The Warm-Up: Real Madrid do it again, Bayern Munich hit by the Spanish curse
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Updated 26/04/2018 at 06:59 GMT
Plus: Arsene Wenger stops playing Russian roulette, you can't help but love Marcelo, and then there's Franck Ribery...
Real Madrid
Image credit: EFE
THURSDAY’S BIG STORIES
Real do it again, Bayern hit by the curse
The psychology of playing for Real Madrid must be absolutely fascinating. When you’re out there on the pitch, you’re just 11 guys in white, and occasionally black, shirts, but something seems to bewitch their players into just winning. Winning European games, winning games when they truly, absolutely matter. Sure, they might slip up in a few run-of-the-mill league games, but put them in Munich, against theoretically one of the strongest footballing giants the game has to offer, and they can’t help but win.
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Marcelo (Real Madrid) félicité par Sergio Ramos et Isco après son but en demi-finale aller de la Ligue des champions
Image credit: Getty Images
“The Champions League releases special powers in Real,” said Toni Kroos before the game, and while that all might sound like some sort of hokum, it’s tricky to ignore it.
Real look on for their fourth Champions League final in the last five years, as this unrelenting juggernaut of a team ploughed through Bayern in the first-leg of their semi-final on Wednesday. The lead is narrow – 2-1, goals from Marco Asensio and Marcelo nudging them ahead – but would you doubt their ability to close it out in the return?
As for Bayern, it’s possible they’re on for the fifth season in a row when they’ve been eliminated by a Spanish team. That’s the sort of thing that feels like it can’t be a coincidence…but it must be…right? Right?
Arsene Wenger takes the gun away from his head
If you were wondering about the odd relationship that managers like Arsene Wenger have with football, you only have to read his thoughts from yesterday to realise what a curious life this is.
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Diego Simeone - Arsène Wenger
Image credit: Getty Images
Before Arsenal’s Europa League semi-final first-leg against Atletico Madrid, Wenger said:
I had no break for 35 years. In our job, you can look around, that doesn’t exist. I don’t know now how addicted I am. I am a bit like a guy who plays Russian Roulette every week and suddenly has no gun any more. So, I will see how much I miss that gun.”
Yeeesh. If the Atletico tie wasn’t a big enough game before, it has increased exponentially since Wenger announced he would be stepping down, even if he confessed that the timing of said announcement “wasn’t my decision”.
Surely even the most hard-hearted Tottenham fan would confess that winning a European trophy, the one thing he hasn’t done in his time at Arsenal, would be a neat way to tie this remarkable career off. Presumably Diego Simeone will give in to the sentiment and wave them through.
Oxlade-Chamberlain ruled out of World Cup
A few months ago, the news that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain won’t be available for Gareth Southgate’s England squad would probably have been met with the shruggiest of all shrugs. But his excellent form for Liverpool has meant he was a shoo-in for the 23, and a candidate for a starting role.
Not now. The knee injury suffered by Oxlade-Chamberlain against Roma on Tuesday is a bad one, and means he will be recovering at home this summer rather than joining the other England players in Russia.
He seems like a good egg, does Ox. Recognising that this is a significant personal blow, but also realising that there are more important things at stake. Like Sean Cox, the Liverpool fan left in a critical condition after being attacked before the game on Tuesday. If you wished to contribute to his medical costs, a GoFundMe has been set up in his name.
HEROES AND ZEROS
Hero: Marcelo
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Real Madrid's Brazilian defender Marcelo (2nd R) celebrates scoring with his team-mates Real Madrid's Spanish midfielder Isco (L) Real Madrid's German midfielder Toni Kroos and Real Madrid's Spanish defender Sergio Ramos (R) during the UEFA Champions Leag
Image credit: Getty Images
If Marcelo was a person you were dating, he’d be the one who would seem really distant for a week, cancel plans then forget to pick you up from the station. But then he’d reveal the reason for all that was he’d been planning a big surprise party for you. You cannot help but love him.
Zero: Franck Ribery
Sure, it’s not fair to judge a player simply on one moment, or one mistake, but, erm….
RETRO CORNER
It’s a very happy birthday to Carlos Bianchi, who bears a pretttttaaaaaaaaaay, pretttttaaaaaaaaaay, pretttttaaaaaaaaaay strong resemblance to Larry David.
HAT TIP
Real Madrid are a team with terrible manners. If they were a house guest, they would loudly slurp your whisky, spend the whole evening whining intolerably about their privileged lives, and then casually slip your best cutlery into their pockets as they left.
Jonathan Liew from the Independent was in Munich on Wednesday, and he had this to say about Bayern v Real.
COMING UP
Europa! Europa! Europa! Come and watch as four teams convince themselves that this is not the consolation prize of European football and try to win the Europa League. The first legs of the semi-finals are tonight, where Arsenal face Atletico Madrid and Marseille face Red Bull Salzburg.
Tomorrow’s Warm-Up will be brought to you by Tom Adams, a shrewd 25/1 outside bet to take the Arsenal job.
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