TOPS / FLOPS – An elusive Vinicius, irreproachable goalkeepers but also scorers at half mast, find out what caught the attention of the editorial staff after Real-City (1-1).
TOPS
Vinicius untenable
A constant danger. On his left wing, Vinicius Jr was surely the best Madrid player on Tuesday night, during the Real Madrid-Manchester City semi-final first leg (1-1). Offensively, he was a constant threat and weighed a lot with speed, successful dribbling and this goal, of course. An exceptional strike from outside the area which allowed Real to open the scoring (36th). Not stingy in defensive efforts, the Brazilian delivered a full match.
De Bruyne always at the rendezvous
With 55 balls touched, the Belgian certainly had less influence compared to that which he usually diffuses but he is still decisive. He often sounded the charge with strikes (8th and 52nd) but each time De Bruyne had come up against his compatriot Courtois. Except in the 67th where his powerful strike from the right pierced the Madrid defense and its goalkeeper. A goal that weighs before the return.
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Solid Courtois and Ederson
Both goalkeepers were present in this first leg semi-final. Thibaut Courtois made five saves, several of which were classy as on Rodri’s strike in the first half or in front of De Bruyne in the second with a nice firm hand. Ederson was not left out and preserved the draw. The Brazilian was decisive twice at the end of the match with a header from Benzema and a strike from Tchouaméni.
FLOPS
Haaland invisible
We expected it and for his first Champions League semi-final, the Norwegian only touched 21 balls in 93 minutes. Way too little. Erling Haaland only existed in the first period with a cross shot (15th) and a header on target (16th). He then disappeared and seemed a little borrowed as on this opportunity where he was taken over by Alaba (56th).
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Benzema well muzzled
Like Haaland, the Frenchman is expected at this kind of evening and this time he did not take out the savior’s cape. Like his Norwegian counterpart, Karim Benzema suffered against the opposing defense with only 37 balls touched. He weighed little offensively in the end even if he had a golden opportunity with a header at the end of the game (78th). On the other hand, he gave a lot defensively, especially in the first half, with significant pressing and interesting replacements.
