Not at all what I expected considering the scoreline. I think Madrid were fair winners, but not an impressive showing from either team really. That said I think Madrid will take some confidence from the result even if they shouldn't take too much.
You can only control what you can control and you need to play to players' strengths more. Suarez and Dembele out, Messi and Alba playing injured, but you can still make better decisions. I won't blast Setien, but it's clear that the team needs a reference point in attack. The midfielders are not the right option for that. Messi and Griezmann too are not the right options. Brathwaite should have started and we should have played a 4-3-3. We didn't need four midfielders out there and Vidal was the worst player for us and probably in the match itself. Regardless of that and regardless of the performance, there are still some positives. We were the better side in the first half, we created some good chances and Madrid only lead the league by a point. Still Madrid probably have the psychological edge at the moment, we're still hurting with injuries and a small squad and our away form is still a concern.
The run-in for the league shouldn't be too challenging, but we'll need to be more consistent and we'll need some players to step up.
You can only control what you can control and you need to play to players' strengths more. Suarez and Dembele out, Messi and Alba playing injured, but you can still make better decisions. I won't blast Setien, but it's clear that the team needs a reference point in attack. The midfielders are not the right option for that. Messi and Griezmann too are not the right options. Brathwaite should have started and we should have played a 4-3-3. We didn't need four midfielders out there and Vidal was the worst player for us and probably in the match itself. Regardless of that and regardless of the performance, there are still some positives. We were the better side in the first half, we created some good chances and Madrid only lead the league by a point. Still Madrid probably have the psychological edge at the moment, we're still hurting with injuries and a small squad and our away form is still a concern.
The run-in for the league shouldn't be too challenging, but we'll need to be more consistent and we'll need some players to step up.