Good day. Welcome to The Free Transfer, the 5 minute daily football newsletter bringing you the important stuff. Let’s get into it.

What we’ve got for today:

• Real Madrid vs. Manchester City delivers 🔝 

• Milan Derby round 1 🥊 

• Sergio Busquets set to leave Barcelona 👋 

MADRID VS. MAN CITY DELIVERS🔝 

After a few weeks of anticipation, everyone was ready for what seemed to be the tie of this year’s Champions League competition.

How it happened:

KICKOFF

• City dominated the first 30 minutes, with nearly 75% possession

  • Thibaut Courtois stopped dangerous shots from KDB and Rodri

• Against the run of play, Camavinga drove upfield, eventually dumping it off to Vinicius Jr. who scored a screamer from outside the box

  • This was Madrid’s only shot of the first half

HALFTIME

• Pep Guardiola, a perfectionist, must have been pulling out his hair in the locker room at halftime ☠️ 

• Madrid dominated the first 20 minutes of the second half until KDB’s missile from outside the box leveled the score at 1-1

• Each team had a few chances after that but Ederson, Courtois, and their defenses held their own

FINAL

TLDR;

• Madrid were happy to let City hold the ball the first 30 minutes, waiting for their opportunity to spring a deadly counter attack.

• Ancelotti’s men then tried to capitalize on their 1-0 lead from minutes 40-60’ with aggressive attacking, only for City to hit back with their own moment of brilliance.

What we learned

• Haaland is not unstoppable— Rudiger and Alaba matched his physicality and completely neutralized him

• Ancelotti is still happy to let City play their game, knowing his world-class individuals will take their few chances well

• Pep’s men insisted on playing their possession-based style, only to be caught out by 1 moment as they have been in years past

• City needed their own moment of brilliance

  • Have they learned from Madrid’s ruthlessness?

Round 2

• Can City overcome their own UCL demons and Madrid, to seal the tie at home?

• They may feel good going into the home leg at 1-1, but some would say that if you leave Madrid with a half chance you’re as good as dead.

• Stayed tuned for Gaffer’s pre-match next week

MILAN DERBY ROUND 1 🥊 

A Milan Derby in the Champions League Knockouts. This rivalry renewed takes us back to Serie A in its full glory.

Maldini & Materazzi, Crespo & Shevchenko, Gattuso & Zanetti, among others.

How they Match-Up

🔴 Milan ⚫️ 

• Pioli’s plays his variation of a 4231/433

  • Likely XI ➡️ (Leao***)Saelemaekers-Giroud-Diaz; Krunic-Bennacer-Tonali; Theo-Tomori-Kjaer-Calabria; Maignan

• Keys to the tie: Midfield, Leao, and Theo

  • Bennacer, Krunic, and Tonali did a fantastic job winning the midfield battle against the favored Naples in the QFs.

  • Leao is a gamebreaker. He showed in the second leg vs. Naples that he can push the button at any second.

    • ***He is a doubt for this first leg with a muscle injury

  • Theo is a physical and athletic wingback who bombs upfield and back to contribute to the offense and defense. When he is on, Milan are on.

🔵 Inter ⚫️ 

• Inzaghi’s plays a 3142/352

  • Likely XI ➡️ Lautaro-Dzeko; DiMarco-Mkhitaryan-Brozovic-Barella-Dumfries; Bastoni-Acerbi-Darmian; Onana

• Keys players: Midfield, Lautaro, and Dumfries

  • Barella’s late runs into the box have resulted in crucial UCL goals for Inter this season. Brozovic’s “regista” role helps control the midfield—he creates the tempo.

  • Lautaro is a potent striker on his day. When he is feeling it, so are Inter.

  • Dumfries bombs forward to send crosses and direct attacks towards opponents’ boxes. He brings the good kind of chaos.

🗝️ KEYS TO THE FIRST LEG 🗝️ 

• Leao— if he is out, Milan’s offense loses their best outlet and creator. Saelemaekers is a good carrier but isn’t near Leao’s level in any skillset.

• Theo vs. Dumfries— two players with similar roles and qualities in their teams, this battle just may shape the tie.

• Midfield Battle— lots of box to box energy in these midfields. They will be key to their teams’ success. It’s gonna get cagey.

Gaffer’s Bet: if Leao starts— 1-1 draw; if Leao misses out— 1-0 to Inter.

SERGIO BUSQUETS IS LEAVING

18 years and 31 trophies later, Busquets is finally leaving Barcelona. No… my eyes are just sweating… 😢 

What does this mean for Barcelona?

Usually when a club legend leaves, it means that their time is up. There is a young gun ready to take the reins. It’s not so simple in this case.

Barcelona still rely heavily on Busquets week-in and week-out.

• His game has aged well, since it relied more on awareness and technique than physical prowess.

• His quick turns, perfect positional defense, & efficient passing

The seemingly obvious answer for his successor would be Frenkie De Jong.

• A graceful central midfielder like Busquets, but his skillset does not exactly match up to the Barca legend’s.

• Many would argue FDJ is at his best when he can freely maraud upfield without needing to be tethered to the base of the midfield.

• Can Xavi teach FDJ the positional discipline to take over? Would that be a waste of FDJ’s talents?

So that leaves a burning question— how do they replace him?

• The easiest answer is a sentimental one: you don’t

• The hard answer: it’s likely not De Jong

Gaffer’s Bet: Xavi brings in a new face this summer

That’s all from the Gaffer for today. Tell ya friends!!! ⤵️