CL Final: Real Madrid 4-1 Atletico Madrid Post Match Discussion

farfan wrote:

Hapless_Hans wrote:

That being said, this is a tragedy and a sad day for football   

you guys and your whiny contradictions.

i thought that " sad days for football " only occured when the defensive, overly physical , dirty teams won .

" team i dislike lost = SAD DAY FOR FOOTBALLL !! "

lmao

Arquitescu wrote:Here to congratulate all Madridistas & Madrileños for achieving La Decima as finally all those years of investment, sweat, perseverance and toil have come into fruition. My town which is full of Madridistas were over the moon as celebrations were more of relief than unadulterated joy, and I can understand why.

As for the match, I expected a more tactical one given two 'Italian' teams faced off with Italian type semantic of yore, yet what we had gotten is a CL final true to the historic El Derbi Madrileño in all its grind and grit.

Carlo's plan was correct in pushing back the central line of Atletico, causing them only to use their flanks with auxiliary creation of width leaving little space with an almost lumberjack midfield of workload by Madrid.

Clear cut chances were not afforded, as this does not include Iker's signature suicidal run of adrenaline which completely was at fault to him, leaving his line uncovered in a moment of sheer indecisiveness.

Iker paid for that mistake given Carlo's plan was focused on clinching the early goal and not having to adapt to the climate of being 1 goal down.

Only true chance was for Gareth Bale, who mind-bogglingly attempted to calibrate a shot purely on his left foot despite the right foot being optimal to slot it in that particular angle. His one-footedness will be a problem for years if he does not improve it; half of his play includes crude straight lines and attempts to line it up into his stronger foot, stark contrast to his attacking partners.

2nd half we saw a Madrid resurgence, Angel Di Maria taking the reigns on creating width and actually bringing midfield resurgence since Modric could not do anything outside hold possession and snapping balls to the defence relieve pressure. Benzema rightfully was taken off given his anonymous performance for Morata, who despite all his heart did not produce anything of note either unless you count his sacrificial role to protect Marcelo.

On Atleti's side Madrid eventually won the battle with Gabi tremendously leading the charge in what was a narrow and scrappy battle, Atleti's central midfield of Tiago and Gabi lost the endurance within their legs given their age while Koke once again failed to show up vs a relevant midfield, Garcia should not have been taken off given he added a different element to which worked for him in the 1st half.

90+2 involved Sergio Ramos elevating himself to an obscene height and blasting it past Courtois which is testament to his character and hunger in the box. Maldini would be proud given Ramos is his aforementioned heir and also scored in a CL final respectively.

Extra time was a battle of endurance to which Madrid easily overcame since Simeone's substitutions were baffling to say the least; Finish was slotted by Bale (to which missing that was of no excuse) yet the run and follow up to the goal was all Di Maria, skinning the right flank and causing an incidental deflection from Courtois, Bale's positioning deserving credit nonetheless.

From there came upon a psychological blow of defeat to Atletico considering Ramos' unexpected goal along with the subsequent finish via Bale. Marcelo's goal a result of Atleti's mentally diminished psych and sinewed legs; the penalty though was not a penalty yet we knew CR would take any chance to add to his tally.

Why are people disappointed with Cristiano? Well aside from the fact that he had a very poor performance; we expected much more from him within his celebration, as gone are the days of a selfless individual so concerned with personal glory and vanity. Yet what we saw was a caricatured celebration, forced out singular to exuberate not his badge, teammates or anything but himself. It was a celebration that showed how vain he can be at times, his lack of celebration during Ramos and Bale's goal disappointing for a person who see's him beyond the passive aggressive statue of vanity he previously was in Manchester United. No criticism, as he has EVERY RIGHT to celebrate as a goal in the CL final large nonetheless and the fact that it was versus the local rivals (99% of Madridistas forget that here). Yet, with a man who has set such example in character and principle, we do expect more from Cristiano, as Bale's gratitude to Di Maria was possibly the only thing he could learn from his Welsh counterpart.

Better team won or no? It was relatively even yet where Ancelotti was losing, is where his team at times failed to ply discipline and adhere to their roles, the occasion seeming to err within their minds.

Where Atletico lost?

-Simeone was disgraceful in using Costa despite him clearly being unfit, which goes further to show the lack of faith in his secondary players. Would a late or extra time deployment of Costa would not have sufficed instead of a rookie 'fear factor' use and risk of Costa in the inception to the match? Preparing one who comes from the bench in such short notice is underwhelming considering they are nowhere near as mentally amped as the starters.

-Failure to adhere to a plan B whereas Carlo remained dynamic to the end. The indecisiveness in the end to defend or harry a counter failed considering for all the defensive track in injury time, Simeone not applying two men to the far posts was baffling and did not leave any shape to their defence; despite an overall impressive defensive performance in the end. These facets are where Carlo absolutely schooled a CL rookie in Simeone.


Though understandable, it did not help that Simeone almost thrice invaded the pitch, represented the overall mental distress Atleti faced after the few minutes where their CL dreams came tumbling down. Yet unlike Gabi who wanted to take the whole Madrid team down with him if he loses, the least Simeone could do is put up a fight rather than idly pondering a fight on the pitch.

Though anyone in Atleti's situation must be forgiven as football is cruel and can bring the worst out of you.

Men of the match for Real Madrid? Angel Di Maria, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane. No one else bar Marcelo (though came on late) and Carjaval performed as goals aside it was thoroughly disappointed to see Cristiano and Bale while Benzema just did not look mentally attuned to the match.

La Decima presents two things; A monkey of their backs after the surmounting pressure made by investment mental and financial, thus leaving a more reflective approach to future European ties. It may just represent the seed of time afforded to Ancelotti and future managers alike, not harried upon that coward Perez for the on paper win of La Decima. It can represent a new dawning in a more patient Madrid that choose to cultivate wins rather than splurge upon them via brute force.

   Or

A state of mind where complacency will be tolerated given the clinching of Decima, leading to possibly years of underachievement  through banking on the 2014 CL final win; added with Carlo's almost ponderous approach to Champions League post CL win.

Would this win demotivate Barcelona or given Enrique a reference point in which to work upon not only tactically, yet to wake up a squad who through their accumulation of trophies, do not possess the same hunger as they did in yesteryear.

How do Atleti come into play, considering this is a squad who have peaked and primed within the same time, leaving their ageing legs for another arduous climb. Not only the players, is Simeone up for the challenge again? Will the sensational win in ET fester in their minds as a medallion of motivation or a bitter pill distraction?

Can be one or another or both; Madridistas here would know better.


Madrid now may be 3 ahead of Milan yet the historic Milan-Real Madrid friendship makes up for that given the respect between both parties generationally. It also does help that Carlo Ancelotti was managing your team, further strengthening those ties and simply the fact that our cherished manager now has won THREE Champions League titles having him the undisputed kingpin of Champions League without a shred of a doubt. I told you all, give him time, seek patience and he WILL deliver. Quite frankly he's done it quicker than I expected.

I speak for all Milanisti that until Carlo is in your club, you will always have the support of us as Milan or no we support him anywhere he goes.

Congratulations again; More closely to the knowledgeable Nick, dedicated HalaAtletico, wise and cultured Sportsczy, classy gentleman Doc, passionate Valkyrja, relentless Giggity Zac the tireless MT, my good ally Zealous and Father Tom who has dreamt of this all his life beyond all you Madristas.

You deserve this through all your support and toil; enjoy the win and cease to argue with the detractors who (understandably) will be bitter. It happens to us all.  

Football did not win, tactics won; it signals the return of football when it was chess and not aesthetic satiation.