The Madrid manager had perhaps fooled some when he said Barcelona wasn't on his mind, but his players weren't up to keeping the cat in the bag. Nothing else can explain a drab encounter in which the only highlights were Iker Casillas celebrating 100 Champions League matches and Cristiano coming through just over 20 minutes unscathed. If this was Real Madrid with their minds finely tuned on a match, their problems run deeper than we suspected.
There is a lack of 'feeling' among the players; no patterns, no understanding. The only man capable of drawing blood is the man who saves them time and again. Argentinian Higuaín must have looked on forlornly last summer as Madrid sprayed Euros around like nobodies business. But he has knuckled down admirably and at the moment is their most potent weapon, an inspiration. His goal came after 21 minutes and was the fruit of defensive work from Lass and Kakás vision: a low shot into the net from inside the box, typical Higuaín ruthlessness. Marcelo later smacked the post with a sweetly struck shot and was an intermittent danger down the right, laughing in the face of my criticism of him as a winger. But there's no doubt who will be filling that position this weekend.
The Bernabeu deserves better than this. Zurich were there for the taking but Real Madrid failed to administer a goalrush that would have sent them packing to the Camp Nou on a high. Instead they will have the final whistle jeers ringing in their ears; hardly the ideal send off. So, next up El Clasico. Pelligrini has a few days on the training ground to sort it out, otherwise if Barca's perfromance against Inter is anything to go by, another 6-2 could be on the cards.
Apoel Nicosia 1 - 1 Atlético Madrid
A draw was the best Atlético Madrid could have hoped for in a match in which they had hardly had two chances. Luckily for the Madrileños, Simao took one of them after an hour which cancelled out Mirosavljevic's opener after 5 minutes. Agüero burst down the right wing and crossed for Forlán whose attempt at a shot was diverted away where Simao managed to get in a shot which took a deflection before entering the net. The Portuguese winger has been a dissapointment this season, so the goal will do him the world of good.The Apoel goal summed up exactly where Atlético have been going wrong this year; another case of the 'mattressmen' caught napping. Ujfalusi was turned inside out on the left and Perea lost his marker, leaving striker Mirosavljevic in acres of space only a few yards out; Asenjo horribly exposed once more. These defensive lapses are costing Atlético dearly and it's hard to see Quique being able to sort it out any time soon. Their best bet is to play a game of 'you score three, we'll score four', but with Forlán and Agüero a shade of the dynamic duo they were last season, the goals have dried up.
The good news is at least they still have their Europa League fate in their own hands and they will be looking to complete the job in the final group stage match at home against Porto. The bad news is they might have to win.