Champions League: Camavinga, the man of the match in Madrid/City clash

At just 20-year-old midfielder Eduardo Camavinga was arguably the man of the match in the star-studded Champions League clash between Real Madrid and Man City clash on Tuesday.

Camavinga marked Bernardo Silva out of the game, dispossessing him with ease, and using his strength and pace to see off the Portuguese’s tricky dribbles.

More impressive than his physical attributes were his technical ones, and the tactical understanding that he pairs with it.

The French international’s ability to receive under pressure and move the ball forward was invaluable to Real and gave the home side the ability to counter at any point, regardless of City’s pressure.

He even set up Vinícius Júnior’s goal. The Brazilian’s strike from distance was a superb moment of skill and power, however, Camavinga carried the ball out of defence, all the way into the final third, drawing three players to him, and giving Vinícius the additional space he needed to fire his shot beyond Ederson.

Throughout the game, Camavinga dribbled forward and linked play to weave routes through City’s press.

In the second half, Camavinga displayed even more of that tactical nous. When his team had possession, Luka Modric dropped into the left-back position and Camavinga moved forward, rotating with Vinícius in a left-sided triangle, to carve through City’s right. The French international was not playing left back — he was playing the entire left side.

“At half-time, we had things to correct. The manager wanted us on the ball more and for us to be more creative,” Modric said. “That’s why we freed Camavinga to push into midfield more often — it went well.”

Until the first goal, City seemingly had the better of the game. They had more of the ball, were imposing themselves on the opposition and looked more likely to create an opening.

But Real were also relatively content; City had had a number of shots, a few from range, and one from the left of the area for Haaland — and a header, but no golden chances.

Pep Guardiola, the City manager, would have felt the most comfortable, though — his plan was the more effective in those opening 30 minutes; but as Mike Tyson famously said: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” The punch that Vinícius landed had the potential to knock City out of the competition and sent them staggering backwards.

This match was one of the few occasions this season that Manchester City were not the most technically gifted XI on the pitch. With Alaba, Camavinga, Toni Kroos, Modric, Federico Valverde, Benzema and Vinícius, Real had the technical ability to play their way through City’s press, and expose the space City leave in a way that few teams over the past few years have been able to. Vinícius’s goal was an example of that technical quality shining through.

Real held the advantage for most of the second half, as having the lead allowed them to control the game. However, one of the tweaks that Guardiola made at the interval was moving John Stones, when City had possession, from his right-sided centre midfield position to a slightly deeper one, alongside Rodri, which left more space for De Bruyne to play in. Both he and Haaland had chances within ten minutes of the restart: the Belgian broke into the right half space and struck across goal only to be denied by international team-mate Thibaut Courtois; while Haaland’s effort was blocked by Alaba.

After Real’s second-half changes, they were in the ascendancy; by the 65th minute they had six shots to City’s two. But then De Bruyne landed his own counterpunch with a piledriver from outside the area.

Even the best-made tactical plans cannot suppress such extraordinary quality.