Probably because it was only one season. We lost a lot of midfield quality the following season by losing Ballack, Deco, and Joe Cole who all were heavily involved in that title win. Lampard and Drogba also regressed immensely. Ancelotti milked every last ounce of quality left in them in 2010.
I don't know how they do it, doesn't seem to matter who's in the team or who's in the managers' seat.
They just have the knack mate. Champions League final they spawned against us, we absolutely battered them their goalie won MOTM and they pretty much scored with their only shot on target. Bizarre game they walked away with a 5-2 win from Anfield, again, first half we absolutely battered them, should have been out of sight...think they had 5 or 6 shots on target, 5 goals. So many times Ive seen them outplayed in CL games and they've managed to shithouse a way through Absolute European masters. I remember the Italian sides in the 80s and 90s being similar...always found a way of getting through.
Thos Italian teams ot the 80s and 90s were so far ahead of everyone else that they could get a 1-0 lead, thanks to converting the first chance they get, then defend that lead for the rest of the tie, without so much as conceding a single decent chance. It still astounds me how few CL titles went to Italian teams in the 90s. I can only assume it was because the league was so stacked and competitive. Looking at Serie A at the end if the 90s, that has to be the strongest league in history, at least when compared to the rival leagues at the time. Real on the other hand, while they generally have a top team most of the time, I am convinced they could take our current starting XI at United, and put in a good CL run. It must be a psychological hing, that teams just crumble at the thought of playing Real in the CL.
Look its an anchelotti factor, its a quality factor and its a bernebau factor. The home advantage they have is every bit as good as anfield.
Every team has quality, its just that they are so bloody confident. It's definitely psychological. Modric and Carvajal were there from the beginning when they broke their la decima duck. Kroos and Nacho won 4. Vasquez is also very experienced. They've also mixed in youth with experience very, very well. It's passing on the torch efficiently. This is why I wouldn't be surprised if Xabi Alonso is only waiting for Real, as in the inclusion of Mbappe and Endrick will be mouthwatering. I remember in 2022 when we came back on aggregate to tie the match 3-3, momentum swinging our way and then out of nowhere Modric does a trivela to Rodrygo which caught all our defenders by surprise and they took the lead 4-3.
Not really a surprise. We just had a good first 6 games, and have been slightly above relegation form for the 27 games since. It's more remarkable to me that we only recently fell out of the European spots despite that
