Champions League: Three talking points from Real Madrid’s win over Roma
By Ryan Wrenn
Real’s hubris goes unpunished
Jesé’s goal in the 85th minute sealed the match in Real’s favor, giving them an invaluable two away goal cushion to take back with them to the Bernabeu.
It was by no means a sure thing that Real would have such an advantage prior to the goal though. Throughout the game, Real afforded Roma a reckless amount of space with which to work in the midfield. Even if Salah’s runs forward didn’t amount to much, too often he was able to find plenty support from Radja Nainggolan and Miralem Pjanić as the midfielders ran up unopposed into Real’s third.
Credit must go to how well Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos performed at the center of Real’s defense. They were on near constant alert throughout the game as a result of the porous midfield in front of them.
To some extent this isn’t so much a bug of this Real side, but a feature. The midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Isco and Luka Modrić is an especially positive, attacking combination. Gone are the days where Real feel the need to include some defensive heft in the center of the pitch. If Real are going to win games, it will be through keeping pressure on the opposition and scoring goals. A midfield destroyer doesn’t factor much into that gameplan.
In Champions League play, this kind of arrogance has a tendency to be punished. Roma’s fellow Italians Juventus proved this to great effect in last season’s semi-finals. While they weren’t able to pull it off Wednesday, Roma might still hold out some hope that Real might give them as many opportunities on the return leg in three weeks.