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Three talking points from Real Madrid 5-2 Borussia Dortmund
A quick-fire double from Donyell Malen and Jamie Gittens gave Borussia Dortmund a 2-0 lead over Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League duel last night and poised them well for victory.
What unfolded later, however, was what Real Madrid have done ever so consistently in the UEFA Champions League over the years – a stunning comeback win of epic proportions.
Antonio Rudiger, Vinicius Jr., and Lucas Vazquez were among the goalscorers on the night as the men in white ruthlessly put five goals past Nuri Sahin’s men and thus climbed up the table to regain a respectable position.
After three games in the UEFA Champions League, they are now placed ninth on the table with only four teams ahead of them.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points from Real Madrid 5-2 Borussia Dortmund.
A horrendous first-half
It would not be surprising if many fans across the globe shut their streams at half-time after seeing the team’s performance, for Real Madrid were beyond horrendous in the opening 45 minutes last night.
It did not come as a surprise, for a similar script unfolded when the two teams met earlier this year in the final of the UEFA Champions League. The difference, however, was that last night’s first half was tangibly worse in defence and that the team conceded.
At no point in the first period did Carlo Ancelotti’s team look to be the side in control as Borussia Dortmund piled attack after attack with free-flowing football and won the battle on the flanks against both of the hosts’ full-backs.
Donyell Malen was imperious down Ferland Mendy’s flank as he racked up a goal and an assist, easily bypassing the French defender. On the right, Vazquez was asked serious questions by Jamie Gitten whose substitution changed the game.
Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao, moreover, appeared clueless on the Dortmund attacks and the two goals conceded show exactly how they were outdone before the restart of play.
Vinicius and Mbappe are inevitable
The visitors dominated close to an hour at Santiago Bernabeu and it was only after the 50th minute that Real Madrid began to gradually grow into the game with renewed focus.
As the men in white do ever so often, they pumped up the pressure on Nuri Sahin’s side over a short spell of time, bombarding the box with crosses and long-range shots, building up the pressure like a pressure cooker with no outlet.
The gamble paid off when Antonio Rudiger found the back of the net with a timely header and Real Madrid found themselves in the situation they thrive in. With the opponents under serious pressure and their monstrous mentality, their dominance over the game began.
Of all the players on the field, however, it was Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr who stood out the brightest.
The Frenchman assisted Rudiger’s opener with a wonderful cross and just required two minutes to create the opening for Vinicius’ equaliser.
With the scores level, the attacking duo combined regularly to exploit Dortmund’s spaces behind the defence and broke the Germans’ mentality with their tenacity.
In the 86th minute, the Brazilian struck from distance to beat the Dortmund goalkeeper with a fine shot and put the result beyond doubt. His night only got better with a third and hat-trick completing goal in added time.
Massive momentum
Until the half-time whistle, Real Madrid’s defeat last night appeared written in stone and it appeared intimidating to think of the Clasico coming up this weekend.
For the dressing room, however, such a win could not have come at a better time for the thunderous comeback and dominant scoreline will only inject more confidence into the already existing mentality monsters in the dressing room.
A 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund was the perfect result for Los Blancos and given the chance, the manager may not even change the first-half for the feeling of a comeback can be the most euphoric of all.
The men in white can now head into El Clasico with a far more calm approach for it is clear that they are still one of the best in Europe. With a day’s added rest and the home advantage, they have a special chance to equal Barcelona in the league standings.
The hype for El Clasico will build in the coming days and the dressing room will undoubtedly be kept away from the same. What is clear, however, is that Ancelotti’s men are far from the underdogs against an in-form Barcelona.
The festival called the UEFA Champions League returned to the Santiago Bernabeu last night as Los Blancos hosted Inter Milan in their very first game in the competition this season.
Jose Mourinho had massive selection dilemmas in midfield, and eventually opted to start Trent Alexander-Arnold alongside Federico Valverde in the absence of Arda Guler, Bernardo Silva and Eduardo Camavinga.
That experiment did not work out, and Real Madrid consistently lost the midfield battle on the night. Yet, they managed to capitalise on moments of individual brilliance and hold on to a 2-1 win to register their biggest win of the season yet.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Real Madrid 2-1 Inter Milan.
Two lucky goals
Real Madrid did not take long to go 2-0 up against Inter Milan last night, but that had more to do with the visitors’ sloppy defence rather than Los Blancos’ brilliance.
The men in white started the game pressing well, but Inter Milan looked very shaky in possession. They made two errors in the first 20 minutes, and Real Madrid capitalised and converted both.
Kylian Mbappe’s opener came off a moment of mayhem between Inter Milan’s defenders where the ball was left in no man’s land. Brahim Diaz pounced on it and played it through to the French forward, who made no mistake.
Minutes later, Federico Valverde directly dispossessed the goalkeeper with his press and deflected the ball into the back of the net, making it 2-0. Those were the only goals Los Blancos scored on the night.
While there is nothing wrong with capitalising on defensive errors and using that to lay the foundation for the win, the fact remains that Real Madrid were largely unimpressive throughout the 90 minutes. Inter Milan committing those errors, needless to say, was lucky for Real Madrid who rode on them to take three points.
Thibaut Courtois saves the day
Despite Real Madrid taking an early lead and even having the home advantage, it was Inter Milan who dominated large parts of the game and kept the lion’s share of possession.
At one point, it looked like Jose Mourinho’s men did not even bother having possession as they sat back and defended, hoping to break on the counter and convert.
That plan, needless to say, led to Inter Milan seeing a lot of the Real Madrid goal and putting serious pressure on the hosts’ defence.
Dean Huijsen, Ibrahima Konate and Marc Cucurella all had strong games at the back, but in the end, it was Thibaut Courtois who saved the day for Los Blancos.
The Belgian goalkeeper made a staggering seven saves for his side on the night including two from inside the box. Inter Milan’s finishing was indeed poor, but Courtois’ greatness stood out and ensured Real Madrid held on to their tight lead.
If not for the veteran goalkeeper, Mourinho’s men could well be staring at defeat. Their performance, after all, was unimpressive and Inter Milan had some big chances to equalise denied by Courtois.
Three massive points
The team’s performance against Inter Milan was not convincing, and that will be something for Mourinho to dig into and look to improve.
What Real Madrid will be pleased about, however, is taking all three points away from the night, for they are absolutely massive from the point of view of the competition.
Inter Milan represented one of Real Madrid’s biggest challenges in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League alongside Arsenal, and to take three points from one of their two elite opponents is worth its weight in gold.
They still have Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven, RB Leipzig, LASK Linz, Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk and AEK Athens to come, and Real Madrid will back themselves against most of the teams in that list.
Taking three points in one of their two most difficult games will go a long way in tying them down to a top-8 finish if they can win the easier clashes while also handing them some leeway for a potential defeat at some stage in the competition.
