Just when it looked like debate on Leo Messi’s sideways take on penalties was starting to fizzle out, Cristiano Ronaldo swooped in to save the day. He might as well have been wearing a cape, a possible wardrobe addition to Madrid’s kit next season.
To take a sidebar for the moment, La Liga Loca really doesn’t know what it’s going to do with itself when little Leo and the Portuguese poacher leave this mortal footballing coil. Real Madrid manager Gary Neville being in the middle of a 10-year reign of glory is going to get repetitive after a while, despite the antagonism of Mick McCarthy’s presence in the hot seat at Barcelona.
Coming to a Catalan ground near you
Centre stage
“I know why Leo did this,” Ronaldo said of the penalty incident. “But I’m not going to tell you"
Back in the real world, the narrative ahead of Madrid’s Champions League clash with Roma on Wednesday was taking a fairly familiar course: a mixture of blind optimism that the club’s European traditions would carry it through to the final and the heebie-jeebies that their record against Italian teams in the competition is largely terrible.
Madrid’s last eight knockout ties with Serie A sides have ended in defeat, a run that somewhat took away from AS’s Tuesday headline that “Roma fear the Zidane effect” – which presumably means being flaky away from home.
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That was all until Cristiano Ronaldo popped up in the pre-match press conference, either to provide a tactical dissection of Roma under Luciano Spalletti or to start trouble. Guess which.
“I know why Leo did this,” Ronaldo said of the penalty incident. “But I’m not going to tell you. You can think what you want now.” The tease.
LLL feels an even more amusing putdown would have been to claim complete ignorance, citing the cleaning of Ronaldo’s fridge as the cause of his attention being diverted – “you should have seen the salad dressing drawer.”
Who needs friends?
The next takedown of Barcelona by Ronaldo focused on the notion that MSN’s beautiful off-field friendship was a factor in their on-pitch success
The next takedown of Barcelona by Ronaldo focused on the notion that MSN’s beautiful off-field friendship – montages of the trio decorating their homes, pushing their broken cars down the road and sharing a beer appear on Camp Nou screens pre-match – was a factor in their on-pitch success.
To decorate his point with an example, the Madrid man claimed he barely spoke to Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs or Paul Scoles at Manchester United but still managed to win the Champions League. “I don’t have to go to dinner with Benzema or invite Bale to my house,” he jibed. “I don’t need little hugs and kisses.”
What turned out to be the final question was from a journalist who asked Ronaldo whether he was bothered by the fact that he hadn't scored away from home since November. It wasn't a question he took kindly to; Ronaldo responded by asking if any player had scored more away goals than him since his arrival in Spain, before collecting his belongings and leaving the room.
His reaction was that of olive oil to a Spanish salad, particularly in Catalonia. Sport’s Joan Batlle wrote that the Portuguese “has spent two nights sleeping badly [which] is why he wanted to rid himself of his bile”.
European DNA?
Will the Stadio Olimpico see the all-conquering home version of Madrid, or the more flaky away side who struggled against Granada and Real Betis?
The Madrid press managed to stay on message, though, with Marca reminding readers that the Champions League is “his league”, and a photo of Zinedine Zidane on the front cover.
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And that is the key take-out ahead of this game. The great success of the Champions League is that it provides a true snapshot of the quality of teams outside their normal domestic environments. There was still uncertainty over whether PSG’s complete dominance of the French game could carry over into Europe against Chelsea, for example, and perhaps the same will be said for Real Madrid.
Will the Stadio Olimpico see the all-conquering home version of Madrid, or the more flaky away side that struggled against Granada and Real Betis? Real Madrid’s Champions League ‘DNA’ may only take the team so far in a traditionally tough arena, which could see Zidane’s boys copying their talisman Ronaldo and making an early exit.
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