UEFA Champions League 2016-17, Real Madrid 4-2 Bayern Munich (6-3 aggregate): 5 Talking Points

#5 Real Madrid have but one philosophy... winning. And no one does it better than them

When you look at the great teams of history, you associate footballing philosophies with them. The catenaccio of 60’s Inter. The total football of the Ajax and Bayern Munich sides of the 70’s. The tiki-taka of modern, Pep-era, Barcelona.

When you look at Real Madrid sides through history, including the Real Madrid side of today, there is no such single outstanding characteristic. They play possession football at times, they counter-attack at others. They generally play 4-3-3, but as they showed today, they can play a 4-4-2 diamond.

Earlier in the season, when Gareth Bale was fit they even appeared to play a traditional 4-4-2 at times. They attack through the middle when Isco is on the pitch, and down the wings when Vazquez and Asensio are. Fullbacks act as wingbacks. while at other times they hold a perfectly flat line at the back.

You see, this Real Madrid side, Zidane’s Madrid side, are very similar to its successful predecessors... here in the Bernabeu, the only philosophy that matters, the only philosophy that lasts, is winning,

This is the 55^th consecutive game in which Madrid scored atleast one goal – a run that is more impressive than appears at first glance. This team always scores, and when they do get on the board, they very rarely go on to not make the most of it.

Of course, they had the rub of the green on this occasion, as they have on others, but getting it is one and making the most of it is another – it often spells the difference between winners and losers... and like their coach, this time is very much the latter.

Oh, and for their future opponents in the competition –

Whenever Real Madrid have eliminated Bayern in the quarterfinals or semis, they go on to win the Champions League (8th, 9th, 10th CL). pic.twitter.com/GPCLnzPd4M

— FourFourTweet (@FourFourTweet) April 18, 2017