Full Time in Madrid: Christmas Day, 1914

By the time French referee François Letexier blew the final whistle in Madrid, my arms were aching, and my voice was hoarse. I’d spent the better part of the last 90 minutes shouting at the TV, punching the air in celebration and waving my arms in frustration. 

Before we go further, I’d like to point out that I’m a Real Madrid fan, an avid one since 2007. 

White runs in my veins, and I breathe out purple. So, you can expect this post to be riddled with bias. If you have a problem with that, take it up on our X page or in the comments section.

I’m not perfect. God is the only paragon of perfection, and I am but a mere demi-god.

Now that’s out of the way, I should have expected nothing less from a clash between Real Madrid and Manchester City — a game that’s quickly replacing Real Madrid vs Bayern as the traditional European rivalry. 

For the third consecutive season, Real Madrid and Manchester City lock horns. In the previous iterations of this tie, the winner had gone on to win the UEFA Champions League. 

It’s like Harry Potter and his nemesis, Lord Voldemort: one must die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survives.

It’s a tie that perfectly encapsulates the popular Nigerian saying that there are many roads to the market.

City are state-owned, backed by the seemingly endless coffers of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Abh-Dhabi royal. Real Madrid is owned by the people and steered by President Florentino Perez.

Manchester City play a disciplined, highly calculated brand of pressing football. The team works like a clock. They play out from the back. A center back drops into midfield to create a spare man. They play out little triangles on the flanks, ending in cutbacks. 

Lately, Rodri has started joining the attack aggressively, mirroring the Gundogan midfield role of years past. And now they have started to shoot from outside the box. 

With City, you know what you’re getting as Pep Guardiola, arguably the greatest coach the game has ever seen, will have it no other way. Whether you can stop it is an entirely different question. 

Like the fire nation drills piercing through Ba Sing Se’s infamous walls, this City machine just won’t stop running. 

Real Madrid, led by Carlo Ancelotti, the only manager to win the UEFA Champions League four times and the first and only manager ever to have won league titles in all of Europe’s top five leagues, are a different animal. You know you’ll always get a W, but you can hardly guess how.

I’ve watched Ancelotti’s Real Madrid hold the ball and pass the opponent to death. I’ve seen Real Madrid sit back against lesser teams and wait to counter the opponent on the break. When they’re in the mood, they can bombard the opponent from minute 1 to 90 with no thought of defense or control. 

Real Madrid can look lifeless for 85 minutes and stage a comeback in the last 5 minutes of the game. The Great Whites will play with Rodrygo, Vini, and Ferland Mendy on the left flank, leaving the entire right flank to Dani Carvajal. 

For Los Blancos, it’s all about creativity in the moment, thrilling chaos, and versatility. 

In 2022, Carlo Ancelotti played counter-attacking football, expecting that City’s high-octane pressing would tire them out. It worked. Aided by the dynamism and speed of physical players like Camavinga, Carvajal, and Rodrygo, Real Madrid staged a comeback in three minutes before killing off the game in extra time.

In 2023, Carlo Ancelotti got his tactics horrible wrong and paid a humiliating price. Manchester City trounced Real Madrid 4-0 on the way to a historic treble.

This time around, I expected the game to be different. Scratch that, I expected Real Madrid to win the first leg. But I knew it was going to be war. 

Here’s the case for both sides:

• Real Madrid have NEVER been eliminated by the #UCL holders whenever they meet in KOs.
• This season, Manchester City have scored three goals in every Champions League game this season—nine in a row.
• The 4-0 defeat in Manchester is Real Madrid’s only loss in their last 15 Champions League matches (W12 D2).
• City are unbeaten in 22 European matches (W16 D6), since a 3-1 defeat at Madrid in the semi-final second leg in May 2022.
• City have lost only one of their last 13 games against Spanish teams (W8 D4).

I prepped for this game by following these wise words. Last year, I couldn’t focus on the 4-0 defeat in Manchester because I had an assessment due the next day. I had the game on the screen, but my academic pursuits took centre stage for me and invariably cushioned the effects of a demoralising loss. 

I rewatched the highlights of the game, shaking my head at Carlo’s decision to bench Aurélien Tchouaméni x Antonio Rudiger and watched my team collapse on itself. 

As if on cue, Netflix informed me that Manchester City’s Together: Treble Winners, a six-episode docuseries detailing the Cityzens’ adventures on their way to an unprecedented treble win, was out. 

So, I morphed into a couch potato and binge-watched the whole thing in one day. I watched the episode covering the 4-0 win over Madrid in pain, hoping my flatmate wouldn’t leave his room then. I don’t think I could take the banter. 

I watched all of Real Madrid’s behind-the-scenes training content on YouTube. I washed my Real Madrid jersey and readied it for the game. 

I was ready. My boys had 9 days of rest in the buildup to the game. So, they should be ready too. 

Carlo Ancelotti’s lineup for his historic 200th Champions League match was perfect. 

Tchouaméni in defence, Camavinga’s much-needed verticality and pressing in the centre of the park and of course, Vini and Bellinggoal up front. What could go wrong, right?

Real Madrid rarely start games well. We’re sleeping dragons that often grow in the game. 

Even with that, I couldn’t predict Bernardo Silva’s smart freekick catching Lunin out in the second minute of the game. The Portuguese has now scored against Real Madrid in three successive seasons. 

The Bernabéu, with its closed roof was silent. I was furious in my living room. But the 11 on the pitch were alive! 

Ten minutes later, Eduardo Camvinga carried the ball and unleashed a shot that took a wicked deflection off Ruben Dias to wrongfoot Stefan Ortega.

Two minutes later, in brilliant counter-attacking fashion, my team was ahead, Rodrygo running onto Viní Júnior’s pass and poking a shot through Ortega’s legs with the help of a touch off Manuel Akanji. God, this was peak Madrid football!

We were ahead in the game and honestly should have killed off the game at this point. Vini Jr, who looked too casual for my liking in the game, and Rodrygo spurning chances off the left of City’s penalty box. 

The second half started with Real Madrid frustratingly settling into a mid-block, allowing City to pass across the lines, from flank to flank.

Ancelotti asked Camavinga and Kroos to retreat into their own boxes to control how Pep’s double 8s occupy the half spaces. Alongside, Vini and Bellingham upfront meant the space in front of Real Madrid’s box was always unmanned. 

I saw the script coming. First, Bernardo was given room to take a shot at the edge of the box. Then, Foden had another one.

Both shots sailed into Andriy Lunin’s gloves. The third one didn’t, Phil Foden turning and unleashing a thunderous, curling shot into the roof of Real Madrid’s goal. 

Five minutes later, Joško Gvardiol, a left-footed center back playing at left back for City scored with his weak foot from outside the box to put City 2-3 up in the game. 

Only then did my dear Real Madrid wake up from their slumber, emerging from the mid-block to push City back. Luka Modric’s introduction in the game was key. 

The magic Croatian got on the ball, orchestrating Real Madrid’s play, pinging long balls and evading presses in mesmerising fashion like a ballet dancer. 

In the 79th minute, Vini Jr’s left footed cross found Fede Valverde at the edge of the box, and he delivered a stunning volley to give the Bernabéu life again. 3-3. 

And so it finished.

In between all of this, there are plenty positives to draw from on the white side of the line. Rudiger, who had his name chanted by the Bernabeu, completely locked up the ineffective Erling Haaland. Camvinga, with his ball-carrying and scorpion tackles, proved that he can start and dominate on big nights. 

While it still looks crude, Vini can play upfront, occupying the left-hand space as an unorthodox 9, while Rodrygo occupies the left wing. This left Carvajal with acres of space on the right. It’s something I think Ancelotti’s men should look to explore in the second leg.

Mendy was solid, as usual. Kroos, oh my Toni Kroos. Adding that level of defensive awareness to your game at 34 is truly spectacular. He orchestrated our game and remained aware of the 8s throughout. 

My favourite part was how we were able to disrupt City’s normally flawless build up game.

On the flip side, there’s the bitter taste that we missed an opportunity. We had 9 days to prepare for this game and seemed leggy from the 60th minute. I’m not sure if that’s a result of too much rest?

Bellingham was a passenger in this game. A few runs here and there, but he was unable to influence the game how we know he can. 

I would have also liked to see Carvajal marshall Grealish better. 

So, much like Christmas Day 1914, where English and German soldiers played football and exchanged gifts in No Man’s Land, the hostilities will pause. 

Pep Guardiola will slyly tell us that we need to work on the grass in the Bernabeu. Kevin De Bruyne will exchange jerseys with Luka Modric. Ancelotti will say it was a well-balanced game, and Fede Valverde thinks we let them off the hook. 

But in 7 days, those hostilities will resume, and one must die while the other lives. 

Vamos.