Juventus 2-1 Real Madrid | Champions League Review
Tuesday, 21 October 08, 09:45 PM · Comments (25)
As I expected, Juventus gave a hell of a game. Although they had many players injured, each player on the pitch was a "key player".
Just five minutes after the kick-off, Del Piero scored a fantastic goal from 25 yards. How did the ball get to him is beyond me, but what I know is that the midfield was absolutely crap. I'm not a professional coach but playing with Sneijder, Gago and Van Der Vaart at the same time was a big mistake.
Why was it a big mistake? Well, because neither Sneijder nor Van Der Vaart would go back and recover the ball. It is not their job and they are not always capable of doing it throughout a match in the first place. This was Gago's job and he sucked at it.
That's where Diarra was missing. Gago, with all due respect, is not a Real Madrid Player or at least he isn't yet. People say he is a good assist and I don't think he made any effective passes tonight. Sneijder worked his ass-off while Gago was watching.
If I were Schuster, I would have started with Javi Garcia or De La Red instead. I know that both of them can't do Diarra's job but at least they would have been better than Gago.
Another thing which I thought was stupid was playing with three strikers while the midfield wasn't that strong and effective to feed those strikers. If Robben wasn't fit then he wouldn't have came in the second half or made the squad in the first place so why the hell he didn't start?
When he came in later, he did an amazing job. I think he was definitely our best player in addition to Sneijder who is getting to full match fitness very quickly.
Amauri scored Juve's second goal from a header. Heinze could do nothing about it but he actually helped him a bit. I thought it was wrong to start with Heinze. I'm not being jerky to Schuster here, but Marcelo would have done a better job had he started.
Heinze looked like a 19 year old who was having his first match with a first team. Nervous, always rushing and confused. I don't know If you agree with me on this but I think he was crap.
We can't blame Ruud or Rau'l tonight because they were simply isolated especially in the first half. In the second half, after Robben came on, they improved a little bit.
Van Nistelrooy scored our only goal from a header. I was screaming when I saw the ball in the back of the net, while my Dad (who was supporting Juventus - pure Italian) was shouting "Damn it, I hate this guy, he never misses" LOL.
I thought we'd equalize but it just didn't happen. Sneijder gave it a shot a few times and one of his strikes hit the post. He was totally frustrated.
Drenthe came in for Van Der Vaart. He didn't have much to do. I think Schuster thought he'd re-create what he did against Atletico, but here is a little tip from a little kid, Schuster: when Italians are winning, and it is just a few minutes before the final whistle, don't bother. Of course this isn't always true and you could actually win in injury time, but generally, it is difficult to do it against an Italian team and Juventus were a typical Italian team tonight. I say kudos to Raniari for a hell of a lineup he chose tonight. I wonder If he had our players in his hands, how would his lineup be?
Anyway, it wasn't that bad and we are not in a difficult position. Actually we are better than we were a few years ago, especially in the Champions League. Now the team should concentrate on the game against Atletico Bilbao, that is a must-win game for me.
Thats all from me. I'd love to hear what you have to say on tonight's game.
Hala Madrid!
| Juventus | Manninger | Grygera | Molinaro | Legrottaglie |  Mellberg 48' |
Chiellini | Momo Sissoko | Marchionni | Nedved | Marchisio |
|---|---|
| Salihamidzic 37' |
|
| Del Piero | Gol 5' |
| Amauri | Gol 51' |
| Iaquinta 80' |
| Real Madrid | Casillas | Sergio Ramos | Pepe | Cannavaro | Heinze | Gago | Sneijder | Van der Vaart | Drenthe 78' |
Raúl |
|---|---|
| Van Nistelrooy | Gol 68' |
| Higuaín | |
| Robben 56' |
Like this blog? Help spread the word: 
yup... 2-1! Game over. When the hell are we ever gonna play good football? We can't win properly against a decent team, let alone a good one. I mean, I am sure United would have thrashed Juve on the same day. There is a much less experienced team called arsenal destroying fenerbache with 5 goals! Lyon with 5, and really, how much more frustrating could it possibly be? Why bernd played Nistelrooy on the left is beyond me, really, he is still the only striker worth speaking about in our team. Why Schuster isn't playing Robben - Sneijder - Vaart in the midfield is something science fiction writers might take up as topics for their new novels. Pepe is still awful, really, he is making too many mistakes to be on such a good team, our 2 CBs should definitely up their game. Our midfield wasn't too bad today, has to be said. Sneijder was amazing, I liked Gago, Vaart was ok, though I liked his shot from long range. Now comes the time for the strikers. Van Nistelrooy, has to be handed to him, never fails to impress. Always plays hard, has an amazing eye for goal and most importantly, scores and is a team player. Despite of his age, he is as wonderful as ever. Now, we had 2 other strikers in today's line up, Higuain and Raul. Ill start with the player I dislike the most in our squad, Higuain. The guy is simply horrendous, I cannot hate him more, unlike RVN, he never fails to disappoint. Really, I was watching the game, and he got the ball in the right flank, now, there are 3 defenders on him, a normal (normal = not messi.. 
) would pass the ball to a better option, but Noooooooo, he has to take all 3 by himself. THere were more than one occasion when he tried to do too much by himself which resulted in him losing the ball. Now, this is not good by any means. He really is a joke, his finishing skills are worth laughing at. Really, i hate a solo player, and a solo player Higuain is!
Reply to realfreak:
Schiter mistakes
1.ROBBEN SHOULD'VE BEEN A STARTER! notice how the game changed when he came on.
2. DelaRed should've started instead of gago
3.Marcelo in place of heinze would've been great and save us from conceding that goal.
4.Raul should've been on the bench. To me...
WOW you hit it on the head it wasn't so much as the players losing it as Shuster loosing it for the players with his dumb line up he actually thought he was going to go into Juventus's home and play with 3 up front and 3 in the middle to hold the attack, you see what happened to Real when we played with the 4 in the midfield in the second half we controlled the game but wow Sneijder and Gago played very well. Shuster grow some balls take Raul out.
I think we played good but we were unlucky. I guess the main problem was prior to Robben coming in all the attacks came through Heinze????? It was mostly from the left wing!!!
I think Heinze had a terrible game. His defense was a bit off!!
Can someone tell me why Raul wasn't substituted instead of Higuain!!! How much did Raul contribute in the second half? I think Schuster needs to get more BALLZ and take Raul out when he is not affective! Give Higuain more time to develop! Give Saviola a chance!
I think if Higuain was still in when Robben came in that it would of been a different game.
For God's sake , RAUL RETIRE . I was covering the game and I was really really surprised how schuster was tactically outclassed .. man I wish I was old enough when Del Bosque was in office .. those were days .
You're right, Marcelo should've have started and so should've De La Red but the problem was Robben couldn't have started or we could have risked losing him again 
One, thing, Raul played MUCH better than both Higuain AND RVN, he didn't score but he was big trouble for Juve and he's still got it in him so stop criticizing him. I didn't imagine that such a day would come when people would start insulting Il Capitano, he's a legend and I would never think to doubt him 
It just wasn't meant to be but i'm sure that if we can chop up our full-strangth side for the next match then Juve will have something coming their way on the 31st. Good effort though, we haven't had too much experience with BIG teams lately and it was good to face one. No need to get worried, we're Real Madrid, we'll get back in style.....hopefully 
Hala Madrid!
This was a very poor result and performance. I really was expecting at least a draw and probably a win, but we just never got going. Take nothing away from Juventus: They played very well and wanted the win more.
They're is still flaws in our team. Marcelo should (almost) always start before Heinze. Save for the closing games of last season it hasn't happened for Heinze at MADRID. His lack of possitioning and ability to read the game has cost us on several occasions. He cost us again tonight.
As much as i love him, Raul is past his prime. He had a great season last year, but that was his first really good season in four years and could have been nothing more than an indian summer. Sluggish and non-exsistent far too often already this season he seems to lack hunger and his old sparkle that made him so special. Now is the time for Saviola to get a chance. A good, naturaly talented player i believe he is and think he would be hungrier than Raul too.
A lot of you want Robben to start because he done well when he came on but he is definitley, in my opinion, better when used as a sub. If you look at all the games he's played well for us it has either been when he's came on as a sub or he's had a good first half then faded in the second half. For example last seasons 4-1 win over Barca. Good before half-time, non-exsistent after the break until he was subbed. He was the same at Chelsea.
Overall this was a wake-up call that we can't get away all the time with playing so substandard. I think Schuster needs to decide what his best eleven is and stick to it, certainly for the big games. Of course you need to rotate the squad every now and again to freshen things up, give players a chance or give players a rest, but a consistent starting eleven needs to gel.
HALA MADRID!!!
25 Madridistas have commented on "Juventus 2-1 Real Madrid | Champions League Review" · Add yours
From the beginning I felt that this game was "to be or not to be" for Juve!I think their whole season somehow depended on this match!
We did not expect that and were scared and confused!We are not expirienced enough,for the biggest results in CL we still need some time and one player!
I am not very sad coz they won,t be happy after Madrid revenge at all!
Schiter mistakes
1.ROBBEN SHOULD'VE BEEN A STARTER! notice how the game changed when he came on.
2. DelaRed should've started instead of gago
3.Marcelo in place of heinze would've been great and save us from conceding that goal.
4.Raul should've been on the bench. To me TIIC at Madrid think that having him keep trying to score in CL games so he can be the player with the most goals is stupid. if he was on the bench, Ruud and higuain and Robben would be up front.
5. Leaving Saviola behind.
6. He used his 3 main strikers to start. Dumb move.
7. His formation sucked.
8. Taking off VanDerVaart
Even though real had most posession.....they sucked. Sad to say. I started enjoying the game when Robben came on and then Ruud scored the goal I began to believe that we could've salvaged a draw atleast but it was not to be.
Hard Luck. juve. see you in the Bernabeau