OK. Its hard to extract positives out of this but here are my 2 cents on the positives and negatives:
Positive:
1) Ironically, I thought this was the best game we played all season in terms of the build up play. We created several chances and blundered many half chances in the final phase.
2) Bentancur. Big stage for him and I think he did pretty well and he will grow a lot from this.
3) Khedira was our best player in midfield. He showed a lot of character.
4) Higuain played very well and was unlucky not to score.
5) Allegri actually got his tactics right. But it was one of those evenings where the coach mattered less and small incidents make all the difference.
Negatives:
1) Dybala. He did not have an atrocious game but this is the sort of game you would expect him to go up a notch. The red card only magnified things.
2) Defence. At the end of the day poor marking by Barzagli on the first goal and the Chiellini mistake led to the opening for the 2nd goal.
3) Buffon. Sorry to say it, but I think its best to phase in Szcezny now. I know its sacrilage but he is slowly becoming a liability. His saves are overemphasized as people say and wow he is 40 years old etc while his mistakes are generally glossed over.
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Just like how Juventus can keep winning in Serie A by playing badly and getting the result, Real Madrid do the same in the champions league. For several years they manage to grind their way to the final and they know how to win it year in year out. Ronaldo & Messi keep making the difference in Europe - it is getting a little tiring but nobody can deny his brilliance.
I also have to give credit to the crowd for applauding Ronaldo - it felt like destiny as after Del Piero got applauded in Madrid it would happen the other way around. Good to see.
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Honestly, I don't think we require revolution. Benatia was sorely missed in this game and having Pjanic there to take some of those free kicks may have also come in handy. This team only requires NOT losing any champions (Dybala included) while adding a few important reinforcements particularly for the midfield and ageing defence.
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Between 0-1 and 0-2 we were playing okay. The defense was really embarrassing, it's not even good for Serie A level.
I don't think the defence was "embarassing". We played a much more offensive game (partly forced to due to the early goal conceded to sluggish marking). Our weaknesses in defence are not that apparent when we played a more conservative game. Here we had no choice. Although Allegri did his best to balance the attack with defence, our weaknesses at the back all of a sudden become more apparent in these types of games. The fact that we conceded almost as many goals in the champions league compared to the league in only a fraction of the games tells this story loud and clear.
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