The most reasonable Madrid needs the irrational in Manchester

• Real Madrid.Zidane: "Bale preferred not to play"

The most reasonable Madrid needs, today, the irrational. It is his paradox in Manchester, where he comes burdened by his defeat at the Bernabéu (1-2) in a time that we have already forgotten, in that past time that was always better, and more after this nightmare. Madrid was the one who best adapted to the confinement between soccer's tenants. When he returned, he won the League with a very orthodox version: defensive strength, balance and maximum profitability of the goals. If the tie started again or even played in a single match, they would be strong arguments, but given the need for a comeback, a victory by more than a goal against a team that distinguishes the punch, it will not be enough. In the Etihad, Madrid must appeal to its history, to the comebacks that made it fearsome and indecipherable. To the irrational.

If anyone knows what we are talking about, it is Pep Guardiola , raised between fear and hatred of Madrid, a hatred fortunately liquefied in the professional class. The City coach is a soccer taxidermist, obsessive and meticulous, but he has spent his entire career, as a player and as a coach, faced with an intangible that, as he said yesterday, "is difficult to analyze." Rodri did it : «They are more than a team. They have a way of playing that does not allow you to relax, even if you are winning by three or four to zero, they always come back. They have the great personality to be the champions they have been in the last 20 or 30 years. "

Michael Laudrup , who first suffered it and later shared it, explained it as follows: "Where the other teams die, Madrid lives." The only solution is not to even get there, and that is what Guardiola will try. He did it during campaigns in which he passed through the Bernabéu as an impious Roman century in Gaul, but Messi was in his ranks . After his departure from Barça, without the Argentine, nothing has been the same. The humiliating fall with Bayern, thrashed at Allianz himself (0-4), was the Waterloo of his German stage.

In that match, on the way to Lisbon, Madrid won 0-4 with two goals from Sergio Ramos , the key man in the final for the faith that the others had lost. His discharge, today, by sanction is more than a structural problem for Zidane . It is like jumping into the field with a bleeding in the soul. Pillar of the defense and mast of the team, the defender is the emotional leader of Madrid, the player who best represents the irrational. It is not by chance, therefore, that despite not being able to jump onto the field of play, he was included by the coach in the call and traveled to Manchester. The coach wants his presence on the bench, where he will surely make himself known, to his colleagues as the vision of the Cid killed on horseback for Christians. In the hours that remain for the game, the captain will be key to the mentality of his own. In this role, he is complementary to a coach with few words, who prefers to speak privately with footballers and is not prone to harangues. Zidane's authority is based on the seduction of the character. It is inhaled.

The absence of Sergio Ramos gives Varane the baton in the center of a defense that will have a lot of work, because the City attacks with many pieces to produce the terror that is created when a honeycomb is shaken. Guardiola has lost his main hitter, Kun Agüero , injured, but his absence is not comparable to that of Sergio Ramos in Madrid, so both represent beyond their purely football value. De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus and Sterling offer Guardiola's team extraordinary versatility. With 102 goals this season in the Premier, he is, despite not having won the title, the highest scoring team in the major European leagues. Madrid has scored 70 in the domestic tournament, 32 fewer.

In the midfield of City, Rodri and Gündogan are two very complementary midfielders, the former more positional and the latter more dynamic. Without ruling out David Silva, who is saying goodbye to City this season, in a different, more complementary role, but with equally decisive minutes.

In defense, Guardiola must compensate for the loss of Benjamin Mendy and everything indicates that he will bet on placing the young central defender Eric García , 19, next to Laporte , despite his desire not to renew his contract with the English club.

There are few doubts about the system for Guardiola, while Zidane may pose the dilemma of choosing a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2, alternated during this season and the previous stage of the Frenchman in Madrid. Without Bale or James, whom he left at home, and with Hazard played, despite the fact that he said he had improved. Vinicius and Asensio are alternatives to accompany Benzema , one of the team's cardinal points along with Casemiro , the absent Sergio Ramos and Courtois . This would subtract a midfielder, Isco, Valverde or Modric , in this order, and would make Madrid more vulnerable, but also more powerful in attack on a day that must win and, at least, score two goals.

Benzema becomes the leader of the attack of the era that began with the departure of Cristiano. He was always a footballer to Guardiola's liking, but the Catalan took yesterday one step further, allowing his comparison with the number one in contemporary football: «I have known him well since the times when he was managing Barcelona. He is one of the 20 footballers who at some point have managed to be at Messi's level ».

The French striker puts, therefore, according to two technicians of the same generation. In fact, Guardiola, at 49, is one older than Zidane. They also had a similar upbringing, jumping from the subsidiary to the first team, one in Barcelona and another in Madrid, although Guardiola has led more than triple the number of matches (see chart), in Spain, Germany and England. In this journey, especially in the Premier, he has known how to adapt, even if he started from a non-negotiable possession. If you have to fight back, fight back without prejudice, and very well. Similarly, if Zidane is to defend, he defends. The Champions League is the only thing the madridista wins, and it is just what, today, with the round of 16, is played.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• Pep Guardiola
• Sergio Ramos
• Rodri
• Thibaut Courtois
• Luka modric
• Eden Hazard
• Germany
• David Silva
• Spain
• Gareth Bale
• Isco Alarcón
• sports
• Graphics

Europa League 2019 - 2020Manchester City: balls to De Bruyne

LaLigaThe Benzema revolution, between cupping, diet and an amulet

2020 Champions LeagueManchester City: balls to De Bruyne

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