Real Madrid will travel to Manchester City’s headquarters in the semifinal first leg of the 2021/22 Champions League (27/4/22). This game can show two sides of different playing styles. Man City tend to play the ball from foot to foot. Pep Guardiola’s Tika-taka style.
While Madrid played more tightly and defended and took advantage of the counter-attack by taking advantage of the effectiveness of Vinicius Jr and Karim Benzema. Madrid already know, or even memorize with Pep’s style. That style is attached to the DNA of Barcelona, which in fact is Madrid’s mortal enemy in the Spanish La Liga. Because of how often they face such a style, Madrid seems to have known their weak points.
This could be one of the factors that demands the vigilance of The Citizens, the nickname of Man City. Taking advantage of that weak point, Madrid can tend to take advantage of counter attacks. When the players had the ball, Modric and Kross immediately set the tempo to counterattack.
Modric and Kross are midfielders who have measurable accuracy in passing and passing. Interestingly, Madrid really took advantage of Vinicius’ speed and agility in penetrating the opponent’s area, while Benzema looked for empty space to receive Vinicius or Modric’s passes. Thus, these two different generations of strikers complement each other.
The movement of this duo could be a serious threat to Man City. PSG and Chelsea have already felt Benzema’s killing power and Vinicius Jr.’s clever penetration. Vinicius’ role should not be underestimated. Even though Vinicius’s productivity has lost to Benzema, his movement in the opponent’s defense area is quite complicated.
The Brazilian national team player has a talent for swiping the ball and disturbing the concentration of opposing defenders. Generally, the opposing defenders at the bottom get out of their positions or lose concentration to the point of forgetting the presence of Benzema. Benzema and Vinicius can be a serious threat to Man City. Control of the ball must not forget the space at the back that can be explored by Madrid’s counter-attack.
In addition to the movement of the duo of Vinicius and Benzema, another factor that can burden Man City is the mentality and focus of the team. On paper, Madrid will win the Spanish La Liga trophy. It is very difficult for other teams in the Spanish League to catch up with Madrid’s points collection.
On the basis of this situation, Madrid has the mental stability to pursue the target of entering the Champions League final. The burden on the Spanish La Liga has been reduced. Concentration is only pegged on the Champions League. In contrast to the Madrid situation, Man City is temporarily burdened with competition in the Premier League.
The distance of 1 point with Liverpool, who sits in 2nd place, makes Man City have to play every remaining game in the Premier League in earnest. Of course, this drains energy which can have an impact on the team’s performance in general. So, Man City seems to be facing two complicated situations at once. The situation keeps the place at the top of the Premier League standings and attempts to enter the Champions League final.
Winning the Champions League trophy is a big dream for Man City. Last season, this dream was dashed by Chelsea. In fact, during the 2020/21 Champions League tournament, Man City performed brilliantly. In the final too, Man City is more favored over Chelsea. However, Chelsea took advantage of Man City’s negligence. Man City’s dominance throughout the final collapsed by the effective game of Chelsea who managed to score a single goal through Kai Havertz.
The situation in last year’s final could be a lesson, including against Madrid. Yes, if you look at Madrid’s matches against PSG and Chelsea, it seems that Madrid is good at taking advantage of the inadvertence and mistakes of the opponent’s back line.
So, Man City need to avoid unnecessary mistakes at the back. Benzema, Modric, Vinicius, Kross seemed trained on how to take advantage of careless situations and carelessness at the opponent’s back line. Man City can overcome Madrid if they control the burdens that interfere with the team’s concentration. One way is to focus on the strengths possessed by Madrid.
In general, Madrid is a team that appears unyielding and good at using effectiveness at the opponent’s back line. So, dominance in controlling the ball should not be a weak point used by Madrid to score goals on the counter-attack.
ASL
