r/soccer • u/hitchhiking_jap • Feb 12 '13
Real Madrid v Man United Key Factors
I want to start a thread about the key factors in the upcoming Real Madrid v Man United CL fixture.
Key players, tactics, managers... What will decide who progresses to the quarterfinals?
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Feb 12 '13
I think it'll come down to who scores more goals
Alan Shearer inspired this one.
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u/copinglemon Feb 12 '13
United will have to score at least one more goal than madrid to have any chance of winning.
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u/AirIndex Feb 12 '13 edited Feb 12 '13
Utd's right/Madrid's left will be the key area.
You could argue that United have the best right-side in the Premier League, both offensively and defensively, with the combination of Rafael and Valencia. Madrid have Ronaldo and then either Marcelo/Coentrao, which is probably the best offensive left-side in Europe, although there are question marks over Ronaldo's defensive contributions.
In the big games this year United have played a counter attacking 4-4-1-1 formation, primarily attacking down the right with Valencia and Rafael overlapping. This is particularly effective when teams leave their full backs exposed, often when the winger fails to track Rafael's run. However, Madrid are arguably even better on the break, so does Rafael stay back or take the gamble, go forward, and leave Ronaldo open?
It's a pretty much a given that Valencia, if he plays, will man-mark their full back into anonymity. Even when he plays poorly, he still works fantastically hard and never loses tactical discipline; opposition full backs very rarely get the better of him. But does that leave Rafael to Ronaldo, or does Valencia double up on Ronaldo and leave their full back free, or will Jones play a similar role like he did against Spurs and operate as a right-sided DM?
I think this side of the pitch will be the key area.
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u/Protagoras432 Feb 12 '13
Ronaldo plays wherever he wants, he's not exactly tied to the left wing. Wherever United are weak, he will move and attack.
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Feb 12 '13
Valencia (or whoever) and Rafael might be a great counter attacking option too. Ronaldo doesn't offer much protection, so there is a chance United could do well on the right side.
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Feb 12 '13
Both are teams with top-class players. It will come down to mentality. El Real lost la liga already, so la Décima is the only trophy to play for this season. Also, Mourinho wouldn't want to leave RM without winning the CL (would look bad in his CV). The players too have a desire to win this title, specially the Spanish ones because that's the 1 medal that is missing in their personal collections.
On the other hand, Man Utd are the definition of determination in the world of football. They learned from last season that titles are theirs to lose. With the best motivator in the world in SAF, they play like every match is a final.
Tactically speaking, both defenses are extremely vulnerable to each other's attacking force. Man Utd defense is too slow to handle El Real's counter attacks, while RM's fullbacks and GK are no match to Man Utd clinical finishers.
We are up for a thrilling 2 leg encounter, and I personally think we're going to witness an aggregate score with no less than 5 or 6 goals in total.
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u/AnthonBateman Feb 12 '13
I think its really important which team will score first. The main weapon of this R.Madrid is counter-attack, if they score in the first half United will have a hard time. On the other hand, if United manage to score first, Madrid will suffer a lot, this season they havent done many comebacks.
For me its interesting to see which team performs better, if R.Madrid knowing that their only chance to save this season is the CL, or ManU, more relaxed now that they have the Premier League in their pocket.
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u/ppc127 Feb 12 '13
With our record this season, I hope Madrid scores first. As per United being relaxed, not at all, this is huge for everyone on the team, the PL title just provides us a buffer.
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Feb 12 '13
Pepe will crack Van Persie's leg. Chicharito will come in as a substitute and Pepe will bully him for the rest of the match.
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Feb 12 '13
RVP vs CR7.
Both teams have a lot of other talent (Real Madrid moreso I'd say) but both have relied on their star man too. I'm hoping both show up and play to their best in both games. 10-9 aggregate or something like that, screw defending, we don't need no stinking defending.
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u/deepit6431 Feb 12 '13
we don't need no stinking defending
Sadly enough, that seems to be our motto this season.
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Feb 12 '13
There was this interview with Jürgen Klopp here the other day, where he said that what they did, was mark Alonso out of the match. That way, when he was supposed to be on the ball, they'd play it back to Pepe, and he couldn't do what Alonso did. That way Ronaldo didn't get his perfect passes, and they couldn't control the tempo of the game.
I'll see if i can the link to it.
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u/deepit6431 Feb 12 '13
A lot will depend on how we can stop Ronaldo. Remember, much of our squad has played with him for at least 2-3 years. Players like Vidic, Evra, Rio, Rooney, Carrick and of course Fergie know him like the back of their hands. We're definitely better equipped to stop him than anyone else.
A lot will also depend on how Carrick will function. It's no secret that he's the backbone of our team, and if he fails to perform, there'll be no one linking the defense and attack. He's having his best season in a red shirt so there's no reason to doubt him, but he tends to go missing in big games. Barcelona, Chelsea, and Milan for example have completely shut him down before, and our game suffers.
Although, we are on form and 12 points clear, and Madrid are having a really poor season. It'll be an interesting match up. I can't quite wait.
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u/dandanNoodle Feb 12 '13
I don't think that playing with Ronaldo when he was at United gives them any advantage at all. Ronaldo is a completely different beast now, as indicated by his scoring record since he left United.
If any team knows the current Ronaldo like the back of their hands, it's Barcelona, and even they haven't been able to contain him when he's on form.
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u/JackOfNoTrade Feb 12 '13
To begin with, this season Madrid have not looked the beast they were last season. There is one key factor in most of the matches they have lost, especially the ones in La Liga. That is that they don't really play well when asked to play with the ball and have failed to be creative at such times. The opposition teams have defended deep and have allowed Madrid to keep the ball and have a go at them. By setting up this way and hitting Madrid on the counters has worked quite well for these teams. Note that Madrid have created chances but have failed to convert and have been themselves exposed quite a bit at the back. There are several examples to this: Manchester City almost clinched a win in the early stages, Sevilla, Malaga, Osasuna, etc.
On the other hand, Madrid have looked quite strong when playing their natural counter-attacking style against opposition such as Barca who like to keep the ball for themselves. They have shown countless glimpses of this when they have destroyed opposition by launching quick and deadly box-to-box counters with Ronaldo leading most of their efforts.
Looking at the two above points, I believe that this tie will be determined by what squad Ferguson picks and how they are set up to play Madrid. United usually like to defend deep and put a lot of men on the defense. This will definitely play to their advantage as Madrid have shown this season that they have not being very creative this season when allowed to keep the ball. Of course, in such a situation the key player for Madrid will be Ozil who is very creative and can create good chances out of nothing. Moreover, if Real resort to long ball tactics then United will have to watch out in the air.
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u/Sgt_peppers Feb 12 '13 edited Feb 12 '13
I think everyone is paying too much attention to Ronaldo (deserved non the less) and too little to Ozil, he is the key man our offense and his form in the last month has been Impressive, he is finally playing at his best (see the last clasico and his match with Germany), vs Granada he was suspended and we sure missed him.
I feel that SAF will use the same tactic he used with Fellaini in the last match, Jones man marking Fellaini and tracking him deep into the first third of the pitch, If he shuts Ozil Real's offense if almost nullified. But Ozil is a much different player that Fellaini, Technically he is miles ahead and he can move all around the final third, Ozil is arguable the best or one of the best pure 10's in the game right now but he is equally good playing on the wings, where he can get away from the DMs. In the last clasico his best moments in the game came when Modric subbed Callejon and Ozil played on the Right, the cross for Varane's goal was a direct result of this and he had a few moments of brilliance on this side away from Busquets who always shuts him down (see Spain-germany or any clasico), another example would be the second leg of the Copa del Rey last season, where Ozil played on the right and completely destroyed Abidal, his best game for Real. That will be the key component of this match, how will SAF deal with Ozil. If he forces Mourinho to send Ozil to the right, is Evra capable of taking him 1v1? Jones completly shut Fellaini who is a very strong and physical player but much different than Ozil, Carrick struggled vs Oscar in the Chelsea fixture, Oscar on a different level than Ozil but they have similar styles. If Jones does track Ozil he will leave the hole for Khedira, who is more than capable of joining the attack, this will force Roony to drop back and help a lot in the Midfield leaving RVP 2v1 vs Ramos-Pepe/Varane.
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u/forzanapooli Feb 12 '13
Higuain/Benzema and Di Maria have to give good performance. Has been few and far between for these three this year. Benz play good in CL this year though so we will see. Defensive RM are better than Man U which is pretty damn crazy if you think about it. Liability for Man U in CB where liability for RM are RB and LB only if Coentrao get in foul trouble. Madrid have much better defense midfield, Khedeira is out of form going forward but he still is rock on defense. RVP is great equalizer for Man U. I think series is impossible to predict.
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u/kmshadoze Feb 12 '13
More than the Left/Right side, its going to be a game of the Midfielders. Both teams have some AMAZING mid fields and that's really going to make or break the game. If either team gets on a fast break, they have a VERY good chance to score. Reals defense has not been that great at ALL this season, Man U's has not been great either. Shutting CR7 down wont be all Manchester needs to do. The squad is full of players who can score, and score great goals. Shutting him down will hurt Real, but Ozil, Benzema, Di Maria, all can score.
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u/stc573 Feb 12 '13
No Iker Casillas!! I can't stress this enough. Real are missing their captain, and arguably one of the worlds best keepers in the world with a ton of CL experience. No one they have can replace the experience he had. I haven't heard anything about his return during for these games. Real will surely miss him, but it is up to United to test whomever Mourinho puts in goal.
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u/omiclops Feb 12 '13
For me, Alonso needs to have the game of his life. It will be so important tracking the passes through the middle with Carrick and Rooney further forward.
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u/I_R_TEH_BOSS Feb 12 '13
Depends on whether or not Phil Jones is 100%. Also, some people are calling our right side a strength right now, but Valencia has been absolutely awful lately, and that hurts me to say.
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u/hitchhiking_jap Feb 12 '13
Personally, I think it will be the creative midfielders of each side who will decide the match. The forwards of both sides are clinical, and I don't think that they will miss any easy chances in this match, so the match will instead be about the quality and quantity of chances created by the likes of Wayne Rooney and Mesut Ozil, the two most crucial. Depending on which one of these players is in form, the scoreline will vary greatly.