Well it was the Champions League match that the world was waiting for and the two teams didn't disappoint with a pulsating game from the Bernabeu Stadium. It finished 1-1 but in truth both teams had chances to score more. So what did we learn about Madrid? Well personally the 1st half i thought they were excellent going forward with slick quick passing and at a pace that at times was quite breathtaking. In particular Di Maria down the right was a real handful and with Evra not being the most gifted of defenders Madrid played the ball out to Di Maria regularly who caused no end of problems as did the very impressive Mesut Ozil who really caused Utd problems all over the park appearing on the right and left flanks. We have been linked with him in the past and if we ever got the opportunity to sign him i would snap him up as in my view he is the sort of midfielder that we are in need of.
As for Ronaldo he gave Rafael a torrid time in the 1st half and was at the heart of most Madrid attacks and of course scored the magnificent equalizer, at the time i found myself moaning at Evra's lack of a challenge but as SAF said in his interview after the game what possibly could he have done to stop that? And after watching several replays i tend to agree. In the 2nd half though Rafael played a lot better and apart from a few scares from Ronaldo including a ridiculous effort from a long range free kick we limited him to few chances mostly long range at that and a lot of that was due to the magnificent performance from Phil Jones who done an excellent job.
He was one of quite a few positives that we can take out of the game along with the shaky Madrid defense and the way at times how we got behind them with ease can only give encouragement for the 2nd leg. Danny Wellbeck had a fantastic game even though he was to many a surprise inclusion but he fully justified the faith in which SAF showed by giving him the start. Rvp will be disappointed that he didn't take one of the chances that came his way but his all round play and ability to hold the ball under pressure was immense and he showed what a top class player he really is.
On the downside was the performance of Wayne Rooney who was asked to play out of position on the right hand side of midfield to help combat the threat from Ronaldo at times he looked really out of sorts and was clearly frustrated by his own performance with his 1st touch and passing often letting him down. But you cannot question his attitude and desire and work rate and he ran himself into the ground before coming off just before the end. What we have to remember is that we can all have off days and after showing good form in recent weeks i will be very surprised if he doesn't play up front for the 2nd leg as Kagawa was very infective and i am sure that Wazza will want to prove his critics wrong particularly Steven Howard from the Sun newspaper whose article on Wazza today was nothing short of laughable i can't believe he gets paid to write that drivel. Wayne will bounce back i am sure of it.
On the downside was the performance of Wayne Rooney who was asked to play out of position on the right hand side of midfield to help combat the threat from Ronaldo at times he looked really out of sorts and was clearly frustrated by his own performance with his 1st touch and passing often letting him down. But you cannot question his attitude and desire and work rate and he ran himself into the ground before coming off just before the end. What we have to remember is that we can all have off days and after showing good form in recent weeks i will be very surprised if he doesn't play up front for the 2nd leg as Kagawa was very infective and i am sure that Wazza will want to prove his critics wrong particularly Steven Howard from the Sun newspaper whose article on Wazza today was nothing short of laughable i can't believe he gets paid to write that drivel. Wayne will bounce back i am sure of it.
Man of the match was the magnificent David de Gea who has always found himself under intense media spotlight from the moment he joined Utd. The media seem to enjoy pointing out and highlighting any sort of mistake and i was so pleased for him as he showed he has the potential to be a top class keeper. The save that he made early on in the game which he somehow managed to tip onto the post was world class,at times his saves can be unorthodox but as long as you keep the ball out of the net who cares? I think the media forget and don't take into consideration his age, being in a foreign country it can't be easy but he seems to be really coming into form and growing in confidence and i am sure that in 3-4 years time he will be one of the top 5 keepers in the world.
In De Gea we trust!
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