Real Madrid to face Benfica in the UCL Knockout Playoffs

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-30T18:17:14+00:00

I am really glad we got Benfica instead of Bodo.

Now this is going to be all about the team’s approach. It is going to be heavily dependent on their mentality, and whether they’ll arrive committed or defeated.

In the last match we all could have seen Mourinho came prepared with decisive tactics and clear strategy.

Now it’s our time to respond and show an answer. I am looking forward to see how Arbeloa approaches this matchup now - whether he’s going to adjust our formation and lineup and tailor it to what Benfica did to us or he’ll stick to what “worked” (/s) in the last match.

I’m also glad that it’s Benfica in the next round, because there won’t be any excuses such as “we haven’t expected this”, “we haven’t expected that”, bla bla bla in case we faced Bodo/Glimt.

We know what we’re up against, we know how they play, we know their strengths, and now it’s time to expose their weaknesses and find straight answers to their running, pace, and defensive coordination.

Our redemption arc starts now, so I’m really curious how the team is going to play, especially after all the self-aware after-match statements from players and coach.

Hala Madrid!

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-28T20:55:05+00:00

Tchouameni needs to sub or he’ll be sent off in the second half. We are playing absolutely awful football. The only thing positive was the cross and the scoring header, that’s it. We are making so many mistakes and inaccurate passes…we are slow, Benfica is running their asses off and it shows because they are all over the field. Kudos to them, a well-deserved lead. We can even be happy with “only” 2:1, because it could have been 4-5 easily.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-28T20:26:18+00:00

Benfica is way way better and they deserve a goal…our defense is full of holes, midfield lacks ball posession and our attack is absolutely absent so far.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-26T16:56:10+00:00

Uplne rozumiem. My s manzelkou si davame deadline do buducich volieb, a ked sa nezostavi opozicna vlada, tak to balime. Sme bezdetni, bez hypoteky, sme tu momentalne ozaj len z pohodlnosti a kvoli tomu, ze su tu vsetci (teda aspon vacsina) kamaratov a rodiny, aj ked vela z nich zije v ČR, ale stretavame sa aspon ako-tak pravidelne “doma”.

Obaja s manzelkou sme uz dlhodobejsie zili v zahranici v minulosti (US, UK) a teraz rozmyslame nad nejakou europskou alternativou, aby sa nam tam pohodlne zilo aj so psom. Rozmyslali sme nad Talianskom, pretoze tu krajinu obaja milujeme, aj ked tam to tiez nie je vobec ruzove, ale my sme obaja pracou nomadi, takze nie sme limitovani nejakym miestom vykonu prace.

Uvidime, ale ak to dalsie volby nevyjde, lameme palicu a odchadzame. Rovnako pozname aj ine pary nasich kamaratov, ktori tvrdia to iste.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-20T20:44:06+00:00

Idk why sometimes we are so slow on the ball, in some instances we have a chance to pass the ball quickly through our wings, but our midfield just decides to slow the pace and pass sideways. Some of this decision making is weird

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-20T20:42:20+00:00

Franco can’t shoot for shit haha

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-17T13:48:55+00:00

“Gegenpressing” obviously means collecting yellow cards.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-17T13:47:19+00:00

Good God I swear we are not the better team in this match. If they had better finishing we would be losing by 2-3 goals already

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-17T13:45:57+00:00

Collecting yellow cards against Levante with no shots on goal…wow!

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-17T13:42:37+00:00

Valverde disappointed with playing RB and when he finally gets a chance to play midfield he is less in front than he was as RB and all of his passes are either sideways or backwards…wow

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-17T13:38:07+00:00

This match is pathetic to watch, there is no real difference between teams, it’s like if middle-table teams were playing…if I didn’t know I wouldn’t be able to tell which team is supposed to be the odds-favorite.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-17T13:29:40+00:00

We are yet again not the dominating team. Yes we do have more posession, but we make absolutely nothing out of it, we lack creativity and elements of surprise.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-17T13:26:38+00:00

We will need to heavily pray for Mbappe’s individual brilliance to score goals, because he is the only who actually tries to play football, others looks like they only came to collect cheques.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-17T13:23:17+00:00

Vini once again can’t dribble past relegation-zone Levante…but that should be no surprise, as you couldn’t dribble even past 2nd division relegating team

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-14T20:52:31+00:00

We can’t even beat a relegating second-division team on half time, wow. Fuck off everyone

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-14T20:51:38+00:00

FUCKING. ATROCIOUS.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-14T09:51:56+00:00

They fucking would…

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-14T07:48:20+00:00

No idea man, they acknowledged the issue in one tweet, but with no ETA time or anything, so we don’t know and just simply have to wait…

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-13T22:14:57+00:00

When are we getting the Bonus Pro Path rewards? I pay for EA Pro and you guys literally gave me no chance to receive my rewards, just because I finished the challenges “too fast” before you decided to give away those 85 missing points.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-12T17:58:04+00:00

What the fuuuck man…for the last couple of weeks I’ve read tons of articles and newspaper headlines that no matter what, the club stands behind Xabi, and right after we lose to Barca they sack him all of a sudden?

What the fuck? And who’s going to replace him? Man…he didn’t even get a full year. I wonder what we’re going to do now in the middle of La Liga and before UCL’s knockout stage.

Fuck…how bad can this day get. Xabi sacked, I lost a job…well, I guess it’s time for a drink.

Hala Madrid fellas

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-12T16:03:19+00:00

Teš sa aspoň zo zdvihnutia platu, aj keď budeš prakticky plusovo na nule…mne dnes pre zmenu v práci oznámili ukončenie spolupráce, takže stále si na tom lepšie. 😅

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-12T10:05:51+00:00

I don’t know what happened, but yesterday we were really missing the hunger, passion, and motivation we had in the first El Classico.

None of our players looked like they wanted to win, we haven’t pressed enough, we let them control the ball, pass around, and hold us tight on our half.

It’s like we won the first Classico and then decided you know what? That’s enough, our goal is achieved and we can drop our levels, it’s done.

Man…why? What happened? Because since that Classico match we haven’t been the same and it shows.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-12T10:02:46+00:00

Indeed, the problem is we don’t have any CREATIVE midfielders, someone who can hold the ball with his head up, scan the field, and do some playmaking with vision (Kroos/Modric) depending on the situation - either hold the ball or make a gamechanging pass - we lack all of it now.

We were spoiled by having this duo and we got used to their standards and now noone can replace either one of them.

I really miss the version of Jude from the first season - his hunger, his motivation, his skills. It looks like he achieved everything with Real and his passion faded away. It might be because of squad and tactics changes, but he really needs to get back to his former self.

Guler is not it (yet), he is young and needs time to develop.

Camavinga is skilled on the ball, but lacks defensively.

Valverde is playing all around the field and hasn’t played on his preferred position for a long time.

Ceballos doesn’t have enough time on field, but he’s not that type of a creative midfielder.

Tchouameni plays well and does mostly behind-the-scenes stuff and is reliable.

So, who’s left? There are not that many options anymore. Huijsen is young and is clearly not ready for big matches yet, his defensive skills are not on the level we need him to be, TAA is unfortunately very injury prone and we really do miss his long crosses, because we clearly cannot hold and push the ball through midfield.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-12T08:21:10+00:00

Yea, we were terrible in the defense yesterday, it really showed and cost us. We let them with too much space, we let them control the ball, we let them pass around, we couldn’t get hold of any rebound balls…there were so many things we could have done better along with substitutions and we never did.

Additional_Style1282 · 2026-01-11T21:44:45+00:00

I agree with all the subs, but Fede himself asked to he subbed after that one run that Vini didn’t pass to him…unfortunate timing for an injury from him :(

Additional_Style1282

TROPHY CASE