what a team we have. Even Benz is looking like he's finding his form again.

Front 3 look like they are literally on fire. Midfield and defense have looked chaotic at times but overall doing well enough.

Difference has been the attack which we haven't been able to say all preseason.

Dat goal by Asensio. Kid has fire in that foot. He needs to sustain his effort though. He tends to drift and out. Fantastic when he's in.

Lmao no isco and as usual the team looks 5x better than the last game , never seen a more overrated player and bale is gonna be in trouble with asensio more than scrubsco.

sportsczy wrote:what a team we have.  Even Benz is looking like he's finding his form again.

Hold your horses. Barca are looking slow and sluggish. You'd think we had 8 players with Isco's ball control and agility right now, but it's just Barca playing poorly. Great performance, not indicative of how the season may pan out.

Idk what Barca were thinking with a 3-5-2. It makes no sense for what they need. They need an extra attacker, not an extra midfielder. Messi and Suarez are the best attacking players in the game but they can't do it against the entire RM team.

i hope marcelo is taken out soon, this is the type of game where he stops defending lol

I actually kinda like Kovacic playing deep. Defensively isn't the quality that Casemiro is obviously, but in possession he is fantastic at transitioning play from the defense to the midfield, not to mention his ability to switch the ball from side to side.

I think only Modric or maybe Isco is better at shielding the ball

yeah, it was actually smart from Zidane not to stick Kroos in Casemiro's usual spot.

Kovacic destroyed barca in first half and even in the first leg driving the ball out, no one in football does what he does

Kovacic has crazy speed up the middle. He's a truly unique player. Love him.

Modric has also been absolutely amazing this game. Whenever he's fit, he's the best in the world at CM.

We need to save him for big games and rotate a lot. Probably the main reason Ceballos was bought and played imediately.

Wow. What a nothing game. Barca didn't even show up.

Asensio's goal killed this game

Well they needed 3 coming in and Asensio didn't change that. But Benz scoring made it 4 and that ended it.

Barca did have 2-3 off the post/crossbar as poorly as barca played, they didn't have luck with them either.

yeah but we basically went into 2nd gear in the 2nd half... when Barca got their chances.  Started making careless passes in our own half and Marcelo stopped defending altogether lol.

Lovely first half, second half was full of turnovers and failed counters. I won't nedd to comment on the starting XI, they all played great

Theo I thought, looked a little scared out there, like his presentation all over again, blasting a cross instead of playing it like you'd do normally and too scared to advance. ZZ should've put Marcelo infront of him instead of the other way round

Ceballos I thought tried too hard creating a "wow" play than improving us. Backheels straight to Barca, leaving the ball when you know your teammare is in an offside position. He did this in preseason too. Hopefully he tones it down at least until he getz used to playing with the team

Great first half of football. Yeah, Barcelona was rubbish but we have all seen Madrid play real dog shit football against them so do enjoy the moments when the roles are reversed.

I wonder if I'm gonna see more of this Benzema. Not gonna agree with Sports, I've not seen a "coming to form" Benzema as this first genuine good game from him in a long ass time. However, if there is any other forward that isn't named Ronaldo on this team that can at least score, my best hope is him. Which really isn't saying much.

Not bad benz but still... 0/10 i need to see more than that my man.

excellent touch for that goal. Barcelona never stood a chance.

And did I ever say I liked Kova? the guy is a gem. his acceleration plus his skillset makes him a very interesting option.

No disrespect to Casemiro but imo, I prefer ALL my mids to be ballers. Kova as a DLP interests me. its all about CONTROL in midfield.

Asensio continues to be a star... I am happy with the recent rise in spanish talent.

edit: highlights for 2nd leg.

0/10? Surely that is harsh. Benzema was probably the best performer of the first half.

Standouts to me were:

Benzema - finally a solid performance.

Asensio - had a cracker of a goal, but faded in and out the rest of the match < not meant to be too much of a criticism.

Lucas - Had pace, intensity, linked up well with everyone, and should have gotten on the score sheet tbh.

Kovacic - was thrown into a deeper role and I feel he really excelled keeping possession and in transition.

Navas - Hasn't been mentioned, but he had multiple key saves that kept the scoreline lopsided in our favor.

We have to enjoy Barca's shitty moment. Suffice to say that Barca had been dominating us during our shitty moments so its our turn.
Back in the days when our team was still trying to gel and find a balance. Its their turn now!

shadexticos wrote:I hope it doesn't backfire. It doesn't feel like an experiment to me. If it works, we win by at least 2 goal difference....at least! If it backfires, HalaMadrid....lol!

Deserves a honourable mention

vanDEEZ wrote:0/10? Surely that is harsh. Benzema was probably the best performer of the first half.

Standouts to me were:

Benzema - finally a solid performance.

Asensio - had a cracker of a goal, but faded in and out the rest of the match < not meant to be too much of a criticism.

Lucas - Had pace, intensity, linked up well with everyone, and should have gotten on the score sheet tbh.

Kovacic - was thrown into a deeper role and I feel he really excelled keeping possession and in transition.

Navas - Hasn't been mentioned, but he had multiple key saves that kept the scoreline lopsided in our favor.

Just like when I state I fully understand his capabilities and his limitations, is also true I know his real value to this team. when he is on form he can play much, much better than what we saw today. and it is that standard that I judge him on.

So who starts the season up front? I say Isco, Asensio and Benzema. If ZZ does that, it really sends a strong message that the top 3 start regardless of status.

sportsczy wrote:So who starts the season up front? I say Isco, Asensio and Benzema. If ZZ does that, it really sends a strong message that the top 3 start regardless of status.

Navas
Carvajal - Ramos - Nacho - Theo
Modric - Casemiro - Kovacic
Asensio - Benzema - Isco

That would be my lineup probably. Maybe Modric subbed for either Kroos or Ceballos.

Bale will def play since he didn't play today though, which is just sad.

Theo for Marcelo trolling inserted in there lol.

I like that lineup with Kova, Lucas and Bale coming off the bench. When CR comes back, one of Isco or Asensio will sit unless Benz plays poorly.

sportsczy wrote:Theo for Marcelo trolling inserted in there lol.

I like that lineup with Kova, Lucas and Bale coming off the bench. When CR comes back, one of Isco or Asensio will sit unless Benz plays poorly.

I'm not even trolling. I just think Depor is a shit team and want to save Marcelo for important games where he has to break down a defense. Hardly a better time to test Theo.