Carlo Ancelotti’s first match against his former employers Real Madrid ended in a 1-0 defeat for Bayern Munich in a pre-season friendly in New Jersey on Thursday.
While the match was expected to be a high-scoring one, a single goal by Danilo was all that separated the two sides.
The Brazilian fullback has faced a lot of criticism for his poor performances last season. However, he showed his manager Zinedine Zidane exactly what he could bring into Los Blancos’ attack by scoring a wonderful long-ranger in the 79th minute. Let’s take a look at all the talking points from the pre-season friendly between the Bavarian and the Spanish giants.
David Alaba shows his class from set pieces
Bayern Munich have a number of dead ball specialists. However, it was David Alaba who out-shone everyone in this game. The Austrian international always looked like a potent threat from close-range dead ball situations, as he turned out to be a constant menace for Real Madrid goalkeeper Kiko Casilla. The 24-year-old even managed to hit the woodwork once in the first half.
The Austria international has recently been linked with a move to Real Madrid, and his performances against Zidane’s men will only serve to increase the Spanish club’s interest in Alaba. However, we are about to see to why we think that this move is unlikely to happen.
Marcelo posing an immense attacking threat
The Brazil international’s performance against Chelsea in their last pre-season friendly was by no means a one-off. Marcelo carried his good form into the Bayern game too, as he surged forward to help the Real Madrid attackers in the opposition box.
While Danilo scored the spectacular winner, it was Marcelo who made one of the best moves of the match. The 28-year-old intercepted the ball on the left wing, cut inside and played a delicious chipped pass to Alvaro Morata, who managed to get behind the defence inside the box. However, the former Juventus player failed to put the chance away.
Do Real Madrid need another midfielder when they have Isco?
Real Madrid have been rumoured to be looking for a midfielder this summer. The likes of Paul Pogba, Marco Verratti and Moussa Sissoko have all been linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu. However, with the amount of talent they have in their midfield , it is really questionable whether Zidane needs to sign another one.
While the likes of Mateo Kovacic shone in the previous games, Isco churned out a brilliant performance against Bayern Munich. The Spaniard kept the Bayern attackers in check with his high work rate, and even managed to hit the woodwork once as he unleashed a vicious shot from outside the penalty area.
Bayern’s Spanish-speaking trio rule the midfield
Real Madrid may have won the match, but the Bavarians will take the most positives out of this pre-season friendly. Bayern Munich’s Spanish-speaking trio of Xabi Alonso, Arturo Vidal, and Thiago Alcantara completely dominated the midfield in the game.
In true Pep Guardiola fashion, the three Bayern midfielders worked hard to press Real Madrid whenever Los Blancos gained possession of the ball. Staying true to his role, Alonso played as the defensive midfielder as he sat back and tried to distribute the ball to his teammates. Meanwhile, Thiago and Vidal were the ones who were trying to get into dangerous positions. However, Bayern lacked the presence of Robert Lewandowski up front as they failed to capitalise on their chances.
Deep defending does the trick for Real Madrid
Zidane’s men showed some real resilience in defence during the game as they sat back and defended deep against the Bavarians. The defensive pairing of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane were impregnable on the day.
This was in stark contrast to the Chelsea game where Real Madrid were playing a high line towards the end of the game. Zidane seems to have realised how dangerous playing like that is, as Eden Hazard managed to score two goals against Los Blancos when he managed to find space behind the defence .