Real Madrid-Bayern Munich combined XI - No place for Ronaldo

Pep Guardiola will need to keep Bayern Munich on their toes against Real Madrid

Unlike the first semi final of Champions League, tonight’s clash between the two European heavy weights- Real Madrid and Bayern Munich is certain to entertain football fans who demand action. Both teams will go out to win the match rather than ‘not lose’ it. While we eagerly wait to witness the tense entertainer, let us see who make up combined XI.

It is easy to dump a set of eleven good individuals opted from both the sides based on records and stats, but such a selection may not guarantee win all the time. All the players should fit into a particular style and play in coordination.

In this piece, the candidates are not given any preference for their records, goals scored or past glory. One needs to have the qualities mentioned to make it into the team.

Playing Style and Formation

Ever since Guardiola and Ancelotti took charge of their respective sides, both teams played a game based on passing. So, it makes sense to select players who fit such a style. We go with 4-3-3 formation as it is followed by many passing/possession based teams

Manager

Can anyone make a better claim than Pep Guardiola to manage a team which loves to play the ball?

Basic Player Requirements

Pressing all over the pitch is now an important feature that teams try to incorporate. This particular attribute becomes even more important when it comes to possession based teams, lack of which proved to be costly for the likes of Barcelona and Arsenal. So, we shall try to have players with good stamina, work rate and pace to satisfy the requirement.

Not to mention- high passing accuracy, composure and vision are primary requirements for possession/passing game.

Lately, teams with a playing style similar to that of Bayern and Barcelona are finding it too difficult to break deep lying defenses. At the end of the day, any sort of game plan may prove futile against such compact teams. But, having a plan-B along with a very good passing game will definitely give better chance to score goals.

We shall discuss our plan-B in the later stages of this article. Let us straight away go into picking up the players for various positions. Note that the players who are not available for today’s clash are not considered.

Goal Keeper

Contenders: Iker Casillas, Manuel Neuer

Verdict: Both Casillas and Neuer are arguably the best goal keepers today, along with Courtois and Valdes. Having said that, Neuer makes the cut due to his better ability to play the ball which is a quality required to build the game from the back.

Defense

Contenders: Coentrao, Alaba, Carvajal, Rafinha, Lahm, Pepe, Dante, Boateng, Ramos, Varane

Requirements: When playing a possession based game it is important to have full backs who are very good defensively and know when to attack and when not to.

Verdict: Alaba’s attack minded game has created problems at the back for the Bavarians in recent matches. So, it would be safe to have Coentrao in the side who is wise while going forward and better at defending when compared to Alaba.

Lahm has been very instrumental in the success of Bayern over the years. His positioning, intelligence, crossing, passing and leadership skills give him a good edge over any other full back today.

It is just a matter of whether Lahm should play in midfield or defense. Considering the enormous quality in midfield to pick from and lack of any other good right back, it is better to play Lahm in defense.

Boateng is probably the only weak link in this mighty Bayern side. He is prone to make silly mistakes and many a times has bad positioning. On the other hand, Pepe has been in tremendous form under Ancelotti and makes the cut easily. Though Ramos might prove to be a liability at back, his immense quality and experience gives him edge over Dante, Varane and Boateng. Also, Ramos and Pepe are decent with the ball.

Midfield

Contenders: Javi Martinez, Gotze, Schweinsteiger, Modric, Di Maria, Isco, Xabi Alonso, Toni Kroos, Illaramendi

Requirements: Picking three from a bunch of top class midfielders is a herculean task. Let us try to increase our expectations of a player so as to ease our task. As we have selected a back four and keeper who together give enough security in defense, let us have an attack minded, fluid, hard working and creative midfield which can help in pressing and slick movement of the ball. As already mentioned, high passing accuracy, vision and composure are must.

Here we demand plan B against deep lying sides. While counter attacking is not an option against defensive sides, it is necessary to take as many shots from out the box as possible to increase the chances of scoring. However, what is very important is to understand when to shoot and when to pass.

Verdict: When we say attack minded, fluid, long range shot accuracy, creativity and passing, our list reduces to Kroos, Modric, Isco, Di Maria and Schweinsteiger.

Under Ancelotti, Modric established himself as one of the top five midfielders in the world. His composure on the ball, help in defense, unconventional as well as creative passing and good shot accuracy from long range places him above the lot we have. Modric makes the plays for his team through his intelligent distribution of the ball and also breaks the attacks of the opposition.

Along with Modric it is Kroos in the center of midfield, whose unbelievable passing ability and shot accuracy satisfies our requirements and is preferred to Schweinsteiger who has almost similar qualities but not as good as the former. Kroos is also a reliable play maker who can set up goals for his team mates with ease.

Di Maria makes his way in to the third midfield position due to his high work rate, pace, dribbling and pin point crossing and is selected ahead of Isco. The young Spaniard who is good at shooting through small spaces, dribbling and passing has relatively low work rate and is poor at pressing which plays against his candidature.

Forwards

Contenders: Muller, Mandzukic, Benzema, Ronaldo, Bale, Ribery, Robben

Verdict: Benzema is a player who can hold the ball very well upfront and feed his team mates. This seems to be a very good quality to claim a spot in our team. But as mentioned, we need a plan B. Besides good work rate, the incredible heading ability of Mandzukic will be an irreplaceable asset to the team when in crisis and thus he is preferred to the French International.

After all, the Bayern front man has not faced any difficulties in adapting to Pep’s Bayern who base their style on passing. The Croatian can hold the ball well in the final third and works hard for the team. Muller is also a good option, but not as good as his team mate for our requirements.

It is neither tough nor obvious, as it may appear, to select one from Bale and Robben. Bale has proved to be ineffective when not given enough space and pressed intensely. Robben’s creativity and accurate passing gives him the edge over the Welshman.

No place for Ronaldo

Now, this is in no way an attempt to demean one of the best football players of all time. But, for the reasons explained below Ronaldo cannot make his way in to the combined XI.

As we opted to play passing game, Ronaldo’s innumerable and very ambitious long range efforts disrupt the rhythm of game and unnecessarily terminate the attacks very often. As discussed earlier, it is important to have some one who scores from outside the box but what is more important is to strike good balance between passing the ball and taking a shot. I believe, Ronaldo is bad at maintaining that balance.

Also, the Real Madrid superstar tends to give away the ball when under pressure from the opposition and is not as effective as Ribery in tight spaces. This is quite evident in both the El Clasicos, the La liga clash against Atletico at the start of the season and recently against Sevilla where Ronaldo was easily kept under control.

Besides that, Mandzukic will face difficulties in fulfilling his role in the presence of Portuguese international who drifts to the center very frequently.

On the other hand, Ribery works hard for the team, scores goals and sets up his team mates. The Frenchman coordinates well with rest of the team, which is quite necessary for possession game.

Absolutely speaking, it is definitely good to have a player who scores 40 goals every season, but the Ballon d’ Or winner is simply a different kind of player and Ribery fits the bill better due to his team play and hard work. Though the Portugal International’s poaching and finishing abilities will be missed, they will not be missed badly. After all, the team is tactically sound and multi talented.

Substitues: Casillas, Alaba, Schweinsteiger, Isco, Bale, Ronaldo, Dante