It’s Manchester United versus Real Madrid in an international friendly that actually lacks some friendliness, given how much these two teams do not like each other. Issues between the two clubs goes way back, and that acrimony has been well documented. The tension has resurfaced, and been ratcheted up lately, with the clubs training next to one another at UCLA.
There has been some bickering over who has the superior facilities and accommodations in Los Angeles. With that background, here some Man United takeaways from the first half.
Here’s the link to the second half takeaways in this game.
-Real Madrid started eight players from their first XI which won the UEFA Champions League Final. United started four members of the lineup that conquered Ajax in the Europa League Final in Stockholm.
-Here’s the Man United starting XI
Marcus Rashford
Anthony Martial Andres Pereira Jesse lingard
Michael Carrick Marouane Fellaini
Matteo Darmian Phil Jones Eric Bailly Timothy Fosu-Mensah
Sergio Romero
-Marouane Fellaini gonna Fellaini, and he certainly did Fellaini in this one
I love nothing more than seeing Marouane Fellaini fouling Real Madrid players in pre-season. What a time to be alive.
— Liam Canning (@LiamPaulCanning) July 23, 2017
-This game was called by announcers Jon Champion and Craig Burley. Champion, who is an icon with a voice that is so smooth, if it were a mattress you’d want to sleep it on every night, did offer one head-scratching tidbit though. He posited the idea that maybe, just maybe Sergio Romero will be United’s #1 in the Premier League this season.
Huh? Champion seemed to base his assertion on the contract extension that he just signed.
Uhm, no.
Luckily, Burley politely and immediately shot that idea down.
-Perhaps Champion was just stretching for something to talk about, as this half was very much lacking in meaningful action. It wasn’t just a scoreless first 45 minutes, it was one in which there were only two shots on goal, both on United. Real had one shot period. Yawn!
Jesse Lingard finally broke it open in the first minute of added injury time. Of course, you really got to love the work done by Anthony Martial to set this up:
https://twitter.com/SemperFiUnited/status/889242371543646208
Beautiful assist by the Frenchman there! Lingard got the goal, but that was all the Martial plan. What a clinic he put on!
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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