Clash of the Titans: Man. United – Real Madrid

The game just ended so if you have it on DVR and didn’t watch it yet, then stop reading now so I don’t spoil it for you.

…Come back later, of course, so we can compare notes.

This is certainly one of the biggest games of the year to happen anywhere and the action did not disappoint.  The attacking play was mostly very good with the exception that neither team seemed to specifically target the opponent’s demonstrated weakness.

Madrid pushed their back line high up the field but left the GK rather deep, creating a very large & very dangerous gap behind the defense.  Kagawa exploited it once early on, but United failed to continue testing that space.  Madrid was not well organized at the center of their defense.  Ramos has looked like a frustrated striker for years.  He gets forward whenever he can, often interfering with the attack rather than helping.  With Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuain, Ozil, Di Maria, Modric, et al. ready to do their thing, Ramos should do his basic task first. It was Ramos, in fact, who was beaten in the air by Welbeck for United’s goal.

United, on the other hand, allowed dangerous crosses to be served freely into their box all game long.  Ferguson took a risk at right midfield with that space being covered defensively by either Rooney or Welbeck.  That allowed United to play with 3 strikers on the field with Van Persie, Rooney, and Welbeck – but there is a price to pay when not in possession and they paid it.  At the 30 minute mark, Rooney gave 5 yards of space to Di Maria, whose surgically accurate cross was finished by Cristiano Ronaldo.  United didn’t correct the problem either.  Madrid’s best chances continued to come from crosses all day long.  It wasn’t until the last 15 minutes or so that Ferguson put Antonio Valencia on the right side to quiet Di Maria’s crosses.  Mourinho immediately countered by replacing Di Maria with Luka Modric, a very mobile, very creative central midfielder.  Real began to attack more centrally, but that’s not where United were most vulnerable.  Modric created one great chance for Ronaldo and Van Persie had a late chance tipped onto the crossbar for United, but the game ended 1-1.

United have the advantage with the away goal going into the return leg, but both teams have work to do in training if they hope to keep opponents off the score sheet.  I hesitate to say it because of the enormous stature of the two coaches, but I believe some of the problems today were in the sideline technical area.  It’s going to be an exciting return leg on March 5th in Manchester.

Mike