Quote from: LUCKMCFLY on February 06, 2025, 08:23:03 PM

Quote from: shogun47 on February 02, 2025, 05:32:13 AM

There is of course no doubt that all these conditions had to be met more or less like they are listed, but this neglects the fact that there is another set of conditions that had to be met, which is far more relevant.

Lille vs vs. Real Madrid 1-0
Real Madrid vs. Milan 1-3
Liverpool vs. Real Madrid 2-0

I think these conditions are the serious ones where Real Madrid brought themselves into trouble. Losing against Liverpool is not a farce, but losing at home against Milan and losing against Lille is a no go for a team like Real Madrid. Milan is ranked 8th in Serie A and Lille is 4th in Ligue 1. With all due respect for these clubs, this is where Real Madrid gave it away.

But as the game against Espanyol Barcelona in La Liga now has proven, Real Madrid is definitely not without weaknesses. Usually I think they are the favorite against Manchester City because of pure form, but now I don't know. One big name is going to go home without reaching the round of 16, that is a certainty now. It is due to this new mode of course, but can anyone recall when either Manchester City or Real Madrid missed the round of 16 the last time? This must be a decade ago or longer.

How can I say no? You're completely right, Madrid had all those faults, it's entirely their responsibility to have that performance and that suffering in the UCL, now for having made all those mistakes they have to be suffering now, there's something that can't be denied, Madrid still haven't corrected their weaknesses in defence, and as I see things I think Ancelotti is turning a blind eye, he's not giving it the due importance and now as he has to face City, there's a Pep who is seeing it, for me as I've said many times Tchoaumeni is not doing absolutely anything, for me he's a sieve, if he doesn't worry about having good defenders or changing his scheme they won't get through.

But while my next statement might sound like hard to believe, there couldn't be a better time to be playing against Manchester City that just now... They are so confused and insecure as a whole team that these repeated defeats they are suffering from have rather become the rule than the exception. I thought I would never get used to reading "opponent X - Manchester City: 4-1". But it's normal now. They get destroyed by Arsenal, but some mediocre teams, by teams from the bottom of the table, they lose a 3-0 lead in the Champions League against a team from the Eredivisie, they lose against Sporting as if they were amateurs. It's the right time to play against Manchester City.

The real chance that Manchester City could have here is that Real Madrid thinks exactly what I mentioned. Some kind of underestimation. But so far Manchester City could never capitalize on that because sadly they weren't underestimated as reality hit hard and they were just bad.

I am really looking forward to those two games because I want to know whether Manchester City seriously is the sinking ship that I think many people suppose it is, This is not a bad month anymore.