Kinda wondering how Modric/Vazquez escaped getting carded in this one, lost count how many times Modric fouled Arthur.
Because none of the fouls came even remotely close to being neither malicious nor to stop Arthur from developing and play.
And contrary to the popular belief of your average football fan, there is no "accumulate x fouls get carded" rule in football.
If you do 2-3 borderline tackles, then yes, a ref can say "I warned you this is now a yellow". But if all the fouls are little harmless fouls like the ones Modric did - then never a yellow.
Barca is the favorite in the return leg and Messi always has a strong game there.
And as good as 1-1 away at Camp Nou sounds for Madrid, I think they'll be slightly disappointed in not coming away with more.
Benzema is playing great - but get this - he's the same Benzema that people have been trashing for 2 years.
Just that it was harder to notice when the attention was on Cristiano and then later Modric, etc.
He's always been one of the best in build up play and play a sacrificial role - but an absolutely vital one - in a historic Madrid squad.
Modric is back to form, Carvajal is back to form, Varane is back to form.
At the same time, Bale looks completely off, Isco is on the bench and Marcelo is now offensively average for whatever reason while still being a defensive liability.
He (Marcelo) looks really, really off.
I don't know how many of you guys played a sport at level where you play a full season and have preseason to get your body ready etc.
There's a point in the preseason where you're getting physically fit where your body does things slower than your brain processes.
Then there's a point at the end of the season (or past it, if your conditioning was good) where you fall off the other end of the spectrum and your body is again too slow for your mind, but for different reasons (exhaustion).
That is how Marcelo looks to me. His movements, body language when running or turning, everything screams to me this is a player nowhere near his best currently.
Anyway...
They were very good in the first half, and even with Messi on, they had a few chances (Bale's first touch was awful on his scoring chance).
My feeling is that they could've come away with more than a 1-1.
...
Barca... It's hard to judge and it really is unfair, judge a team how they look whether or not the greatest player ever is on the pitch or not.
Alba looks like a "normal" LB without Messi, and is this telephatic Messi-enabler when Messi is on and a force to be reckoned with.
Malcolm was very good - even his goal aside - and bossed Marcelo around.
But again, it's almost pointless to go into detail - Messi-Barca is another beast compared to non-Messi Barca.
It's almost like you turn down difficulty on FIFA when you bring Messi on.
