Uefa Champions League always comforts Real Madrid in times of crisis

Real Madrid's 2-0 win at AS Roma was the perfect medicine after their 3-0 hammering away to Eibar at the weekend
Real remedy | Santiago Solari’s side return to winning ways in Rome
Paolo Bruno/Real Madrid via Getty Images
Ben Hayward28 November 2018

In times of crisis at home, Real Madrid often seek solace in Europe.

The Champions League is a competition which always seems to bring out the best in Los Blancos. On Tuesday, it did not do exactly that, but it did at least mark a return to winning ways after Saturday’s disastrous defeat at Eibar.

Santiago Solari’s side were well beaten by La Liga’s smallest side in a 3-0 loss which saw the alarm bells ringing again after four straight victories for the Argentine since he took over from Julen Lopetegui at the end of October.

The game in Rome was the opportunity to start all over again. “Eibar is in the past, we have spoken about it. Now we have a game tomorrow and that’s the most important thing,” Solari said in Monday’s pre-match press conference.

The 42-year-old left Isco out of his matchday squad altogether and handed a start to Marcos Llorente in the Casemiro role, with the Brazilian still missing through injury.

In Pictures | Champions League matchday 5 | 27/11/2018

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And Real Madrid came through a tough test with all three points to top Group G and advance to the last 16 thanks to goals from Gareth Bale and Lucas Vazquez in the second half at the Stadio Olimpico.

Roma gave as good as they got in an even first half and should have gone in ahead as Cengiz Under inexplicably fired over from just a few yards out right at the end of the opening 45 minutes.

That brought groans from the home fans and two minutes into the second period, some terrible defending handed Bale the chance to give Madrid the lead.

Real have won this competition four times in five seasons and if anything, they are a team of moments. They can deliver when it matters and here, the moments went their way again.

Later, a Karim Benzema header gave Lucas a goal on a plate and the champions went on to win the match with relative ease against a Roma team missing a number of key players, including Daniele De Rossi, Edin Dzeko and Javier Pastore.

“It was important to pick ourselves up quickly,” Solari said afterwards. The players, every single one of them, showed a great sense of responsibility. We are happy.”

And on his team’s patchy performance, he said: “Games last 90 minutes. I think we matured as the match wore on. It’s true they missed a great chance and that was a mistake by us. We talked about it, obviously. We were also more precise in the second half.”

It was not a vintage performance by any means, just as it was not when Zinedine Zidane won his first Champions League game by the same scoreline away to Roma in 2015-16. But at Real Madrid, it is the result that matters.

“Real Madrid are always favourites,” Solari said. That is the history of this club.”

On Tuesday, like last season and on so many occasions in the past, Europe proved to be a comfort in difficult times at home for Los Blancos. And now nobody will want to face them in the last 16.

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