Real Madrid vs. Manchester City: Areas Where the Tie Will Be Won and Lost
Real Madrid and Manchester City meet at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night for the second leg of their highly anticipated semi-final tie in the UEFA Champions League.
In last week's first leg, a tense and cagey scoreless draw transpired despite the expectation for a more free-flowing and frenetic affair, and it has left the tie delicately poised.
Indeed, the 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium probably gives the advantage to Madrid, who return to the Bernabeu with a simple equation: win at home. For Zinedine Zidane's men, doing so has been fairly routine this season, with Madrid having won all five of their Champions League outings at home (by an aggregate score of 18-0) and 20 of 23 games there in all competitions.
Still, though, the nature of European competition provides City with genuine encouragement, too.
Deadlocked with the glamour boys of this competition, Manuel Pellegrini's side carry with them the threat of the away goal: score one, and Madrid must score two; score two, and Madrid must score three.
For City, that translates into each act being weightier, each move and shot representing greater danger than those of their opponents.
Thus, we have a tie hanging in the balance, and here we take a look at the areas that will shape it on Wednesday at the Bernabeu.
Fitness of Stars
Before a ball is kicked, the dynamic of this contest will be shaped by fitness issues facing both sides.
For Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo is on track to return on Wednesday after missing the first leg, according to Marca, but striker Karim Benzema remains doubtful.
Ronaldo is a physical phenomenon, but reaching top gear so soon after a thigh injury will pose challenges, while the potential absence of Benzema is significant.
Indeed, the Frenchman has repeatedly shown this season that he's vital to Madrid's fluency. Between Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, he stands as the fulcrum others play around, his presence imperative to his team's systematic coherence. If he doesn't recover in time for Wednesday, he'll be sorely missed.
For Manchester City, Yaya Toure should be fit and available for Pellegrini at the Bernabeu, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Given the absence of David Silva, the Ivorian's return is a boost for the visitors, and yet in a season in which his physical powers have diminished, it's hard to anticipate what sort of Toure Pellegrini will have at his disposal.
Will it be the roaming and dynamic goal threat from midfield? Or will it be the ambling defensive headache?
Midfield Battle
For visiting teams, walking out into the Bernabeu is a little different from walking out into the Camp Nou or the Allianz Arena.
When you go to the latter two, you know you're going to be stifled, pushed back, denied possession and forced to chase for the bulk of the 90 minutes. Among the "Super Clubs," Barcelona and Bayern Munich are the outfits that make you feel the most inferior on a minute-by-minute basis.
But Real Madrid at the Bernabeu is a different proposition.
More explosive but less organised, capable of anything but unpredictable because of it, Madrid let their opponents play a little more. They give you space, breathing room; they don't suffocate you.
As such, unlike at the Camp Nou or Allianz where it's often a case of utter dominance in possession versus opportunistic counter-attacking, at the Bernabeu the midfield battle is typically more even. Indeed, Paris Saint-Germain got the upper-hand centrally at the Bernabeu in November; an unfancied AS Roma made a good fist of it in March.
On Wednesday, the central battle should be intriguing.
For Madrid, there is always an expectation for them to dictate contests at home, and in Luka Modric and Toni Kroos—who steadily grew in influence as the first leg played out at the Etihad—they have the two finest midfield architects in this duel.
City, though, do have the tools to go head-to-head here. At the base of the midfield, the rugged and uncomplicated Fernando gives his side a platform; alongside of him, Fernandinho provides the energy, work rate and box-to-box coverage; in more attacking roles, Kevin De Bruyne and possibly Toure add explosion and incision.
This won't be a one-sided showdown at all.
City's Ability to Expose Madrid's Left Side
When Pellegrini left Jesus Navas on the bench for City's weekend clash with Southampton, it looked like a strong indication that the pacey Spaniard will start in the right-sided attacking berth for his side at the Bernabeu.
The plan: expose Madrid's left flank.
Around Europe, it's common knowledge that Madrid's left side can be both a strength and a weakness. With Ronaldo's presence in attack, there's a natural gravitation to that side, while Marcelo's storming runs forward from left-back create an overload.
That combination is often devastating, but concurrently the bombing forward leaves Madrid extremely vulnerable to counter-attacks down that flank. In April, Wolfsburg caused havoc when getting in behind Marcelo; in March, so did Roma, and with better finishing the Italians might have caused an upset.
Thus, key to City's hopes on Wednesday will be their ability to expose the same problem.
In Navas, the visitors have a winger with the pace and directness to get in behind Marcelo and trouble the often-isolated Sergio Ramos.
Inside, De Bruyne can do extreme damage with quick releases, while Sergio Aguero will play on the shoulder of the defence, looking to attack the channels and capitalise on the work of the other two.
Madrid's Approach: Patient or Flat Out?
When Real Madrid closed in on their second-leg quarter-final clash with Wolfsburg in April, a contest in which Los Blancos needed to overturn a two-goal deficit, the message from Zidane was one of patience.
"You have to play this game with your head," he said in his pre-match press conference. "We're not going to win the game in 10 or 15 minutes."
It was a predictable line, but it was still significant. For Madrid that night, the risk was that the occasion would whip them into a frenzy, the excitement and intensity capable of destroying their clarity.
But despite the deficit, Zidane's men resisted the temptation to go flat out; instead, they were thoughtful, controlled and played with a thought for consequence. And won.
Now their task is do so again, and it won't be easy.
As ever, the Bernabeu will have that special feeling on Wednesday. This, after all, is a club that is defined by this competition—the competition Madrid's history is built on and in which the club is surrounded by an almost mythical reputation.
For opponents it can be intimidating, but it creates pressure for Madrid too.
Indeed, there's an historical obligation for Madrid to win, and win in style. They must attack. They must score. They must inspire.
When it's channelled the right way, the results can be extraordinary, but when it's not, when that anticipation consumes them, Madrid can get messy: Their encompassing system falls apart. Their attacking structure because chaotic. Fluency is replaced by freneticism.
It's in those moments when Madrid are at their most vulnerable, and which City will hope to prey on.
Patience is key. Flat out is dangerous.
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