Real Madrid 2-0 Valencia: Real step it up after Albelda red card
The starting line-ups
Two Cristiano Ronaldo goals gave Real an important three points at the Bernabeu.
Jose Mourinho changed to a 4-3-3 system for this game, with Karim Benzema replaced with Lassana Diarra and Cristiano Ronaldo used as the lone forward. Ricardo Carvalho and Sergio Ramos were replaced by Raul Albiol and Alvaro Arbeloa at the back.
Despite reports he would name a 3-4-3, Unai Emery went with the 4-2-3-1 shape he’s used throughout the majority of this campaign. Hedwiges Maduro was used as a holding midfielder alongside David Albelda, whilst Marius Stankevicius was in at the back.
The game started slowly, as if neither side really wanted to take control of the game, and instead wanted the other to push forward and leave space in behind.
Alonso closed down
It was notable that Mourinho used Xabi Alonso as the deepest of the three central midfielders, looking to spray passes out to the flanks. Diarra instead played a left-of-centre role he didn’t look particularly comfortable in. The aim was clearly to get Alonso into space to create, but it didn’t work well, as Tino Costa was generally close enough to put pressure on him and make sure he didn’t have room to play ambitious forward passes. Real struggled for creativity early on.
Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t stay upfront, he moved into deeper positions and drifted wide to pick up the ball before running with it at pace. He often strayed out to the left, where Real didn’t have a player stationed permanently – Mesut Ozil kept his usual leftish central attacking midfield role, whilst Angel di Maria was out on the right, higher up the pitch than normal.
Real lack attackers
For much of the first half, Real looked exactly what they were – a 4-2-3-1 side converted to a 4-3-3 by simply removing the main striker and introducing a holding midfielder. They looked short of numbers when they attacked and Valencia were generally well-stocked to deal with the threat of Real’s attacking trio. Maduro moved deep in front of the back four and denied Real space between the lines, meaning Valencia had 5 v 3 when Real launched mini-counter-attacks.
As if to prove the point that Real were lacking one extra attacking player, their best chance of the first half came on the only occasion Sami Khedira made a dangerous, direct run down the centre of the pitch. Shocked by the new attacking threat, Valencia’s defence parted and Khedira missed a one-on-one.
Valencia were attempting to play on the counter but weren’t threatening. Their main threat was Juan Mata, who drifted in from his left-sided role, but he did so into a packed midfield zone.
Mourinho switch
Mourinho only stuck with the 4-3-3 for eight minutes of the second half before reverting to 4-2-3-1. Khedira made way and Benzema was introduced, and Real immediately looked better, simply because they were attacking with one extra player.
Still, the red card to Albelda for a handball (his second yellow when already on a booking) was very important. Valencia were forced into a 4-4-1 shape that invited constant pressure, and it seemed only a matter of time before Real broke through.
Goals
Right-back Bruno was caught in possession on the halfway line – a fatal error, considering Ronaldo had moved to the left after Benzema’s introduction. Real broke quickly, Ozil played the ball to Ronaldo who motored into the space, before smashing the ball into the net.
Soldado had a chance to equalise soon after, but Real shut up shop by bringing on Esteban Granero and Mahamadou Diarra for Ozil and Di Maria which closed the game out. Ronaldo’s excellent solo effort wrapped up the win.
Conclusion
Perhaps Real’s struggle with 4-3-3 hints at why Mourinho was reluctant to use it against Barcelona? The system seemed rather disorganised and Real struggled to create chances early on, with the midfield three too conservative for a game where they were dominating possession. The change to 4-2-3-1 made them more dangerous.
Valencia were disappointing – their strategy was to counter-attack but they rarely did so with any real purpose. Constant chopping and changing means the side lacks understanding and cohesion when attacking, although they defended well until they went down to ten men.
Real Madrid 2-0 Valencia: Real step it up after Albelda red card
Do the arrows on the formation diagram represent player movement when team has the ball?
yessir
Very good movement by Benzema at the first goal, creating space for Ronaldo.
Another reason why Real struggled in the first half could be that Di Maria played so high up the pitch.
Normally, Crisiano play high, Di Maria pretty deep and Özil in between, so that Real can build play about Di Maria.
This time, they only could do long passes from Alonso, who didn´t have much space.
I beleive a draw would have been a fair result, looking at how it was with 22 on play. And it wasnt a hand too.
The major tactic of employing Arbeloa and Lass seems to bodycheck opposition, from the last two games. Lucky they pass through without trouble, or they are experts in it.
ZM, Isnt RM also a counter attacking team, may be the best counter attackers in the world right now.
I have not seen this game. But compared to Barca every team is counter attacking
Aside from that, the trend goes to fast breaks. After your team won possession the most teams try to get the goal fast before the opponent is able to get into a solid defensive structure (4-4-2 or 4-5-1). If you are not able to succeed via fast breaks, you try to get the ball with two or three vertical passes from the holding midfielder into the box. Only a few teams are able to play a possession based game infront of the box (passing game or how you name it).
This is the trend: go for it before the opponent is able to defend. Don’t make the game slow (that is what some playmakers do), don’t wait for 6 vs. 8 (compared to 3 vs. 3), switch fast between devending and attacking (and back).
Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t A LOT of Barcelona’s goals scored on the counter? Isn’t it part of why they press? Teams score anyway that’s possible. If that’s a free-kick from 50 yards or a rapid counter-attacking move, do you think they care?
Rajesh
Don’t agree. Madrid had the upper hand. The longer the game went the more dangerous they seemed. Also, the ref missed two obvious penalties, a handball on Jordi Alba and when Di María was brought down. As soon as Benzema was on I felt like Madrid was gonna score any minute now. They did not dominate but they controlled the game and pulled all the strings.
“do you think they care?”
No, but Barça has more options. the most teams get problems when the opponent has time move into a defensive structure. Barça scores a lot on the counter because teams try to go for the equaliser.
Maybe Barça is difficult to compare coz the most teams start sitting deep and Barça has this challange to score against 9 or 10 defenders. When they are one or two goals in front they are able to counter. And Barça is very good in using failures in the opponents defence. They need only one or two minor failures to score, other teams have more problems with ultra defensive opponents (but they don’t get this challange every weekend).
It’s also a question when and where your team is pressing (10 or 20 yards from halfway line? pressure on the holding midfielders, the full backs??).
Real Madrid, take the three points, thanks to two strikes from Christian Ronaldo. The first goal was good, by the second was amazing. Far better than Nasri’s strike in the Premier League on Saturday.
Madrid weren’t at their best against Valencia, but they took all the points. Think that they will continue to get better, under the guidance of the special one.
No, in no way is Ronaldo’s 2nd goal better than either of Nasri’s goals.
Yeah seriously man. Nasri’s goals were much better.
I’m not a fan, but I was impressed with the intelligence of Ronaldo’s goal. Most attackers would try to get a step on the defender and take their shot. Ronaldo got his step, but he also moved the ball *away* from the goal and defender on an angle, to make it impossible for the defender to throw a leg in and deflect.
Usually more critical with Ronaldo’s performances, in this game he was simply very good. He had like three chances and scored twice. The key to his success there, in my eyes, was that he did not waste any time, but went straight for the goal, and finished as soon as possible, both times by an incredibly strong shot, very difficult to save. For the second goal, well, I guess the final step to the side was not that much of a revelation, quite standard if you want to shoot, but rather the run until there as a whole, and the fact that he could run at the defender with that much pace.
Only the referee saw the handball that changed the game. Spanish referees again saving Madrid, same old story. And strikers in Spain need too many chances to score.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8qV2jlCnbw – watch it over and over again, before opening your mouth. There was a hand and there was a move of that hand towards the ball.
Lol, as if Barcelona didn’t profit from a penalty that the referee didn’t mark before 0-1. And it was handball… but even if it wasn’t, it was a tough call and it’s no controversial mistake.
Just because his arm went up doesn’t mean he touched the ball with his hand.
Key play was by referee, not a player. Took the ghost handball to allow real a chance in this match–it clearly hit his face not his arm. Shame that for Valencia who should have earned a point.
are you blind? look at the youtube clip above.. clearly not his face and clearly was his arm.
Certainly not his face, but even so I think it was a little harsh. As Albelda is claiming, it hit him on the shoulder which is a bit of a grey area handball-wise. I think he is probably right to feel a bit hard done by.
I don’t think it changed the outcome of the match though.
And a question: I’m not sure if it’s true, but it always seems that when Mourinho is looking to make a change, he brings off Ozil. Tactically, why is he the most appropriate sub?
Stange, I watched the broadcast which showed over and over again(in slow motion) that it struck his shoulder (as does the youtube clip so I don’t understand why you are using this as evidence for your argument that it struck his arm) so I’m not quite sure why one would argue that the ref didn’t make a mistake.
It’s not a controversial mistake. From the first replay it *does* look as a handball… the second replay looks otherwise, more from the shoulder. Of course, the player then persecutes the referee and points to his own head, which is just silly. The referee doesn’t have this many slo-mo replays, so I don’t think his mistake is a serious one.
I’d consider the lack of penalty against barça to be graver.
it hits the top of his arm. and he leans into the ball with his arm = deliberate handball in my opinion.
and no, i’m not a madrid fan
Just as a note for anyone talking about the face. He was telling the assistant that he was a “caradura”, kind of “you’ve got a cheek”. He was recriminating the assistant for saying that it was handball.
Would you stop talking about the fucking referee??!?!
This is a tactics blog for crying out loud. That’s the problem with Latin countries: people talk too much about the referee. There’s a pre and post-match game. In England football only lasts for 90 minutes. That’s why I prefer and I’ll always prefer the Premier League.
PS.: I’m Portuguese by the way
Had Khedira and DiMaria not screwed up their occasions it would be 2:0 even before the red. Not that either team played beautiful football, but Real was better, and deserved to win.
Offtopic (Barcelona): Seems like Guardiola has finally decided what’s the starter 11 this season, he put the same XI that played against Madrid last week. 4-3-3 with Messi as a false nine.
It seems that Mourihno, even Pellegrini, played Alonso as the deepest of the midfielders. Now, we all agreed that he isn’t a DM per se, unlike Lass, but why is he is constantly deployed there? He obviously needs space and vision to do his incredible long passes but wouldn’t it be better if he played in front of a DM or alongside just to have someone cover his back?
Because the deeper you play, the more time and space you have on the ball, which is especially dangerous if you’re Alonso. Harder for the opponent to mark too, in which case they’ll have to use an attacking player to man-mark you, which is part of the job done since you’re taking away that player’s game.
I think Real need to buy Schweinsteiger as he can both defend, attack and support/ create from the deep and from the trequartista position and from the flanks.
Isn’t Real’s central striker their weakest link up front? But to play without one isn’t much of a solution, giving Ronaldo’s and Özil’s best positions away. Playing with a central striker, so playing four men up front, means they can’t really counter attack but ‘are forced’ to dominate. Which isn’t too bad to do, but perhaps Mourinho needs some time to get accustomed to it.
For a 4-3-3, does he have the proper midfield three?
I think for the next weeks, José will try some shapes. He hasn’t found the proper one, that’s a thing he perhaps knew for himself but after the Barça thrashing the whole world knows.
He has certainly found his shape, at least for any team besides Barca.
The 4-2-3-1 was working wonders this season until Clasico. It has allowed Madrid to have a great defence and switch play very fast to their front four for the counter.
I think Mourinho should experiment with an unorthodox formation to prepare for next Clasico. Barca’s domination of world football has seen them getting so used to having to break down 8-10 men defenses that sticking people behind the ball may not even be effective against them anymore, they have adjusted and gotten used to it.
I would love to see Madrid experiment with the 3-3-1-3.
——————-Casillas——————–
——Arbeloa——–Pepe———Carvalho—–
———————————————–
Ramos————Xabi Alonso————Marcelo
———————————————–
———————Ozil———————-
—Di Maria————————————
———————————Ronaldo——-
——————–Higuain——————–
The 3-3-1-3 can easily become defensive into a 5-4-1 when Ramos and Marcelo stay back and the wide forward don’t press up as much. This formation allows for very quick change from ultra defensive 5 man defence to ultra aggressive 4-man attack with supporting wingbacks for overlaps. I thing Madrid has the perfect players for wingplay, they have Di Maria and CR7 as fast wingers and than Ramos and Marcelo as fast and skillfull wingbacks. They are made for winger formations.
I like that. Pepe has played in the DM role for Portugal and maybe Madrid too, I can’t remember.
This is an interesting previous ZM blog post (especially check out the moving diagram):
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/04/22/is-the-sweeper-set-for-a-return-to-prominence/
Could Pepe be the midfielder who drops back to form a back 3?
That is what is key about this formation, Flexibility.
You can actually change it to 4-man defence, slide Pepe forward to DM, use Arbeloa and Carvalho as CBs, and Marcelo and Ramos as FBs.
Now you have midfield trio of Xabi, Ozil, and Pepe. 2 DMs and 1 AM.
And you still have CR7, Di Maria, Higuain.
So essentially this formation can be either a 3-3-1-3, 4-3-3, 5-4-1.
It is one of the most extraordinary formations for flexibility.
Of course it all depends on the players available, but with a squad like R Madrid’s there are so many available options.
The potential problem that I can see is that Pepe doesn’t have the vision to play in midfield when in attack, but I suppose that is negated by the impact of the full backs, especially Marcelo who is so exciting going forwards.
The other thing is that I’m not a big fan of Ramos. He is athletic, sure, but his positional sense isn’t fantastic, something which is very important in the sort of fluid role you are suggesting. Ultimately I don’t think he offers much going forward nor in defence. However someone like Dani Alves would be just fantastic in the role, or maybe from a Premier League perspective maybe Micah Richards? Although he is no great shakes either.
Finally, the proposed system might force the wide midfielders (e.g. Di María and C Ronaldo) infield, where neither of them is most comfortable.
Still, a very nice idea which I would love to see in practice, especially with such a talented squad as Real Madrid have.
My comment would be based on a Clasico game.
My concern about this formation would be the midfield. Specially Ozil and how deep you have put him. He is a great creative playmaker but he isn’t that great defending. So the problem for me is that the midlfield would be outrun by Barca’s midfield plus Messi dropping extremely deep.
Also, since Barca midfield likes to play so close, it’ll mean that Ramos and MArcelo has to come in leaving gaps on the flank.
Other than that, i think you are spot on about wingers.
you’ve got two central midfielders in that formation, meaning when you play barca it would be 4 v 2 in the centre of midfield in barcelonas favour, meaning you will get even more outrun in the midfield than last time.
No, Because when Barca plays tight in the midfield with Xavi, Busquets and Iniesta, Marcelo and Ramos tuck inside to actually combine with Alonso and Ozil for 4 man midfield.
CR7 and Di Maria become responsible for tracking Alves and Abidal.
This leaves Carvalho, Pepe and Arbeloa to deal with Villa, Messi and Pedro.
More importantly, since Barca tends to only use Pique, Puyol and Busquets staying back as 3-man defence, this means that switching to attack fast with Cr7, Di Maria, Ozil and Higuain leaves a 4v3 in Madrid’s favor on the counter. There is added confusion of Abidal and Alves having to deal with the presence of wingbacks and wingers, forcing Pedro and Villa to drop back and pick up the wingbacks, preventing them from pressing as aggressively as possible.
@Jordan.
I am not sure bringing Ramos and Marcelo inside would be such a good idea. That’ll leave Pedro and Villa wide open, yes you have Arbeloa and Carvalho (based on your diagram) to cover them but thats 1v1 and you are leaving acres of space in the middle to exploit. If they get caught offguard Pepe would be in serious trouble being the last man.
I think 4-5-1 is a good formation against a 4-3-3 that Barca deploys, however everyone except the striker should condense and pressure in the middle to win the ball back. Pressing will disrupt Barca’s play, being aggressive and not allow them time on the ball.
Essentially what has been suggested is that Madrid play Barca’s system, for Pepe read Busquets, Alonso – Xavi and Ozil – Iniesta. Personally I think this would be a bad idea for a couple of reasons. Barcelona have had years to fine tune the understanding and fluidity this formation requires to work effectively with players playing several different roles depending on what is happening and where other players are. Secondly I’m not sure Madrid’s front four would be anywhere near as good at pressing and tracking back as Barca’s players.
I would be much more interested to see Madrid play another kind of hybrid system which I believe their players are more suited to. Something along the lines of
——–Casillas———
—-Pepe——Carvalho—
Ramos————-Marcelo
—–Khedira—-Alonso—-
—-Ozil——-Ronaldo—-
Di Maria———–Benzema
Sacrificing a traditional striker and keeping the furthest two players out wide occupying Pique and Puyol in the back 3, whilst pushing Ozil and Ronaldo (or Kaka if he ever returns to previous highs in future) forward from advanced midfield positions through the centre of the pitch when attacking. Essentially this is a more extreme version of the false 9, which is essentially…no 9. When defending you have 4 central midfielders to outnumber Barca with, either the wing forward or the spare DM to track full back runs (or both). It would still require hard work from the Madrid players but they would have numerical advantages in the key area of midfield, especially having Ozil AND someone else to play up against Busquets who is very important for Barca. What do people think of this?
Actually I wasn’t trying to copy Barca’s formation, although I can see how it is similar. I was actually thinking of Marcelo Bielsa’s Chile formation. This is one the fastest and most attack-minded teams in the world, and they only have a single world class player on the squad, Alexis Sanchez.
I think that Madrid’s play is dictated by speed. Barca has fast players too, but they use passing and slow build-up to deadly effect. Madrid has some serious athlete though, in the sense that while they may not be equal to the Barca quartet (Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa) in terms of skill and technique on the ball, they are faster overall, and better “athletes” in the sense of muscularity. CR7 vs. Messi, CR7 is not better overall, but he is faster in a sprint, he is strong in the air and hard to bring down. Di Maria vs Pedro, Di Maria is quicker, more nimble too with jumping out of the way of tackles. Higuain is not as clinical as Villa in front of goal, but he is faster I think, and very engine-like in that he runs a lot for a forward.
I am aslo not advocating for pressing in the 3-3-1-3. Rather I am saying that Ramos and Marcelo should collapse back, and Di Maria and CR7 take up the wings further back towards their own goal on defence. So it is essentially a 5-4-1.
The problem I can forsee with that is against lone striker formations you will either end up with too few or too many defenders. I am sure that would be okay against a lot of teams in La Liga who, quite frankly, Madrid are much better than, but against Barca I think it’s different. You will effectively either have 3 defenders up against 3 attackers, and 2 spare DMs with little cover down the wings, or 5 defenders against 3 attackers and too much space more the Barca midfield.
Indeed I also admire the tactics of Bielsa and in particular the system you showed here, but he also advocates having a spare man at the back. That’s why I suggested a back 4 and then 2 DMs and 2 AMs giving you an extra man in midfield still but further forwards. It would also diminish defensive work for Ronaldo who, quite frankly, isn’t going to track the full back runs, as he would share the responsibilty of dropping back with Ozil.
No system is perfect obviously, I just thought it would be interesting to see this system up against Barca’s.
@Jordan,
I totally agree about RM forwards being more direct and athletic. And i think that’s the best thing that Madrid has in their arsenal. I was actually looking forward to this particular approach to Barcelona’s system in the last Clasico, but they were just outrun in the middle that it was hard for RM to send long balls to the forwards.
You guys must be on drugs
Very good breakdown of the game. It was definitely evident that Madrid really struggled in the 1st half with the new formation. Also what really stood out to me was how terrible of a job they did moving forward whenever Ronaldo dropped back or to the wing to pick up the ball. Whenever he dropped back, everyone else basically just stood their ground, and it ended up looking like a 4-6-0 formation. Thankfully Mourinho brought on Benzema (who, while not a great player, can always be relied on for off-the-ball work), which allowed Ronaldo to go back to the wing, and it automatically created more chances.
Also, I don’t think the 4-2-3-1 should be thrown out vs. stronger sides just because of the Barcelona game. The way Barcelona played that night, it didn’t matter what formation was used; they were THAT good. Their passing and off-the-ball movement was UNREAL.
They played better than any team in Spain or probably World this season. However, I disagree that there was no formation that could have stopped them and salvaged a point for Madrid. Maybe it would have entailed played ultra-catenaccio like Inter did successfully, although they still let in a goal. I truly believe that soccer is ultimately about tactics, and even though Barca’s players are more skillfull and more fit than Madrid’s to be able to play the way they did that evening, there is most definitely a tactic or formation out there that would have nullified it. Whether or not Madrid’s player had the mental strength and discipline to execute said tactics without being pulled out of position is a different story.
I refuse to believe that anyone is unbeatable. Yes, Barca was majestic, but I am telling you, there is a weakness if the way they played. It may not be apparent, or even easy to exploit, it may be difficult to even find it without staring at hours of archived footage and focusing solely on stopping them rather than focusing on the campaign as a whole, but it is there.
No team is invincible, even if Barca is the best of the best right now.
Barca is beatable, I admit it being a fan. In the CL against F.C. Copenhagen (in their home) they only tied 1-1 because they were pressed hard and weren’t allowed time on the ball whereas in Camp Nou, Barca won 5-0. It was somewhat shocking and unpleasing.
However i do agree that what Inter players did last year was formidable, to be that disciplined and stay organized the way they did takes a lot of guts. However, i doubt RM players will or can be able to pull something like that because they arent used to play in a similar fashion.
I believe the main problem of playing Alonso, Khedira and Diarra in the middle is that Diarra is simply not good enough. He knows how to destroy the attacking game of the opposition team, but he does nothing to help his own team’s. I think Real Madrid brought him to replicate Makelele, but Diarra lacks Makelele’s positional sense and his concept of playing it simple. Makelele sat deep and simply gave the ball to other players more comfortable in building up the game than him. Diarra seems to be happy motoring forward and attempting more ambitious balls, even if he frequently seems out of his depth when doing it.
The 4-3-3 can work for Real, but I would risk saying that Diarra (or another player like that) would have to sit the deepest in midfield, Alonso would have to go up somewhat to play simple interchanges of passes with Khedira and Özil would have to play more in the middle whenever Ronaldo drifts to the left (and when Ronaldo moves to the middle, Özil should then occupy the left).
Space is the bame of the game, and Diarra stiffles it for both the opposition and his own team. To work, he has to play way out of the complicated areas.