1. Has Isco supplanted Bale?
ISCO SCORED THE vital goal to kill off any hopes of an Atletico comeback in tonight’s Champions League semi-final and the 25-year-old Real Madrid star has been in excellent form of late.
They produced arguably their best performance of the season when they beat Atletico 3-0 in the first leg, and while Ronaldo grabbed a hat-trick, Isco was also an influential figure.
The attacking midfielder likely wouldn’t be in the team if Gareth Bale was available, but with the Welsh star injured, the Spaniard has thrived in his colleague’s absence.
This situation has prompted critics to question whether Real Madrid are a better team without Bale. Isco, who was left out of Real’s recent Clasico loss, seemingly gives the team a better balance than the talented Wales international.
Real also have a significantly higher win percentage without the Welsh star in the team and a recent Marca editorial supported the theory that the La Liga outfit are a better side overall when the ex-Tottenham winger is not playing.
“There has been no Real Madrid fan seen crying over Bale’s injury,” the Madrid sports daily opined.
“Bale’s absence is a solution for Real Madrid, not a problem.”
2. Is Gianluigi Buffon the greatest goalkeeper ever?
Whatever happens between now and the end of his career, Gianluigi Buffon will unquestionably go down as one of the best goalkeepers in history.
The likes of Iker Casillas, Oliver Kahn, Peter Schmeichel, Lev Yashin, Peter Shilton, Dino Zoff, Pat Jennings and Gordon Banks would all compete for the title of best ever, but Buffon certainly deserves to be at least mentioned in such esteemed company.
Few if any past stoppers can match his list of accolades, which include seven Serie A titles, three Coppa Italias, the Uefa Cup and the World Cup among countless other trophies.
He has been named Serie A goalkeeper of the year 11 times, the Ballon d’Or runner-up once (in 2006), as well as featuring in the Uefa Team of the Year four times.
However, the one title that continues to elude him is the Champions League. Buffon was five years from joining the club the last time Juve claimed the trophy in 1996.
At 39, time is clearly running out for the Italian footballing icon, and he has experienced heartbreak in the final twice already, in 2003 against Milan and in 2015 versus Barcelona.
Now, however, Buffon gets a third chance to taste glory, and a victory over Real Madrid would be the icing on the cake of an illustrious, incomparable career.
His comments following the 4-1 aggregate victory over Monaco last night summed up the nature of the man.
“We are in the final, but now reaching the final counts for nothing,” he said, showing signs of the perfectionism that has seen the Tuscany native retain his status as one of Europe’s elite goalkeepers for more than two decades now.
3. Are Atletico a spent force?
Diego Simeone and side have proved doubters wrong on numerous occasions, but that didn’t stop many critics suggesting it was the end of an era tonight, after Zinedine Zidane’s side beat Atletico convincingly over two legs in the Champions League semi-final.
Yet the comprehensive manner of the loss was in stark contrast to their previous three Champions League knockout defeats to Real, and suggests they are further away than ever of realising their long-term ambition of triumphing in the competition.
Antoine Griezmann and Simeone have both been heavily linked with imminent exits from the club, while they are ageing squad who were not their usual vivacious selves in this tie, notwithstanding this evening’s blistering opening 16 minutes, during which they went 2-0 up.
Moreover, some key players who started tonight – Diego Godín, Fernando Torres, Gabi and Filipe Luis — are all over the age of 30, so there might well be some fairly serious surgery required to rejuvenate the squad next season.
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