Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t pleased when questioned about his current goal-scoring form ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League round of 16 clash with AS Roma.
“Since I’ve been in Spain, give me one player who has scored more away goals than me. One. You don’t have one,” said Ronaldo before walking out of the pre-match press conference. Ronaldo remains one of the best players in world football, and while Madrid struggled in the first half, the Portuguese talisman was a key cog, here.
Both sides have turned their seasons around following mid-season managerial alterations, but this still remained an uphill task for Luciano Spaletti, who fielded a 4-3-1-2 that offered pace upfront opposed to a natural centre-forward. This ensured Roma weren’t overloaded in central areas as they dropped into a 4-5-1 out of possession — Radja Nainggolan and Miralem Pjanic closed down Luka Modric and Isco, while Diego Perotti applied pressure on Toni Kroos. Even when Modric moved into deeper positions in the right channel, Stephan El Shaarawy stepped forward to close down the Croatian.
The opening stages of the match witnessed sloppy passing from both sides, which in ways was slightly responsible for the poor attacking play. Despite a positive five-minute spell near the half-hour mark, Madrid’s possession dominance was futile.
“It was a tough match, we knew that. We fought until the end and we took away a big result,” said Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane. “It is normal for the other team to pressure you, [Roma] played well in the first half.
Ronaldo adopted deeper central positions to pick up the ball, and was constantly fouled by Roma holding midfielder, William Vainqueur, yet the Portuguese international was involved in Real’s best moves in the half. He received Raphael Varane’s diagonal over the Roma defence, but fired his effort wide. Less than a minute later, Ronaldo and Marcelo combined, and the latter volleyed his shot inches wide of the far post.
Madrid’s territorial superiority meant their full-backs pegged Mohamed Salah and El Shaarawy a few yards ahead of their centre-backs, but the former constantly surged down the right flank on the counter-attack. While Salah posed a legitimate counter-attacking threat on various occasions, the Egyptian’s putrid production in the final third often thwarted positive Roma attacks.
When Roma enjoyed spells of possession in Madrid’s half, majority of their plays broke down due to the lack of an incisive passer capable of unlocking an organized defensive unit. Alessandro Florenzi appeared to be the key attacking outlet from right-back when he charged towards the Madrid box and played a pass to Perotti in half-space, thus resulting in a pull-back that El-Shaarawy skied over the net.
The right-back served as an outlet due to Ronaldo’s reluctance to track back and Isco’s narrow positioning, but the Italian rarely scampered forward. Ultimately, Roma’s two best chances prior to Real’s opener followed the same template. Vainqueur and Florenzi both clipped balls behind Dani Carvajal for the onrushing El Shaarawy, but vital interventions from Varane and goalkeeper Keylor Navas preserved a vital clean sheet.
Ronaldo’s opener may have been Madrid’s second shot on goal, but it equally represented one of the few breakdowns in Roma’s shape. Salah’s failure to close down Marcelo saw Ronaldo sprint past Florenzi to receive the Brazilian’s pass, and cut in onto his stronger foot to score an exceptional deflected effort.
However, the goal shifted the complexion of the match — Spaletti’s men were shell-shocked and nearly conceded a quick second as Ronaldo broke behind Florenzi again, which highlighted their now disjointed midfield shape. But where Roma possibly should’ve stuck to their initial approach, the Italian side pushed men forward in search of an equalizer, which equally presented more space for Madrid to exploit in open play and on the counter.
Spaletti turned to a natural centre-forward by introducing Edin Dzeko for El Shaarawy, with Roma reverting to a basic 4-3-3. This enabled Madrid to enjoy extended spells of possession in pockets of space, with Ronaldo hugging the left touch-line and Benzema dropping deeper to link play.
Now, Ronaldo received more space to isolate Florenzi and eventually makeshift right-back, Antonio Rudiger, as he grew in prominence with every attack. Ronaldo ran behind Florenzi to nod James’ cross inches wide of the far post, and then returned the favour for the Colombian and Benzema, but both men wasted their opportunities.
Zidane instantly introduced Mateo Kovacic for Isco, and in the latter stages summoned Jese for James. Though, ball retention is a plausible method of preserving a result, additional direct players improved Real’s threat in the final third. Kovacic carried the ball into advanced positions, whereas Jese went on a 60-yard run to notch Madrid’s second goal.
“We should have equalized before the second goal, instead we were not good enough to convert the chances we had,” said Spaletti. “We were scared in defence but we were fast on the counter-attack and must exploit this qualify more often.”
Though, Real’s intent to push forward following Ronaldo’s opener was successful, Zidane’s men experienced a few nervy moments. Pjanic provided penetration from midfield, but Salah’s profligate activity in the final third, combined with exceptional defending from Varane and Ramos kept the hosts at bay.
The final half hour of the match was extremely open, with both sides abandoning the defensive organization that practically stifled the oppositions uninspiring attacks. In that situation, the quality of the personnel often proves decisive, which fully justifies Madrid’s vital away win.
Zidane’s men are simply superior in every position.
