Wednesday's B*l**x

[Chinners]

Real Madrid 3-2 Man City: Why City left Bernabeu empty-handed
Leading 2-1 with less than three minutes to go, Manchester City looked set to become only the third English side to beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
But instead of beginning their Champions League campaign with a famous victory, Roberto Mancini's men were left to rue what might have been.
Karim Benzema's equaliser was quickly followed by Cristiano Ronaldo's dramatic last-gasp winner, leading to a sliding celebration from Real boss Jose Mourinho.
What went wrong for City in their first match in Group D?
BBC football pundit Robbie Savage, speaking on BBC Radio 5 live, analysed a remarkable night.
Real run riot down City's right
Maicon was not at the races at all in the first half at right-back. He was a passenger and it was like City were playing with 10 men. Cristiano Ronaldo kept cutting inside him.
Ronaldo's reign
Cristiano Ronaldo's winner for Real Madrid was his 39th Champions League goal - only three fewer than the entire Manchester City squad - in 81 appearances.
In the second half, Vincent Kompany looked at what was happening and came across to that wing more. Ronaldo did not have the beating of Kompany and he started to get frustrated.
But, even so, Marcelo was allowed to come inside more and more, as he did for his goal.
For the Real Madrid winner, City let Ronaldo move inside too easily. He went past Pablo Zabaleta as if he wasn't there.
Zabaleta, who replaced Maicon, needed to stop Ronaldo at source. He was on the bench for most of the game watching Ronaldo take apart Maicon and didn't learn. He should have seen what was happening.
Did City's formation put them under pressure?
It was too easy at times for Real Madrid, especially in the first half. With the 4-3-2-1 formation that City play, with two holding midfielders in Javi Garcia and Gareth Barry, it meant the Madrid full-backs could go forward.
English wins at the Bernabeu
Arsenal won 1-0 in a Champions League second-round clash in 2006, with Thierry Henry scoring the winner
Liverpool also won 1-0 in the first leg of a Champions League second-round tie, when Yossi Benayoun scored their winner in 2009
If Mancini wants to play Garcia and Barry - plus Yaya Toure in that position behind Carlos Tevez - he has to go out in the transfer window and buy a Xabi Alonso-type player to do that job.
At the Bernabeu, whenever Garcia or Barry got on the ball, there were men all around them. Madrid were pressing all over the pitch.
City were over-run, especially early on, and Real made changes, bringing on Mesut Ozil, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema when they fell behind.
A heavy price for a late lapse
In terms of chances created, Madrid deserved to win the game but, having led with less than three minutes to go, City should have got at least a point.

Pat Nevin
BBC Radio 5 live "What a fantastic game. Sometimes it doesn't go like that in the group stage, but that was incredible. Even the draw probably wasn't good enough for Madrid. Man City were so close to making a superb start but they know this is going to be a tough group. Every single point will be fought for."
Madrid would have scored at least once in the first half if it wasn't for Joe Hart, who was brilliant, but City were terrific in the second half.
After Edin Dzeko scored, they could have gone 2-0 up when Yaya Toure missed a decent chance.
With a 2-1 lead, they just have to keep the ball. They have experienced and fantastic players who know that - and who can do it too.
It made it a great game to watch but City have to start learning in the Champions League. They were great at times but that was such naive defending.
When Madrid were ahead, there was no way they were giving the ball away.

Roberto Mancini warns Joe Hart over criticism
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has told goalkeeper Joe Hart to stop criticising the team, insisting he is the only "judge".
City twice led Champions League rivals Real Madrid before slipping to a dramatic 3-2 defeat in the Bernabeu.
"You can't go 2-1 up with five minutes to go and lose the game," Hart said. "We can only blame ourselves."
“We can't continue to talk about experience. We have good players who play for their international teams. They play a lot of games”
But Mancini responded: "If anyone should criticise the team, I should criticise the team, not Joe Hart."
The Italian added: "Joe Hart should stay as goalie. I am the judge, not Joe Hart."
City had to withstand some intense pressure before Edin Dzeko gave them the lead at the Bernabeu.
Marcelo equalised for Real Madrid only for the Spanish side to fall behind again when Aleksandar Kolarov's free-kick curled in after 85 minutes.
But Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo both powered in shots to give the La Liga champions a thrilling victory.
"We dug deep, got a lead twice and we lost it, so we can only blame ourselves," Hart told ITV. "It's hard to come off the field after losing 3-2 and be positive. I'm really sorry.
"We're not a team that should come here and pat ourselves on the back for doing well. We're a team that gets results."
Mancini added: "It is difficult not because we lost - we can lose against a side like Real Madrid - but because with four minutes to go it was 2-1.
"This is strange. I think we need to improve this situation.
If Manchester City had held on to win at the Bernabeu, it would have been the first time in Real Madrid's history that the nine-times European Cup champions had fallen to defeat in their first home match of the competition, a record now consisting of 41 wins and two draws, the most recent of which came against Anderlecht, exactly 50 years ago
"Sometimes we go too deep. We made some mistakes and I don't want us to continue defending like this.
"In the first half, they played better than us but in the second half we played well and scored two goals.
"When you score two goals here and are 2-1 you should pay more attention."
Mancini also believes his Premier League champions cannot use a lack of European experience as an excuse for the defeat.
"We can't continue to talk about experience," he said. "We have good players who play for their international teams. They play a lot of games.
"I think I am happy for our performance in the second half but I think we can improve and we should be disappointed that we lost."
City were eliminated after the group stages last season and Mancini is determined to avoid a similar fate this time around.
"We have five games left in the group and it is important we beat Borussia Dortmund at home next," said the Italian. "It will be difficult as they are a top team but this year we want to go through."

This is football, QPR probably felt similar after losing 3-2 when winning 2-1 into injury time

OTHER BOLLOX
Barcelona want Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul, 24, as a back-up for Victor Valdes. Daily Mirror

Former Aston Villa forward Emile Heskey, 34, is set for a surprise move to Australian club Newcastle Jets. Metro

Football development executive Patrick Vieira says that Manchester City's big-spending days are over. talkSPORT

Fulham manager Martin Jol will wait for out-of-contract defender Zdenek Grygera, 32, to prove his fitness before deciding whether to offer him a new contract. Fulham Chronicle

Arsenal striker Sanchez Watt, 21, is open to a loan move to get first-team football. skysports.com

Paul Gascoigne has refused an invitation to watch his former clubs Tottenham and Lazio meet at White Hart Lane in the Europa League on Thursday night for "personal reasons". Daily Express

Liverpool and Manchester United will put aside their rivalry when they meet in the Premier League on Sunday to pay a joint tribute to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster. Daily Telegraph

Southampton are ready to replace Nigel Adkins with former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez. Daily Star

Swansea's Spanish midfielder Michu, 26, insists manager Michael Laudrup is their best player.AS

Tottenham right-back Kyle Naughton, 23, is ready to move to the left to fill the gap left by Benoit Assou-Ekotto's knee injury.Daily Express

Legendary Italian midfielder Alessandro del Piero, 37, will not be captain of his new club Sydney - despite wearing the armband at Juventus. Independent

Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici's girlfriend took to Twitter to vent her anger after he was dropped by manager Brian McDermott. Windsor Observer

Die-hard Oxford United fan Andy James missed his first match in 23 years when two flat tyres left him stranded. Oxford Mail

Newcastle United fans could be swapping bare bellies for grown-up-style babygrows after the club launched an all-in-one supporter suit. Metro