They defended like Under 10 schoolboys – Former midfielder McManaman blasts Madrid players

Steve McManaman has hit out at former side Real Madrid by suggesting the Spanish giants ‘downed tools’ during their 2-0 Champions League defeat by Wolfsburg.

Zinedine Zidane’s side failed to build on their 2-1 win over Barcelona in Saturday’s El Clasico as they were punished for making defensive blunders at the back.

And McManaman, who played for Real between 1999 and 2003, believes the Spanish giants only have themselves to blame due to their costly first-half errors.

McManaman, speaking to BT Sport, said of Real Madrid’s performance: ‘I thought they were woeful, I really did. From the highs of getting a good result on Saturday to really low lows tonight.

‘Defensively the right back (Danilo) and left back (Marcelo) were just all over the place, coupled with Pepe and (Sergio) Ramos who looked like they hadn’t played with each other before. I was astounded as to how bad they were. I expected a real calm, measured performance as well.

‘It was like schoolboy, Under 10s or Under 12s defending. Marcelo walks across with his arms behind his back [for Wolfsburg’s second goal] and (Maximilian) Arnold gets two yards ahead of Ramos.

‘It seems like the manager just prays on the sidelines that they get it together. It looks as if they just freestyle.

‘It just looks horrific. You can’t blame the manager because he’s just said to the same team which played against Barcelona on Saturday – apart from the right back Danilo – “go out and do it again”.

‘I don’t know why he changed the right back because Danilo was terrible. But Marcelo, Ramos and Pepe, who played well on Saturday, go out and turn out performances like that. The whole team should be lambasted and the manager
will take a hit. You can’t have super Zidane on the paper on Sunday and then not say anything today.

‘(Gareth) Bale should have had a penalty in the fourth minute but that is no excuse for the next 90 minutes. They literally downed tools.’

Bale revealed his frustration at his side’s 2-0 defeat just moments after the full-time whistle.

The former Tottenham man tweeted: ‘Not the result we wanted but second leg at Bernabeu to come back stronger!’

Real host Wolfsburg in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Tuesday.