It Is THE
tie of the 1st Knock out round of the UEFA Champions League. Real Madrid versus Manchester United is always a special occasion and this year’s
match-up is no different. The Red Devils
are 3rd in UEFA’s Club
Co-efficient while Los Blancos
are 4th. It is not only a clash between 2 of the best sides in Club
football but also a clash of two of the Best Managers around in Jose Mourinho & Sir Alex Ferguson.
United this season have been a club
rejuvenated by the arrival of the ‘Flying
Dutchman’ Robin van Persie from Arsenal.
Though a little shaky at the back, going forward they have been magnificent
with Van Persie the key cog in a
fearsome attacking line-up complimented beautifully by Wayne Rooney, Javier
Hernandez & Danny Welbeck. They have scored an impressive 81 goals in all competitions with Van Persie accounting for 23 of them. They are 12 points clear of rivals Manchester City in the league and look
set to claim their 20th League title. Patrice Evra’s welcome return to form along with the maturity in
right back Rafael’s play has been a
huge part of United’s success this
season, but the biggest difference has been Michael Carrick driving the play from midfield in the company of
young Tom Cleverley and the lethal
finishing up front from Van Persie,
Rooney & co. They finished top of a relatively easy Group H with 12 points and though they lost 2 games, it was when Sir Alex fielded weakened sides.
Real
Madrid on the other hand finished 2nd in their Group with 11 points in what was the tournament’s Group of Death featuring champions of 4
major European leagues – Borussia
Dortmund, Manchester City, Ajax – along with Los Blancos. Madrid have
also been prolific in front of goal with 93
goals to their credit with Ronaldo
scoring 36. However their season has
been plagued by inconsistent form which has seen their title defence in La Liga fall by the wayside as they sit
3rd 16 points adrift of
leaders Barcelona. Amid reports of
dressing room unrest and a fallout between Mourinho
and some of the senior Spanish stars at the Bernabeu, Madrid aiming for the ‘Decima’, their 10th
European crown have done well in the Champions
League where Ronaldo is the
joint leading goal scorer with 6 goals
and Mesut Ozil, Angel di Maria &
Karim Benzema are joint third in the Assists section with 3 assists each.
The 2 managers also share a special
relationship, one that started off with them being fierce rivals but later
becoming very good buddies off the field with each holding the other in high
esteem. Mourinho has even been
tipped to be one of the successors to Sir
Alex’s reign at Old Trafford
when he eventually calls it a day.
For both teams, the strength lies in attack
with their defences not exactly exuding confidence through the season though United with all 4 central defenders
fully fit & keeper De Gea in good form and Evra & Rafael’s
improvement this season have an edge over Real in that part of the field. United will have to cut the supply from
the likes of Xabi Alonso & Luka Modric in the Real midfield to Ronaldo & Ozil up front and Ferguson may well opt for a 5 man midfield
for precisely this reason playing Carrick,
Cleverley & Phil Jones in a central midfield flanked by the tireless Antonio Valencia on the right and Rooney dropping back on the left with Van Persie up top. Madrid’s ploy would be simple, to move the ball quickly and get it
to their forwards before United can set their defence and would
not mind playing on the counter even though they’d be at home at the Santiago Bernabeu. Recent matches
between the two have gone Madrid’s way with Real beating United in both 2000 and 2003 in the Quarterfinals stage.
It promises to be a fascinating encounter,
filled with the intrigue of how that 1 man – Ronaldo – will fare against his former club, and how the Real
backline will cope with the likes of United’s Rated ‘R’ attack of Rooney
& Robin. As Mourinho stated
recently – “The world is waiting for Real Madrid vs Manchester United”.
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