How Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti got outclassed by Arsenal in the UCL quarter-finals? | OneFootball

In the last few years, Real Madrid have rather spoiled their fans with their ability to spring a miraculous comeback in their favourite competition, the UEFA Champions League. As a result, a significant portion of the fans still believed in their team’s chances to spring another surprise and advance to the semi-finals of the UCL despite the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal in the first leg.

However, instead of putting in a spirited shift to get the desired comeback, the Merengues ended up being defeated once again by the English side, thus putting to bed any debate about which of these two teams were better on the pitch.

A lot of blame for these two defeats rests on Carlo Ancelotti’s shoulders, while the players themselves left a lot to be desired in this clearly underwhelming UCL campaign, in which the Merengues suffered defeats to Lille, AC Milan, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid (In the second leg of the Round of 16 tie), and Arsenal.

Against the Gunners, there were several deficiencies apparent in the team’s structure, which Carlo Ancelotti should have solved at this stage of the season.

For instance, the team once again relied mostly on the individual brilliance of their star-studded forward line of Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe, and Rodrygo Goes, without too much emphasis on putting in a cohesive team structure that would have allowed Los Blancos to control the game effectively.

The midfielder was quite one-dimensional, as Jude Bellingham, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Federico Valverde provided a lot of physicality and energy, but were once again found lacking in technique, fluidity, and creativity. In Ancelotti’s defence, Dani Ceballos was nowhere near his best physical level, and Luka Modric is also too old to rely on in such intense games.

However, some other decisions from the Italian tactician remain head-scratching. For instance, as was the case in the first leg, he once again opted to play David Alaba as the left-back, while Fran Garcia would have been a more understandable option, keeping in view that Real Madrid were looking to overcome a 3-goal deficit.

On the other flank, he deployed Lucas Vázquez while playing Valverde in the midfield. Vazquez was still one of the players who did not lack in effort in this game, so this decision does not deserve a lot of criticism. Still, one can argue that playing Valverde as a right-back could have been the better decision in these circumstances.

Beyond these managerial decisions, the players also deserve a lot of criticism. To begin with, Raul Asencio gave away an unnecessary penalty right at the start of the game. Although Thibaut Courtois was able to keep it out, this error could have ended any hopes for a comeback for the Merengues from the word go.

Furthermore, the players also ran significantly less, up to 8 km, than Arsenal, and this lack of effort ultimately reflected itself on the scoreboard.

The star forwards Vinicius, Rodrygo, Bellingham, and Mbappe also failed to threaten Raya’s goal a lot, as they took only five shots on goal in total in both legs. As Diario AS has noted, this was only one shot less than a single Arsenal player, Declan Rice, who plays as a midfield pivot, and who had two goals to show for these shots.

Thus, both the manager and the players deserve equal blame for this failure in the UCL. However, the season is not over just yet, and hopefully the team will be able to spring a fightback in La Liga, and also get a win in the upcoming Copa del Rey final against Barcelona.