This is not a team I recognize. I can't call it the team I fell in love with almost a decade ago. Real Madrid had been horrible all season, and this was the last nail in the coffin. After this humiliating exit, the child in me who had fallen in love with this club would not look back.
Some exits still make you feel pleased of your efforts. But not this one. The squad lacked bravery and deserved to be eliminated from the Champions League. To be honest, they don't belong in the final four with any of the other teams who made it.
All of the teams who advanced to the semifinals were well-organized, ordered and knew what they were doing. Real Madrid do not tick any of the criteria. And the numbers from the second leg support my claims. The statistics speak for themselves: the Bernabeu game was a disaster.
They claim 90 minutes at the Bernabeu are very long. Sure, they were. For us. Fans who were betrayed.
The figures fully reflect the attitude Real Madrid played with
There was a lot of buzz around Real Madrid's famous remontada. "It's in their DNA," fans stated. We were sold. The notion wasn't awful. Press from the start, generate threatening chances, and score early in the game to retain momentum and eventually finish with three or four goals. That was the plan we were told and it was not bad honestly.
And, typically all they had to do was generate a lot of opportunities. Many of them. But, as expected, Los Blancos failed to register a single shot on target in the first half, let alone score early on.
The first shot on target was in the 55th minute. Given all of the talk Carlo Ancelotti and the players did, that is just shameful and I am really mincing my words here.
And there is more. Tonight, Real Madrid was by far the more aggressive team. They were struggling to convert it, but they did attempt. As a result, and as predicted, Arsenal's focus was obviously on defense.
They sought to avoid a comeback for as long as possible. Despite this, even though Real Madrid had 65% of the possession in the game, Mikel Arteta's team had more shots on goal (6) than Los Blancos (3). If that is not embarrassing, I'm not sure what is.
Arsenal, while being the more defensive side, attempted 17 dribbles against Real Madrid's 10. Vinicius Jr. was only responsible for four of these ten dribbles and was incredibly poor at converting them. He was mediocre at best and had no significant influence on the game.
Arsenal also outperformed the Merengues in terms of aerial combat. The visitors won 12 aerials, but the hosts only managed 10. Ancelotti's men had 9 attacking aerials, while Arteta's got 13.
Overall, the statistics are self-evident. Madrid had no genuine influence on the game, no practical bearing. They were having trouble making ends meet. It was possibly the worst football game they've played this season. And, unfortunately, this may not be the last.
All statistics are courtesy of WhoScored.