The bad news of the shock defeat of Real Madrid in the last sixteen of the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night by Olympiqie Lyonnais, will only be made worse if the current holders Barcelona retain the trophy in the 2010 final on Saturday May 22nd. If the Catalan club were to do so it would occur at the home of Real Madrid, the Santiago Bernabeu stadium
Indeed it was such ironies that loomed most large in the main pages of Spanish Sports Daily Marca in their post match reports and opinion columns on Thursday following the exit of Real Madrid
For the sixth consecutive season the Madrid team exited the tournament short of the quarter finals with their last victory now as far as back as 2002 in Hampden Park. On that night it was the magic of Zinedine Zidane that turned the game against Bayer Leverkusen and secured the Spanish Champions 9th title. Since that May night Real Madrid have failed to reach the quarter finals for six successive seasons and the last time the club even reached that stage was the 2004 season.
Since the departure of Vicente del Bosque in 2003 the club has failed to reach the final of the Champions League and secured only two La Liga titles in the intervening years.
In his four seasons in charge Del Bosque managed the club through its most successful spell in modern history, steering the club to two UEFA Champions League titles in 2000 and 2002, two domestic La Liga titles in 2001 and 2003, a Spanish Supercup in 2001, a UEFA Super Cup in 2002, the Intercontinental Cup in 2002. Not since the great Madrid sides of the 1950s and 1960s did the club experience so much success.
Over the past seven years the club has hired nine managers with the latest being Manuel Pellegrini who replaced Bernd Schuster a year ago.
His success with the lesser resources at Villarreal attracted the attention of the Real Madrid Club President, Florentino Perez, as he set off a new "Project" in the 2009/10 season to re-establish Real Madrid at the forefront of European football. With the recruitment of Brazilian Kaka from Milan, Ronaldo from Manchester United, Lyon's Benzema, Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa from Liverpool, Real Madrid racked a bill of two hundred and fifty million just on players. When UEFA granted the Champions League final to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium the club then began to feel it was their destiny to secure their 10th title.
But on a cold Wednesday night in Madrid a stubborn Olympique Lyonnais confronted the big names of Real Madrid and brought that sense of destiny to a sudden halt.
With a vigour that highlighted that the French League may be a force at Champions League level and with the aim of reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in four seasons, Lyon’s determination in Madrid was evident from the start of the second half. With Guti the main playmaker for Real throughout the first forty-five minutes the two personnel changes made by Lyon's little known manger, Claude Puel, proved key.
From the moment Sweden's Kim Kallstrom and Frenchman Maxine Gonalons entered the fray at half time the easy flowing pace of the game changed and the balance of power in favour of the home side ebbed away as the second half progressed.
With two goal chances wasted in the first half Real Madrid then started to struggle and the more industrious Lyon midfield caused the Spanish side to lose their offensive shape and left defending their own goal for large sections of the second half. As time ticked away fear spread through the Spanish team as they knew that a solitary goal by Lyon would end their chances of progress. As each attack was mounted the endless running by Cesar Delgado up front for the French side increased the sense of siege that hushed the home crowd.
When the goal finally came from Pjanic on seventy five minutes a sense of despair took hold at the Santiago Bernabeu and the Madrid fans began to face the reality that there might not be a tenth title this year on home soil.
Despite two late changes for Madrid, Raul for Kaka and Van der Vaart for Granero, Real were unable to breach Lloris goal and the Lyon side defended with commitment in the dying minutes. As the final whistle loomed the Real Madrid players sensed the inevitable as did the fans, many of whom left in their hundreds ahead of full time.
In the post match analysis it was left to veteran Guti to summarise the reality without subtlety.
"It was a shame. It has been shown that in big games we do not kill the matches," said the long-serving midfielder of the 1-1 first knockout round draw at the Santiago Bernabéu which helped Lyon through 2-1 overall. "The solution is to be more of a team instead of many individuals. Now we can only think of La Liga, which is what we have [left]. We did not start the second half as we should."
“It is the sixth year in a row we have gone out at the last sixteen stage. It is really devastating. Every year it is just as painful and disappointing.”
Claude Puel, Lyon coach
It's a great achievement, especially considering how the game started. We escaped a disaster in the first half. The early goal lifted Madrid's confidence and put us on the back foot. That meant the first half was tough, and half-time was too. [Jean-Alain] Boumsong and [Jean II] Makoun had to be substituted with groin injuries, and Lisandro also had a problem but he was able to last the whole game. The substitutes were key, they did a fine job. We changed the system and totally reshuffled the team. Mire [Pjanić] moved up to support Lisandro and that made us more fluid. On top of that, he scored the goal.
“The first leg was good and we did the same job in the second leg. We were in trouble as they played quickly from deep, and had a bit of luck when they hit the post. We changed the system in the second half and played ten metres higher as Madrid were tiring having produced lots of effort before the break. We were more fluid, there was more quality in our game. We could play wider and made them run as they enjoy having the ball at their feet. When you look at the second half, we deserved to go through. This squad is writing its own story. We must now go on.”
Manuel Pellegrini, Madrid coach
“The first responsibility is mine, but we have to overcome this blow and keep fighting for the Liga title. It is a very big setback. We played well in the first half but had two chances and failed to convert them. After the break the team were growing anxious until the Lyon goal came. It was a dream for all of us to play the final at the Bernabéu. The players are hurt by a painful elimination, but we have to lift our mood and keep working. That's all I can do; keep working. It's a big blow but we must look ahead.”
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