ZIDANE v GUARDIOLA WHO GOT IT RIGHT?

STARTING LINE-UPS

PEP GUARDIOLA gambled on leaving out Sergio Aguero and it worked. Without a fixed centre forward to mark, Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos looked confused at times and Ramos was shown the red card for a foul on Gabriel Jesus in the second half. Zinedine Zidane also took several gambles. One was to unleash the so-often wild finishing of Vinicius on Manchester City. It backfired in the first half as the Brazilian forward squandered Real’s best chance, failing to bury the rebound from Karim Benzema’s header. The other surprise was Toni Kroos being left on the bench. The game was crying out for his precision passing in the first half. As he left the Bernabeu he was asked if he was OK. ‘Physically, yes,’ he told reporters, clearly not happy about being left out.

CHANGES DURING GAME

ZIDANE’S changes in the second half did not work. He switched Vinicius too late. The Brazilian winger’s legs had gone after a lung-busting 70 minutes. What he lacks in natural finishing he makes up for with the skill and speed that saw him tee up Isco for Madrid’s opening goal. Zidane was perhaps waiting because he felt his side were on top and close to getting the second. Sure enough, as soon as he brought on Gareth Bale, Madrid were pegged back — and worse was to follow. Perhaps bringing on Lucas Vazquez for Vinicius and playing him on the right to protect Dani Carvajal would have saved Madrid from their 10-minute collapse. Guardiola’s first second-half change was Raheem Sterling for Bernardo Silva and when Sterling forced Carvajal’s clumsy challenge in the box, Kevin De Bruyne had the chance to turn the game on his head and he fired home the penalty. For once, Guardiola was relatively unmoved — head down and hands in pockets as City’s staff jumped up and down all around him.

TECHNICAL AREA

GUARDIOLA has always been more animated than Zidane and both were firmly in character last night. Zidane was statuesque, hands in pockets for the most part, often motionless until Isco scored. Guardiola was hyperactive from the first kick, crouching in the corner of his technical area, bouncing up when his team attacked, waving his arms, gesticulating widely and dramatically holding Fernandinho’s head in his hands before sending him into battle for the injured Aymeric Laporte. His frustration turned to joy when the second goal went in. He knows he is 90 minutes now from taking a major step towards this season’s goal.