(ESP-ENG) El Etihad, el salón de un gran baile.
Hello friends, good vibes to all.
This week we have almost reached the conclusion of another edition of the Champions League with a couple of matches that have given something to talk about, one more than the other, but both with something in common and that is that one club was vastly superior to the other in these second leg matches. Manchester City vs Inter Milan, a final that I am sure no one expected or imagined, will be the one to bring life to the Olympic Stadium Atatürk in Istanbul on June 10. Two teams that were far superior in all aspects to their rivals in this semifinal elimination and that thanks to this, one is looking to win the "la orejona" for the first time and the other wants to be a four-time champion.
But today, as part of today's reflection, I want to talk about what happened yesterday in England. Perhaps some saw it coming, others not so much but the reality is that what happened yesterday at the Etihad, for this humble servant, was a major scandal. The first leg had been a bit more even with Madrid pressing when they wanted to and City comfortable with the draw but the second leg was another story, City came out to kill from minute one to a Madrid that never had a reaction and was decimated and overwhelmed by Guardiola's tactical game and the magic of his players on the pitch. Personally, I had not seen such a poor performance from Real Madrid in the Champions League and one as spectacular as Manchester's; it was a match of contrasts.
Well as the title of this publication says, the stadium and home of Manchester City last night turned on its lights to witness one of the most prominent dances that has been seen in Europe and in the Champions League in recent times. I don't want to sound pejorative because Real Madrid is fourteen times champion of this competition and deserves respect but even the white players themselves agreed that what they saw yesterday was lamentable, something that denotes humility and responsibility for which they should be applauded. But that's just it, the Merengue team did not exist on the pitch, it may have been Ancelotti's tactical design that took its toll when he wanted to play with Camavinga at left back and without Rudiger on the pitch or simply that City was a well-coordinated machine that regardless of the position on the pitch was going to pass over them in the same way.
The match started and the pressure was evident, it was 23 minutes of a hellish siege from City with a Madrid that only saw the ball pass in front of their noses. Courtois in that time saved two clear ones, very clear, showing what a good goalkeeper he is, but everything has a limit and in the 23rd minute the best player on the pitch in the whole tie, Bernardo Silva, thanks to a nice assist from KDB, scored the first goal. A deserved and fair 1-0. After that goal there were a couple of things that caught my attention: the desperation of Vinicius talking to his coach and that for less than five minutes Madrid reacted slightly with a Toni Kroos post and some ball possession, I thought there could be a reaction but no, it all remained an illusion.
Three minutes after this "reaction", Bernardo scored the second goal. At this point, I would say that Madrid was KO even knowing what they are capable of doing in the final minutes. Camavinga had no life in that side, he had a very bad time and it is well known that it is not his natural position, he was lost, he left marks, made erratic movements, etc. The other one who was also completely nullified was Vini Jr in the hands of one of the toughest defenders you can come across, Kyle Walker. The Brazilian was a ghost on the pitch, he was never relevant or overflowing as he usually does, he did not generate danger nor was he decisive and this is a great merit for the entire City defense but especially for Walker.
Second half and the air is a little different, but slightly nothing more. I say this because Madrid came out with a slightly different attitude, they had more of the ball but without being frontal or forceful. They had two shots on goal, the shot by Kroos and a free kick by Alaba that was really spectacular, nothing originated from a play at ground level. The third goal would be an own goal by Militao, as if to make clear the terrible night of the Merengues and the fourth in injury time by Julian Alvarez thanks to another beautiful play by Foden to find the Argentine to put the icing on the cake. A night that must be framed as one of the best that Guardiola has had, you can dislike the Catalan but he is a genius, he is a guy who is still rewriting soccer.
In the end, this Manchester will face an Inter team that was also an overwhelming opponent against Milan. The point here is that I think Inter have a much better squad than the Rossoneri and that was seen on the pitch in both games. In the second leg on Tuesday we saw how Inzaghi's team controlled the game better, they didn't worry so much about having the ball or generating much because they had the scoreboard in their favor and this caused the opponent to have more ball and possession but it was totally sterile because they were never able to generate anything convincing, a couple of arrivals by Leao but that's all there was to it. The 1-0 would come with 15 minutes to go in the boots of Lautaro Martinez through a fancy pass from Lukaku. The truth is that it was not an exciting match, in fact, the overall play-off was rather insipid.
I admit that I had said that Madrid would go through because of history and because in these games the Merengues grow in an inexplicable way but yesterday it was not the case. If City play the same way as they did against Los Blancos I don't know if Inter will have a chance. There is a lot of level in the Manchester team, too much I would say and with the treble between the eyebrows I think the favorites to win the Champions League are the citizens. But well, anything can happen and Inter can give the surprise because yes, I think that if the Italians win it would be a great and unexpected surprise.
¡Un abrazo a todos, nos leemos en próxima!
Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡A hug to all of you, see you next time!
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Todos preveíamos una final entre Madrid y Milan por un tema de historia, pero la Champions nos da estas cosas y nos trae una final inédita que a priori tiene un candidato muy marcado, pero aun pendiente de jugarse esa final, cualquier cosa puede pasar.
Lo de ayer en Etihad quedara en los libros de historia, por el porque y los como, Guardiola y los suyos se cenaron a los merengues y dejaron al descubierto todas esas falencias que en algún momento se vieron pero que se lograban tapar con triunfos in extremis.
El peso ahora lo tienen los skyblues, irónico, eliminaron al que mas peso tenia, y ahora el peso recae en ellos.
Así es, la presión y el balón están en la cancha de los del City que están obligados a ganar la Champions después de semejante partido ante el Madrid. Para mi la temporada del Madrid es regular cayendo a mala aunque se hayan llevado 3 títulos creo, pero es por lo que dices, el como terminaron en Liga y en esta Champions.
No veo al Inter hacer gran cosa pero bueno, estos partidos dan muchas sorpresas.