The Champions league is finally back! On the 26th of april, the first semi-final game was played between Manchester City and Real Madrid, and the match was outrageous. Constant back and forth attacking from both sides created an exciting game that kept all football fans at the edge of their seats. In this thrilling game, Manchester City managed to edge out Real Madrid in a 4-3 victory. It will be up to Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti to make the appropriate changes in the second game of this thrilling match up. But what exactly is there to improve on after this game for the Madrid side? Defense.
As all football fans that watched the game can agree, Real Madrid’s defense was worse than poor. A lack of pressure and defensive initiative led to them to be down by 2 goals in just over the tenth minute. Benzema managed to save Madrid’s first half with a brilliant finish. In the second half there seemed to be some hope as Ancellotti made a defensive change by substituting in Nacho for Alaba. However this substitution had little effect as Madrid’s horrible defending continued in the second half. Just ten minutes after the start of the second half, City scored a goal that came from a defensive mistake which put them at a 3-1 lead. This lead would not last long. Just a minute after City’s goal, Vinicius would stun the Etihad stadium with an amazing solo run from the middle of the field finished by a well placed shot. The game completely broke down after Vini’s foal. It was a repetitive back and forth with no long possessions from either side. In one of Manchester City's attacks, Bernardo Silva scored a screamer goal from the edge of the box into the top left corner. This was, once again, all rooted from defensive mistakes. There had been a foul committed just outside the edge of the box. As the Madrid players waited for the foul to be called, Bernardo Silva took the opportunity and scored. Then with a penalty in the 82nd minute, Benzema put an end to the match with a 1 goal difference.
There is no denying that Real Madrid were incredibly lucky during this first round of the champions league semi finals. If they want to succeed in this year’s champions league campaign, then they must do the following. First of all, they have to start putting some pressure into the City squad. Most importantly they have to keep their key attacking players like Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez out of the game. Real Madrid definitely have to adjust their defensive system to be more reactionary towards Manchester City’s fast playing style. If Ancellotti improves on these parts of the game, Real Madrd’s chances of passing on the finals are sure to increase.
By Francisco