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- I will start off by saying that it's borderline calamitous that we failed to get an away goal. Sure, a draw is not the end of the World, but failing to snatch a goal tonight means that we need to score two if Atletico score in the Bernabeu. I wouldn't put it past them to score at least one off of a set-piece somewhere.
- The tackling and pressing was phenomenal tonight right from the beginning. The key tonight was always to put pressure on them the way they do in every derbi. Apart from La Decima, the only other time Real Madrid absolutely decimated Atletico was a 3-0 in last year's Copa. In that match, Carlo had the players coming out of the gates like wild dogs, hounding Atletico's every touch and giving them no space to breathe. In that sense, the tactics were spot-on tonight.
- Continuing on that note, Real Madrid did everything except score tonight. For whatever reason, there was panick when it came to the final shot - on most occassions it was Benzema. Bale and James had good shots, but Jan Oblak was the reincarnation of Courtois tonight. Really, Real were unlucky that some of those chances didn't fall to Cristiano who may have done better.
- Fantastic outing by Varane. He was rock solid tonight. There was an instance in the first half - which I'm sure you all remember - where Varane had the ball deep in his own half. I was feeling uneasy that he wasn't switching the ball quickly, but he pleasantly surprised me with his darting run up the entire pitch where his lovely cross almost led to a goal.
- Not having Marcelo in the second leg could be costly. If Coentrao isn't healthy, I can't imagine what Arbeloa will do to help us get a goal.