“We need to be better.”
It’s something that, in a few different ways, Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor repeated several times in his press conference on Tuesday evening, following his team’s 1-1 draw with Real Madrid.
City looked like they were going to take a slender advantage home to Manchester ahead of the second leg of this UEFA Women’s Champions League second qualifying round tie, to be played next week.
However, Kenti Robles had other ideas. In second-half stoppage time, she drove a low shot past the impressive Karima Benameur Taieb, sparking elation from the home bench. In their first ever UWCL game, they had the goal they deserved.
The only frustration for the hosts will be that it wasn’t more.
Summer signing Esther, scorer of 30 goals in 33 league games in Spain last season, had a ton of chances in particular, including a first-half penalty, but somehow ended the day without a goal.
The worry for the Spaniards now is – will they get this sort of opportunity in the second leg?
It’s always difficult for teams to prepare for their first games of the season when it comes to scouting. Real Madrid, who signed eight new players this summer and let five go, caught City out with their pressing in the first half, forcing several turnovers.
Getty
But a half time switch of roles for former Barcelona midfielder Vicky Losada and Laura Coombs helped City improve. They kept the ball better, chances dried up for their opponents, and they nearly saw the game out.
City are far too good a team to make the same mistakes twice. They’ll tighten up. They’ll adapt. They’ll not give Real as many opportunities and the Spaniards will need a new way to surprise them in the second leg.
The Women’s Super League club may well have new personnel available to them for that clash, too. There are hopes that Georgia Stanway and Ellie Roebuck will be back, with eyes also on Keira Walsh’s situation, the midfield maestro who City missed massively in Madrid.
“She understands the way I want us to play. She picks things up very quickly,” Taylor said of the England international after the game.
“Vicky's been in the building not very long at all. We have to give her time and create that understanding together. The slight change at half time, I think, really worked. I thought Laura Coombs went in [the deeper midfield position] and did really well – again, a player who understands the kind of concepts a little bit more. That was all it was.
“Like I say, I think it's just time, giving the players opportunity and time to get fit. That's our first game.”
With Lucy Bronze, Ellen White and Chloe Kelly all also on the sidelines, Taylor certainly didn’t have many options on his bench for this game. Alanna Kennedy and Hayley Raso, the Australia internationals who have only recently signed, haven’t had much time with the team in training.
Goal
Another week, plus a game on Saturday as the WSL begins, will help top up the sharpness.
Throw in the fact City will be at home for that second leg, at a ground where they've not lost in 90 minutes since September 2018, and last season’s UWCL quarter-finalists certainly have the edge. They also have big experience in this competition and the core of their squad has been together a long time.
The quirk to that statistic, though, is that the team to beat City three years ago was Spanish opposition in the Champions League: Atletico Madrid.
They will be the favourites to complete the job on their own patch. They will expect to control the game and entertain, as they welcome their fans back for the first time in 18 months.
But should they falter, should they show weaknesses and prove to be susceptible to that incredible pressing once again, Real Madrid will be there. They will react. They will create. They may have been wasteful on Tuesday, but to see that sort of performance from a player like Esther again next week would be a huge surprise.
"You have to believe,” Las Blancas captain Ivana said after the game. “You have to keep working." That’s what they did in the first leg. That’s what they’ll do in the second leg.
Real Madrid have a team packed with quality. It’s a team with experienced heads, but it’s also a team that has a lot of hunger. It’s a team representing the club for the first time in the UWCL, but one that has already shown that the club will be a threat both now, and in the future.
Have they missed their chance in this tie? Tuesday was certainly a big opportunity. But Wednesday could be too. It will simply be up to them to take it.