How Real Madrid lost it against Dortmund

The Los Blancos searching for “la decima” were on the receiving end of some champagne football from Dortmund. They were outclassed and outrun everywhere on the pitch, so much so that the return leg has now become of very less significance unless Lewandowski scores another four. Dortmund deserved to win in style and Madrid deserve all the embarrassment for such a lacklustre performance on one of the grandest European nights in Germany. Here, we take a look at what went wrong for the Los Blancos in the course of the 90 minutes of football.

Bad decision to start Luka Modric – Midfield madness

It definitely was, wasn’t it? Hailed by many as the biggest flop this season, the Croatian has found life difficult at Real. And he of all people was given the chance to drive the attack. The reason being Di Maria hadn’t trained and arrived only a day before the match due to the birth of his child. The Argentine has been Real Madrid’s second most influential player after Ronaldo and with this blistering pace and technical ability he was the man to cause Dortmund problems. He surely hadn’t forgotten to play football just because he was away with his wife for a few days. A player at his peak, he should have started the game even with his share of distractions. Even if Mourinho decided not to play Maria, he could have opted for Kaka, the one player who performs to his very best whenever called upon. Kaka, with his speed, passing and crossing ability, could have drifted to the right with Ozil taking his usual position in the centre. Now, because of Modric, Ozil had to play right. And Modric along with Alonso and Khedira didn’t really work out.

Their positional play was really poor throughout the game, losing the ball too often to Dortmund’s hard-working midfield. Had Ozil been deployed at the centre of the park, the game could have turned out differently. With a vast repertoire of tricks and flicks, he could have easily set either Ronaldo or Kaka (had he played instead of Modric) on goal. Moreover, Ozil playing centre meant Alonso could sit back a bit more and spread the play to stretch Dortmund’s defence. But this was exactly what Madrid weren’t capable of on the night. They couldn’t get both their wingers on the ball as much as they would have liked to. Play was too much congested through the middle and Dortmund just kept stealing possession time and again.

Madrid’s weakness and strength is Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has been Madrid’s main threat and goal scoring machine ever since he signed for them in 2009. Di Maria has also done really well since his move to Madrid, but still, the only name that puts fear in the opponent’s heart is that of the Portuguese. However, last night, he hardly touched the ball and his team-mates didn’t help his cause. He tried all he could, playing left, playing right, running through the middle hoping for the defence splitting pass that never came. Over the 90 minutes, I just got the feeling that Madrid are over–dependent on him. It’s true, isn’t it? Their attack seems so one-dimensional with the over-reliance on Ronaldo. And Dortmund were very well prepared to counter his threat and inhibited his dynamic game-play throughout the match. Without him playing his natural game, Madrid looked bereft of energy and creativity. How can this be the case with a big team like Real Madrid where you stop one player and the entire team gets crumpled? You have players like Ozil, Di Maria, Kaka, Modric, Khedira and Alonso but yet it is Ronaldo who sums this team up as a demolishing force. Some Madrid fans might argue with me on this but the bitter truth remains that if you stop Ronaldo, you stop Madrid.

Higuain’s mystery role, bad performance from Mourinho and wonderful Dortmund

It really is a mystery as to what Higuain was sent to do, and did do, last night. He was completely anonymous in the first and also so in the second half, contrary to the opponent team’s striker, Robert Lewandowski. He hardly received the ball and wasn’t willing to track back to help the midfield and defence. All he did was cut a solitary face up front. Where was the hunger to score a goal? His performance was so bad and so devoid of energy and spark that his teammates never had an option up front when they tried to play one of those telling balls. His movement was zero and Dortmund had no trouble dealing with him. He was far worse than Modric. Mourinho might have tried putting Di Maria on the right, Kaka on the left, Ozil in the hole and Ronaldo as a centre-forward just to keep the Dortmund defence guessing. Rather, Madrid’s play was just so predictable and Higuain, with his zero-energy performance, was never helping his team’s cause. The Portuguese gaffer should have been more versatile and handled his team more flexibly as he always knew Dortmund would press and press and press till they stole the ball. He also never seemed to get his message across to the players and was tactically outclassed and destroyed by his counterpart Jurgen Klopp.

Madrid have top quality players who can be devastating and can put any team to bed, but they need to play with more determination and more tactical awareness on the pitch. Just the names on the team sheet won’t produce results. It is how you set about doing your task that matters the most. And for that, it’s time the Portuguese takes a leaf out of Dortmund’s work ethic and passes it down on to his own players. It was the hunger, determination, attitude and discipline that made the victory for Borussia Dortmund achievable. They had no 80m pound signings, no big history like that of Madrid’s but what they do possess is a repository of home-grown talents, players who would work harder than ever, giving in their best, working their socks out and making sure they get nothing short of a win. It is so easy to write about it but very difficult to practise in the training ground and perfect on the pitch. Jurgen Klopp has to be given due credit for bringing a change about in his team’s mentality and desire. Well played Borussia Dortmund and thanks a lot for producing nerve-crackling entertainment.

Only a miracle can turn things around for Real Madrid. They need to open their eyes, accept their mistakes and work towards being a better team, rather than being better individuals in the game. “If Dortmund can play like this throughout 90 minutes why can’t other teams ?“ – Gary Neville