UEFA Champions League: Three reasons why Real Madrid beat AS Roma

Four months after winning a record-breaking third consecutive Champions League trophy, Real Madrid stepped out on the Santiago Bernabeu to face AS Roma, with Cristiano Ronaldo stepping out on to the Mestalla Stadium for Juventus around the same time. This was the first time in over nine years that the mercurial Portuguese hasn’t worn the white of Real Madrid, and for the first time in three years, fans question, will this be Real Madrid’s biggest downfall?

But despite various rumours of why no replacement was bought in, with only Mariano Diaz, Thibaut Courtois and Alvaro Odriozola arriving at Julen Lopetegui’s insistence during the summer. Real Madrid still have Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and even Marco Asensio, but the Champions League was something the 33-year-old Ronaldo flourished in, even during his worst days.

And yet, without him, Real Madrid survived. They flourished as a team, handing AS Roma a beating that the Serie A side will probably never forget. A dominating performance from nearly every area of the pitch and goals from Isco Alarcon, Gareth Bale and new signing Mariano Diaz sealed the three points on matchday one for Julen Lopetegui and his men.

Here are three reasons why Real Madrid dominated AS Roma.

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#3 Win the midfield battle, win the game.

A tried and tested method, it may be a cliché to a few people and even football fans around town, but it’s a cliché for a reason. The midfield and the midfielders are the heartbeats of any team, as they tend to control everything that goes on the field, like puppet-masters. From upping the tempo, to lowering it, and switching from attack to defence in an instance, are all parts of the game controlled by the midfielders.

And today, Real Madrid dominated the middle of the park, but that's really no surprise. The likes of Toni Kroos, 2018 World Cup Golden Ball winner Luka Modric and Casemiro were always going to have some sort of say in today’s match, but nobody expected this. With Isco dropping back, the Los Blancos were unstoppable at times as they sliced through AS Roma’s defence like it was butter.

Federico Fazio, Kostas Manolas, Alessandro Florenzi, Alexandar Kolarov and even Daniele De Rossi had no idea how to stop Real Madrid from slicing, prodding and even hustling their back-line, peppering goalkeeper Robin Olsen, having 11 shots on target. Three were simply unstoppable, and there was nothing much two goal-keepers could have done to stop the goals, much less one.

Today was the Real Madrid midfield trio's day and they certainly made the most of it.

#2 Julen Lopetegui has made a great team

Struggling to beat Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super-Copa was something many expected in Julen Lopetegui’s first game out with Real Madrid. But losing 4-2 in extra time, that’s something few critics or even bookmakers could predict. The Europa League winners hustled and harried the Los Blancos, making the most of the few chances they had that day, but as the saying goes, “Time and Tide heals all wounds”

This was his first Champions League match in charge, and it just happened to be against the one Serie A team that managed to produce a sensational comeback against Barcelona. And while Real Madrid fans cheered as the Romans walked on to Santiago Bernabeu, Lopetegui hoped that they would continue doing that for his side and after that performance, his dreams came true. The Los Blancos dominated nearly every blade on that field, letting Roma see very little of the ball and had a swagger about them as they did their business.

Luka Modric and Toni Kroos were passing for fun and cross-field long balls, when needed, were being exchanged between the full-backs. Not only that, a brilliant cocktail of short and tiki-taka style play, combined with Zinedine Zidane’s world-renowned counter-attacking style, and the home side had the Romans struggling to keep up with the pace of the game.

This is how Spain could have maybe played if things had gone slightly differently before the 2018 World Cup had started, and it looks like this is how Real Madrid will try to establish their dominance in a brand new era.

#1 A new number 7, no problem

Mariano Diaz scores a stunning goal against AS Roma

No Cristiano Ronaldo and no outrageous sums of money spent to try and find President Florentino Perez’s next Galactico. Instead, new manager Julen Lopetegui decided to keep things in-house and use the superstars he had to replace the Portuguese giant’s goals. After all, Ronaldo did score 450 goals in just under 440 games, including a 105 in the UEFA Champions League just for Real Madrid and replacing that kind of numbers was always going to be tough.

And yet Real Madrid and Lopetegui together have managed to work the kinks out, with players taking charge of various responsibilities that Ronaldo once held. Sergio Ramos is now the penalty taker, Isco Alarcon and Toni Kroos take free-kicks and Mariano Diaz has taken the number seven after Marco Asensio reportedly refused it.

Meanwhile, goal-scoring has been taken up by Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale, with the two stars combining to score 11 goals in seven games for the Los Blancos so far, with Benzema already equalling his tally from last season in LaLiga. Now, good things take time, and in the little time he has had, Julen Lopetegui has managed to get Real Madrid used to the idea of surviving without a global superstar for the moment, or at least until Marco Asensio evolves into one.

But till that happens or rather till President Florentino Perez decides to spend outrageous money on his next Galactico, the Los Blancos faithful have nothing to worry about.