Do Real Madrid Defend Better When Cristiano Ronaldo Doesn’t Play?

Like Cristiano Ronaldo, you were probably happy that you had some other form of entertainment on hand when Real Madrid went to Manchester City in midweek for their UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg.

Whatever you did—check Twitter, browse this website—the Portuguese superstar chose to pass the time during what was a fairly dull affair by keeping track of his Instagram account, but one thing he can’t fail to have noticed was just how well his team-mates defended.

We can often get carried away in football with the outcome of first-leg scores, forgetting that, by their very definition, they are simply just the first part of the story.

By stopping City from scoring at the Etihad Stadium, Real have set themselves up perfectly for the return leg in the Spanish capital, where they’ll hope the awesome attacking power of Ronaldo will be back to complement their other superstars.

But by not having him available in Manchester, were they actually at an advantage? The selection of Lucas Vazquez and then the second half appearance of Jese meant they had two nimble, energetic attackers who were more than willing to get back and help their side keep their shape.

This isn’t meant as a criticism of Ronaldo, of course, but not having him in the side just makes Real that little bit more like all the other teams.

They have to …

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