That was the first game I have watched for the past two seasons in which I was left feeling, as early as half time, that we were fortunate to not be losing by 3-4 goals. Such was the anaemic, disorganized, shell-shocked nature of our performance. We were taken by surprise with the first goal, and whilst it’s easy to say that Buffon should have done better, the wicked spin of the ball took the ball yards away from him at a fair pace. Still, we had 90 minutes left in which to find our feet, our rhythm, our form. However, after a period in which we asserted a semblance of control over proceedings, Bayern took over and dominated for the rest of the match, carving through our horribly out-numbered midfield time and time again. The biggest, clearest problem with the midfield was the complete absence of Claudio Marchisio, who failed miserably and tellingly to impose himself on the game in any wave, shape or form.
Our formation seemed more 3-4-2. At this level, we cannot afford to carry any players, especially one of our triumvirate in midfield. Claudio had this tendency to prove ghost-like in matches a few seasons back and we had all hoped and assumed that this part of his footballing character had been stamped out. Unfortunately it hasn’t.
With only 2 of our 3 midfielders in any way involved with the game, we had no chance whatsoever to impose ourselves. Too much was asked of Pirlo; Vidal was our best player, bettering Marchisio in every department. Peluso had a hard, if not impossible time trying to deal with two players charging at him constantly, again due to the lack of covering from Marchisio, with Pirlo offering help instead of the player who many have ear-marked as a future captain.
I have never seen Marchisio as a future capitano because I have always felt he lacks leadership abilities. His game was so shy, I noticed him only twice in the first 65 minutes.
Bonucci’s long passing was a shambles, but again I point to Marchisio since his absence from the game allowed Munich to mark every one of our offensive players, leaving nobody to pass to. I am well aware of Claudio’s wonderful technique, his great mentality and he more often than not seems a world class midfielder. Last night though, he was wretched. Anonymous. A passenger.
The highlight of our first half was the yellow for Mandzukic. Which I hoped at the time would prevent him from pressing too physically in the second period. We did improve after the break, by becoming more compact, regaining a little belief and Marchisio waking up enough to make a handful of touches.
Munich were good, but we were very, very poor, and if it wasn’t for a combination of poor finishing and Buffon we would have lost heavily. A team like Real or Barca would have put 4 or 5 past us, on this form.
It’s not over yet, and I am confident we won’t repeat that performance. We are capable of winning in Turin, but before that happens, we need to find viable, match sharp alternatives to Vidal, Chiellini and Lichsteiner, all of whom are banned for the return leg. We better hope that Isla or Caceres is fit by then, else it will be Padoin on the right. A huge shame to lose Vidal but he did more than anyone else to drag us back into this game, and it’s no surprise that his high ferocity approach earned him the booking.
A good win for Bayern and the only positives taken for Juve are that Bayern managed to miss many chances and kept the score down to something respectable, and also, all great teams must learn how to lose, how to recover, how to react to a poor performance, for no team in history has been amazing every game they have played. The sign of true champions, a cliché but true, is how they react…
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