Real Madrid 2-0 Milan: Early goals seal victory
The starting line-ups
An enjoyable contest between the two most successful sides in the history of the European Cup ended in a comfortable won for Real.
Real set out in a fairly standard 4-2-3-1 system. Cristiano Ronaldo played higher up the pitch on the left than Angel di Maria on the right, whilst Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira alternated position, with Alonso generally further forward.
Milan’s system was a 4-3-1-2, not dissimilar to the system they played on the way to the 2003 Champions League final. Amazing, considering that was eight seasons ago, the midfield trio were exactly the same, with Alessandro Nesta another survivor. Ronaldinho played between the lines and the two forwards drifted to the flanks.
That was a ploy to try and subdue the two Real full-backs, but it didn’t work as Marcelo and Alvaro Arbeloa both scampered forward into space to provide an obvious outlet on the flanks when Real’s central midfielders had the ball. In turn, this allowed Ronaldo and Di Maria to focus on pegging back the Milan full-backs, and the home side were dominating the space.
Real push up pitch
A key part of this was positional bravery from Real players, particularly the full-backs and the holding midfielders. Jose Mourinho could have instructed his full-backs to remain goalside of the two Milan strikers when they moved to the flanks, and equally could have insisted that one of the two defensive midfielders was goalside of Ronaldinho.
But early on, Ronaldinho was left free and the full-backs both pushed on, sometimes leaving Real with a perilous-looking situation at the back, but with a situation where they were able to dominate the ball. Khedira cut off the passing angle to Ronaldinho if he found himself ahead of the Brazilian.
Ronaldo threat
Milan predictably used Rino Gattuso to try and stop Ronaldo – Gattuso constantly came out to the right-hand side in front of Gianluca Zambrotta and doubled up on the winger, but all too often Ronaldo’s trickery and raw pace meant he got the better of both. He was the obvious early threat – Mesut Ozil had a relatively quiet game, generally up against two Milan central midfielders (three when Gattuso was not out on the flank) and Di Maria was wasteful when he got the ball.
Real’s early pressure was rewarded with two quickfire goals that put them in command. First, Ronaldo slammed a free-kick through the wall and into the net, and then his pace got him free on the left, resulting in a pull-back for Ozil which took a cruel deflection off Daniele Bonera, and looped into the net.
Real comfortable
Here, Real were in the ideal position – not merely in terms of having a two-goal lead so early on, but also because Milan were forced to move higher up the pitch and leave space in behind – as seen against Cesena, Milan are particularly vulnerable in two ways – on the counter-attack, and from opposition full-backs getting forward. Real sat deeper – Di Maria played almost as a third central midfielders at times and picked up Seedorf, but Milan were unable to impose themselves on the game.
Max Allegri’s side found it difficult to get their full-backs forward into threatening positions – Gianluca Zambrotta was kept at bay by Ronaldo, whilst on the other side Luca Antonini was more attack-minded but always wanted to come inside onto his right foot. The three forward players did very little, and Andrea Pirlo was not at his best, summed up by an uncharacteristically low passing completion ratio of 75% – on the other side, Khedira finished with 94%, and Alonso with 87%.
Pressing
Another key difference was the attitude of both sides when they didn’t have the ball. Real didn’t press vigorously, but they occupied players and made it difficult for Milan to play forward passes. On the other hand, Milan’s front six were so poor at putting Real’s defenders and midfielders under any real pressure – Marcelo and Arbeloa had all the time they liked to pick out passes; Marcelo was the more attack-minded but Arbeloa had a good game by simply providing an easy outlet on the right. The two Real central midfielders distributed it between each other easily with no pressure, and Real were comfortable.
Real were far better without the ball - compare the number of interceptions the two sides made in the central midfield area
The only surprise was that Real didn’t wrap up the game with a third on the counter-attack. They certainly had chances – Di Maria and Higuain missed easy chances, and the home side had 23 shots on goal in the 90 minutes. Poor finishing, combined with a good display from Marco Amelia (who was not responsible for either of the goals) kept them at bay.
Conclusion
A 4-3-1-2 will always have problems with dealing with a 4-2-3-1, most notably in the full-back areas – the 4-3-1-2 finds its full-backs pinned back, the 4-2-3-1 can allow theirs to get forward and become additional midfielders. The benefit the 4-3-1-2 has is an extra midfielder and the benefit of two strikers, but the lack of natural width from midfield only emphasises the problem at full-back.
The key was not so much what the sides did with the ball, but what they did without it. Real pressed well, Milan focused on keeping their shape, and Real simply used width to pass around them. They also had Ronaldo, who was the best attacking player on the pitch by a long way.
Chalkboard courtesy of TotalFootball iPhone app
Real Madrid 2-0 Milan: Early goals seal victory
Would you put Rooney into Madrids starting eleven?
In my personal opinion, Rooney would be a great support forward, something like a false 9 instead of Higuain. But I don’t think Real Madrid would change anything at the moment.
I think Rooney would definitely get the nod over Higuain.
Higuain seems to be missing a ton of great chances this year.
Would Ruud still be playing for Real, he’d be having a great party.
When defending, Milan played in 4 3 formation, Pato, Ibra and Ronnie did’t play defence at all. I don’t know why Milan didn’t use 2 lines of 4 when defending against team who use width like Real Madrid, of course that would mean that one of trio (pato, ibra, ronnie) would be out, and one holding midfielder in. At least I think that would be a better option, at least when defending. I did expect that Jose would send one more holding midfielder forward in order to occupy Milan defense more and create space for other player such as Ozil or Higuain, but Real had enough control with this system and early 2 goal lead. Real are looking good at the moment, playing good defence and they have power and width in attack. But still, I am wondering how will they look like against a side with better and quicker passing and tempo, will see.
I totally agree Jan!
Milan were the perfect embodiment of a “broken” team. Bizarrely, they were conforming to what Alberto Zaccheronni had been recommending them to do from the pages of Gazzetta Dello Sport when he said Milan should play in a 7:3 formation. In other words, that Milan’s defenders and midfielders should stay tight together, not play too expansively and just expect the front three (of whichever members from the ‘fantastic four’)to manufacture and execute chances by themselves.
Ironically, one coach who has proved adept at such an approach (like with Inter on some occassions last year)was Mourinho, but at least he knew that in order for this to succeed it must be matched by intensity from the midfield. Mourinho’s Inter had Zanetti, Camibiasso and sometimes even Motta or Muntari to form a duo/trio who could fetch water for the attacking outlets up front.
Okay, Milan played 7-3 but with Seedorf as one of the seven, there’s perhaps too little players ‘really’ defending. Of course he can link the 7 with the 3, but being the team as broken as they appeared, that’s too much of a task. Perhaps Seedorf is a better link between 7 and 3 when he’s part of the 3.
Yes, I hold the same view; if you’re going to play a tight and combative midfield, better having two from Boateng, Flamini and Gattuso to screen Pirlo.
Two things:
First, Ibra was AWFUL. He needs to understand that if he passes the ball he will get it back. I don’t recommend two tier formations, but they rely on that top tier sharing the ball, which Ibra seems allergic to. Milan just doesn’t build up when he gets the ball (which is why Barca got rid of him).
Second, beating Real requires someone to nullify Alonso. He guarantees an advantage on the midfield when he isn’t checked. You either keep him in his side of the half or eliminate him as soon as he crosses the midline. The team sort of allows Khedira to defend for him (I’m not convinced he’s quite the tackler and disruptive player that Mascherano or Silva is), and I think that is where you can exploit some advantages over Real. Barca has two central mids who require watching at all times (and a holding mid who can legitimately nullify two players at once), or Inter, forcing Alonso out of his zone. The other alternative is, in Milan’s case, start Boateng and give him the task of erasing Alonso when he comes over halfway. Make Khedira the wheel around which everything turns, not Alonso.
@ Joe, I think that marking strictly Xabi Alonso is good tactic, he is player that starts all attacks, he is excellent at switching sides and one very good holding midfielder. That could work. Any player who has one guy running and pressing him simply don’t have enough time to react, he is forced to play first touch passes, and that pass is back pass in most of the time. When he has the time on the ball he can use his creativity the way he wants.
“I don’t know why Milan didn’t use 2 lines of 4 when defending…”
It would have been a big ask of Pato, that’s why. The lad was already defending very well (compensating for Ibra and Ronaldinho abstaining from pressurising the Madrid players)even though he was playing as a striker – he was moving back (alongside Dinho or towards the right flank to make it a 4-3-2-1) whenever Milan lost the ball. But to expect him to have tracked all the way back into deep midfield (with Seedorf guarding the other flank) would have made the attack all disjointed.
Yes, but pato would be off, or ibra or ronnie. That would mean that they would play with-from right to left- Gattuso, Flamini(boateng), Pirlo, Seedorf when defending, they could switch to 4 3 1 2 when attacking, but they would stop Real at flanks better than 4 3 1 2. That’s my opinion.
Hmmm….that could have worked.
Perhaps the fact that Milan didn’t play a pressing game might very well be down to the age of the midfield trio,it simply would have been impossible for them to play a pressing game high up the pitch,Having said that they way they sat when Real got the ball was shocking they certainly could have done better.
Also Cristiano came up trumps against Gattuso who had the job of keeping him quiet(anyone remember the Milan v/s Man Utd clash a few years ago ?), for Gattuso looks like his age has caught up with him !
There’s definitely some truth in that statement about the midfield potentially becoming exposed should the forwards press. But this might be alleviated by selecting a second combative midfielder (Boateng) ahead of Seedorf to accompany Gattuso and Pirlo.
Boateng came in during the second half. He had been nursing an injury during the international break, so maybe he just wasn’t fit to start. Generally speaking he probably would have been the better choice, I agree.
( There is some speculation that he faked the injury to avoid going to Sudan for the CAN qualifier and considering how uncomfortable he looked at the previous match in Swaziland…I don’t think that’s what he envisioned when he decided to play for his dad’s country of birth. Despite his young age he’s always been an injury prone player though so I’m not buying into any conspiracy theories just yet. )
CHeers for the info Blipp.
In that case, the best thing would have either been to play Flamini there, or to have dropped one of the forwards (including the trequartista) The trouble, inevitably, is political; it seems that Ibra alone is undroppable, whilst Pato makes way. But Milan desperately needed movement up front, even after Robinho came on.
how come Flamini isn’t a regular starter? has he been so bad that they prefer the senior citizens Seedorf / Ambrosini / Gattuso to him? I remember during his last season for Arsenal, I thought we had found our starting DM for the next 10 years and was very sad to see him go. what happened since then?
Well, me I think ZM is a bit too harsh on the Italian 4-3-1-2 system in this piece. If you have tactically astute players at your disposal it’s a flexible and surprisingly modern shape.
How many matches are decided by the battle in central midfield these days ? Three dedicated players in that area are an advantage just like the 4-2-3-1 provides. Looking at Primera Division and Bundesliga leaders Real and Dortmund the return of the trequartista to limelight is already happening too. That’s Mesut Oezil and Shinji Kagawa for those not following these leagues.
Obviously there are some shortcoming as well though. Some of the dominating international sides of the recent years have employed wide centre forwards for example. Villa for Spain, Podolski and WC 2010 top scorer Thomas Mueller for Germany.
That’s not really feasible in a 4-3-1-2 but you can’t have it all I guess.
This is really a reply to David and Blipp.
David, your insulting of Seedorf is almost unforgivable. But you’re sort of right: Flamini should play for Gattuso.
Blipp, it seems to me that given the width difficulties of the 4312 that ZM mentions, have one of the forwards pull wide into precisely the kind of Villa/Pedro role you mention would help both in terms of offensive spacing and giving the fullbacks something to worry about. But ZM also points out that Milan sort of tried to do that this game and it wound up sounding better in theory than it worked in practice.
No. Of those midfielders, Seedorf is more important and effective than Gattuso, so if Flamini or KPB comes in it has to be replacing Rino.
Ronaldo was a little bit lucky when he scored by the freekick. Awful defending by the wall, especially Seedorf. The dutchman was such a coward –he did not have the bravery to face Ronaldo’s cannon ball and preferred to evade the ball instead of facing it.
Can’t you just see who’s taking the freekick? And the distance, couldn’t you see how close and dangerous it was? Milan should have defended better and formed a better wall.
So lucky for Seedorf that Sir Alex does not manage Milan. If Seedorf plays at Manchester United, he’ll be dead by defending at such standard –expect the gaffer to vehemently do the ‘hair-dryer’ treatment to him at half-time.
If the wall does its job, that distance is an impossible free kick. Really, at a certain point, the closer you get to the goal the harder the free kick becomes (you can’t put enough on it to fool the keeper without skying it over the bar).
Are you sure it was Seedorf’s fault?
I thought that initially but on further viewing he actually stood still – i.e. held his place. It was whoever was next to him on his right side left the hole when he jumped.
I agree the wall was terrible but not that Seedorf was at fault.
as far as i remember, the ball went through ibras legs..
so, no fault from seedorf here, but a very strange defensive approach by ibra.
ZM, I thought Milan had been playing a 4-3-3 system with Ronaldinho on the left and Pato on the right, why did they deviate from it?
Maybe Allegri is more comfortable with the 4-3-1-2; and Pirlo said the senior players welcomed the return to a system which brought them success during the Ancelotti years.
Also, maybe he wanted Pato to be closer to goal.
Ah I see. I thought it was strange to switch from their usual system, especially when it means Arbeloa and Marcelo would’ve direct opposition in Ronaldinho and Pato.
Tactics aside, no way Milan could have caused any trouble with the tiring pace of Seedorf and Ronaldinho. More than the brilliance of RM, I thought Milan was too poor yesterday.
ZM, about your conclusion…
Don’t you think that drawing an overarching conclusion from this (that 4-3-1-2 will always encounter such problems vs 4-2-3-1)is undermined by the fact that Milan were such poor practioners of the 4-3-1-2 last night?
For example, that side from eight years ago (or any of the subsequent Ancelotti sides) could have remedied such problems by the inclusion of a more aggressive player than Seedorf (a young Ambrosini for instance, or Boateng nowadays). That way, both Milan full-backs could have ventured forward with more conviction and in tandem with one of the Gattuso/Boateng pair (the remaining wide combative midfielder shifting across to guard the central midfield with Pirlo – something you can’t do when Seedorf is one of the wideish midfielders). This might have at least given Marcelo and Arbeloa something to think about.
I think you have to conclude that the Milan midfield trio wasn’t up to the task in the match. Gattuso had much defensive work to do, but in the 4-3-1-2 formation you have to use your advantage in the centre of the midfield better; the high number of interceptions by Madrid in the middle of the park serves to illustrate that their theoretical strength in that area was of almost no use at all.
Seedorf was just terrible. He lost the ball 95% of the time.
I thought Milan looked a little more threatening when they put on KPB and Robinho.
I wonder how the game would have turned out had those two started instead of the two lazy ones.
Ronaldinho is awful and people here want him in the Seleção. He had very few glimpses of good football with the ball, but does absolutely nothing without it. I always say that someone that doesn’t contribute to the team when they don’t have the ball has to be REALLY good with it to compensate, but Milan’s front 3 didn’t track back, didn’t pressure, nothing, while Madrid’s front 4 pressured them all over the pitch.
Btw, what do you think of Marcelo? The media here is now talking about how he is evolving as a left-back recently, but in truth he’s been having solid performances for a while now. With some more maturity he could be a pretty decent choice.
Pretty decent choice? He should easily be starting for Brazil by now, he’s much better than Bastos and André Santos. He’s been performing like this for a year. He’s grown tremendously. I don’t know, I’m a madridista, I’ve watched every single Madrid game for around ten years and I think he’s outperformed Sergio Ramos the last year, if not longer.
Man, I am brazilian, and you’re totally right. Mourinho made Marcelo konow how to marking and now he is a more complete player. Mano, the coach of Brazil, likes more Andre Santos, but most of people like Marcelo. He goes to attack and can play as a midfielder. He is a good player. Too good.
And Dunga, you sucks as coach, man!
We’ll see, I think Mano has to call Marcelo now, else I don’t know what else he is looking for in a left-back. André Santos is a good choice if you want a totally offensive and reckless wing-back. I think with both Dani Alves and André Santos we really have a problem defensively. A common option is to withdraw one of the DMCs(or “Volantes”) into being a third centre-back, but I don’t think either Lucas or Ramires are any good at doing that.
Wasn’t sure of him at left-back until this season. He looks very good there.
Marcelo looked amazingly good. He was not a reliable defender two years earlier, but he improved a lot since. If he keeps this performance, he should make the Brazilian team easily.
Do you guys really think Marcelo has changed so much from last year? Not likely. I’ve watched every single Madrid game, and I see a maturity, but not to the extent that these performances would indicate. The difference to me is Mourinho. The more Mourinho has control of this team, the less I think Pellegrini understood about defending. Pelle would not preach any defensive fundamentals, while leaving Marcelo on an island by himself to defend. Late last year once Ramos was moved to CB on Marcelo’s side, his defense become more stout. Still though, it was not enough. From the start this year Marcelo has looked far better. The reason I believe is Mourinho. The tactics he employs, the game plan he sells to his players, have made Marcelo into the player he is.
Coaching is far more important in all sports than most of us like to admit i think. Not just tactically, but structurally, fundamentally, psychologically, etc.
Agree 100% Real are a much better team than last season. last season Real did not know the meaning of the word defend at all…
What if Milan had played with Ronaldinho and Pato wide? Madrid’s fullbacks would probably still have gotten forward, and Pato might have exploited Marcelo and gotten behind him a few times. However, Milan’s midfield three would have been absolutely unable to close down both Alonso and Ozil, leading to either Ozil getting space in the hole or Alonso commanding the game and spraying passes all over the field. Worst of all, Ronaldo would have had 1v1 all day vs Zambrotta. I don’t think you can fault Allegri if his alternate formation would have likely led to catastrophe as well. Milan didn’t have the free players needed to dominate possession, nor did they have the athleticism to play at Madrid’s pace. Madrid had a simple out ball to a fullback, or a more ambitious pass to Ronaldo, on the assumption that he would pull some skill or pace and get past Zambrotta. No tactic could have been adopted with Milan’s entire squad to remedy both of these flaws. To his credit, Mourinho’s team exploited both weaknesses in Milan’s setup.
Milan is not really short of pace. Abate might have done better against Ronaldo than Zambrotta, but it would be a gamble. Pato and Robinho out wide would definitely keep Marcelo and Arbeloa a bit more busy. KPB and Flamini are more capable of closing down the midfield than Seedorf.
that iphone app is great isnt it? sadly something similar is not yet available for android
Real are a tactically sound side, thanks to Jose Mourinho and his tactical nous and have palyed some good football this season – I just dunno why people say tht Mourinho’s teams play boring football though his teams appear more workmanlike. But Real’s finishing has not been the best, and tht may do them in against teams such as Barca and Chelsea who are ruthless killers of the ball
What I want to see out of Milan next time vs Real:
Abate, Nesta, Silva, Zambrotta
Flamini, Pirlo
Seedorf
Pato, Ibra, Robinho
Pressing from the front. Flamini helping Abate on C.Ron, with Seedorf covering the middle when Flamini slides right.
Subbing in ‘Dinho and KPB early in the 2nd half to rest the tiredest legs of the midfield and attack.
Pie in the sky, you say? maybe. But it seems clear they’re not going to win with the strategy they used here.