Only after the first leg, it seems the road is over for Madrid. They lost 2-0 at their own ground..... which means the second leg in Nou Camp will be nothing more than a boring match of Barca passing the ball around and Madrid either running around like dogs or just stay back to try make the result respectable. My bet, Barca for final and win the cup.
I was rooting for Madrid eventhough a Madrid-Man U final will most likely result in Man U winning the title. At least a Man U-Madrid game will be more 'entertaining' than watching Barca dictate the game against a bunch of headless devils. Face it, Man U plays pretty much like Madrid at the moment... direct running and extensive use of body strength (except for Nani and Park).
Back to the main topic, why can't Mourinho do it again....given the resources given to him... It's quite simple, Madrid have stars while Inter is full of fallens. Italy is known to be a pre-retirement league now... or a league to re-ignite fallen stars. Look at Ibra..Ronaldinho...Ronaldo...Sneider..Cicinho....Cassano... Eto'o... Beckham ... When these players face big clubs, they tend to give extra so that people will remember that they're still that good... That was the case when Inter played in last year's edition.
When we compare Madrid now and the Inter last season, they're being set up the same way..but will different players...thus results will vary. With Inter, Mourinho uses right wing back and left attacking winger for his flanks because he had Maicon and Eto'o. With Madrid, his strongest wing back is Marcelo on the left.... and strongest winger is Ronaldo on the right. However, he doesn't have a strong central targetman like Milito..... Higuain is a real poacher but he's a bit too small while Benzema is too much flair. SO he had to shift Ronaldo to center..making Maria his strongest winger which is on the left. That creates an imbalance..so he shifted Maria to the right. However, on the right..Maria will not be able to deliver crosses on his right foot since he is all left....again, imperfection. Now, the flanks are not functioning well because Maria will have to deliver crosses with his left foot from the right....thus, deep crosses which will be dealt easily by Pique or Valdes. Ronaldo will have to hope slip ups from any of them, which occured after 90 minutes of playing during the Spanish CUp final...and the goalkeeper was Pinto....
Next we look at the central area... with Inter, Sneider was playing behind MIlito. His role was to shoot to goal, which his accuracy and strong shooting.... goalkeepers will tend to mishandle and spill the ball for Milito to tuck in. With Madrid.... he tried with Ozil but he didn't get any decent shot... Mourinho tried with Alonso but he doesn't have real fluidity to bring the ball to his optimum range. Plus, Alonso operated a little too deep..a little too far to shoot. I'm not sure if Kaka would have done the trick but as far as I remember...Kaka spreads the ball around..not shoot from range. Thus, his best bet to fill Sneider's role was actually Ronaldo.... Which Mourinho tried when he brought in Adebayor for Ozil.
With Inter, Mourinho covering in midfield was done by Cambiasso.... quality defensive midfielder that roams around spreading the ball to the attacking players. In Madrid, Mourinho had to use Pepe... pushed from center back. Defensive-wise Pepe is better Cambiasso...but passing....haiya... To add more defensive cover, Mourinho added Lass. I think Lass is better than Pepe but he's lacking in real competetive matches. Lass was assigned to disrupt the tempo of Xavi and Barca wingers. The problem with Pepe being pushed up is that, in defense we have Albiol and Ramos. To me, Ramos is more suited as right back because, well..look at him when he plays on the right. In Albiol... I don'te really have anything to say... He's not really a center back...a little to small if you ask me...and a little to slow. He plays best when he's paired with Pepe... 'coz Albiol is good with holding up players and Pepe will cut in. That was the plan when Mourinho paired Albiol with Ramos since Ramos is quick like Pepe too.... But I guess Ramos doesn't think as good as Pepe.
Although Madrid is no Inter, Mourinho have enough quality to at least grab a draw... He uses the best players available to fill in the game plan like how he did it with Inter. It went well until Pepe got sent off. WIth Pepe out, only Lass was around to provide defensive cover in midfield. So Alonso had to drop down a little...leaving a huge hole in the middle...Xavi took advantage. Alonso is not as quick as Pepe...thus a double act on the left with Marcelo on the left will not go well if the winger is very very fast... on came Affelay to replace tired legs of Pedro. Pedro and Affelay plays more or less the same..but the absence of Pepe, the lacking of speed in Alonso and the fresh legs of Affelay made it possible for Affelay to break loose from Marcelo and cross for Messi to finish. As for the second goal.... a jaded Madrid is easy to break... Madrid lacks the will power...the resistance.. because they're a bunch of pampered stars... They have nothing to prove because they're already in one of the most successful club in the world... Once they're behind...they hardly have the strength to claw back. Plus, Madrid already won the Spanish Cup..it's more than they've targeted this season.
Messi factor?? Well... to be fair..he moves around compared to Ibra. Ibra is a striker..while Messi is a shifted striker. Messi might not be a threat on air but Barca doesn't go for high crosses anyway...everything pass is a through ball..one two .... pass to space.... Messi thrive with that plan. That is why Mourinho's plan was to disrupt the flow.... and to do that....11 players is needed...One gone and the plan will end..... Because Madrid is not Inter...BYah!!
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