Real Madrid vs Manchester United: Counter-attacking football at its best

It was billed the “perfect match”.

And it did not disappoint.

On the night when goals were expected to come flowing, the match ended 1-1 apiece. There was luck as well as De Gea that stood in between the posts. Oh, there were a lot of chances for both sides and any neutral fan would have been entertained thoroughly.

TEAMS

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): De Gea – Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra – Jones, Carrick – Welbeck, Kagawa, Rooney – Van PersieREAL MADRID (4-2-3-1): Lopez – Arbeloa, Varane, Ramos, Coentrao – Khedira, Alonso – Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo – Benzema

BEGINNING WITH THE OBVIOUS

After all the initial talk and discussion regarding the strategy that both managers would use, the final implementation turned out to be quite obvious. Ronaldo started at his usual left wing/pseudo-striker position, while Di Maria was stationed on the right. Jones shadowed Ronaldo, with Rafael blocking his outside run. Kagawa and Rooney both alternated into the No. 10 position with Van Persie on strike.

The match began with De Gea laying down the marker for things to come, as he was forced into a fingertip save to deflect a curling effort from Coentrao.

United settled down well enough into the match soon. Outmatched in the midfield, they continually bypassed Real’s midfield by making long passes up towards Van Persie or Welbeck. Van Persie, with his hold-up play, always tried to release Kagawa or Welbeck.

United were in wonderland halfway through the first period. A corner swung in by Rooney found Welbeck, who got up and nodded it in from within the six-yard box, having slipped his man who was… Sergio Ramos.

MOURINHO’S PRAGMATIC APPROACH

After about 25 mins, there was a sudden change in the positioning of the Real personnel. Di Maria began to alternate his position with CR7 on the right. Very soon, Ozil started to interchange his position with the above two and confusion was apparent in the United defence. They were not able to individually mark out anyone but collectively held their defensive structure.

Di Maria and Ozil capitalized the most, with United’s attention mostly focused on Ronaldo. Coentrao was also allowed too much time and space with the ball. One of those moments came to bite the visitors as Ozil got the time to whip in a delightful curling cross. And guess who preyed on the small stature of Patrice Evra. There really was not a lot he could do. Ronaldo’s knees were level with Evra’s face as he jumped high. And the header was perfectly directed.

1-1 and the game was on.

Welbeck was arguably United’s best outfield player throughout the first half, as he ran himself ragged chasing the ball and pressing every Real player. A willing runner, he stretched the play to all ends and silenced all the critics who questioned his inclusion in such a high profile match. He tracked back and did the dirty work well enough.

UNITED DEFEND DEEP

The second half was played at the same tempo as it had been played in the first half. Lots of 1-on-1 aerial duels, challenges, and desperate clearances. By the 60th minute, maybe Ferguson realized the wisdom in keeping the score as it is. First Kagawa was replaced with Giggs and Rooney was put in the No. 10 position, and then the defence sat deeper than ever before.

Pretty soon, Welbeck was subbed out for Valencia and the team shifted into an ultra-counter-attacking mode while sitting deep. Mourinho, having realized Ferguson’s intentions, changed his formation into a more 4-3-3-ish one, with Modric subbed in. In hindsight, he could have started the match with Modric, as his team needed a clever midfielder who could set the tempo higher up the pitch.

Higuan was put in place of Benzema, but the result was the same with him. Neither Benzema nor Higuan got to touch the ball and it was really a testament to United’s brilliant defending.

Robin Van Persie could have secured all three points but was denied by Lopez, down low to his left. That was the final chance and ended a wonderful hard fought match.

REFEREEING NIGHTMARE

RVP accidentally smacks Sergio Ramos’ face and he is booked.

Evra was sent running free towards the goal on a good through ball and Varane had to bring him down to save a potential goal-scoring chance. A stone wall foul and a sending off, obviously. Nothing doing, by the ref’s opinion.

The refereeing really was poor throughout the match, and many decisions were given the wrong way. Fouls were not called and unnecessary cards were drawn. And let’s not forget the last minute of the play, where United got a corner kick. When United were about to take the kick, he blew the whistle. Utterly ridiculous.

VERDICT

United simply did not get much possession and lost the midfield battle, partly due to the quality of the Real midfield and partly due to them focusing too much on Ronaldo. Phil Jones did a brilliant job of tailing Ronaldo and RVP was unlucky to not get a goal on a night where he was in top form. Rooney’s indifferent presence is a cause for worry. His passes were simply not up to the standards he had shown this season.

The best player for Real was Di Maria, who got a lot of time on the ball with United’s focus somewhere else. He harassed the United players and single-handedly dribbled past 2 or 3 red shirts in one go.

Manchester United would be content with an away goal and a draw taking it into the second leg to be played in Old Trafford.

PIE MAN OF THE MATCH: David De Gea