UEFA Champions League: Napoli 1 - 3 Real Madrid: 5 Talking Points

2. Maybe it’s time for BBC to be broken up

Cristiano Ronaldo was not at a 100%, Gareth Bale simply looked lost and Benzema actually had a decent outing... but this match threw in sharp relief just how blunt an attack the famed BBC have become. When Madrid are being pushed back, they become completely disconneted from their midfield and the unwillingness of Ronaldo and Bale to run the often un-rewarding channels just means that the trio of Kroos, Modric and Casemiro have their work cut out in finding a useful attacking outlet to relieve the pressure on them, and their defence.

A particularly illuminating moment came in the 12^th minute when Bale was played in on the right. Benzema and Ronaldo both made great runs into the box assuming the Welshman would cross it immediately, but he dawdled on the ball and eventually when he put it in, it ended up with Benzema running into Ronaldo and messing up whatever chance the latter had of getting a clean header on goal. Of course, it would have been irrelevant if Ronaldo had got his header on target because he’d been flagged offside, but that one passage of play showed just how chaotic the communication between the front three have become, and just how less lethal than just a couple of years ago.