Champions League Drubbing of Basel Is Statement of Intent from Real Madrid

While Real Madrid’s 5-1 thumping of Basel might flatter to deceive, Los Blancos’ Champions League opener sends a loud message to the footballing world—write us off at your peril.

Pre-match talk in many quarters was that there would never be a better time to take on Real Madrid. With just one win in three La Liga games, this rudderless and brittle side was ripe for the plucking.

Just 37 minutes after kick-off—with four goals in the bank and the game finished as a contest—it became clear that, like Mark Twain, rumours of Real’s death had been greatly exaggerated.

Poor Basel must have been left feeling if this is a Madrid at their most vulnerable, thank God they weren’t facing a side at the peak of its powers.

Yet somehow, despite the scoreline, this was always a typical, rather than vintage, performance, liberally sprinkled with what the Madrid public has come to expect from their side, especially on European nights.

Mesmerising goals, great counter-attacking football, individual brilliance, mixed with some horrible defending; the good, the bad and the lovely.

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There isn’t a team in the land who can knock you out with the speed, power and efficiency possessed by Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

The flipside to that is the "glass jaw" of a Real defence which you know will, at some point, drop its guard, not to mention a forward line happy enough to enjoy the spotlight as stars, yet unwilling to put in a shift at the coal face which contrives to put even more pressure on an already stretched back line.

Basel’s only goal of the game was a perfect example, with just three passes contriving to cut a swathe through Madrid—a move that will not have escaped the attention of Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, whose team visit the Bernabeu in November.

Ancelotti’s line-up served due notice of his intentions, and nobody could accuse the Italian coach of negativity or not knowing what he wants.

Nacho and Marcelo were chosen over Alvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Coentrao and played most of the game as wingers in midfield, so high was the line being played by the home side.

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With Toni Kroos playing in front of the defence, it gave James Rodriguez and, in particular, Luka Modric the opportunity to run riot with some wonderful link play to the busy and constantly switching Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.

For the first time in a while, this really looked like a side which was beginning to find its balance.

In goal, Iker Casillas has always been Ancelotti’s first choice and the goalkeeper renewed his love affair with the Real Madrid public thanks in no small part to a blunder by substitute Raphael Varane, whose mistimed header let in Derlis Gonzalez, only for the Basel striker’s effort to be brilliantly saved by Madrid’s No. 1.

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Football fans are fickle mistresses and the subsequent chanting of his name by the same people who booed him off the pitch just three days earlier is an irony which will not be lost on one of the greatest stoppers of all time.

Once again, it was a match of the proverbial two halves for Madrid, and a game when we were able to see the very best and worst of the champions. Slackness and complacency meant Basel could have been right back in it in the second half.

Madrid’s third goal was far more than just a tap-in for Ronaldo, and with a lightning-fast break from their own half, a great defence-splitting pass, a superb cross and clinical finish, it had Real’s fingerprints plastered all over it.

The defensive-midfield situation is still a work in progress, although Asier Illarramendi showed just enough in the last 15 minutes when he came on for Modric leaving Kroos the chance to move to his more favoured creative midfield, to suggest there might be light at the end of the tunnel after the departure of Xabi Alonso.

As for Ronaldo, before the game there had been some ill-informed talk that the lingering knee problem he has been suffering might have persuaded Ancelotti to rest him.

The Portugal international will tell you it’s all about the team, the performance and the result—absolutely not about him. But personal achievements, honours and accolades matter enormously to the former Manchester United man.

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Ronaldo was on 67 Champions League goals before kick-off on Tuesday night, the same as Leo Messi and just four behind Raul Gonzalez’s all-time record of 71 goals. You would get very short odds on Raul’s total not being overtaken by one or both of the players during this campaign.

The idea that Ronaldo would allow Messi to steal a march on him is unthinkable and the possibility of him not starting was always up there with Accrington Stanley’s chances of winning the FA Cup.

Do Real Madrid have enough to win their 11th European Cup and in the process become the first side to retain it since it became the Champions League? Of course they have. Whether they do or not is another matter altogether.

But one thing is for certain: Defensive frailties or not, nobody is going to fancy their chances at the Bernabeu.