Ok, well that was anti-climactic. Real Madrid and Manchester City just fought to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal. It was a match that made us all hope that the next makes up for the lack of excitement in this one.
City keeper Joe Hart certainly thinks the second leg will. "We've set it up for a good, old-fashioned rumble at the Bernabeu,” Hart said.
Have you Joe? Well you certainly have a lot of proving to do.
The match today was equal parts frustrating and discouraging. Before the match even started, it was announced that Cristiano Ronaldo would not start. During the match, David Silva and Karim Benzema exited before half-time, ostensibly because of injuries.
Gareth Bale and Kevin De Bruyne couldn’t make anything happen. Lucas Vasquez and Jese Rodriguez were out of their depth, and late substitute Raheem Sterling probably wishes he could have that one touch back, he’ll know the one.
The only players who came out of the match with anything to be proud of were defensive. Sergio Ramos and Pepe shut down Sergio Aguero while Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi did the same to Bale, Jese, and Vasquez. Joe Hart had a couple immense saves, none larger than a point blank block on Pepe in the 82nd minute:
It’s no coincidence that Hart was so chipper after the match. In addition to his declaration of a rumble in the jungle for the second leg, he was very confident about City’s chances.
"We are ready. We have a brilliant squad who are coming to fruition. Big game next week, simple as," he said.
As simple as Hart may think it is, there is still the discouraging reality that City couldn’t manufacture two attacking opportunities to rub together. Without David Silva, De Bruyne was the only playmaker on the pitch, and it showed. Don’t let the hype fool you, Kelechi Iheanacho and Raheem Sterling were just as ineffective as the anonymous Jesus Navas.
Iheanacho might have shown some good vision, but praising him for showing vision shows just how clouded and uninspired the rest of the players on the field were.
Real Madrid struggled as well. Modric roamed around and picked out passes as he usually does, but his passes did as little as those of the more deep lying Kroos and Casemiro. They have quality, especially Kroos and Modric, but when they are constantly 40 yards away from goal, recycling the ball between themselves and the fullbacks, they don’t create much, and they certainly didn’t today.
The good news for Madrid is that they did eventually grow to dominate the match and out possessed (55 percent to 45percent) and out shot (13 to four) Manchester City. They also are likely to get Cristiano Ronaldo back for the second leg, which as Joe Hart so graciously pointed out will be played at the Bernabeu; some pretty good things happened for Madrid last time they played there.
The second leg of Real Madrid vs. Manchester City will take place next Wednesday, May 4 at 2:45 pm EST. Be sure to tune in, it will hopefully provide the goals that this match couldn’t.
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