Managing Madrid

C/O Marca.com

It wasn't the dream ending that many of us Madridistas had hoped for. But it wasn't a catastrophe: Real Madrid drew 1-1 at the Nou Camp in the second leg of the Champions League, a result that allowed Barcelona to advance to the final against Manchester United.

While the aggregate score of the two legs favored Barca, 3-1, there is a lot more than that to take away from this tie: for Madrid, there is a sense of injustice, and in my mind, a vindication of Mourinho's strategy. Had los blancos escaped the Barnabéu with a 0-0 draw--which looked like the correct result after 60 minutes of play (that is, until CDM/CB Pepe was unjustly ejected)--today's 1-1 draw would have seen them through to the final.

But we're not here to talk about last week's game: we rehashed that in our last post, and don't feel like reliving it. Today's game was much more indicative of where these two teams stand--when the cards are on the metaphorical table, and when Madrid manages to finally end a match with 11 men on the pitch, these two teams are very very even. Despite the possession and shot statistics (Barcelona dominated both), the final score, the thing that counts, was 1-1. Madrid defended well, protected the goal, and executed one perfect, lethal, counter-attack.

While there was some controversy today, especially when referee Fran De Bleeckere unfairly disallowed a fair goal by Higuaín for a non-existant "foul" (and by that I mean Cristiano Ronaldo getting tripped and accidentally clipping Mascherano's back heel with his back), this isn't what we should take away from the match. What we as Madridistas should see is a team that knows how to fight, a team that can play with this so highly-lauded and FIFA-beloved Barcelona team.

So as we approach the tail end of our season, there are a lot of things to be happy about, and a lot of things to be hopeful about. We can be happy that this young, exciting team has begun to gel; that Kaká is finally looking like the player we wanted to see all along; that Karim Benzema has had such a good year; that Mesut Özil and Angel di María may have been some of the best signings the front office has made in years; that Mourinho motivated this team to fight in every match; and that the youngest team in the league fought tooth and nail with the best Barcelona side of all time, and won the Copa del Rey.

The "foul" that disallowed Higuaín's goal. Marca.com

Sure, we can feel angry that this tie was heavily influenced by the referees, that Dani Alves should get nominated for Best Supporting Actor, that out of the five games Madrid has played against Barcelona, they ended the game with 11 men only once. But that's not the point. This is the time of year for reflection, for looking to the positives, and to the things we need to improve.

In the coming days I'll do a piece or two on the season as a whole, and probably on what talent we should bring in in the off season. For now, let's all take a moment to reflect on this season, to see the good with the bad, where we went right next to where we went wrong. And let's look to the future with excitement and hope for this young team.

The draw results are in, and los Merengues will play Tottenham Hotspur for a spot in the Champions League semifinals.  Real will play the first leg in the Bernabéu on 5 April before travelling to White Hart Lane a week later on 12 April.  The winner will play either Barcelona or Shakhtar in the semifinals, setting up the possibility of a mouthwatering two-legged Clásico next month, which would mean Madrid and Barcelona playing each other an astonishing four times in as many weeks: the potentially crucial Liga tie at the Bernabéu, the Copa del Rey final and the Champions league semifinal.

In my article before the draw, I ranked Tottenham 5th of out 7 in terms of our preferences for the quarterfinals, although I was perhaps being generous.  Certainly Real are heavily favoured by pundits and bookmakers alike to make short work of Spurs, whose rise to the upper echelons of European football has been commendable but are not thought to have the capability to beat a frankly unarguably superior Madrid side.  Madrid's roster is better in every position across the pitch, including on the dugout, where Mourinho has beaten Harry Redknapp all five times he has played his teams.  Mourinho has only lost to Spurs once, beating them seven times.

I do think Spurs are dangerous, but it's important to realize that their form in Europe has been somewhat illusory and overhyped due to the fact that the team have not traditionally been top European competitors.  In the group stages, Tottenham conceded four goals in just 35 minutes in the first half of the match against Inter at the San Siro.  Spurs did manage to come back to within one in the second half against an Inter defense in shambles with a superb hat trick from Gareth Bale, and won their home game against the Italians 3-1, but frankly Inter are a shadow of the side they were under Mourinho, particularly in defense.  In the absence of Samuel, and with the shocking drop in form of Maicon and Julio Cesar this season, they constantly look vulnerable at the back.  In their game against an equally suspect Bayern team, Inter made a series of horrendous defensive errors and were extremely lucky to pull through.

Similarly, the win against Milan is hardly as impressive as it was cracked up to be.  Milan battered Spurs throughout the two legs and were extremely unlucky to lose.  This is a fairly dire Milan team we are discussing here, it must be noted, certainly the worst this decade if not one of the worst ever, filled with aging players who should have been unable to cope with the pace of Spurs.  Real Madrid generally dominated Milan in the two games we played against them in the group stages.

It is also the case that part of the success of Tottenham against the likes of Inter was that they were an unknown quantity.  No one had any idea of the explosive pace of Bale and teams failed to set themselves up properly to deal with it.  Mourinho knows the current Tottenham side very well now, and he likely won't be making the same mistakes.  With Ramos playing a more disciplined, defensive role under Mourinho, the Spaniard will be assigned to mark Bale, cutting off the spaces to run into and preventing him from sprinting with the ball at his feet.

In the end, I think it would be a shock if Real failed to progress to the semis.  The key will be to put the tie to bed in the Bernabéu, where a good result would put immense pressure on Spurs going into the game at White Hart Lane.  Redknapp's men would be forced to push forward for a goal, playing into the hands of Mourinho.  Any goals generated on Madrid's legendary counterattacks would add to our lead as well as counting for the away goals rule.  Should Madrid fail to score at home or go to White Hart Lane with a score draw, things will be significantly less comfortable.  However, Madrid have a 100% record at home in all competitions this season, are one of only two unbeaten sides in the Champions League, and have scored 19 and conceded just 3 goals in the entire competition thus far (Spurs have scored 19 and conceded 11).

Having progressed to the last 8 for the first time since 2003-2004 (auspicious, given that Mourinho won his first Champions League with Porto that year), Real Madrid now awaits its fate in the draw.  Here are our preferences in order, with justifications:


1. Schalke
It is fairly clear that Schalke are the weakest team remaining in contention.  Given a relatively soft draw against Valencia in the octofinals, the German team put in a dominant performance to win the tie.  However, the team is in turmoil after the sacking of coach Felix Magath and sits in 10th place in the Bundesliga, only five points above the relegation zone.  Schalke should not, however, be underestimated in European competition.  Blancos legend Raúl is the top scorer in the history of European competition and cannot be ruled out, and Farfán and keeper Manuel Neuer are also classy players.  Still, most of the teams in the draw would be pleased to receive Schalke as an opponent in the next round.

2. Shakhtar
This was a difficult choice, as the Ukrainians can be extremely dangerous on their day.  Teams from Eastern Europe are often underestimated given the limited exposure audiences of most mainstream leagues have to their style of play.  Shakhtar have fantastic technique, are highly physically fit and organized, and defensively very disciplined.  They are a tough unit to break down, and showed their attacking verve by dismantling Roma in their octofinal as well as winning their group ahead of Arsenal.  However, defeating a Roma team in shambles that has decayed precipitously over the last few years is hardly the same as going toe to toe with Real Madrid.  In addition, an Arsenal side that is frankly rather mediocre in comparison to Madrid absolutely hammered Shakhtar in the Emirates, winning 5-1.  If Los Blancos can't make it past Shakhtar, they don't deserve to win the competition.

3. Inter Milan
This Inter side look very little like the disciplined, iron-willed team with impeccable defensive organization that Mourinho took to an unprecedented treble last season.  First of all, Leonardo is no José Mourinho, and the veteran tactician would look to exploit his rival's tactical naivete and inexperience in this tie.

Second, many of the key players from last term have experienced a sharp decline.  Eto'o is dangerous as always, but Sneijder has been experiencing a typical second-term slump, just as he did after his excellent debut season with Madrid.  Walter Samuel's season-ending injury destroyed the excellent defensive unit that Mourinho created, and without his presence Inter has relied on players like Ranocchia and the aging Materazzi; the former made several errors in the Bayern tie that showcase his inexperience, which Madrid's attackers would relish.  Chivu has looked unsteady, while Maicon's decline and humiliation by Gareth Bale has been well-noted in the press.  Zanetti is 37 already and Milito, so crucial for his side last term, has been out of form and is currently injured.  Julio César is a weak point, having made high-profile errors in a number of big games recently.

Still, the team have some dangerous players and a sense of self-belief that carried them through against the stuttering defense of Bayern Munich and will not lay down and allow Madrid to walk past them into the semis.

4. Manchester United
This was something of a tossup for me between United, Spurs and Chelsea for the next three spots, as each team has distinct advantages and weaknesses, and it is hard to see where each will be form-wise by the time the next tie comes around.  This United team is probably the worst I have ever seen in terms of quality, and although Ferguson has managed to keep them in the running in the Champions League and the league, they have been slipping as of late, losing games to both Chelsea and Liverpool and allowing Arsenal to encroach.  Their massive injury list, including both starting central defenders, Vidic and Ferdinand, has led the coach to play a number of stitched-together formations this season with varying success.  The once-impregnable United defense looks vulnerable, and indeed Marseille very nearly got past them in their octofinal.  If Marseilles had finished better (and United cannot expect the same leniency from Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Özil and company) they would be out of Europe.

If the United defense plays a high line, then the pace of di María and Ronaldo will look to get behind them, and the likes of Smalling and company are never going to be able to cope.  Özil is very good at dragging players out of position with his off-the-ball movement like Kuyt did in Liverpool's 3-1 win, where the Dutchman scored a hat-trick playing off of United's high line.  If United defend deep, as they did at Marseille, they leave too much space for Madrid's attackers on the flanks, and crosses into the box or delicate interplay and through passes will be the result if the inexperienced United backline fails to pressure Madrid's attacking players.

United are always dangerous, however, especially in a knock-out competition.  We should never count them out of it, and I would certainly prefer not to draw United.

5. Tottenham Hotspur
I put Spurs above United because I think they have the potential to be a real banana skin for a big team in the Champions League.  They have put in some quality performances in the group stage, notably against Inter, and managed to see off Milan in the octos.  They have some fantastic, experienced players as well as some rising stars (Van der Vaart, Bale, Gomes, Lennon, Corluka, Modric) and are well-organized, as shown by their mature 0-0 draw against Milan.

Spurs have a lot of pace on the counter and on the flanks, which can be dangerous.  A moment of defensive panic and a single mistake could see Spurs through in a quarterfinal.  However, I think they have not yet faced a side of real quality in Europe and that Madrid would see them off without too much trouble.

Milan and Inter are both shadows of the teams they once were, particularly the former.  Milan's defense is old and incredibly slow and they prefer to play three central midfielders, so they are vulnerable to pace on the flanks and counterattacks.  Madrid are one of the youngest and fittest sides in European football, and have dynamic wingers and fullbacks that should help to pin back the attacking runs of players like Bale, who will be forced to go up against di María and Ramos.  If Madrid play like they did against Lyon, who also prefer to counter down the flanks, playing cautiously and relatively deep to restrict space on the counter until going up and then sitting back and allowing their opponents to break themselves trying to get a goal, they will have little trouble with Spurs.

One must also remember that Spurs have looked very fragile at times in Europe, going 4-0 down to Inter in a matter of minutes in the group stages and only barely squeezing through in two legs against Milan, who Madrid relatively easily outplayed in their group.

6. Chelsea
I'm not sure if I'm giving Chelsea too much credit, given their domestic troubles recently, their decaying squad and the poor form of new signing Torres.  Chelsea have also had the easiest draw in the tournament, both in the group stage, which they breezed through without breaking a sweat, and in the octofinals, where they came up against a disappointing Copenhagen side, coasting through 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and only managing a weak 0-0 draw in Denmark.  It's tough to say based on these results how Chelsea will fare against top opposition in Europe, seeing as they haven't faced any.

However, Chelsea's squad is still the third strongest left in the competition, after the Spanish giants.  They have a strong, resilient defense with Cech, Alex, Ivanovic, Terry and Cole among others to choose from, a potent midfield with the likes of Essien, Lampard, Malouda and Ramires, and an evergreen attack with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.  This is a strong side, even given their problems in midfield, indifferent form and tactical issues.  José Mourinho got the better of Ancelotti in Italy, though, as well as rather effortlessly eliminating Chelsea last season with Inter, so he might not have much trouble with his old side here.

7. Barcelona
What can we say?  Barcelona are a class above the other possible opposition.  With this being almost certainly the best Barcelona side of all time, and with La Liga so much stronger than the other European leagues, we would much rather wait until later in the competition to face our eternal rivals.  Lionel Messi feels the same way, according to an article.  Such a match-up would also feel anti-climactic so early in the tournament.

Barcelona have easily the best squad in the competition on paper, with the possible exception of ours.  However, they have shown significant cracks in their play recently, along with a number of high-profile injuries, and teams like Sevilla have shown that they can be beaten with the right tactics.  In the earlier Clásico at the Camp Nou, Madrid played naively with a high line that Barcelona strolled through again and again.  This time, Madrid should play deep and hit Barcelona on the counter while taking the game to them physically.  Barcelona play high up the pitch and risk counterattacks against their weak defense, especially in the air, as their players are short.  With Eric Abidal out for the season (and possibly the rest of his career) with his tragic cancer diagnosis, Barcelona's injury worries in defense become compounded.  Piqué and Puyol have been injured of late, forcing Abidal into the center of defense.  Now that he is out, Barcelona may have to play Mascherano or Busquets there, making them more susceptible to error and hampering the ability of Barcelona to build attacks from the back.

Mourinho showed that the right tactics can defeat Barcelona with Inter last year, and this Barcelona side is significantly deteriorating, although they are still outstanding.  Xavi's fitness is an issue, Pedro is out for a spell, Messi hasn't looked quite on form since his knock during the Sevilla game, and teams in the intervening period will look at Sevilla's success with being very physical, so I would expect to see a lot more hard tackling in the next few weeks and we will see how Barcelona deal with that.  Clearly this is the worst-case scenario for the draw, but given the class of Madrid and Barcelona it is likely we will meet them at some point in the competition if we progress, so we should not fear to meet them now, when they are in their worst, most congested and most unfit part of their season. 

Real Madrid put Lyon to the sword at the Bernabéu tonight, easing past the French team 3-0 on the night and 4-1 on aggregate.  Mourinho made two key tactical shifts from the first leg, playing the marauding Marcelo instead of the more conservative Arbeloa at left back and the mercurial Benzema instead of Adebayor to lead the line.

One of the reasons Madrid had trouble breaking down Lyon in the first leg was Mourinho's tactical miscue in playing Arbeloa instead of Marcelo.  No doubt the reasoning was that the Spaniard offers more defensive security than the marauding Brazilian, but two issues with this emerged.

First, playing a more defensive player on that flank meant Arbeloa didn't attack as much down the wing, both failing to pin the opposition fullback/winger by forcing them to come deep to defend and inviting pressure and attacks down that side, as more space was available in front of the deep-lying fullback.  Second, playing an inverted winger (that is, a wing player who starts on the opposite side from his natural foot, such as Arjen Robben, a left-footer who plays on the right, or Ronaldo, a right-footer who plays on the left) with a similarly 'inverted' fullback means that both players have the tendency to cut inside rather than running at defenses to put in the cross.  Thus, Ronaldo had no one on the overlap to provide an outlet for his passing and to draw defenders off of him and often found himself stymied by two or three defenders.

At the Bernabéu, Mourinho made no such mistake, and his choices paid off in the key role Marcelo played in the match.  The match started off relatively even, with Madrid having the lion's share of the possession but failing to make chances against a resolute Lyon side.  Lyon played a deep defensive line and looked to play on the counter, so Madrid's passing failed to draw out defenders, while the Merengues were unwilling to commit too many men forward as it might allow Lyon the chance to counterattack incisively.  As the first half went on, Real's dominance began to fade as Lyon created some decent chances from breaks down the wings, earning a few corners and putting some crosses into the box.  Spells of Lyon possession also led to some nervous defending from the Whites, leading to yellow cards for Carvalho, Marcelo and Pepe.

Madrid had to conjure up something special to break the deadlock.  In the 37th minute, Ronaldo and Marcelo exchanged passes on the edge of the box before the Brazilian dribbled through with a superb piece of individual skill before finishing handily past the excellent Lloris.

In the second half, Lyon pushed forward desperately, looking for a goal.  Puel brought on Gomis for Briand during the interval, bringing Lisandro Lopez across to the left to keep Ramos in check.  Madrid, however, were happy to sit back and frolic in the open spaces left behind by Lyon on the break.  In the 66th minute, Benzema displayed the predatory instinct that has helped him to a remarkable scoring streak in the last few games by taking advantage of confusion between Cris and Lovren on a longball to spring free and put the ball through the legs of the onrushing Lloris.  Ten minutes later, di Maria chipped a third over Lloris after a slick counter and a clever headed pass by Ozil.  Mourinho was happy to take the opportunity to bring off Ronaldo, di Maria and Benzema and bring on Lass, Granero and Adebayor to see the tie out.  A broken Lyon team made no attempt to score a consolation goal, happy to keep Madrid from turning the tie into a rout.

Madrid saw themselves past their bogie team in Lyon and their curse of the last 16, where the Whites have failed for the past six years.  Here are the last 8:

Real Madrid
Shakhtar Donetsk
Chelsea
Manchester United
Tottenham Hotspur
Internazionale
Barcelona
Schalke

Getty Images

Well, it could have been better. After Karim Benzema, the ex-Lyon player scored the second time he touched the ball (in minute 64), Real Madrid finally looked like they were going to take the three points from the Gerland for the first time in years. Sadly, it wasn't to be, as Gomis tied things up for the home squad in the 82nd minute.

The good news, though, is that Benzema's goal signifies a vitally important advantage for los blancos as they head into the return leg at the Bernabéu on March 16th: an away goal. Madrid will have a double advantage, then: 1) a 0-0 draw works to go through to the next round, so Lyon are obligated to score, and 2) Mourinho hasn't lost a home game in 8 years. Oh, and Madrid's defense is infinitely better at home (someone look up the stats on that--I'm too exhausted).

We should have been given a penalty when we were already up 0-1 on an extremely obvious hand ball in the box; I'm not going to say any more about it, because Mourinho already did: "There are other errors that you can't accept. There was a free-kick and in the slow-motion replay you can see it clearly. I was 50 yards away and I could see it. He (Stark) was five yards away with all his assistants and he didn't. I don't understand. It could still be decisive in the tie. I just hope it won't be." Yikes.

I did a live blog over on Bleacher Report for the game--you should check it out! You should notice--and you will because I'm pointing it out right now--that I correctly predicted the final score, saying "I could also see a 1-1 tie (Madrid is really bad away from home in the Champions for some reason)." Boom.

Anyways, I'll leave you with the conclusion I wrote in my sweaty state after biting my nails for the final 10 minutes of the game (I was worried that Lyon would come back, Arsenal-style, and sink us into a 2-1 hole).

In the end, after everything is said and done, Madrid can look back on this game and be relatively happy. Sure, Sergio Ramos played like junk, and is probably responsible for the goal (and could easily have been responsible for at least one more), and the defense looked pretty bad at times, but they went to a really tough stadium that has given them tons of problems and pulled out a good 1-1 draw. The away goal is always vitally important, and Madrid will be able to sleep easier thanks to Benzema's strike.

At the same time, the team showed a lot of weakness on the break. Lyon's first half was inspired, moving the ball from end to end in seconds; Madrid looked tired and out of the loop at times. After halftime, though, Madrid came out fired up and immediately picked up the pace. Benzema played an incredible 30 minutes of football as a sub, and managed to pick up a goal against his old team (always a good feeling). Mourinho will be terribly disappointed by Madrid's defensive mis-steps in the second half: as well as they played for the first 30 minutes of the half, they just couldn't keep it up.

Finally, Sergio Ramos looked terrible. I mean just god awful. Everyone was getting by him, he was making mental errors, and didn't add anything on offense (well, actually he did hit the post with a header). We'll have to see how this plays out, but Mou will surely consider sitting him in the next leg in favor of Arbeloa, and maybe bringing Marcelo back in.