Real Madrid: The top 5 matches of the 2010’s

5. Real Madrid Vs Juventus 1-3 (Champions League Quarter Finals 2018)

Surprised? Why I chose this game of all where we were just outright outplayed by Massimiliano Allegri’s side for 90 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu? I think it was a really important game in the whole threepeat run and in my opinion yes we lost the game but it showed what Real Madrid truly stands for.

This is the sole reason I have picked this game over the win we got at Turin doesn’t matter how iconic it was and how good Cristiano Ronaldo was in that game. The reality is there’s no way threepeat would have been possible with performances like these where we had our backs against the walls, the opponent cornering us in the ring throwing punch after punch at us and we weathered the storm waited for the last moment to give just one right uppercut knocking the opponent unconscious.

This game was the epitome of Zidane’s sole principle “we have to suffer”, and you see him saying it before almost every big game. Real Madrid suffered a lot, they were without Sergio Ramos, and Nacho Fernandez was injured. The game had Jesus Vallejo out of the blue straightforward dropped in the middle of a warzone where Juventus came with all guns blazing.

Real Madrid’s defense was treading water as Raphael Varane as good as a defender he is, was still not good at marshaling defense all by himself. Juventus had a Herculean task ahead of them before the game started but from the very first minute, it looked as if they had prepared for this all their lives.

Just into the second minute, Sami Khedira crossed to an unmarked Mario Mandzukic in the box who easily scored a header and Juventus was a goal ahead. Allegri quickly looked to exploit this even further and quickly removed Mattia de Sciglio for Stephan Lichsteiner. Lichsteiner had an instant impact as again Mandzukic outmuscled Dani Carvajal to score from a header. Real Madrid 2-0 down at half time.

Zidane did what he had done a lot of times that season removed Carlos Casemiro and subbed Lucas Vazquez in. The formation was shifted to a 4-4-1-1 to stop Juventus from exploiting the flanks. Allegri had done his homework well and exploited the weakness of Zidane’s diamond to perfection as done by multiple La Liga teams that season.

The flank coverage due to the diamond formation used to be really poor without a backtracking winger and Isco’s free role meant you never knew where he would be during a defensive sequence. Allegri exploited that to perfection in the first half and Zidane reacted in response with his substitutions. This improved the side’s defense as compared to the first half but Blaise Matuidi found the net as Keylor Navas gifted an easy goal to the French midfielder. Juventus had completed the comeback and it looked likely they had probably get the winner too before the full-time whistle.

Each one of us suffered that night alongside the players but that’s exactly why this game stood out for me. Real Madrid players no matter how much they’re in trouble, may have an Everest to climb in 30 minutes but you never see them putting their shoulders down or giving up. The leaders Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Marcelo, Modric heck even Jesus Vallejo was trying to lift spirits up after every goal not looking at the ground cursing their luck or feeling dejected.

This sort of mentality was key to winning three consecutive Champions League a feat no other club boasts of. There will always be nervy moments in Champions League and nobody wins it without having one such moment I repeat nobody. 2014 we had the Borussia Dortmund tie which was nerve-wracking (not even counting the final), 2016 the famous Wolfsburg comeback, 2017 had the semifinal against Atletico Madrid when Los Rojiblancos quickly scored a double at Vincente Calderon and 2018 it was this game and of course the two games against Bayern in the next round. This strong mentality and the approach towards the game is one of the strongest factors behind the success of this Real Madrid side.

Allegri threw the towel in and asked his team to defend after getting that third goal rather than instructing them to kill it off. Real Madrid was looking for an opening and did come close a few times until Cristiano Ronaldo headed a peach of a ball to Lucas Vazquez in the dying minutes who had to score from point-blank range but was pushed by Medhi Benatia from behind leading to a clear penalty call for Real Madrid. Michael Oliver made an extremely impassive decision in such a moment of the game which did not go down well with the Juventus players.

They felt hard done by the referee but it was a correct decision and great refereeing from the English referee. Gigi Buffon got sent off for protesting and shouting at his face as he saw his dream of winning a Champions League fading away yet again. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and struck an impossible to save thunderbolt of a penalty in the top right corner of the goal, took his shirt off as if saying game, set, match Real Madrid.