Tuesday night in Liverpool, the atmosphere was electric, home team was charged up for once in a lifetime opportunity to make it to the champions league finals, even the away side Roma looked up for it for about 25 minutes. The home side, Liverpool were the once that took the game by scruff of it's neck and kept on shooting the dead opposition till the could, mercilessly. The Roma side who played a suicidal hugh line in defense to their credit also kept on trying and in the end got to goals for their labour which was by and large way more than they desreved. They could have been beaten by 10 goals but at the end they were 'just' beaten by 3 goals. The point is it was all were energetic, there was a sense of occasion about this semi final tie.
The next day in Munich was quite the opposite, two European heavyweights battled it out there. One played good if not great by any stretch of imagination, that was Bayern Munich, the Other one just won. The victor here was my team, Real Madrid. They didn't even create two chances yet they scored two goals, I was watching the match and it looked like they were playing a La Liga side in a non consequential match. I mean they never got out of second gear here, and somehow beat the German Champions fair and square, no bad referee calls, no nothing. This didn't feel like a semi final like the one I talked about before. It was just like yeah it Bayern vs Real, it happens every year, and like each of the last five matches between the two this time also Real won. As soon as the second goal was scored by Marco Asensio the whole Bayern squad and their fans just went like oh my god here we go again out of the champions league against the first challenging opposition we face. While Real were always throughout the match just so uninspired like we can't be touched and we will come out on top anyway.
I mean the mentality of this team is so strong that it is ridiculous, as to how they can create virtually nothing and still manage to win at the home of the German champions is beyond me. Even at 3-0 down against Juventus there was calmness to their game, a sense of just knowing that we have done it before and we will do it again and to their immense credit they did manage to do it even if just.
The problem here for me is that either Real think that they know how it is done and when it will matter they will raise their game in the blink of an eye or they are just plain and simple a team in decline riding their luck and Cristiano Ronaldo's unwavering will to win.
In either of those cases I am afraid either in the next leg of this Semi finals or the Finals they will be in for a rude awakening that will result in a trophyless season and uncermonious parting of company with Zinedine Zidane.
What our prez should understand even in the case we win the third champions league in a row, or end the season empty handed, the squad is in a very bad shape after the departure of to players at their peak Morata, Danilo and James, and despite all the good that has been done by Isco, Lucas, and Asensio, the way Benzema, Keylor and Bale have failed to perform must lead to some huge changes in the squad over the summer. All the while keeping Zizou incharge as long as possible.
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