Valencia 2-3 Real Madrid: Real press well early on, Valencia better after substitutions
The starting line-ups
Real Madrid maintained their lead over Barcelona after an entertaining win over Valencia at the Mestalla.
Unai Emery went back to 4-2-3-1 having played two upfront in the previous game against Levante. Sofiane Feghouli started rather than Pablo Hernandez, and Daniel Parejo got a rare start in the centre of the attacking trio.
Jose Mourinho changed his system, moving Mesut Ozil out wide, bringing Lassana Diarra into the side and pushing Sami Khedira forward behind Karim Benzema. Angel Di Maria was injured.
This was a game of different stages: (1) Real dominated the first half. (2) The first 20 minutes of the second half saw little football with six yellow cards being produced in this period. (3) The final 25 minutes was topsy-turvy, with four goals.
Pressing
Mourinho’s use of Khedira high up the pitch suggested he wanted to be aggressive defensively, closing down from the front – and that’s exactly what happened. Khedira and Diarra worked extremely hard to shut down the Valencia midfielders, leaving Xabi Alonso deeper in a less physically demanding role. The opening to the game, a little like the Bayern v Dortmund game earlier in the day, was all about the midfielders tracking each other, preventing the ball being played into feet.
The use of Khedira was inspired. Although he wasted one good opportunity through poor control (the obvious downside of playing a combative rather than a skilful player in that position), his energy set the tone for Real’s pressing, and it was slightly reminiscent of the role Pepe played in the Clasico series last season, albeit with someone less out of position, and less purely destructive.
Midfield battle
The 3 v 3 in the midfield was a clear battleground, especially with so much closing down, and the most interesting individual contest was Parejo against Alonso- Parejo was the highest of the Valencia midfield trio, whilst Alonso was the deepest in Real’s three. Parejo saw little of the ball early on and became frustrated, and started dropping deeper and deeper into the midfield zone to try to become involved.
In theory this was the correct approach, but the nature of Real’s midfield meant that leaving Real’s deepest midfielder free was giving the most creative of the three, Alonso, time to dictate the play. He enjoyed the room he got when Parejo dropped deep, and although his assist for Benzema came from a long, quickly-taken free-kick rather than in open play, it showed that he was the man Valencia had to prevent getting space.
Real approach
Real were very direct on the ball, trying to exploit the space behind the Valencia defence. The majority of chances, or near-chances, came when they got one player through on goal – they didn’t wait for Valencia to form two banks of four.
It was a very workmanlike, battling performance from Real, summed up by the fact that the two least talented players in the front four – Benzema and Khedira – both did their jobs excellently, whilst Ozil and Cristiano Ronaldo were more peripheral figures than usual.
Second half
Ozil wasn’t really comfortable out wide in the right-sided position up against Jordi Alba and Jeremy Mathieu – it was surprising that Mourinho wanted to play him up against the most dangerous part of Valencia’s side, and defensively he looked weak in the second half when Valencia grew into the game. The two left-sided Valencia players combined for a good chance, when Soldado couldn’t get a touch at the near post.
Valencia’s problem was that neither Feghouli nor Parejo could get into the game, and it was no surprise when Emery replaced them both, either side of Sergio Ramos making it 2-0 with a header from a corner. He brought on Jonas to play as a deep-lying forward and the Brazilian immediately showed more use than Parejo, happily receiving the ball with his back to goal, holding it up like a centre-forward and bringing others into play. Pablo Hernandez also came on to play a narrow right-sided role and provided direct running from the flank in behind the centre-backs.
Sure enough, Jonas and Pablo combined for the goal – Jonas got the ball between the lines, waited, then slipped a pass through for Pablo’s run in behind – his shot was saved, but Roberto Soldado slammed in the rebound.
Latter stages
Real were suddenly under pressure, but immediately restored their advantage through Ronaldo’s goal on the break. Much focus will be on the mistake from Diego Alves, but it was a very interesting goal from a tactical point of view, because it showed exactly what Real were set out to do. Not just to break quickly – although that was the plan, only obvious once Valencia actually started getting into the final third – but because, as Graham Hunter points out, Real won six 50-50 balls from the edge of their own box, to the edge of the Valencia box. It went:
- Diarra beats Jonas to a header (78:27)
- Marcelo gets in ahead of Pablo to clear (78:29)
- Ozil holds off Alba to flick on the ball (78:31)
- Higuain battles Miguel to head the ball forward (78:33)
- Pepe beats Mathieu to the loose ball (78:34)
- Ronaldo outwits Alves to set himself up for the goal (78:39)
That’s twelve seconds from defending on the edge of their own penalty box, to having an open goal at the other end, and the nature of the break – about tackles rather than flowing passing – shows what Real were set out to be – fierce combative, battling.
That should have wrapped the game up, but Valencia came back again. Artiz Aduriz came on for Alba, Mathieu went to left-back and Valencia went gung ho. Soldado again popped up with a clever finish, and a frantic late finish could well have made it 3-3.
Conclusion
A good tactical battle between two interesting managers. The game came down to this: Mourinho got his starting selection right with the use of Khedira high up, whilst Emery’s decision to play Feghouli and Parejo was a mistake, and Valencia only played well once Jonas and Pablo came on in attacking positions. Real ‘won’ the first 60 minutes before Valencia made changes. When Emery acted, the remainder of the game was 2-2.
There were a myriad of interesting features here: both sides pressing and leaving space in behind, Khedira’s role, Alonso being given space, Ronaldo and Ozil being less prominent than Benzema and Khedira, Jonas holding the ball up, Soldado’s brilliant finishing…but the main story was Real relishing individual battles, and coming out on top.
Valencia 2-3 Real Madrid: Real press well early on, Valencia better after substitutions
Hi ZM, thanks for this nice report! You mention Alba and Mathieu being dangerous on the left in the second half, and Ozil not fully up to that. I think that point is also supported by the fact that Mourinho took off Arbeloa for Albiol, so Ramos could become fullback on the right. Arbeloa looked a bit tired, maybe injured?
I personally would not say he is far away from Ronaldo and Ozil, but maybe you wanted to say ‘less talented’? Cheers!
I find the attribute ‘least talented’ a bit harsh on Benzema
It’s perhaps a point of grammar, Diverinho. I am a less talented footballer than you; but of you, me and Messi, I am the least talented.
Actually, Albiol played on the right when he came on. Ramos stayed centrally.
Yes, you’re right. Just watched some replays. When the substitution was announced during the match it was just me who automatically put Ramos to the right and Albiol centrally. Mourinho really really likes Ramos as CB…
Diverinho,
I’m just going to repeat a comment I made to ZM via twitter after the game, and it concerns your point about Oezil.
“Re: Oezil tonight. Seems odd Mourinho would station him near the Mathieu-Alba express highway; was bound to be demanding…but perhaps deliberate: instead of attempting to out-gallop Valencia pair w athlete, Oezil there = maximise possession and consequently slow things down, take the sting out of the action in that sector. Not like Mou to blithely disregard need to defend in that sector (Valencia’s most potent?). Method to his madness methinks”
What I meant by that was, had Mourinho put an ostensibly suitable player there (e.g. Higuain = more explosive, or Diarra = more defensive)maybe Valencia would’ve ended up getting more joy in that sector anyway. It wouldn’t have really suited Madrid to be contesting that flank at relentless pace with the possiblity of sloppy control, loose balls, and rapid transitions only to find themselves constantly on the back foot chasing Alba-Matheiu (Valencia’s biggest threat). Instead, with Oezil there Madrid was less likely to cede possession and more capable of escorting the ball away from that sector (through Oezil’s distribution) and away from Alba-Mathieu.
Interesting thoughts. Might have been an extra good reason to put Ozil there…
Though, I think, the main reasoning was probably that Mourinho wanted Alonso-Diarra-Khedira in the centre, and where else to put Ozil then? (when Ronaldo has the left and Benzema the centre forward positions). And I guess Mou prefered to have Ozil rather than Higuain on the pitch anyways, as Ozil is overall more versatile…
Ozil played the ninety minutes!
Honestly, I don´t think Valencia had a single meaningful attack (missed the first ten minutes though) except for the 2-1 goal. They couldn´t get any ball through the center, their wingers hugged the touchline “too much” and they just put it in cross after cross and quite frankly, Soldado would never win against both Pepe and Ramos. Madrid seemed a bit lazy, I think they´d have preferred a 0-1 victory rather than a 2-3 victory, which is natural considering that there was national team duty just a couple days ago. I think Marcelo was the biggest “evidence” of that (he´d come off an injury so that might be another explanation) when he didn´t bother to run for the ball that reached Pablo (which he crossed for Soldado to touch in, one of very few times that he “won” against Ramos and Pepe) which was extremly unnecessary and which renewed Valencia´s fighting spirit and hopes. He was also less attacking than usual and made more misstakes than he usually does when attacking.
I thought Mathieu was Valencia´s most dangerous player. All of their few chances came through him and his running in behind of his defender is very, very intelligent and timed. Arbeloa actually does that too, sneaks in behind his defenders, when he has an opportunity although it´s from a full-back position rather than a midfield/left wing position.
About who´s most talented out of Ronaldo, Özil and Benzema (can´t count Khedira in because he does things they´d never be able to do and vice-versa) I´d say Ronaldo is only slightly more talented than Benzema and that Benzema is ahead of Özil, and that technically Benzema is ahead of both Özil and Ronaldo, but is beaten physically and mentally by Ronaldo. Özil is an incredible player but anyone who´s watched Real Madrid since Benzema´s arrival can see the tremendous potenital that is there. He has everything needed for a modern day striker and now he thinks and moves like one as well, all he needs is a bit more work on his finishing and he´s the prototype of a modern day striker.
It’s interesting to see Mourinho’s use of Benzema and Higuain, and it was more pronounced in this match – likely because Valencia is a more challenging opponent than the ones Madrid had played until now. Higuain is more the type to run into spaces, and when Valencia were chasing the match in the better part of the second half, I thought he could have got a goal (CR’s cross to him especially). Benzema disappeared in the second half but I thought Mourinho was right in waiting and bringing on Higuain after Madrid were up 2 goals and Valencia made the subs as well. Good write up.
Valencia – Defensively Valencia looked okay today, the CB partnership was well balanced, and rami in particular had a good game, competing well with benzema in the air. Alba did really well on the left too, pushing ozil back, and getting forward well (valencia only really attacked down the left, and alba was there best player until subs). But miguel was poor, pushed back by the threat of ronaldo and losing one on ones when isolated by Madrid.
In midfield, albelda attributes was wasted, he is at his best when bullying the more creative players (aka ozil) but up against khedira this didnt really work, and if anything his average passing skills were exposed by khedira’s pressing. Costa looks a good player, but was overwhelmed today by Real Madrid and there pressing. They missed banega in this match.
Parejo had a poor game as a result of not seeing the ball, even when getting into good positions, but defensively he was lazy and really should have pressed alonso, this is an obvious tactic of playing alonso, and the manager should have instructed this. Feghouli was a poor choice on the right too, it seems he was played there to track marcelo’s runs, but offensively, he didnt have any impact, lacking the pace and dribbling skills to get past players and playing too deep to get close to goal.
Mathieu looked a good threat, combining with alba down the left in attacks and doubling up on ozil. He got into some good positions on the edge of the penalty area, but didnt get enough support.
Soldado was isolated up front, where his good movement was wasted. He was dealt with well by the CB’s with long balls, and his hold up play was pretty bad, not giving valencia an option to keep the ball high up the pitch.
The substitutions proved who should have started the game for valencia, and this shows a mistake by the manager.
Overall, Valencia looked good down the left and in central defense, but poor down the right, and were overwhelmed in the middle of the park.
Real Madrid – Ramos and Pepe dealt with soldado well, and look a good partnership for Real, though i do wonder if they miss Carvalho’s organisation of the defense, which was underrated. Arbeloa was poor in this game and was dominated by the alba and mathieu partership. Marcelo could have done better too, as he didnt get forward to his usual good effect, which he could have done with little defensive work to do and space to run into.
In midfield, Alonso was fantastic, controlling the game (with little pressure) and becoming real’s best player. Diarra also did a good job pressuring costa into mistakes and made sure Valencia couldnt string together passes in midfield. His passing was also simple and smart, usually to alonso in space. Khedira played a great defensive game today, pressuring albelda today into mistakes and getting into great attacking positions. But lacked the creativity (as expected) to get ronaldo and ozil into the game, he was at his best when playing directly to benzema and playing off him.
This is where ozil comes in, he was poor on the right, he let alba get forward unmarked and couldnt get into the game. Ozil needs to be played through the centre, where his clever passing and fantastic movement can get other players involved in the game. On the right he was expected to drift in, but he was restricted too much, and he doesnt have a very good shot, so when driving at the defense he wasnt really much of a threat.
Ronaldo missed combining with ozil in the centre and didnt get the ball as much as usual. But on the break he was deadly (as his goal showed) and was always a threat (easily getting the better of miguel).
Benzema was fantastic today, winning his 50/50’s, getting into good positions (the first goal) and holding the ball up excellently, as was needed with real not really playing a passing game. He combined with Khedira to great effect and had a great game.
Overall, Real Madrid played well enough to deserve the win, they dealt with valencia offensively (before the subs), controlled the midfield through alonso, disrupted valancia in midifeld and had two big threats in benzema and roanldo who both scored.
But they lacked good support from the fullbacks, lacked good link up play in midfield (bar benzema and Khedira) and completely mis-used Ozil.
Nice stuff.
Let’s not forget Ramos’ adjustment to life as a central defender – he kept Soldado onside for the first half chance (that eventually led to the goal) and then inexplicably left Soldado alone for the second. I love Sergio, but when it comes to marshaling an off sides trap or marking shoulder-to-shoulder and defending a cross, his game has some serious gaps.
How don’t you mention the penalty kick that should’ve been given at the end? Obviously the Madrid fanboys wouldn’t, but any game recap is incomplete without it.
ZM seldom comments on ref calls as they have no real tactical implication.
And he did write : “Soldado again popped up with a clever finish, and a frantic late finish could well have made it 3-3.”
And it really was not an obvious penalty.
Forget the last part… I don’t want to pollute the comments too much and this site is not the best place to discuss the merit of a referee call (or lack of)…
Indeed. This isn’t a match report or a “game recap” it’s a comment upon the tactical features. Whether or not a penalty was given, it wouldn’t have made any difference to anything tactically!
Can’t imagine how it feels after playing for 90 minutes straight!
Benzema the least talented player in front four?!?! Cmon
Well, that’s not what was said – it was said that Ronaldo and Ozil are more talented than Benzema and Khedira.
Well I don’t know why you grouped Benzema with Khedira as if Benzema is more on his level than Ozils or Ronaldos because it’s not true.
Interesting article. I agree with almost everything but would like to point out something that I think is troubling for Real this year and happened in this game and a bunch of others.
It seems to me that when an opponent manages to stall the tempo of the Real game Real almost completely shutts off. We have seen this yesterday, when after half time Valencia played very rough trying to prevent Real from dictating their own tempo. After that Real was completely different (i would like to point out that) struggling throughout entire 2nd half to find their killer tempo.
Sure, some will say that the substitutions changed the game and I would agree but Real was struggling to play their game before first subs.
An entertaining game but I can’t help but be disappointed. It seems that this year’s La Liga is certain to be just as obvious a two-horse race as always. I had hoped, after the Barca-Valencia game, that Los Che might consistently take points off the big two. Shame.
Still, as long as the games remain this exciting…
Pray for Bilbao to make some waves. Well, some more waves.
Well, if you follow La Liga, you will notice that sides like Valencia, Sevilla, Bilbao, A.Madrid, puts in their best games only against Barcelona.
Imagine what if Emery had got his best elleven yesterday from the start and Valencia played the whole game, like they played the last 20 minutes or like they played the whole 90 minutes against Barca, the game would have been only a draw most likely.
I cant wait for Sevilla and Bilbao matches against Real.
Sigh… You think those teams you mentioned WANT to play better against Barcelona? Because for all of those teams, beating Real Madrid is bigger than beating Barcelona. Valencia and Real Madrid are bigger rivals than Valencia and Barcelona. Bilbao are obviously bigger rivals of Madrid than they are of Barcelona (and, unlike what you said, put in their best games of the season against Real Madrid in San Mamés), Atlético are Madrid´s local rivals, Sevilla and Madrid also have history.
The thing is, it´s a lot easier to form a game plan around Barcelona´s tactics than it is to form one against Real Madrid. First of all, because Barcelona have played the same way for a number of years. Second, because Barcelona are so possession-obsessed that it allows them time to form a defense that´s solid. Third, because Madrid are very, very dynamic and flexible. They can play a possession game, they can play a counter-attacking game, they have tall players, shorter players, strong players, quick players. Most of Barcelona´s players are similar in size, in strengths and weaknesses and in playing styles. Barcelona is a team that´s hard to face if you allow them to score first, if you score the first, they´re much easier to face if you defend in a disciplined way.
Also, have you noticed that Barcelona play their best games in the El Clásico? That they are much less attacking in those games? That they clearly fear Real Madrid? There´s a reason for that, you know.
oh yeah, look how scared they were here: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/11/30/barcelona-5-0-real-madrid-tactics/, oh and here: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/04/28/real-madrid-0-2-barcelona-tactics/, and who can forget here: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/04/11/real-madrid-0-2-barcelona-tactics-xavi-messi/... point well made
I’m not sure how it’s controversial to say that Barcelona were playing a fair bit less offensively against Real Madrid in the series of Clasicos at the end of last season, at least when it was 11 v 11. They were passing a lot, but there was generally nothing particularly positive about it.
is this some kind of anti-Barca-conspiracy-theory mongering?
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a very similar formation from Mourinho against Barcelona. Ronaldo has had some success on the left finding space behind Alves, and with none of the Barcelona left backs particularly attacking, Ozil’s relative lack of work rate would not be hugely problematic. Khedira pushed forward would deny Barcelona’s midfield time on the ball.
Granted, that’s assuming that Barca play their 4-3-3 instead of a 3-4-3 or another surprise.
I appreciate Mou’s use of defensive midfielders further ahead of Alonso, contrary to normal positioning of a defensive midfielder, with Alonso’s incredible passing range and accuracy, he could pretty much sit between the CBs and spray passed for CR7, Ozil and Benz to run onto with deadly accuracy. When you have a midfielder like Alonso (or Sahin) you can pretty much play them anywhere with their range.
I don’t think Madrid did anything particularly wrong, and although i appreciate Ramos’ contribution for the header, and feel like he has been doing a great job at CB, I do miss his marauding runs forward from the right flank, and I feel like having Arbeloa there, who is defensively apt, but offers little going forward, is a big hindrance on offensive options.
To seemingly classify Khedira and Benzema under the same bracket of talent is just totally wrong.
I watched three games at the weekend, Valencia v Real Madrid, Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund and Swansea v Man United. What stood out for me was the fact that Swansea v Man United was the most technical, possession based game and the other two games were far more direct with harder tackling and more pressing. This goes totally against the common theory that all football in England is physical and direct and all football on the continent is possession based and more technical.
more of real madrid plz
Do you ever post anything else?!
For me, Emery got it wrong. Pablo Hernandez should have started to keep Marcelo busy. I suspect a fired-up Pablo would have left Marcelo on his arse quite a few times. But the main problem for Valencia was the loss of Ever Banega. Had he played, Valencia would have had more possesion in the centre of midfield. He would not have been hassled off the ball by Khedira and Diarra as easily as Tino Costa was.
I can’t wait for Clasico. Madrid this year are very aggressive, they pass very fast, and press a lot. I have a feeling this year will be theirs. Barcelona on the other hand are still trying to integrate everyone into the team, they don’t have the right defenders. Busquets plays CB very often when he should be focusing on improving as a DM which he is best at. Villa and Pedro are not in top condition.
Barca look more and more reliant on Messi whereas Madrid are less reliant on Ronaldo.
Imagine Madrid thrashing Barca 5-0. I hope Barca wins but Madrid look scary.