One
could not help feeling surprised when the lineup was announced. Not only
because both teams dropped their starting centrebacks, but also when the away
team came to Bernabeu trying to be the boss. Starting Maicon without either
Zabaleta or James Milner was a gamble, which left the Brazilian exposed to
Christiano Ronaldo, one of the most dangerous attackers in the world. To have
played Silva and Nasri , also asking Yaya Toure to be more adventurous seemed
to be an unpopular move, when Javi Garcia and Gareth Barry struggled to win the
ball from Real Madrid.
On
the other hand, Jose Mourinho was asking for response from their poor run
lately. It was a brave decision to drop Sergio Ramos to the bench for Varane.
Having Essien, Khedira and Xabi Alonso in midfield provided more assurance.
While it seemed Mourinho opted for a safety-first approach, apparently they
overpowered Manchester City's midfield and allowed Di Maria and Ronaldo to
freely torture the City's fullbacks.
The
injury of Nasri seemed to have further hampered Mancini's side, who only
enjoyed less than 30% of the possession
in first half, but Kolarov provided an extra workforce on the left and had
released Yaya Toure. The Ivorian was much more lively in the second half, not
once seeing him burst through Real Madrid's defence in counter-attack, and also
assisted Dzeko, who replaced Silva, to bring City the lead.
Mancini's
decision to switch from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2 in the second half and inserting
Kolarov were justified, especially the freekick that brought City back in front
after Marcelo's equaliser. However, it was Mourinho who sparked off the goal
fest when Ozil was introduced and have opened up the game. The absence of
Essien inspired Yaya Toure, although the
latter looked jaded in the last 15 minutes of the game.
There
was a game plan for Manchester City, and it was well executed, thanks to the
brilliant effort by Joe Hart. Taking off Maicon for Zabaleta appeared to be a
sensible move, but somehow the floodgate was wide open. Mourinho went all out
after falling behind. Modric and Benzema retrieved the attacking line,
particularly when Barry and Javi Garcia possessed tired legs and unfortunately,
Rodwell was not in the plan to stop the bleed. Suddenly, Manchester City was
all over the place. Even Joe Hart could not stop the marvellous shots by
Marcelo, Benzema and Ronaldo. It was a fantastic recovery by Real Madrid, but
more question marks are raised towards
Mancini's tactical moves.
Man
of the Match: Jose Mourinho. They were on the back foot unexpectedly, but the
Portuguese made courageous though sensible substitutions. He did not over-crowd
the frontline, as he did in the match against Getafe. Removing the more
defensive Essien and Khedira showed his determination to win, and he clearly
addressed the weakness in opponent's defence by overloading the attack on the
left. It was a victory for Real Madrid, as well as a convincing victory for
Mourinho in the tactician battle.
Flop
of the Match: Gonzalo Higuain did have a good early season, but he has been
equivalent to wasteful recently. There were two golden chances ruined by the
Argentine in the first half, who could have given Real Madrid the upper hand.
In contrast, Benzema required only 15 minutes to impress. One would not imagine
Higuain featuring in the starting lineup in the near future.
By The Linesman
Twitter: www.twitter.com/LinesmanBlog
