Managing Madrid

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

Madrid effectively conceded the league this afternoon with their goalless draw at the Riazor as Barcelona breezed past Mallorca 3-0 to extend their lead to seven points at the top of the table.  Dani Aranzubia was again the hero as the veteran keeper, coming off of scoring a vital goal for his side in the previous round of fixtures, managed to keep los Blancos at bay with a series of excellent stops.  Deportivo broke up Madrid's attacking rhythm effectively with persistent fouling in the first half before putting ten men behind the ball in the second to withstand a flurry of chances.  Ultimately, wasteful finishing was the culprit, as the Merengues had numerous chances to put themselves in front.

Ronaldo played well, putting a ball in the net that was correctly ruled offsides before drawing superb saves from Aranzubia off of shots and a free kick.  The Portuguese winger also hit the post with a low drive and played a terrific cross to leave Benzema with a tap-in for the chance of the game, but the Frenchman was unable to score.  Adebayor, coming in as a late substitute, also managed to hit the post.

Karim Benzema's profligacy in front of goal cost Madrid the three points today, despite his having a good first half.  Perhaps this is a signal to Mourinho that he should consider playing Benzema as an impact sub for Adebayor in the second half as he did to great effect against Lyon, where his energy and dynamic movement wreaked havoc with a tired defense.  The Togolese was particularly effective tonight, drawing fouls left and right as well as having a number of good chances.

One issue with the team was the inefficacy of the fullbacks.  Sergio Ramos and Marcelo were both wasteful and ineffective in attack and overly troubled with a weak Depor offense.  Playing against a highly defensive team that chooses to pack ten men behind the ball, cede the wings and occupy the center, having good overlap play down the flanks becomes crucial to draw defenders out and create space for the attacking players.

Madrid had looked unlikely to win the league before this draw, which really puts the team out of effective contention.  Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise, however.  So long as Barcelona remained in real touching distance, the team would have been forced to commit valuable attention and resources to what was still the longest of long shots.  Now, Madrid can focus on the more realistic and frankly important objective of the Champions League as well as the Copa final against Barcelona.

My view is (and perhaps Gabe will disagree) that La Liga is no longer worth anything to win as a competition.  It has become so non-competitive with only Madrid or Barcelona having any chance whatsoever of winning it that it has ceased to be a valuable prize.  Much like in Scotland, the only question is whether one team or the other has the upper hand in that particular year.  The Champions League has to be our real objective, as Madrid have underperformed in the competition for years and reclaiming it is vital to our reestablishment as one of the top teams in Europe and the reclamation of our lost respect.  It used to be that teams quaked in their boots when they drew Madrid in Europe, and this simply has not been the case for the past six years.  This is much more crucial than winning the league over a Barcelona side whose star is already on the wane.