This week has been an up and down one for English clubs in the Champions League. Chelsea were absolutely battered at home by Bayern Munich, losing 3-0 to the German side. On the other hand, Pep Guardiola’s side got a result in Spain. Manchester City showed that Real Madrid won’t threaten Liverpool in the near future.
Manchester City showed that Real Madrid won’t threaten Liverpool in the near future. (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Zinedine Zidane previously dominated the Champions League with Madrid.
The French manager won the trophy an unprecedented three times on the bounce between 2015-2018.
Their last victory in the competition came after beating Liverpool in the final in Kiev.
Los Blancos were fortunate to beat Jürgen Klopp’s side, with their two winning goals being results of horrific goalkeeping errors from Loris Karius.
However, the Galacticos might seems to have faded. Manchester City showed on Wednesday night that Real Madrid are a shadow of the side that beat Liverpool in Kiev.
The Spanish giants went ahead in the tie at the Santiago Bernabeu before allowing Gabriel Jesus to score a header and Kevin De Bruyne to tuck away a penalty, capping off their horror show with a red card for Sergio Ramos – although a Ramos red is just par for the course.
All in all, despite the hosts having their chances, they never looked like clear winners. They didn’t look like blowing away a City side enduring their worst season in years.
The visitors were incisive on the breakaway, the hosts were toothless, wasteful with their chances and brash in the tackle.
With Pep Guardiola’s side banned from UEFA competition from next season, Real Madrid were set to be one of Liverpool’s biggest competitors for the European title – unless there’s a major revamp we can’t see them being a realistic threat.
This season the Madrid side are unlikely to threaten The Reds as they’re unlikely to get past City. They’ll need to score twice at The Etihad to stay in it, Pep will have a plan for that.
With the Spanish giants faltering, Liverpool could match their mini-era of dominance in the competition.