Experts Say – Real Madrid vs Fenerbahçe

Mark Tompkins – Al Kass Analyst

It was a breezy day, and it started out with a bit of a heated play right in the beginning. Abdulcebrail got the honor to score the first goal in this season’s competition after Adrian gave away the opportunity. It wasn’t the best start for Real Madrid, but they were slowly picking up. It was a very good effort by Nasuh, for Fenerbahçe; we would definitely like to see more of him this year. After their first goal, Real Madrid started to get the flow back, and it was a 2-1 lead right away. Alvaro knew what he was doing when he set out with the ball, and it was a very fine finish into the box. It was an interesting first half, and Real Madrid was completely in control. It was very good start of the tournament.

It was a good measure display and a very positive play by the Spaniards today - it was 5-1 for them right at the start of the second half. As soon as Franco came in during the second half, he scored a very comfortable finish into the box, making it 6-1 for Real Madrid. After this, it looked like it was really difficult to play against Real Madrid, and they seemed unbeatable. Real Madrid players were very good on the ball, and Fenerbahçe just couldn’t get seem to get the ball right to the target. It brought a little bit of consolation and a bit of respect to Fenerbahçe, when they scored their second goal of the game, during a penalty-kick towards the end of the second half. Real Madrid came out top in the first game of the tournament.

Nick Summerbee – Al Kass Analyst

The pitch was perfect today, and the atmosphere was just great. It was the first time we got to see Fenerbahçe play, and they were very impressive. They were also very organized and good on the ball during the start of the game. The goalkeepers were playing out from the back in the beginning – this was a big mistake. When that first goal came in from Real Madrid, the Fenerbahçe goalkeeper was all over the place. I think Fenerbahçe had started to look a bit comfortable into the game after their first goal right at the start. It looked like it was business as usual for Real Madrid, as Jorge made a wonderful cross into the box and also Santos, as soon as he got the ball, was looking to create opportunities for his team. Both goalkeepers definitely had an interesting first half.
In the beginning of the second half it was all about Marcos. It was really beautiful to watch Real Madrid on the field today - they were strong and full of quality. Right into the second half of the game, things were starting to look difficult for Fenerbahçe, and it looked like the game had been stripped away from them. It is only when things don’t look good for a team, we get to see how the players react, and Fenerbahçe really kept good spirits throughout the game. It had been a fantastic performance by Real Madrid today, and a learning curve for Fenerbahçe.