An excellent match, defined by a chaotic final 15 minutes.
Jose Mourinho surprisingly named Michael Essien, rather than Mesut Ozil or Luka Modric, in the centre of his midfield. Sergio Ramos was dropped, with Raphael Varane starting at centre-back instead.
Roberto Mancini also made a surprise selection decision, with Matija Nastasic starting over Joleon Lescott at...
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Sevilla triumphed in a fascinating tactical battle at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Sevilla coach Michel made an interesting selection decision, introducing Hedwiges Maduro into the midfield triangle. This pushed Piotr Trochowski forward to the left, and meant Manu had to settle for a place on the bench.
Jose Mourinho chose a familiar side, with Luka Modric...
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Last night’s Supercopa match – a 2-1 win to Real, meaning they won the tie on away goals – highlighted the huge difference in playing style between the two sides.
Real dominated the game in the opening period when the match was frantic and direct. Constant long balls in behind the Barcelona defence produced numerous chances...
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Mauricio Pellegrino’s debut as Valencia coach resulted in a draw at the Bernabeu.
Jose Mourinho’s side was very familiar from last season – no new signings played. The main surprise was that Lassana Diarra was fielded alongside Xabi Alonso in midfield.
Valencia continued to play in a 4-2-3-1 system, the formation they’ve pretty much used since...
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The graph below shows the relationship between average possession per game (along the bottom) and shots per game (along the side) for the 98 sides in the Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1, La Liga and the Bundesliga.
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