Wednesday in world soccer saw the heightening of hopes for some, and the crashing of chances for others.
Real Madrid regained its Copa del Rey crown over fierce rival Barcelona thanks to a wonder-goal from the $123-million man, Gareth Bale.
When it seemed the La Liga title was slipping away, the tournament win gave Los Blancos something to take away from their first year post-José Mourinho, but more importantly, a considerable amount of momentum and confidence ahead of their Champions League semifinal clash with Bayern Munich.
About 1,300 miles to the north in England, Manchester City failed to secure three points for the second straight game, all but signaling the end of its championship chances. The blue side of Manchester only has five games left to overcome its six-point deficit behind first-place Liverpool and four behind second-place Chelsea.
Both teams went into Wednesday with a lot to gain, and even more to lose.
A survey from ESPN The Magazine and SportingIntelligence found that Man City, which was bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, paid its first-team players $8.1 million—more than any other professional team in the world.
At the end of the day, players need to earn their paychecks, and Manchester City’s players dropped a golden opportunity to rebound after a loss to the first-place team by playing the last-place team midweek.
Both Real Madrid and Manchester City had leads in the game, saw them evaporate late and were given opportunities to take the game back.
For how competitive professional sports are, many games between the best and the worst can still be remarkably close.
All season long, Bale has been playing under two immense shadows: that of Cristiano Ronaldo and that of his $123-million price tag.
Injuries and adjustment to a change of scenery have slowed Bale’s progression in his inaugural season in the Spanish capital. For how much he cost, fans were growing impatient.
After Ronaldo’s injury, Bale was given the opportunity to shine. And shine he did. Putting the team on his back, Bale burned past Barcelona’s Marc Bartra—muscling past a blatant foul attempt that knocked him multiple yards out of bounds—and scored a brilliant individual goal in the 85th minute to win the Copa del Rey.
Soccer is a team sport, but when everything is knotted even, players with the individual caliber seen at Manchester City should have stepped up and kept their team in title contention.
There were many squandered opportunities from many talented players. The tying goal came from Samir Nasri, but Sunderland’s Vito Mannone made a blunder of what could’ve been a comfortable save. Nasri later had the ball fall to him in the penalty area, and he blasted the shot over the bar.
Little mistakes and missed opportunities generally make the difference between close championship races.
Bale made the play for Real Madrid. Manchester City did not.
Real Madrid will be celebrating. Manchester City, in all likelihood, will not.
Can Real Madrid take their momentum to the Champions League? Email Jonah at jonah.beleckis@dailycardinal.com to mourn Manchester City’s loss or celebrate Real Madrid’s win.
