Just got back to my hostel after almost two hours after the game, man it was tricky to nevigate the streets of Dortmund in total darkness, almost got lost. My voice is still coarse from all the chanting and yelling and the smoke (this is the part that I don't like about going to a game),
my palms are still a little sore from all the clapping. Exciting game indeed.
I thought Real Madrdis was terrible, playing like shit, especially in the first 35 minutes in the first half despite the goal which was a total fluke. The possession must have been 80 to BVB and 20 to Real Madrid during that time span. I think partially they were paying the price of not having a DM, but then again I think Zidane probably directed them to cede possessin like they did in the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla and they did seem to thrive in counters and BVB could not handle them. They got better in this regard in the second half, but still they rely on counters and of course corners since they are very good with headers.
To me BVB's main problem was they were too slow transitioning from defense to offense, and they gave Real too much time to organize their defense and they relied too much on their front line player's technical skills to dribble past the defenders or have that through ball they needed. For the most part that failed miserably I thought. Their better chances came from very few counters when they played quicker than usual. In a way I kind of missed Klopp's faster pace and transition plays. Yeah, BVB's defense was shaky and they couldn't handle Real's quick counters.