Manchester United versus Real Madrid in an international friendly which actually was lacking in a bit of friendliness. Issues between these two clubs goes way back, and the feuding has been highly publicized. The tension has resurfaced, and been ratcheted up lately, with the clubs training next to one another at UCLA.
Here’s the link to our takeaways from the first half, a very dull first 45 minutes, that featured a whopping two shots on goal. Yes, you read that correctly. Real Madrid, playing their first preseason scrimmage of the 2017-18 season achieved one whole shot in total. All we can say is “snooze fest.”
-For the second half, Zinedine Zidane fielded a team that was dominated by U19s and the feeder side Real Madrid Castilla players. In other words, you weren’t going to learn very much from this what transpired in this half, and it’s clear that both teams were holding a lot back in this one. That’s understandable, given how the two clubs will meet August 8th in Skopje, Macedonia.
Many hotels in the Macedonian capital have been GOUGING supporters for this game. Here’s a link to more on that.
-Anthony Martial was top ten trending nationally on Twitter, and it’s easy to see why. This sequence here, where he put on a clinic among clinics was a perfect example of why they call it the beautiful game:
Anthony Martial ?? https://t.co/QXaqkjkI3Z
— THE POWER MUFC (@EamonnPower23) July 23, 2017
-That was the only score in the first half, but the La Liga superpower equalized midway through the second half on Casemiro’s penalty kick. The spot kick came about through a penalty won by Theo Hernandez in Los Blancos debut. It was a well deserved PK too, as United summer signing Victor Lindelof made a CLUMSY challenge.
-It went to penalty kicks, where United won 2-1, but it was really more that they didn’t lose. The spot kicks were unimpressive to say the least. Seven of the ten spot kicks were missed. Only Madrid youngster Luis Miguel Quezeda, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Daley Blind were able to convert.
-There wasn’t much entertainment value for the 65,000 on hand at Levi’s Stadium, a billion dollar facility in Santa Clara, California. The 65,000 included Hollywood a-lister Julia Roberts, a dedicated United fan, who interacted with the Red Devils players at training in Westwood a couple weeks ago. Here’s a link to more on that.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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