The hard defeat against Manchester United has been a jug of cold water for a Real that practically says goodbye to Europe and that is questioned both in its competitiveness and in its game model. On Sunday it's time to turn the page and face Alavés to face a final part of the season in which we will see if this blow has left consequences or not.
1. ONLY THE LEAGUE AND THE CUP FINAL REMAINS
La Real started the season with many open fronts, but after the half of February both the Europa League and the 2020/21 Cup and the Super Cup are now history. The objective remains to qualify for Europe again, if it is possible to play the Europa League again, and the Cup final pending against Athletic on April 3. The schedule, softer from now on, may play in favor of the Txuri Urdin in achieving these two goals.
2. IMANOL, NO SOLUTIONS
Imanol He was faithful to his idea and put it into practice regardless of the rival. Txuri urdin weaknesses were soon exposed and, although Remiro kept the team alive at half-time, the Oriotarra coach was unable to change anything, insisting on an idea of the game that proved extremely vulnerable and that he insisted on developing it to the end.
3. THE MODEL, QUESTIONED
From the first minute Imanol he defended in the press room the model of the Real, “the one that has brought us here.” Agreeing that surely the model should not be questioned, surely it deserves a review, an update, especially if you want to compete at these levels. Because it was not just Manchester, the whole Europa League has demanded too much from a team that has never felt comfortable and, let's not forget, has only been able to win two games in the competition.
4. EXPECTED EXPECTATIONS
Before the tie, we all agreed that Real had options to overcome the tie for football and by the time this match came. The president himself came to say hours before that the objective was to win in Turin and Old Trafford. But the reality was that Manchester United turned out to be a rival from another dimension. Both Barça and Sevilla have already verified in the Champions League that currently the League seems one or two steps behind powerful opponents from other championships and we must not forget that in the League, today, the txuri urdin are seven and eight points from both, who have also played one game less.
5. THE SEQUELS
A defeat of this type can leave consequences for the squad. Imanol He denied it, but these types of blows are sometimes unpredictable. The fight for fifth place and the Cup final should be sufficient incentive to turn the page and leave the nightmare of Turin behind because, except for Thursday, the team has always been competitive, with brilliant moments.