PSG—MADRID, SO UNDERWHELMING!
15th February 2022,8pm GMT,was the set day and set time for a mammoth meeting between two European Giants in the Champions League round of 16 match. On one side was the most successful clubside in European football history,Real Madrid and on the other side was another European big wig and French giants Paris Saint-Germain. Both of them currently topping their respective leagues.
A certain Lionel Messi,a record 7 time Ballon d'Or winner is domiciled in PSG with former Real Madrid captain fantastic,Sergio Ramos and the current world best goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma(https://peakd.com/hive-101690/@ogeewitty/all-hail-donnarammamessi-loading). I have not mentioned the magical Neymar,the super Mbappe and the well rounded Verrati. PSG now boasting a kind of squad you would normally see in Real Madrid,especially in the days of the Galacticos.
Not to be outdone Real Madrid,eventhough no longer has the glitter in teems of players as before, still boast of quality all round, from arguably the current world best midfielder and Ballon d'Or winner, Luca Modric,to the stable and consistent Toni Kroos, to the young and skillful Brazilian Vinicius Jnr, to the world renowned striker Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois, arguably the world best keeper based on current, just to mention a few.
Needless to say this match was expected to be such an explosive affair,a final before the final some say. Alas,we nearly didn't see "explo" not to talk of "sive",hehe. I mean we didn't get anything near to an explosive encounter. PSG played like a Barcelona with an outrageous ball possession, plus a Lion like determination to mark any Madrid player on the ball. Lionel Messi was in inspired form and Kylian Mbappe kept making himself such a nuisance to the Madrid back line.
What went wrong? I would tell you for free. Madrid came to the match with a game plan to counter attack with a low block which is not their usual style,but which worked for them once last season in a Champions League knockout match against Liverpool, where a congested fixture schedule(and therefore fatigue) meant they couldn't play their usual possession and pressing game.
The problem yesterday was that Madrid couldn't just get it going for the counter,they almost endlessly kept losing possession when the ball is booted forward for a counter,especially Vinicius Jnr who ought to be a major outlet for the counter. Now this invited more and more pressure already on them by this well drilled PSG team was not enough. I must say the possession percentage of PSG over them looked very embarrassing at times,plus PSG were playing with a fierce high press. Credit to Benzema for his valiant efforts, but Madrid still finished the game with zero shorts on target.
Madrid tried to change things in the 2nd half by doing a high pressing on PSG,to give themselves space to breathe from the choking PSG high press. They were not as good at the pressing game as PSG,neither is Ancelloti a fan of the ultra high press PSG were using or men like Pep,Tuchel and Klopp use. So what do we have? Their pressing in the 2nd half didn't yield a telling dividend overall and pressure was back on the team.
Maybe they thought they could shock PSG with a counter attacking system,but PSG was too motivated for all of that.
By and large Ancelloti was tactically outclassed here. They should count themselves fortunate not to have conceded more even, indeed Lionel Messi's penalty miss was Madrid's fortune.
In other to overturn the one nil deficit at home on the 9th of March,they may need to revert back to type,possess the ball like the good old Madrid, kill the tempo at times,whilst you remain faithful to your wings.
We see how it goes.
cheerfully...
I think Real Madrid players are simply exhausted. The fielded players were their best players, but they're all exhausted. Most played during the summer and over-pushed themselves during the first half of the season. I know many PSG players played as well, but there's a huge age and fitness difference. Plus Real Madrid's starters played a lot more minutes.
You're also describing Modric and Kroos 2-3 years ago not now. Most the top players are 29 and older, including a 34 and a 36.
Carlo Ancelotti's mistake wasn't this match as much as he hasn't prepared all the young midfielders they had.
Well in my note I said on Modric "current". I wasn't mincing words when I said so,I have followed him this season at same 36 years of age. Just incase you have not noticed recently,a disciplined player barring injuries can play at the highest level in those kind of age ranges.
With all due respect to all the indices you rolled out, fatigue wasn't an issue for Madrid here,you must have noticed how Modric kept looking across with surprise,when he was to be substituted? Why won't he? The guy was ready for more. You see,even the sub choices on that day were suspect,but I won't get into that.
Like I said,the tactics employed by Ancelloti and it's implementation, is where the blame should go.
Thanks bro and a fellow colleague who was taught by the dear @amirtheawesome1
Certainly have to change things for the 2nd leg but always felt like they were playing for the fixture at home. I’m sure the return game will be more entertaining
Yeah certainly.
Yeah that idea of playing for the fixture at home occurred to me as I watched, knowing who Ancelloti is– he is a genius of a 2nd leg played at home.
Even without his saying it,I could see his unwavering confidence–
Professors like him enjoy difficult moments,so yeah we can be sure to have a more entertaining game for the neutrals.
The opposition is such a formidable wily one,I must say.
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