History Repeats Itself

If not mistaken,Madrid started their Champions League campaign last season with a 3-0 away lost to Leverkuesen.This time around they lost 3-0 away to Lyon.Is this a sign that this is not to be Madrid's year again,despite the additions of Robinho,Baptista,Garcia,Diogo and Ramos.Madrid has brought some defensive qualities to their midfield in Garcia and Diogo.Against an on form Lyon side,Luxemburgo tried to provide cover to his fragile defense by deploying Garcia and Gravesen in front of the defense.Up front, it seems that Robinho was being supported by Raul and Baptista with Beckham on the right and Carlos providing the width on the left.At times during the match it seems Madrid lack inspiration without Zidane and Ronaldo,hence,the ball was given to Robinho to try and conjure up something by taking on players.This was seldom going to work,with Robinho only getting a solitary shot on target in the first half from the left side of the penalty area.With Zidane out,it was difficult to get through the solid Lyon defense through the centre.Thus,the other option would be trying to get behind the Lyon defense through the wings,however,with Madrid's lack of a natural winger with Solari and Figo gone,they seldom achieved to do so.Salgado and Carlos were constantly on the flanks but their final ball is not good enough and they can't take on players the way Figo and Solari does.This goes to show the importance of Zidane and the lack of wingers on the Madrid side.True,they have an abundance of world-class strikers but strikers need supplies from the midfield to score.This was evident in a Lyon side with Juninho controlling the attack plays through the centre,Malouda constantly threatening from the left and Carew causing all sorts of problems with his size.

Although much would be said about Madrid conceding 3 goals,what is more troublesome is Madrid not scoring despite controlling more than 60% of the possesion in the 2nd half.