In a scenario that was so dramatic that it was almost expected, Real Madrid once again failed to produce the goods in the European Champions League. After spending around a quarter of a billion dollars in the summer for the cream of Europe's players, Real in their traditional white soccer uniforms put up a limpid performance in front of 100,000 home fans to be held to a 1-1 draw, and go out 2-1 on aggregate. Irrespective of the hype surrounding the "new Galacticos", the cruel hard facts are that Real are out of the Champions League at the first knockout round for the sixth year in succession, and someone has a lot of explain to do why, when it came to the crunch, Real failed to produce the goods.
Yet it all looked so different in the sixth minute at the Bernabeu, when super expensive signing Christian Ronaldo put Real ahead on the night, and meaning that the tie was all over. In an ideal World, Real would then have gone on to add one or two more goals just to seal the victory, put on a show for the fans and confirm their role as the top team in Europe, and put these upstarts in Barcelona and Manchester in the their place.
And as the first half wore on, and Real Madrid, playing some lovely football, failed to find the net and that feeling of déjà vu began to creep in for the home fans. At half time in the dressing room, the team talks must have been interesting, and it appeared that real had come out for the second half with a siege mentality while Lyon's manager Claude Puel had managed to convince his players that this tie was theirs for the taking. And they went on to prove him right by equalizing through the Bosnian Miralem Pjanić who slammed a crisp shot home from 12 yards as the Madrid superstars looked on in wonder. The goal appeared to crush real's resolved altogether, and the tie petered out to a draw. As the Lyon players celebrated their victory, and superstar Christiano Ronaldo slipped quietly from the field you can't help wondering what his thought were, and especially what it might feel like to go back to Old Trafford.
David Beckham, also a modern hero who learned his trade under the watchful glare of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester, made an emotional return to the scene of most of his former glories last night. David, despite his superstar status has always retained his humility, was obviously moved by his welcome from the Old Trafford faithful when he came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute. He might not have been so welcome if Manchester were not ahead 3-0 at the time with the tie well and truly in the bag.
And once again it was Wayne Rooney who put them there. He put united ahead in the 15th minute with yet another fabulous headed goal, and added a second soon after the start from a fine pass by Nani. The hyper-active Ji-Sung Park drilled in the third on the hour to put Milan out of their misery, and after that it was a stroll for the Reds and an opportunity for Beckham to bid his fond farewell to the European soccer stage that he has graced so well for years. Darren Fletcher put even more icing on the cake with a late fourth. What stood out on the night was the total lack of contribution from Ronaldhino who not so long ago was also a World superstar but at only 28 looked very much like a spent force.
And the showdown between Rooney and Ronaldo won’t be happening this season, at least not at club level, and Real will be left to ponder what went wrong, especially when this year's Champion's League final is due to be played at the Bernabeu Stadium.
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