Speed Boots Reign In Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid stunned Manchester City in the Champions League lastnight with a dramatic 3-2 victory in injury-time. Unsurprisingly, Ronaldo was the hero as he completed a trio of speed boot goalscorers who secured victory late on.
It seems one category of football boots has become synonymous with fast-paced action and crucial goals, and lastnight's Champions League game between Real Madrid and Manchester City was a perfect display of speed boots at their best, as Nike, adidas and Puma boots were all involved in the thick of the action.
If Real Madrids' was a wonderful display of attacking football, then Manchester City showed us counter-attacking at its finest. A surging run from Yaya Toure wearing Puma's evoSPEED football boots, burst through the Madrid midfield before making a defence splitting pass to Edin Dzeko. Dzeko applying the finish from Predator LZ boots, to give City the lead against the run of play.
The man who equalised for Madrid, was the man who made boot headlines recently by switching from Nike to adidas. A long-term Vapor wearer, Marcelo has changed into the adidas adizero speed silo, and he was at his threatening best throughout the night linking up with Ronaldo down the left. Before his rasping right-footed curler hit the back of the net, Marcelo had twice grazed the top of the crossbar with his left foot.
A player who's made the alternative switch to Marcelo is Kolarov, who moved out of adizero and into Nike Vapor during pre-season. A dead ball specialist, Kolarov quietened the Bernabeu crowd when his in-swinging free kick bounced between defence and goalkeeper to curl in at the far post. City were now back in the lead with just five minutes left to play.
Real Madrid's response was stuff of Football Manager dreams, as the world's best attacking players instantly flooded down the other end of the pitch to attack City's goal. Adizero wearer Karim Benzema, a late substitute, turned on the edge of the area and struck a composed and accurate finish to pull Madrid level once again just two minutes later.
Throughout all this frantic action was Cristiano Ronaldo, a man who had been raining shots in left-right-centre all evening, but had yet to beat the impressive Joe Hart. With his shot count in double figures, and Madrid now with the bit between their teeth, the stage was set for Ronaldo to once again become the hero. In the 90th minute the Nike Vapor icon cut in from the left onto his right foot, needing just a split second to unleash his shot, Ronaldo surprised both Kompany and Hart with a dipping shot that claimed a dramatic victory.
On a night when the world's best football players excited football fans around the globe, the performance of lightweight speed boots stole the show. If you ever had any doubts on the merits of speed football boots, then in response, lastnight was an example of attacking football at it's best.
What did you think of lastnight's Champions League match between Real Madrid and Manchester City? Join the conversation online, on Twitter and on Facebook.
