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Three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Manchester City | Champions League Round of 16
Real Madrid take on a high-flying Manchester City in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie tomorrow night at the Santiago Bernabeu, and the forms of the two teams could not be further apart.
The visitors are unbeaten in their last eleven games across all competitions and last lost a match only back in January in the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, have lost two of their last four games and were seconds away from a draw against Celta Vigo at the weekend.
Real Madrid vs Manchester City has become an annual event at this point in time in the Champions League. In fact, the two teams already faced off in the league phase earlier this season, with the Cityzens emerging 2-1 victors.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Real Madrid vs Manchester City.
A massive home leg
The final match day of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League took a toll on Real Madrid’s campaign in the competition, handing them several setbacks along the way.
For starters, Los Blancos were forced to play the additional playoff round against Benfica in the competition over two legs – adding two games to their already hectic schedule.
Concurrently, however, Real Madrid now have the disadvantage of playing the second leg of the Round of 16 clash against Manchester City away from home.
Tomorrow’s first leg will be played at the Santiago Bernabeu, and Pep Guardiola’s side will have the home advantage for the all-important second leg. Needless to say, that massive changes the mindset with which Real Madrid enter Wednesday’s game.
The goal tomorrow night will thus be not just to win but to seal a lead strong enough to confidently take to the opposition’s home venue later in the month.
For all the setbacks that they enter the game with, that objective clarity of approach is a must, and it has to reflect in the team’s attitude, energy, and effectiveness tomorrow night.
One man attack?
For a game of such importance, Real Madrid are seriously understaffed in attack – the department that will matter the most to take a solid lead.
Kylian Mbappe has still not recovered from his knee injury and is definitely ruled out of tomorrow’s game. Not having the Frenchman comes as a huge blow to Alvaro Arbeloa’s plans.
Rodrygo Goes is another player who will be unavailable on the night, although his injury is a far longer-term setback after he underwent surgery for a cruciate ligament rupture.
The two absences, needless to say, serve as major blows for Real Madrid’s attacking department and it is only compounded by the fact that the likes of Brahim Diaz and Gonzalo Garcia have not looked convincing in recent times.
All eyes, thus, will be on Vinicius Jr. tomorrow night as the Brazilian finds himself in a situation where he may well be the team’s one-man army in attack.
Vinicius has been in good form in recent weeks and there is no reason to believe that he cannot pull off what is expected of him. The fact that he will not have much support, however, does not help.
Massive defensive test
While most of Real Madrid’s focus and attention will be towards scoring goals and securing a lead of tangible magnitude on Wednesday night at the Santiago Bernabeu, an equal amount of pressure will lie on the defence.
After all, even the back-line is suffering from key absentees ahead of the game and will not be at full-strength.
Eder Militao and David Alaba will continue to be absent in central defence for Real Madrid, and all signs point to Antonio Rudiger starting alongside Raul Asencio once more.
Further, Alvaro Carreras misses the game through injury as well, forcing the coach to select one of Ferland Mendy or Fran Garcia as the starting left-back on the night.
Los Blancos’ defensive line has not looked consistently solid for a while. That, coupled with Carreras’ absence, leaves the department in a questionable situation ahead of such a massive clash.
Manchester City enter the game with some of the best in the business fit and raring to go. Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Bernardo Silva, and possibly Phil Foden are expected to feature on the night.
For a defence that recently struggled to hold up against Getafe and Celta Vigo, stepping up and facing the elite forwards of Manchester City’s calibre will not be easy. Yet, it will be as vital as the attacking department’s contributions will prove to be.
Real Madrid made a mess of their game against Elche last night, and it is clear that the men in white have several flaws with no answers at the moment.
From being 2-0 up, the men in white bottled their lead and threw the game into jeopardy by permitting Elche to score two goals. The result, as many saw it, was set to end in a draw.
With some persistent attacks in the dying minutes, however, Real Madrid managed to build pressure on Elche and eventually scored one more goal at the death to take home the three points.
Needless to say, however, the negatives from the game far outweigh the positive news of the three points.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Elche 2-3 Real Madrid.
Another second-half collapse
After Real Madrid’s win over Rayo Vallecano at the weekend, Jose Mourinho stressed the fact that Real Madrid actually played only one half and that the fatigue began showing after the break.
On the night, the opposition began to enjoy more dominance and create chances after half-time as they outran and outpressed Los Blancos to good effect.
Last night was no different, and the second half went completely awry.
The men in white entered the half-time break cruising with a 2-0 lead and significant dominance over the proceedings. They had a massive xG, with Elche barely creating any chances of note.
After the break, however, the entire dynamic of the game changed as Real Madrid took a step back and handed the impetus to the hosts. Pressing high and attacking without fear, Elche dominated Real Madrid for most of the second half and had a staggering 60% of possession.
They scored twice – in the 71st and 83rd minutes – and equalised Real Madrid on the night. Given the visitors’ shambolic display, it was deserved for Elche.
At this point, the constant second-half collapses and fatigue struggles of the team after just 45 minutes of action must worry Jose Mourinho immensely. Heading into a derby away from home, Real Madrid have to do much better.
The away curse continues
While Real Madrid’s form at home has been imperious this season, their form away from home has been equally shocking.
They began their season with a last-minute win over Espanyol, and their second league game of the season on the road came against Real Betis and ended in defeat.
Heading into their third away game last night, there was an element of worry about how they would perform, and the trend continued once more.
Real Madrid did well to take the lead on the night, but they made the second half a massive war and far more difficult than it should have been.
At this point, serious questions have to be raised about Real Madrid’s form on the road and their inability to keep games under control when playing in away stadiums.
Heading forward in the season, Los Blancos have some massive away games coming up against far more difficult opposition. The Madrid derby is up next, and the team’s form is nothing promising heading into that fixture.
Carlos Espi saves the day… again!
Real Madrid are currently on 15 points after six games in the league, but Carlos Espi has directly contributed to a massive chunk of that.
If not for the new Spanish striker’s ability to come up clutch in big moments, Real Madrid could well have been on just 11 points at this stage in the season, and the four points he has added are absolutely crucial.
Against Espanyol, it was Espi who scored a stoppage-time winner to hand Real Madrid all three points after a complicated match. Last night, he repeated the same heroics once more.
With the team staring at a draw, the new signing was at the right place at the right time to bury Kylian Mbappe’s assist in stoppage time, handing Real Madrid all three points at the death.
He may not have played a large part on the night, but his cameo was again powerful and it is clear that he elevates the team’s attack and provides new solutions in front of goal. Espi has already proven his talent, and his ability to perform under pressure is what makes him special.
