I’ll be very honest with you all. My reaction to the game? It was not a very interesting game. A game with Real Madrid with most of the possession trying to find gaps in the FC Sheriff Tiraspol backline. Real controlled most of the game with Sheriff just trying to find the best moment to counter-attack.
But yes, with this loss against Sheriff, Real Madrid has won just 1 of its last 7 UEFA Champions League fixtures played in Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. The 1-2 loss is a bit of a shock since Real Madrid was the favorite of the two to win the game.
But I think we should not overreact to this loss, despite it being a major upset in the Champions League. Here are three reasons why.
Real Madrid was the better team
What can I call this game? UNLUCKY. Yes, Real Madrid was very unlucky. Los Blancos dictated the tempo for most of the game and yet they lost 1-2 in the end.
Real Madrid had a total of 76% of possession by the end of the game telling us how well the game was controlled. But Sheriff Tiraspol was playing very great, to be honest. The Moldovan side was having a field day, especially with the counterattacks.
They knew how much Real Madrid’s defense had been struggling lately and what was the right way of breaking the Spanish side’s back.
So, the first positive can be that Real Madrid was the better side and thus deserved better.
Real Madrid’s attackers played well
Secondly, our attack was much better than the one against Villarreal in LaLiga. Honestly speaking, yes it was. I said this before too, Villarreal looked very compact and composed while playing against Real Madrid.
Sheriff did more or less the same job. They just sit back, hit Real on the break and it literally worked for them. But there was one improvement in this match. Our attack looked much better. Real Madrid created much more chances than they did against Villarreal. They had a total of 31 shots attempted of which 11 were on target.
But again, Real Madrid was unlucky in front of the goal post. Vinicius got the chance to score, Hazard got the chance to score, Nacho got the chance to score, Valverde got the chance to score, and Jovic got the chance to score. But the only one who got the team the breakthrough was the very own captain- Karim Benzema.
None of these players I mentioned (other than King Karim) could get us the breakthrough, or the winner. Why? Their defenders and their goalkeeper were spot on. But the positive is that- One, almost every player got at least 1 chance to score, Two, the attack was not always predictable.
Unlike the last match where I mentioned that the attacking tactics were the problem as all the attack was just by crossing into the box, here the players not only fancied their chances by long shots but also attacked from almost every area on the pitch.
Eden Hazard was the key to creativity. No matter how much you try to disagree, deep down you know this too. He hasn’t had an impact on the game, as great as in this match in a very long time.
So, we can take this as another positive from the game.
There is a long season ahead
Lastly and most importantly as to why we should move on from this match’s result is that we still have a very long season ahead of this fixture. Yes, Real Madrid lost both the matches against Shakhtar Donetsk last season.
But didn’t they not only manage to make it through the group stages but also reach the semi-final of the most intense European competition? Yes, and they can do it this season too. Unlike the last season, Real Madrid would work harder against Shakhar. Also, since Shakhtar and Inter Milan both are sitting at the bottom of the table with 1 point each, things seem to be a bit easy for Real Madrid.
Well, Real Madrid is the club with the most number of UEFA Champions League titles i.e. 13. Real Madrid is the king of Europe and every Madridista deep down in his/her heart knows that no matter what happens, with the players Real Madrid got there is no way they won’t make it through the group stages.
Also, Carlo Ancelotti knows that things are different at Real. A mistake once made cannot be repeated and must also be rectified. He knows that there is a loaded gun pointed at his head and that he will have to do everything in his power to make things work for the club. With the quality the squad possesses, he knows the team can make it through hell and do everything to win.
So lastly to conclude, this was a result not to ponder our minds over and move ahead while rectifying the mistakes.