The control and one-touch distribution under pressure is another world from mid-noughties football. This was the surest signifier of the newest football age
Predictably, Manchester City were able to dominate early possession and territory. They had more than two-thirds of the ball in the first 20 minutes. Kevin De Bruyne had the first shot in anger, Rodri the second and Erling Haaland the third and fourth. John Stones strode around the midfield like a general who has just been told that there are no more enemies coming over the hill.– City had too much of the ball.
That – counterintuitively – is when Real Madrid are at their best. Against almost every other elite club, the time when you must concentrate the most is when you don’t have the ball. Against Real Madrid, it’s when you have the ball that you are in danger. One mental fade, one slip in technique, one loss of possession, and you’re toast. Jerry always gets Tom in the end.
The speed of the counterattack was breathtaking, quickened up because everything was performed with such clarity under pressure. Luka Modric played a pass round the corner into the feet of Eduardo Camavinga. Camavinga, just 20 and playing in a position he publicly concedes isn’t his best, flies forward with the ball like a terrier intent on fetching one.
Real Madrid’s other phenomenal attribute is their ability to use one moment in their favour as lifeblood that overshadows everything that might have gone against them. From wondering if you can win 1-0, you find yourself reassuring yourself that a 1-0 defeat wouldn’t be a bad result within the space of two minutes. Madrid’s older legs don’t feel quite as tired and the younger players scamper and dash around them. They meet in some utopian middle ground where everyone is at their peak.
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