How Real Madrid, collectively and individually, exceeded expectations once again

Real Madrid have done it once again.

They’ve somehow beaten Manchester City on penalties after a gut-wrenching quarter-finals tie, and now are the favorites to win the Champions League for the 15th time. It’s not over, of course, they’ve yet to face Bayern Munich, and possibly PSG / Dortmund, but it’s Real Madrid’s title to lose now.

12 Champions League semi-final appearances in the last 14 is incredible, no matter which way you look at it or how biased you are.

People have since come out and said Real Madrid’s performance defensively wasn’t all that, and they got through to the semis through ‘luck’. I disagree. I think this was, collectively, one of the best defensive performances from Real Madrid in a long time. Yes, they struggled – especially in the second half – but they still only conceded one, and that was because the entire team was committed to one single motive: victory. The defensive resilience and patience this team showed against Manchester City would’ve been outrageous to play against, it was gut-wrenching to watch, but it definitely felt like something to be proud of when Antonio Rudiger scored the winning penalty. It felt relieving. It calmed everything down and, at the same time, let all hell break loose in terms of celebrations.

Every player did his job and put a shift in defensively. The defensive shape was great; every player was running towards their respective man like they were at war with their counterparts. Real Madrid never had possession on their side, but they made sure that their defensive effort could be seen just as much as Manchester City’s chance creation.

If we look at that first half alone, Real Madrid were so monstrously tight defensively, and so patient as they let Manchester City have the ball outside their box but not letting them do too much with it. Admittedly, it hurt Real Madrid too because apart from that goal – which was something straight out of a book meant for counter-attacking perfectionists – they didn’t have much going for them in terms of offence.

The defensive structure they had created for themselves didn’t give them a lot to work with on the counter. There were a bunch of good breaks in the first half, but once Manchester City started pressing even higher in the second half, it forced Real to dig deep, literally, and the chances were even fewer.

Manchester City did very well in breaking down Real Madrid’s defense, which made things a bit chaotic. Andriy Lunin, Dani Carvajal and Rudiger came through with important interventions one after another, but it was barely enough. Enough here is the keyword, the rest honestly doesn’t matter.

Going back to the positives, Real Madrid were obviously the far more defensive team, but they also had fewer fouls than Man City – an indication of their exhaustive patience and defensive grit.

It felt like half a page taken out of Mikel Arteta’s book after Real Madrid scored that goal: sit deep, defend, cover every player, close everything down and have your defenders transcend for 90, well, in this case, 120 minutes. Obviously, there were some differences, but the blueprint was there.

The best part is Real Madrid have never been considered to be defensive masterminds, but for large stretches of the game, they did it like seasoned veterans. Be that as it may, Real did choose the most difficult method to go through. Defending like that for 120 minutes was never going to be a Real Madrid thing, but they defied and exceeded expectations yet again.

Also, they learned from their mistakes: After letting Manchester City score three goals from outside the box in the reverse fixture, Madrid’s players did not shy away from sprinting to close down the space, so the long shots that were taken were not effective.

We need to talk about the defensive line

As I said before, Rudiger, Lunin and Carvajal were great – probably the best players on the pitch – but we also need to talk about Ferland Mendy and Nacho Fernandez. The entire defensive line, collectively and individually, put in their best performance of the season.

Nacho has had it tough all year. He’s played more minutes than expected this season because of injuries, and frankly, he’s been under a lot of criticism for his decline in performances. To say he would not have started if Aurelien Tchouameni was available wouldn’t be far-fetched.

Be that as it may, Nacho gave in by far his best performance of the season when it mattered most. At some points during his duels with Haaland, he did almost give me a heart attack, but apart from that, he was defensively solid all game, which was needed.

Ferland Mendy, in the last couple of seasons, has been pretty inconsistent due to injuries, lack of consistent playing times, and poor form. We’re finally seeing the real Mendy now, and he’s been nothing short of fantastic in the last few games. Especially in this one, he handled Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden to the best of his abilities. He was everywhere in the defense, and deserves a lot of credit for the win.

Did you know Rudiger did not attempt a single tackle all game? Instead, his movement and tracking were foot perfect, while also having five blocks and four important clearances. Rudiger’s performance in this tie has been nothing short of an absolute spectacle, solidifying his position as the best centre-back in the world. I’ve talked so much about him in the past, as have others, but every time I talk about him, I somehow run out of words to say. One of the best free transfers in recent history.

Dani Carvajal’s revelation has been well documented this season, and to top it all off, he dropped his best performance of the season — which was also one of his best in a Real Madrid shirt — against Manchester City at the Etihad, which is the same place he has been beaten plenty of times in the past. Carvajal matched up to both Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish, giving in an all-time performance with three tackles, two interceptions, SEVEN blocks, and 11 clearances. A monster.

Andriy Lunin walking off after seeing Rudiger score as if nothing happened was honestly understandable, considering how tired he was and how big of a performance he had just dropped. This man made eight saves, continually keeping his team in the tie, and then made two more saves in the penalty shootout. All this is after those nine saves against Leipzig in the last round. His run this season has been nothing short of iconic and inspirational. A pay rise and extension would be more than well deserved.

“I’m absolutely exhausted,” Lunin said after the game, and given what’s been going on in his home country, doing all this on a consistent basis shows his character, mentality and discipline. Incredible goalkeeper, one of the best in the world.

A tactical wrinkle I found interesting about Jude Bellingham

Jude Bellingham was great against Manchester City – don’t let the keyboard warriors tell you otherwise. It was interesting to see how his role at the Etihad was in stark contrast to his role at the Bernabeu. In the first half, we saw Jude used as a target man, sometimes, and mostly as a false nine. He was getting the ball with his back towards City’s goal, creating space for the wingers running towards it. He did it to perfection. That was the reason why Real Madrid scored – a Zidane-esque touch followed by a Benzema-esque pass – and not many people seem to realise his importance throughout the game.

Do you understand how difficult it is to successfully play through City’s press while having limited options nearby? Bellingham played his offensive role to perfection. Of course, his influence died a little bit when Real Madrid started getting more defensive, but this is just about his work on the ball. Defensively, he was always the first person to track back after a loss of possession, and he always worked hard to recover the ball, ending the game with five tackles and a block.

On the pre-game podcast with Kiyan Sobhani and Sid Ramsundar, I said that every single Real Madrid player needs to have a perfect game if Real want to go through. They did, at least from a positional and defensive standpoint. The offense obviously could’ve been better, but who cares? Real Madrid have beaten the defending champions, against all odds, once again. The path to Wembley seems clearer than ever, and if they can take Manchester City, they can take anyone else.

This team’s ceiling, grit, and willingness to put their heads down and win are at an all-time high. There’s nothing that anyone can do to change that. Each time I see them with their backs against the wall, they come back out and defy expectations, time and time again. It’s incredible.

Also, Lucas Vazquez does not know the meaning of pressure. He doesn’t think it exists.