UEFA Champions League 2016/17, Bayern Munich 1-2 Real Madrid: 5 Talking Points
What an epic quarterfinal that was. As the adrenaline slowly leaves the system we can sit back and calmly analyse just what took place in 90 pulsating minutes at the Allianz. The base facts are this:
Real Madrid won the tie 2-1. Arturo Vidal opened the scoring and helped Bayern dominate the first half. In added time at the end of the first 45, he missed a penalty (which they should never have got in the first place). In the second half, Real Madrid came out a completely different team, and Cristiano Ronaldo equaled the game up with a superb finish from a great Dani Carvajal cross. He then got dragged down (stupidly) by Javi Martinez twice in quick succession near the halfway line following which the Bayern centre-back was sent off. Ronaldo then won the tie with an emphatic finish off a sumptuous Marco Asensio cross.
Those are the base facts... but let us go a touch deeper now and analyse the 5 key learnings from the match
#1. Dani Carvajal, Casemiro Casemiro and Sergio Ramos shine as Madrid bring back a measure of solidity in the Madrid defense
Zinedine Zidane must have been extremely concerned as Real Madrid became increasingly porous as the weeks went by. They were shipping goals left, right and centre - and it didn’t matter who they played... Las Palmas, Alaves, Leganes or Atletico Madrid... their opponents always looked like they could score if they ever really fancied it. Last Saturday’s derby showcased this tendency of Madrid’s at its worst – when they simply switched off in the last ten minutes.
This time, there was to be no switching off. The first goal was more brilliant set-piece play from Xabi Alonso and Arturo Vidal than any real defensive error, while the penalty was, to put it politely, harsh. They were utterly outplayed for the vast majority of the first half, but they held strong – Ribery, Robben, and particularly Muller could get absolutely no joy out of them. In the second half, they simply seemed impenetrable, especially after their opponents went down to 10 men.
Carlos Casemiro was immense as he stood resolute in the face of wave after wave of attacks inspired by Thiago, Alonso, and Vidal... while Daniel Carvajal was absolutely immense at right back – keeping Ribery tight to him while proving a constant menace in more forward areas.
Sergio Ramos, though, should come in for special praise. Having been lambasted by most (including yours truly) for some shaky defending all season, he stepped up to the plate when Madrid most needed him to. He was vital to Zidane’s plan of stopping Robben (I’ll expand on them in the following points) and he was immense throughout – especially during one-on-one situations, situations that had been his bane this season.