Real Madrid Dumped by Lyon
In maybe the most shocking soccer news of the year, mega money spenders Real Madrid have once again been dumped from the Champion’s League in the round of 16. In a season where they dreamed of getting to the final which will be played at their home stadium, Madrid fans were once again severely disappointed.
Madrid got off to a flying start with their first chance on goal coming after just 16 seconds. Minutes later Madrid were in front after Cristiano Ronaldo escaped down the left wing and beat the Lyon keeper with a low strike between his legs. Madrid continued to poor on the pressure and they should have been up two in the 25th minute. After getting behind the defense, Gonzalo Higuaín rounded the goalkeeper but could only find the post as he blew a glorious chance at the open goal. He once again was denied minutes later as Hugo Lloris made a great save to keep the game at 1-0. The tie could have easily been won in the first half as both Kaka and Ronaldo also spoiled fantastic scoring opportunities.
Real Madrid would ultimately pay for the lack of finishing as Lyon shocked the Bernabeau in the 75th minute with a great movement which culminated in a Miralem Pjanic goal. As the ball crossed the line, a pin drop could be heard as the Madrid supporters went silent. Madrid never found a way back and were lucky to not be embarrassed further as both Lisandro and Cesar Delgado both missed easy chances as they last minutes ticked away.
The shocking defeat was yet another cruel loss for the Los Blancos, especially this year after spending over $360 million on Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema and other players. Lyon was added to the list of recent Madrid Champion’s League executioners including Juventus, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Roma and Liverpool.
To get a better feel of the true disappointment in Madrid, take a look at these newspaper headlines:
- Madrid AS‘s front page read: “Catastrophe. Madrid couldn’t overcome Lyon, not even in the Bernabeu.”
- El Pais‘s headline read: “Football has no price.”
- Barcelona-based sports dailies El Mundo Deportivo and Sport, meanwhile, both went with a huge “KO” on their front pages.
- El Mundo Deportivo twisted the knife by highlighting the possibility of Madrid’s arch rivals Barca defending their European crown at the Bernabeu in May. “Madrid will not be in the Bernabeu final! Failure of Florentino’s project, incapable of overcoming the last-16 of the Champions League for the sixth successive year. Barca’s dream of winning their fourth European Cup in Chamartin (Bernabeu) grows.”
- Sport added on their front page: “The great failure”, whilst underneath showing the pictures of Perez, Pellegrini, Ronaldo and Kaka with captions alongside them. The captions read: “‘Florentino, broken. 300 million euros thrown away’. ‘Pellegrini, sentenced. The Bernabeu calls for his head’. ‘Cristiano, humiliated. He promised every title and has already lost two’. ‘Kaka, the next problem. He left the pitch insulting the coach’.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH…You think Real Madrid can buy there way back in? Probably not MLS is better than La Liga..Go Galaxy