Champions league SF: Real Madrid Vs Manchester City

Yes, definitely nerves, but also a little bit of skepticism induced by similar situations in the past - coupled of course with my inability to ignore our weaknesses and tactical shortcomings.

I hope I'm wrong, or more like, I hope Real Madrid proves me wrong.

You say you are a realist not negative, yet you come up with all these negative theories. Madrid is in best form of the season right now and only Atleti has equal or better form. Regardless of who the oponent is, they are stepping up when they need to. being a "proper" fan, I say we not only are going to the final, we are going to win it.

I'm also expecting Barca to have difficulty with Valencia tonight and if they do drop points, look for Atleti to jump into liga title. If not, then Barca can hang on for liga . But look for all Spanish finals in both european competitions!

They are not "theories", they are just feelings which may have been triggered by reminiscences of similar situations in the past. Like I said, I could be wrong, but I feel like this is just another Juventus or Dortmund-like case. There could be a trifling dose of negativity lurking behind my post though.

With that out of the way, let me give your post the attention it deserves:

Madrid is in best form of the season right now and only Atleti has equal or better form.

I'm assuming you're referring to our form in the league, in which case, your statement might be true. But in the CL? Your league form goes out of the window, as proven recently when an 8th-placed team in the Bundesliga defeated a team who had just defeated Barça.

Regardless of who the oponent is, they are stepping up when they need to

Then I guess the Wolfsburg defeat didn't happen. The Atlético defeat didn't either. No, let's be serious, Real Madrid tend to succumb to complacency and inconsistency, and for that very reason, we must at least be wary of this sport's unpredictability and not let ourselves get carried away. One would assume we've learned our lesson after the Wolfsburg upset.

being a "proper" fan, I say we not only are going to the final, we are going to win it.

No, what you're describing here is not a "proper" fan, but more like an overly confident one. A proper fan would want the team to win the CL and wouldn't allow themselves to have the arrogance to say "we're not only going to the final, we'll win it" - coming from someone who beat Wolfsburg 3-2 on agg with no goals from open play or teamwork, that's not the way to go. Humility and hard work, that's what wins you the CL, not delusion and baseless arrogance.

I'm also expecting Barca to have difficulty with Valencia tonight

I hope you're right. But, unlike you, I can't make prescient predictions and I don't believe in things until they occur. I'm still eagerly waiting for that 106m-kit deal with Adidas to be made official btw.

As things stand, Barça will have to drop 5 points for us to win the league. I hope they do, but realistically speaking, it's going to be difficult. We'll see.

What's important now is to never get complacent again. We could barely fight our way back against Wolfsburg. If we fall behind in the same fashion against City, it's game over, there won't be a comeback.

The last 20 min of Madrid-City from '12/13 from reddit: https://streamable.com/1v60

5 goals in 20 minutes. Hoping we see something like that again!

rincon wrote:The last 20 min of Madrid-City from '12/13 from reddit: https://streamable.com/1v60

5 goals in 20 minutes. Hoping we see something like that again!

There's something really upsetting about Real Madrid's standard approach to most games: we don't play well or give everything until the opposition scores first. Mourinho's Real Madrid played exactly like that against City: they didn't focus or play with intensity until City had scored. After that, we saw a very strong Real Madrid side laying siege to City's box. The same thing happened not too long ago against Barça at Camp Nou. We wasted our chances and played recklessly until Barça scored. We always seem to be needing that slap in the face to get back into the game.

It's really disturbing because it's not a winner's mentality, and in most cases, in big games, you may not be able to come back.

rincon wrote:The last 20 min of Madrid-City from '12/13 from reddit: https://streamable.com/1v60

5 goals in 20 minutes. Hoping we see something like that again!

Such an abysmal goalkeeping in all 5 goals, wow.

i forgot how good this game was. great goals from cristiano and marcelo. miss having a creative linchpin like di maria on this team

That Madrid team seems so much stronger to me simply because it made sense how it was built.

BORUSSIA!! wrote:It's not about Madrid underestimating City. City clearly have the better team player for player and have a better manager who is also seeking vengeance against his old club.

Hart > Navas
Zabeleta > Carvajal
Ottamendi > Ramos
Kompany > Pepe
Sagna < Marcelo
Fernandinho > Casemiro
Toure = Kroos
Silva = Modric
De Bruyne > Bale
Aguero > Benzema
Sterling < Ronaldo

I really don't see how City don't win this comfortably by at least 2 goals.

I don't think City will win it comfortably, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they do win it. As mentioned before, it's likely that Real Madrid won't up their intensity until after they concede 1 or 2 goals. I wonder how decisive/indecisive Kompany's inclusion will be. I really don't fancy playing against Aguero, regardless of which team he plays for.

BORUSSIA!! wrote:It's not about Madrid underestimating City. City clearly have the better team player for player and have a better manager who is also seeking vengeance against his old club.

Hart > Navas
Zabeleta > Carvajal
Ottamendi > Ramos
Kompany > Pepe
Sagna < Marcelo
Fernandinho > Casemiro
Toure = Kroos
Silva = Modric
De Bruyne > Bale
Aguero > Benzema
Sterling < Ronaldo

I really don't see how City don't win this comfortably by at least 2 goals.

agree

mans said Hart is better than Navas lmao

3 - 1 to City, imo

LeVersacci wrote:mans said Hart is better than Navas lmao

Marcus Aurelius wrote:

BORUSSIA!! wrote:It's not about Madrid underestimating City. City clearly have the better team player for player and have a better manager who is also seeking vengeance against his old club.

Hart > Navas
Zabeleta > Carvajal
Ottamendi > Ramos
Kompany > Pepe
Sagna < Marcelo
Fernandinho > Casemiro
Toure = Kroos
Silva = Modric
De Bruyne > Bale
Aguero > Benzema
Sterling < Ronaldo

I really don't see how City don't win this comfortably by at least 2 goals.

agree

BORUSSIA!! wrote:It's not about Madrid underestimating City. City clearly have the better team player for player and have a better manager who is also seeking vengeance against his old club.

Hart > Navas
Zabeleta > Carvajal
Ottamendi > Ramos
Kompany > Pepe
Sagna < Marcelo
Fernandinho > Casemiro
Toure = Kroos
Silva = Modric
De Bruyne > Bale
Aguero > Benzema
Sterling < Ronaldo

I really don't see how City don't win this comfortably by at least 2 goals.

WTH!!

rincon wrote:That Madrid team seems so much stronger to me simply because it made sense how it was built.

It just seems that way but I remember we had real issues that year similar to this year. Still, we had Di Maria and Ozil as creative linchpins and Alonso as a deep-lying fouling play-maker on the team with Modric coming off the bench. Nowadays, it's Marcelo who is our most creative outlet.

Also from that vid, a telling stat showed up. Ronaldo: 10 attempts, 7 on target, 1 goal. The winning goal. Gotta love how this sport is sometimes.

No matter what Zidane is trying to sell... Ronaldo and especially Benzema are not 100%. It's medically impossible for a muscle tear, however small, to heal in less than 2 weeks. They're playing hurt both of them because it's the CL semis. Let's just hope they don't damage themselves further in this game.

Well at least Benzema doesn't have to be fit in the summer

zigra wrote:Well at least Benzema doesn't have to be fit in the summer

Zidane: "Cristiano and Benzema are at 100%"



https://i.servimg.com/u/f86/19/44/59/24/madrid10.jpg

Official lineups:

Manchester City Starting XI: Hart, Sagna, Otamendi, Kompany, Clichy, Fernando, Fernandinho, Navas, Silva, De Bruyne, Agüero.

Real Madrid Starting XI: Keylor Navas, Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, Bale, Vazquez, Benzema.

Lucas

Benches:

Manchester City: Caballero, Mangala, Zabaleta, Kolarov, Delph, Sterling, Iheanacho.

Real Madrid: Casilla, Danilo, Varane, Kovacic, Isco, James, Jese

Crap, I never thought of the possibility of el Kommander missing this game. Has to be a serious injury

sportsczy wrote:No matter what Zidane is trying to sell... Ronaldo and especially Benzema are not 100%. It's medically impossible for a muscle tear, however small, to heal in less than 2 weeks. They're playing hurt both of them because it's the CL semis. Let's just hope they don't damage themselves further in this game.

Zidane scare tactics

At least now I have an excuse for when we get eliminated