We reflect on how Sky Sports covered Manchester United's clash with Real Madrid in a different way.
Our online blogger ensured all angles were covered
Sky Sports has always been committed to taking you to the heart of every sporting event we cover, but for Manchester United's clash with Real Madrid we decided to take things one step further.
As with all of our Champions League games, we brought you high-definition coverage with some of the best pundits, presenters and commentators in the business.
As usual, we brought you additional reports before and after the game on Sky Sports News HD, and, as ever, we gave you the chance to watch online through the Events Centre, through our iPad app and online via Sky Go.
But with this game being dubbed the Perfect Match we wanted to give you even more - and so we placed an online reporter in the
Sky Sports commentary box to make sure that we had every angle covered and to show you those bits the comprehensive TV coverage can't show you.
I was the fortunate soul asked to sit alongside Martin Tyler and Gary Neville in the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night and I hope that our coverage brought you a real flavour of an enthralling Champions League experience.
My work began long before kick-off and indeed, our
rolling blog began on Tuesday afternoon as we took you inside the Bernabeu to give you a glimpse at the pre-game preparations.
We covered the press conferences held by a downbeat
Jose Mourinho and a surprisingly sprightly
Sir Alex Ferguson and brought you all the pre-match news complete with video highlights, interviews with former players and analysis from the Sky Sports experts.
On matchday itself I headed to the Bernabeu to send a bit of Spanish flavour back to you at home. I canvassed the views of the supporters of both teams (although it's surprising how many people bunked off work and didn't want to be interviewed in case their boss saw...) and took you backstage to see how Jeff Stelling and the gang prepared for their broadcast.
I headed to the commentary box a couple of hours before kick-off to bring you a flavour as the supporters and players arrived and to make sure that if you missed our exclusive interviews with
Mourinho,
Ferguson and more then you could easily catch up online.
As the stadium filled, we broke the team news (and fielded questions from plenty of bemused Spanish reporters over the absence of Nemanja Vidic) and gave you a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the tremendous work that Martin and Gary do.
I could barely focus on typing as the noise of 70,000 screaming Spaniards (and plenty of mad Mancs who certainly made themselves heard) reached fever pitch, but they delivered the high-standard commentary you've come to expect with utter professionalism and panache. It was a pleasure to watch two complete professionals go about their work.
If you follow the
@SkySportsCLTwitter account you'll have been treated to plenty of backstage images and updates (including this
neat Vine clip of Martin and Gary during the Champions League anthem) and hopefully we provided a chance for YOU to have your say on the match and on our coverage. Your comments were a vital part of our service and we listen to all your views; good, bad or indifferent.
Watching two of Europe's greatest teams go to battle from one of the best seats in the stadium was a real thrill and I hope I managed to convey our excitement about the game before, during and afterwards.
A bit like David De Gea, we had plenty to do but hopefully we covered the angles as well as he did!
If you missed out on our Bernabeu rolling blog then make sure to take a look back HERE.
