[PREVIEW] Real Madrid vs Manchester United

Competition: UEFA Champions League

Location: Santiago Bernabéu

Date: Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

TV: Sky Sports 2 HD

Betting: Real Madrid 8/13 Manchester United 9/2 Draw 10/3

 

Real Madrid versus Manchester United. Jose Mourinho versus Sir Alex Ferguson. Cristiano Ronaldo versus Robin van Persie. Karim Benzema versus Wayne Rooney. If any game had the potential to be a modern-day classic, it’s this one.

The world will be watching on Wednesday night, as two of the biggest clubs in the world take to the field at the Santiago Bernabeu. Despite the similarities between Real and United in terms of size, their seasons so far couldn’t be anymore different. Whilst Real Madrid trail fierce rivals Barcelona by sixteen points in La Liga, Manchester United sit at the top of the Premier League, with a twelve point lead. Madrid have endured huge amounts of criticism already this season, & Mourinho will be desperate to ease the pressure with a win against a club who have played in three Champions League finals in the last five years.

The Champions of Spain are low on confidence, just a couple of weeks after an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Getafe. Despite a stunning 4-1 over Sevilla at the weekend, Mourinho’s men are in relatively poor form, and United will surely feel this is the perfect time to play the nine-times Champions League winners.

Following a 2-0 win over Everton at the weekend, Manchester United sit twelve points in front of noisy neighbours Manchester City, and confidence at Old Trafford is sky-high. With the likes of Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney scoring goals for fun, and defensive displays improving massively since the return of skipper Nemanja Vidic, you have to feel that United have much more of a chance than many are actually giving them.

A key factor on Wednesday will be Cristiano Ronaldo, and whether his former side can handle the Portuguese international. Ronaldo, unsurprisingly, is in fantastic form following yet another hat-trick at the weekend. United’s weaknesses at the back have been well-documented this season, and Ronaldo, Benzema and co will provide their biggest challenge of the campaign so far. Phil Jones has been utilised in midfield in recent weeks to counter the threats of Gareth Bale and Marouane Fellaini, and a similar role is possible for the game against Madrid, with one eye on Ronaldo.

This is, of course, entirely dependent on Jones’ fitness, which is in doubt after he limped off early in the second-half against Everton. If fit, there is no doubt in my mind that Jones should be one of the first names on the teamsheet, following another impressive display at the weekend. The same can be said for Jonny Evans and Nemanja Vidic, who were both imperious against Everton.

With a midfield pairing of Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley, you get a perfect combination of elegance and experience, along with infectious energy and agility. Add steel and sheer power to that midfield in the shape of Phil Jones, and you get a midfield that has everything needed to handle a Real Madrid midfield without the likes of Xabi Alonso.

On the right-wing, Antonio Valencia offers speed and strength, not only going forward, but also at the back, countering the man he replaced at Old Trafford. As for the left, Wayne Rooney’s hard work and natural desire to help his team would be invaluable to an aging Patrice Evra, who will need to be at his very best to handle one of the best front-lines in Europe. Up front, Robin van Persie will be in store for a frustrating evening, often isolated. However, a player of his class should be able to handle such circumstances, and could prove to be United’s match winner yet again. My predicted Manchester United XI: de Gea; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley, Jones, Rooney; van Persie. My predicted Real Madrid XI: Lopez; Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Coentrao; Higuaín, Xabi Alonso, Modric, Ronaldo; Ozil; Benzema.

Make no mistake, this is going to be an incredibly difficult game for both sides, especially for Manchester United. However, looking at United’s away record this season, particularly in the big games, there is something about this team that makes me think they have a chance on Wednesday. Maybe predicting a United win is bordering on delusional, rather than optimistic, but a score-draw is absolutely possible with the attacking talent on show. Therefore, I’m going to predict a 2-2 draw, with Robin van Persie scoring both goals for Manchester United, and Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos netting for the home side.

Isco – The Cheaper Alternative.

 

It seemed a done deal on Saturday night, Lucas Moura was more or less a Manchester United player. All that was needed was a medical and a signature, according to Daily Mail writer Bob Cass. What a difference three days make. Lucas Moura is still nowhere near being a United player, quite the opposite in fact. With Paris Saint Germain looking set to complete a 45 million euro swoop for the Brazilian, we find ourselves wondering where it all went wrong. We had gone from signing one of the best young talents in the world to being left deflated at another potential failure in the transfer market. Whether it will still happen or not is something that nobody knows, but it is looking more unlikely by the day. So, where do we go from here?

If reports are to believed, Sir Alex Ferguson is planning a move for Malaga wonderkid Isco, one of the most highly regarded youngsters in Spanish football along with the likes of Iker Munian and Javi Martinez. He must be a big money target then, right? Wrong. In fact, Isco could be one of the best buys of the summer, with a release clause of just £16m. But it gets better for potential buyers. It’s well known now that Malaga are in a tough financial situation, trying to cash in on some of their best players to help balance their books. This has already been demonstrated by Arsenal’s capture of Santi Carzorla for a modest £16.5m. This means that Isco’s price could be even lower than the £16m stated in his contract. If Malaga are desperate enough for the money, which it’s thought that they are, they may settle for anything around the £10m mark.

 

This would do two things. Firstly, it would make us as a club look a little less stupid for even contemplating paying £30m for an unproven Brazilian. Secondly, and more importantly, it would help save us up to £20m to spend elsewhere. This money could and probably should be used on a left-back, taking the burden off Patrice Evra on the left hand side of our aging defence. Leighton Baines has been talked about all summer long, and I think it’d be time to cough up the £15m that Everton are demanding. This is all, of course, dependent on our capture of Isco, which is admittedly a long way down the line, and that’s if Lucas Moura does indeed choose Paris over Manchester. I would be in favour of this, along with many others I’m sure. Isco, Robin Van Persie, Shinji Kagawa, Nick Powell and Leighton Baines would be a fantastic summer’s business.

Now, you may be wondering, who is Isco? Where does he play? I was asking people the same thing around about a week ago. Isco is actually very similar to Lucas Moura in many ways, just not as well known. He’s a versatile attacking midfielder who can play in a central role or on either wing. He has been on the verge of a full Spain cap for some time now, at just twenty years of age. In 2011-12, he scored five goals in thirty five games for Malaga. He is the type of player that Sir Alex loves, young, pace and has bags of potential. He could well become a star under the guidance of Sir Alex and his staff alike. Despite being an alternative to Lucas in my eyes, he could well end up being as good or even better than the Brazilian in the future.

Tom Cleverley – The Answer

It’s common knowledge among Manchester United fans that we’ve been on the lookout for a centre midfielder for several seasons now. Wesley Sneijder, Luka Modric and Jao Moutinho are just a few of the names linked with a move to Old Trafford. Big stars of the game I’m sure you’ll agree. But are they needed? All three of them would cost £30m+, a massive price tag for players entering their swansong years in the next couple of seasons. Not only this, but they would all take months to settle in, with the exception of maybe Luka Modric. Despite all of this, so many fans insist on us signing another central midfielder this summer. They say that Michael Carrick, Anderson and Paul Scholes do not possess the quality that they once did, and it’s time to stop placing our trust in ‘been there, done that’ type players. Whilst I agree that these players are not what they once were, I do not think it warrants effectively wasting millions of pounds on a player that we can do without. Besides, what if the answer to our midfield woes was right on our doorstep…

Tom Cleverley has been at Manchester United since he was twelve years of age. He knows the club like not many others do, seeing some of the best players to ever play for the club come and go before his very eyes. He has worked with the likes of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs from being a child. He has worked his way through the ranks at United, even captaining the reserves at one point. He has always been regarded as a player who would ‘do it’ at the top level, along with teammate Danny Welbeck. His ability has never once been questioned by United fans. Ever since he scored on his debut for the first team in 2009, he has consistently impressed everybody at the club. At the beginning of the 2011/12 season, he was in sparkling form, often starting in the centre of the United midfield. He was dubbed Paul Scholes’ replacement, running the show in some of United’s best performances of the season including the 3-2 win over Manchester City at Wembley, the 3-0 win over Spurs at Old Trafford and best of all the 8-2 win over Arsenal. He was delighting supporters who were still reeling from the failure of securing the signature of Wesley Sneijder. Then the inevitable occurred, Tom picked up a series of injuries which hindered his whole season, which never really took off the way it could of. This summer, we find ourselves in the same position as a year ago. Failing to secure the services of an out and out midfielder, we as fans find ourselves wondering where the dictation of play will come from. Sir Alex has openly admitted that Paul Scholes will not be able to play 40 to 50 games next season, so that rules him out. Up steps, Tom Cleverley. After a fantastic Olympic showing with Team GB, Cleverley is once again the name on fans lips, hoping that he can deliver on the big stage again for his club, as well as stay fit throughout.

Neymar Lights Up Old Trafford.

He’s been dubbed the modern Pele, the new Ronaldinho. Neymar is already a superstar of the game at the tender age of 20, and with good reason. Playing in his native country, Brazil, Neymar has blown every other South American player of of the water, scoring an incredible 110 goals in 186 appearances for Santos. So naturally, excitement was at fever pitch on Sunday as Neymar came to the Theatre of Dreams with Brazil as part of the 2012 Olympic Games. Despite playing in a team full of the world’s best young talent, Neymar was still the man that excited everybody. Even Manchester United target Lucas Moura couldn’t steal the limelight in the full 6 minutes that he was on the field.

Neymar did not disappoint, playing a pivotal role in Brazil’s 3-1 win over Belarus, scoring one and assisting two. With the score at 1-1, and Brazil running out of ideas, they won a free-kick on the edge of the Belarus box. Up stepped Neymar to curl in a Beckham-esque free-kick toward the Stretford end. That was Neymar, alright. He’s one of the few players in world football that can live up to the hype. Many consider him to be as good as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but some don’t. They feel he needs to prove himself on the bigger stage, in the Champions League for example. Interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid has been well documented, but the boy wonder has so far stayed loyal to Santos, who payed Neymar’s family £300k when he was 14 just to prevent him from joining Real Madrid. It was £300k well spent, as Neymar has become one of their greatest player ever.

I don’t doubt that one day, Neymar will leave Santos for bigger and better things in Europe. Barcelona are naturally favourites for his signiture, but interest from Chelsea has also been noted, so who knows. All I know is that in the not so distant future, Neymar will indeed be the very best, alongside the likes of an aging Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Who knows, he may well be hitting free-kicks in at the Stretford End again one day…