Real Madrid totally dominated Chelsea FC in the first half today, making the entire second half essentially “garbage time.” The Blues didn’t really have many scoring opportunities and failed to bring much of a presence in the final third. Meanwhile on the other side, Madrid’s Marcelo was essentially the man of the match, scoring twice in the first half.
Yes, it was just a preseason friendly, but there are a few takeaways that we can make from this game at Michigan Stadium (The Big House) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
It was certainly a spectacle though; there were a few wonderful sites to behold.
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-The only major, true Chelsea highlight today was Eden Hazard.
The 2014-15 PFA Player of the Year, who suffered a major slip in form this past season, came on in the second half and the crowd roared like a ferocious lion. He scored late in the second half, and then added a second goal in stoppage time that massively “window dressed” the score.
-Many tabloids have consistently claimed that Zinedine Zidane wants to lure Hazard to Real Madrid. The Los Blancos boss was asked straight-forwardly about this transfer rumor in the postgame press conference. Zidane basically said there’s nothing to it. Likewise when he was asked about Alvaro Morata moving the other way, from the Spanish capital to West London.
Again his response pretty much said that there’s no there. We’ll have transcription of these quotes, along with postgame audio from both managers, shortly.
-Phenomenal attendance here today! However, it still fell a bit short of the last soccer game played here, which set an American record for the sport at 109,318 (Real Madrid versus Manchester United).
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This match will only have to “settle” for being #2 all time.
-Many more transfer rumor questions flying fast and furious in the post game presser (Oscar, Diego Costa, Romelu Lukaku etc.) again we’ll have full quotes later. We’ll also have more upcoming features on Conte, Hazard and all of the transfer rumors.
Chelsea might want to consider buying a defender or two in the transfer window as their back line was absolutely carved up by a Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale less Real Madrid attack.
Yes, it’s just a friendly, but the Blues did go with two (arguably 3) of their best 4 starters in defense today, and they did not perform well at all. Back-up goalkeeper Asmir Begovic made some great saves early, and he had to, as there was no help in front of him. Eventually, though Begovic wilted, and made a couple bad mistakes.
Yes, maybe this 4-2-4 formation isn’t the greatest idea in the world.
-ESPN FC Hostess/Reporter/Journalist Alison Bender has previously worked as a presenter for both sides in this match. We reached out to her on Twitter, as we jokingly posited the idea of renaming this game the Alison Bender Cup. She graciously had some fun with it and played along.
Ha! I wonder if this would catch on #allaboutme https://t.co/y1OZ1oE32A
— Alison Bender (@alibendertv) July 30, 2016
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram