Real Madrid: Three potential Man of the Match candidates vs. Manchester City
By Parshva Shah
It won’t be easy for Real Madrid to turn this tie around, but they have players capable of producing game-changing performances.
This is my fourth article about the Real Madrid-Manchester City second leg in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. You can imagine how massive the build-up to this game has been. No other Round of 16 second leg is generating as much buzz as this one.
Manchester City is a formidable unit and easily one of the five best teams in Europe at the moment. Finishing second in the Premier League this season does not justify the insane amount of talent and depth their squad boasts.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, visits the Etihad Stadium on the back of securing their 34th league title thanks to winning ten consecutive games since the restart. They have momentum and the psychological edge over Pep Guardiola’s side.
What also falls into Real’s favor is that they have experience playing these types of high-pressure games. They know what it means to overturn a first leg deficit. They know how to handle the pressure of a mega event like the UEFA Champions League.
No matter how rich Real’s history in the competition is, it accounts for nothing if the players don’t do the talking on the pitch and show what they are really made of. Ajax swatted aside Los Blancos 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu at the same stage last season, giving the club a reality check.
Ajax was always the weaker team (with all due respect) on paper, but came up trumps on the pitch against a team that had made mincemeat of every top European club on their way to a hat-trick of Champions League victories.
For the second leg against Manchester City though, Real Madrid has players capable enough to win the tie singlehandedly and propel the Kings of Europe to the quarterfinals.
Here are three players in my opinion who could have a significant impact on the game and could be the potential Man of the Match.
Eden Hazard
The Belgian is traveling with the team in hopes of helping them score at least twice to remain alive in the competition. He hasn’t had luck with injuries and that has thwarted Eden Hazard’s momentum multiple times this season.
In one of my previous articles where I talked about the tactical aspects of the second leg, I mentioned that Hazard was feeling pain in his right ankle, rendering him unfit for selection.
Spanish publication Diario AS, however, uploaded a video on their website and quoted, “Hazard at full throttle ahead of Manchester City Champions League showdown.”
On his day, Hazard can be one of the best players in the world, and Zidane will be hoping the No.7 can conjure up something special and delivers his best performance of the season if he starts the game.
Let’s hope it’s a performance worthy of redeeming himself and shrugging off the misery of his debut season.
Éder Militão
Stepping into Sergio Ramos’ shoes is going to be a Herculean task for the Brazilian, but that is not something he hasn’t excelled at before. Militão has shown why Real Madrid invested €50 million in him and is entrusted by Zidane ahead of the more experienced Nacho.
Being a young player, he certainly needs to grow in a lot of aspects of the game, but he is good enough to stand up to the challenge, even if the opposition is as mighty as Manchester City.
I am optimistic that Militão will rise to the challenge and silence all the naysayers with a mature performance. Who knows, he might even end up scoring a winner!
Casemiro
Casemiro delivered probably his worst performance of the 2019-20 season in the first leg against Manchester City five months ago. He was decent in the first half, but he gave away the ball needlessly several times which led to a lot of menace in and around Real Madrid’s penalty area.
I have stated this time and again: Casemiro is Real Madrid’s most important player. You could replace Karim Benzema’s goals, you could probably replace Sergio Ramos’ presence, but you simply cannot replace Casemiro. There is no one like him on the current roster or in world football.
Next. Three key battles to watch at Manchester City. dark
He is hands down the best player in his position, and a lot depends on whether Casemiro can turn into a complete destroyer as we have witnessed in the previous seasons.
The fact that he can provide a goalscoring option adds a lot to Real’s arsenal as they have been highly dependent on Benzema to deliver the goods.
If Casemiro has a great game, Real Madrid will knock Manchester City out of the competition. As simple as that!