No Vinicius, No Party
Without Vinicius there is no paradise. Manchester City neutralized the threat, with a supreme Kyle Walker in their marking, and nipped the danger of the white team at the root. At the Etihad, Ancelotti’s men showed they had no real alternatives to the overflow of the Brazilian. Plan A was to wait for the citizens to mature possession until some crack appeared through which the speed and edge of the 20 could slip . In the first leg it worked, with a supreme kick that drove the Bernabéu crazy. In the return, Vinicius was inhibited and crushed by local dominance, plan B did not appear in Madrid. And that is where the trip to Istanbul in search of the Fifteenth disappeared.
Walker is the kryptonite of Vinicius
Kyle Walker, the kryptonite, came to the same conclusion: “Real Madrid obviously have fantastic players all over the field, but Vinicius is their best weapon. And once you take him out of the game, do they have a plan B? ”. By the way, he puffed up the variety of registers that his team manages: “What I love about this team is that we all know our role, our responsibilities. Sure, we have De Bruyne, Grealish, Haaland…We don’t depend on just one player.” In fact, when all the lights were on Haaland, the destabilizing element was the second line, personified by Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne. Madrid minimized the Norwegian giant, who (despite their good second leg) did not fail in the tie. City did the same with Vinicius and the 14-time European champion’s light went out.