July 27, 2016 – Columbus, Ohio, U.S – Paris Saint-Germain defender Thomas Meunier (12) is congratulated on his goal by teammates during the first half the match between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio. (Cal Sport Media via AP Images)
Columbus.- In this kind of games, the result doesn’t matter. How much can you expect from the first official game after the summer break? Not much, this is the time to try different formations, to evaluate players, to see where the project starts. But it happens to be Real Madrid, the biggest soccer club in the world, the reigning European Champion, facing Paris Saint-Germain and all its sexy style. It changes the perspective of the match one bit, a bit capable of drawing 86,641 people to watch soccer into an American Football sanctuary like the Ohio Stadium, home of the Ohio State Buckeyes. On the pitch, the protagonists did not disappoint.
Not even two minutes into the match and Jonathan Ikone piled up half of Real Madrid squad to score a beauty. The Blancos defense let him slalom with freedom, couldn’t even touch him. It was early, too early but it was a sign, that back line needs a lot of work, a lot more minutes to get in synch. They have 11 days to get up to a level decent enough to face the Europa League Champions, Sevilla , in the Supercopa Final.
“We could have been more aggressive , especially in the first half, because [Paris Saint Germain] is such a tough team. But overall I think the game was positive for us over the ninety minutes, we got chances , we got the ball. But we are in preseason, this is normal, tactically we are still working, and there are things over time that we will continue to work on it” Zidane explained in the post-game press conference.
Without the BBC (Benzema, Bale, and Ronaldo) Zidane sent a 4-4-2 formation with Alvaro Morata and Jessé Rodriguez on top. It is a step-down, not only on firepower but in creativity and offensive presence overall, but gives a perspective of what Isco could do as the man who can handle the wheel when he is the only one driving this expensive soccer vehicle. He handled it, he didn’t mess up the engine and switched gears properly.
Work, work, and more work.The positive outcome of winning the match did not get Unai Emery The PSG head coach very excited. He was all business, knowing that this result only adds minutes to what he thinks should be for its team: “ Overall we saw two teams that need to keep working, working on its preseason, on adding more minutes. Today for us was about working, obviously, we want to win and we ultimately played the way we’ve been playing, and I think Real Madrid logically is continuing to working and we are focused on our own things”
All goals were scored in the first Half with Meunier and its brace and Marcelo with a Penalty kick for Real. In the second Half, Zidane changed the entire line-up , and The PSG made seven substitutions. No more goals, Madrid took over the possession and its stellar status showed up in the stands when the fans started the O-H-I-O chants as they completed seventeen consecutive passes. It was the moment of the night, It was not an OLE or any other soccer specific representation. This is when you see that the beautiful game goes beyond the culture, race, language or traditions and lands in the heart of Buckeye country.
