Real Madrid v Vfl Wolfsburg, UEFA Champions League 2015-16 - It was the night of Cristiano Ronaldo

April 11, 2002. In the second leg of the quarterfinal clash between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich was expected to be a classic encounter. In the first leg, Bayern sparked twice in the last eight minutes to dash the hopes of Los Blancos to win the match by 2-1. The second leg clash was a do-or-die for Real Madrid, but the Los Blancos bounced back in style to seal a 2-0 win to advance into the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League and ultimately they went on to win the title.

Zinedine Zidane was a proud member of that memorable season and this time around, he’s the coach of his favorite club and last night, the situation was a tricky one for him. His men suffered a shocking 2-0 defeat against another German club, Vfl Wolfsburg and at Santiago Bernabeu, his men needed to show enough character to main their reputation and above all, Cristiano Ronaldo’s (CR7) charisma was much needed in Madrid.

Recently, CR7 has been  harshly criticized for his inability to lift his game to the next level in trying circumstances and against better oppositions. In the first leg quarterfinal clash against Wolfsburg, CR7 was a lost soul and so was the rest of the Madrid unit. Ronaldo’s haters were vociferous after that dismal show and the going was tough for the superstar.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man

But when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. CR7 made the night at Santiago all his own by scoring a hat-trick and shut the mouth of his critics off. It was a different Ronaldo last night. He was more intent to take full control of the game: he was seen to move the ball brilliantly on both the flanks and built a nice duet with Dani Carvajal to keep the Wolfsburg defence at bay, he took the centre forward position to aid Karim Benzema and his focus was sharper than before. He was quick to pick up the passes and utilize those as much as possible to dish out opportunities. 

CR7 scored his 14^th, 15^th and 16^th goal of the Champions League in style: The first one was typical poacher’s goal, the second one was a splendid header from an acute angle and the third was a dipping freekick from 32 yards. He was needed to fire all cylinders and he did that for his team and the fans who had to digest enough harsh words after last week’s defeat against Wolfsburg.

Real Madrid’s defence was rock solid 

It was Real Madrid’s defence, which earned enough criticism from the fans and experts just a week back, but in the second-leg, they were rock solid and denied any chances to the Wolfsburg’s attackers. It was an organized defence and the inclusion of Dani Carvajal was an appropriate one. Danilo was a total flop as a right back and Zidane had to invest faith in Carvajal which pain rich dividends. Carvajal was not only sound in defence but also timed his tackle to perfection.

He aided Ronaldo and Gareth Bale a lot from the back and he is well aware of CR7’s moves which helped him to flourish CR7 on the right more and more.

Real Madrid outclassed Wolfsburg in the midfield battle

Last night, Real Madrid’s midfield was different. Toni Kroos, Luca Modric and Casemiro didn’t come forward that much to attack, but went a bit deeper to control the game and outnumber the German visitors. Compactness was the order of the night and Madrid’s midfield provided just that. 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar