Real Madrid's defence is like a papier-mâché, with defenders sending, midfielders loose, and the Leaking Galaxy looking like they are about to be unloaded by Guardiola's team. Fortunately, the Manchester City side also had the show skills of Zinchenko and Laporte, which finally provided fans with a 4-3 goal feast.
Compared with the momentary short circuit of Manchester City defenders, Real Madrid's defense is a systemic problem, and there is no possibility of circumvention in the short term. Keep playing like this, and city can score four more at the Next Bernabeu.
01. 2 problems at the end of the Real Madrid defensive line: loose midfielder + weak defender
a. Real Madrid midfielder moves slowly: can't keep up with Manchester City's interlude
As can be seen from the starting lineup, Real Madrid can only let Kroos play at the back because of Casemiro's absence, and there is a problem of slow movement and insufficient coverage in midfield at the defensive end.
When there was a wide range of interspersed and substitutions in front of Manchester City, Real Madrid was a bit out of the question. Their centre-backs are flexible and mobile, but they have no advantage in individual confrontation, which is very suitable for Manchester City's attacking line.
Manchester City's goal in the first minute, Real Madrid's defense is really useless. The key point was that Bessi's ballless movement took away Alaba, who was easily hot-headed and lost his position, giving Mahrez the space to cut in.
Coupled with Vinicius' lack of defensive strength, and At the same time Modric is really old, his traverse rate on the defensive end is too low. The Croatian veteran is characterized by card lines, and the work of grabbing needs to be done by teammates.
In fact, the moment Mahrez passed Modric was not fatal, the bigger problem was that Real Madrid's starting back was not Casemiro but Kroos.
If it is Casemiro, he will definitely grab the destruction at the first time, but Cross's position is very hesitant. At that time, Real Madrid concentrated five people on their left side, but there was no interference with Mahrez's effective, combined routine.
Was De Bruyne's header in front of majeres an accident?
City's no-ball run was too good, from Bessie's near-end cover to De Bruyne's forward and back points, paving the way for Mahrez to cut inside and also taking advantage of the landing point of his cross. It also shows the incompetence of the Real Madrid defensive line clearly.
b. Real Madrid centre-back weakness: City scored three goals in one move
As can be seen from the data, in the statistics that bring offensive threats through passing, Manchester City occupies 4 of the top 5 places in this game, and the only real Madrid selected is actually the center Benzema.
City could easily tear apart Real Madrid's defence on the flanks with multiple interspersed and then cross into the box, comparing the forward insertion and defender's landing options.
Alaba made a major mistake this time, allowing Jesus to score. It is worth mentioning that the middle of Real Madrid is a 2-3 situation, and the loss of the ball is not entirely accidental.
City's third goal in the second half was pretty much the same. When there is a quick offensive and defensive transition, the front insertion of The Manchester City attacker is far faster than the Landing of the Real Madrid defender.
Real Madrid's centre-back header defense itself is a weakness, and there are frequent 2-on-3 situations, and it is natural to concede goals.
02. Real Madrid strikers are stronger than Manchester City: scoring goals depends on strength
Compared to Manchester City's goal, which requires more no-ball cover and team movement as a paving, Real Madrid's way of scoring is much harder.
In terms of scoring opportunities, Manchester City has far more than Real Madrid. The away team, which is expected to score 1.48 goals, scored 3 goals and had to lament that the Real Madrid players are really good at shooting.
This time Mendy's cross hit the back post, Benzema shot straight to the goal, Zinchenko had a hard time interfering with the French centre-forward, he could do too little.
Such a goal is exactly the result of Benzema's personal ability advantage.
Including Vinicius' goal in the second half, it is also a typical example of individual ability to break the law. Real Madrid's attack is not so complicated, but more of a point to break through the Manchester City defense.
Benzema only scored 3 shots on goal in this game, 2 of which were on target. In addition, he also sent three wonderful passes to his teammates that brought shots on goal, and Benzema also became the last hope of Real Madrid to advance.
City have 60% more possession and five more shots on goal than Real Madrid, but only one more shot on target. City even made 6 absolute scoring chances, but wasted half of them.
Their lack of adept forward shooting is in stark contrast to Real Madrid's ability to take advantage of 100% chances.
Benzema has scored 41 goals and 13 assists in 41 real madrid games this season, averaging one goal per game. Is Guardiola particularly envious?
So buying Haaland's job has been arranged by the oil boss. Supporting Guardiola to win the championship, Chief Mansour is very serious about his efforts!
03. Player of the game: Manchester City's perpetual motion machine --- Bessie
City's fundamental advantage is that the movement of the midfield and the control of the second point are much stronger than Real Madrid. The top 3 players, all of whom were City midfielders, especially Bernardo Silva, ran 13.46km.
This time, in order to limit Jesus' possession of the ball, Alaba even rushed to the opponent's circle, because the midfield could not return.
The point is that when the ball reached The foot of Bessie, Modric and Valverde were too far apart, and Kroos, as a backside, chose to retreat rather than move forward to move closer to his midfield teammates.
Then here's the problem! Kroos chose to retreat, but he couldn't keep up with De Bruyne, who was inserted forward. So when Mahrez sent a clever pass to Jesus, who pushed back, City got a 3-2 chance.
Ludblaunet received the ball in the middle, Foden and Jesus stepped forward together on both sides, the Real Madrid defense lost sight of each other, and the only thing that could be done was to pray that Foden would shoot like Dembele.
Looking at another attack, after Militon failed to grab, Besi made two consecutive passes to find De Bruyne and Mahrez to form a must-score opportunity.
Unfortunately, Mahrez's shot hit the side-netting and missed a good opportunity to directly crush Real Madrid in the first half.
In the second half, when Zinchenko was put down by a foul, Kamawinga was a little stunned, but the active Bessie was the first to take the ball and shoot at goal, sending the ball to the bottom of the Real Madrid net for the fourth time.
In addition to one goal and 13.46 km, Bessie also had five steals and two brilliant passes on goal, making him the best player of the game, as he perfectly interpreted Guardiola's tactical thinking for the game.
Conclusion:
With no rules for away goals, City's 4-3 home win is good news. Considering that the real madrid home team in the Champions League this season is not outstanding, coupled with the fact that their defensive loopholes are unlikely to be solved in the short term, Manchester City's promotion prospects are bright.
The only variable may be Benzema's shooting, which is also a problem that Manchester City cannot limit at present, and it is also the best hope of Real Madrid.