench.

 

Just came back after being injured for months and was still their best player. Any other random stupid observation you feel like making?

 

Pitarch is an amazing talent. I hope he is utilised well. Despite the hate, I felt Arda had a decent game. Not top 5 players on pitch but decent.

 

Guler doesn't convince me when it's crunch time. He's simply not ready.

He either accepts a place on the bench to grow or he leaves the club in the summer like Odegaard did.

 

Arda is such a talent so it was kinda disappointing to see him play within himself while Pitarch shows personality on the pitch despite being 18 with experience of 2-3 senior starts.

That long ball from Arda which led to Vini penalty was brilliant decision making and execution. Would like to see him try some decisive passes when he's gonna lose possession few times in midfield despite looking for safe options anyway.

 

omg, just came down from the mountains and saw the game.
What a game. great team effort. What else can be said about Fede???
Where did that Pitarch came from? How can you not continue and use such intensity on every game?
Kudos to the team and to Alvaro for organizing such a formation.

 

Btw, we ran 122 km this game. We usually average less than 110 km. The players came to play and we're focused throughout. I am happy.

For comparison when they beat us earlier in the season we ran 109 km.

 

He is good but too raw , how did you forgot his crazy dance before Courtois that would have resulted in a goal

 

Guler is good as long we do not have options but we need a better player for his profile

 

🚨 JUST IN: Jude Bellingham is NOT expected to play the 2nd leg vs City. @MarioCortegana pic.twitter.com/IXhpvgUI8j

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) March 12, 2026

🚨 Kylian Mbappé is OUT against Elche and a DOUBT for City.

Same for Alvaro Carreras. @AbrahamPRomero pic.twitter.com/ThFhDpYTrn

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) March 12, 2026

 

He deserves it!

 

Why so angry? We've been talking football together most of for 2 decades, I think you can get your points across without the hostility....

 

We're going to see more distance covered without boy wonder in the squad.