In the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, Manchester City beat Real Madrid 4-3, the two teams scored seven goals together, De Bruyne passed a success, Benzema scored twice, the attack was full of excitement, and the fans were very enjoyable. But from another point of view, defensive explosions are not good for the championship.
In the absence of fat tigers, the Real Madrid defense line was exploded
Visiting the Etihad Stadium, Real Madrid's biggest loss was Casemiro. Although the Brazilian back was in the big list, he did not start and did not play. His defensive ability and running are particularly important when facing Manchester City's technical midfielder.
What to do? Ancelotti used Valverde instead of Camarenga, with Kroos in the centre and Modric on the left and also further ahead, playing the role of a forward when attacking. As a result, Real Madrid is prone to problems in terms of midfield protection and rib defense.
City have also made a big fuss about this, with 24 passes in the middle of the penalty area in the 14th zone, as many as 60 passes in the two-rib passage, and Real Madrid only 5 and 16 passes. The result? Blue Moon leads.
The first goal conceded in the opening 93 seconds, Mahrez took the ball on the right and cut inside, the left winger Vinicius's defense was useless, there was no defensive action at all, and the left midfielder Modric was also easily swung over.
Kroos came over to fill the defense, and Valverde's position was also moved to the middle, leaving the right rib defense empty. By this time, the B-seat had already taken Alaba on the right and Jesus had attracted Militão in the middle, only to have De Bruyne slip in from the gap between Valverde and Carvajal and score with a header.
With the second goal conceded in the 11th minute, Real Madrid's defensive arrangement was completely chaotic. Right centre-back Militang has been taken to the right by Foden, away from the box; right-back Carvajal did not come up in time to block de Bruyne's cross; back Kroos returned to the box to make up for the position but failed to unblock the ball; right-back Alaba was preempted by Jesus – at this time, Manchester City near the small penalty area is 3 to 2, the advantage is very obvious!
With only three goals conceded, Real Madrid were lucky
Manchester City's rapid counter-attack has exposed the speed and confrontation disadvantage of Real Madrid's midfield. In the 26th minute, A big foot crossed the Real Madrid midfield line, Tintin won consecutive confrontations with Militan and Alaba, And Mahrez formed a single knife, but unfortunately hit the side net.
In the 29th minute, it was still a quick counter-attack, quickly passing through the midfield, Foden's shot inside the penalty area was slightly offside, and It was a 3-2 inside the Manchester City penalty area, if it was passed to De Bruyne, the ball would have been there.
After the start of the second half, Manchester City still counterattacked with a long pass, the clumsy Militang made a mistake, Mahrez hit the upright with a single knife, Foden's shot was blocked again, and Real Madrid escaped the disaster again!
But in the 52nd minute, Real Madrid still conceded the ball. After Fernandinho's cross from the right, Nacho and Militão actually rose to the top! The shortest Forden header broke the goal. It can be seen that in the face of the Premier League's impact style of play, Real Madrid really can't defend itself.
In the 73rd minute, Real Madrid conceded their fourth goal. On the surface, it was the referee who gave the offense a favorable advantage, so that the defender did not think. In fact, despite the change of Camaringa and the transformation into a four-midfielder, Real Madrid's midfield defense still did not play any role, Zinchenko was unstoppable in front of him, easily in front of the box, and Kroos, who was standing there, was forced to foul.
It has to be said that Real Madrid may have conceded 7-8 goals in this game, and finally only conceded 4, which is very lucky. Casemiro proved indispensable, and they also needed a world-class centre-back to replace Militang, such as Rudiger.
City's defensive underbelly was also exposed
Real Madrid have lost four and Manchester City have lost two, and their problem is on the right, mainly because Walker and Hassello are not there. Stones can only return from injury to make a cameo appearance at right-back.
In the 18th minute, Real Madrid's first wave of attack came from the left side to grab Stones' side-line header, Benzema broke the ball, Vinicius, and the small angle shot was deflected. As a result, in the 36th minute, Stones was replaced by Fernandinho due to injury.
In the 25th minute, Ederson passed inside the penalty area, Benzema quickly grabbed it, and Vinicius knocked back from the left side of the penalty area, which was blocked and hit the upright, but was already offside. It can be seen that despite Manchester City's excellent passing ability, Real Madrid's frontcourt pressing is still very powerful and effective.
So in the 33rd minute, Modric shoveled in front of the field, Mendy crossed, Benzema swept the goal, and Manchester City finally conceded the ball.
The second goal was also conceded from the right side. In the 55th minute, Mendy passed straight, Andy Vinicius turned around and dropped the bird, running into nobody's land at half-time, pushing a one-handed push into the net.
Manchester City's return to defense is actually relatively fast, but after all, there is no fast Walker, otherwise the Real Madrid winger may not be so easy.
As for the third goal conceded, Laporte's handball foul was indeed speechless, but the bigger mistake was that It was preempted by Benzema, and even without handball, it could give the Gallop a chance to get a header.
Conclusion: Manchester City's weaknesses are exposed, and Liverpool laughs
A 4-3 game, the offensive end is good enough, the defensive end is a disaster. The weaknesses of Manchester City and Real Madrid have been exposed, and the happiest is probably Liverpool. If they successfully eliminate Villarreal and reach the Final of the Champions League, no matter which opponent they face, the defense will be more stable, and Salah, Mane and Jota will also get more scoring opportunities.