It was the first clash between Alvaro Arbeloa and Pep Guardiola. A novice coach in the ways of high competition and who was stepping for the first time in the knockout stages of the Champions League. On the other hand, a coach who changed the history of soccer, who has won three Champions League and for whom the knockout stages of this competition are a regular task.
From this equation of unequal approach, the Real Madrid coach emerged as the absolute winner. Despite the tremendous number of absentees in his squad, his team crushed Pep Guardiola’s side and travels to Manchester with an impressive 3-0 lead. A scoreline that no one has been able to overturn against Los Blancos in European competitions.
What looked like a difficult night for Madrid, especially after seeing the staging and the gallops of Doku, changed radically after Valverde’s first goal. From that moment on, Madrid won in every inch of the field. Their goalkeeper was better, their defence more forceful, their midfield more reliable and their attack more lucid.
The debut of the duels between Arbeloa and Guardiola ended with a clear superiority for the Madrid coach. His team interpreted the game as best they could. On the other hand, everything Pep tried to change his team’s dark night had no effect.
No one has ever come back from 3-0
The defeat at the Bernabeu, against a team that Barcelona had under control with Guardiola, extends his poor results in Spain since he left as Blaugrana coach. It is four wins in 14 games against LaLiga teams.
Now the battle turns into a game of chess for the Etihad, in which all the winning moves are on Arbeloa’s list.
Guardiola faces a task that no one has ever overcome: to overturn a three-goal deficit against Madrid. There were those who came close, such as Dortmund and Klopp in 2013-14, but Madrid survived the scare and went on to become champions.
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