Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Real Madrid vs Manchester United: UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Preview



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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