Real Madrid 3 Manchester City 3: tactical analysis

This meeting between Real Madrid and Manchester City more than lived up to its billing. The 14-time champions of Europe against the holders is a tie befitting a final. No coach has won more European Cups than Carlo Ancelotti (four), while Pep Guardiola is just one behind the Italian. Yet here they met in a quarter final first leg, producing a thoroughly entertaining game at the Bernabéu.

For all the quality on display, however, there were question marks about the first three goals, which came in double-quick time. Bernardo Silva’s free-kick ingenuity arguably contributed as much as sloppy Madrid defending towards City taking an early lead. By 14 minutes the home side were ahead, though, demonstrating their ability to conjure goals seemingly from thin air, albeit via a couple of fortuitous deflections.

The second half saw City hit back, capping their control with two stunning strikes from Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol. But just when it looked like the holders might be doing enough to win the game, Madrid did what Madrid do. Federico Valverde duly volleyed home a sensational equaliser.

How the managers saw it

“We started really poorly, conceding the early goal,” admitted Ancelotti. “After that, the team executed the press really well, we won a lot of balls and attacked well on the transitions. We could have won it, we had chances to make it 3-1.”

“This game, in the first three seasons together, we’d have lost 4-1 or 5-1 as we were not stable emotionally,” said Guardiola. “Being stable emotionally is so important. We have an idea and we believe now in what we want to do, but it is impossible to control all the time against Real Madrid. You have to stick it.”

For a deeper dive into the key tactical points from this enthralling encounter, scroll down to see the analysis from our UEFA-licensed coaches…

Madrid’s left side and transitional threat

Despite going behind to an early free-kick, Madrid looked to overload their left side, working the ball into the penetrative and tricky pairing of Rodrygo and Vinícius. Jude Bellingham as the number 10 moved across in support, with Ferland Mendy pushing forward from left-back (below).

During controlled possession, this gave Madrid numbers on their left to support their two highest attackers. On the right, Dani Carvajal advanced similarly to Mendy (above). He was very isolated on this side, though, as the majority of Madrid’s dangerous play came on their left.

As he has done for many years, Toni Kroos began to drop out to Madrid’s left side, allowing Mendy to move higher, earlier. Rodrygo also moved further forward, directly attacking City’s back line and combining well with Vinícius. Kroos’ movement allowed Bellingham to drop into midfield and link the back line to the forwards. Further rotations in central midfield led to Valverde making number-eight runs (below).

Although two deflected efforts took them into the lead, Madrid’s dominance of their left side was difficult for City to handle in the first half. As Guardiola’s team attempted to recover from going behind, the visitors began to dominate the ball. Madrid, however, still threatened via Rodrygo and Vinícius, through incisive counter-attacks from their 4-4-2 diamond block.

With John Stones moving into midfield, City’s converted back three had to cover the entire width of the pitch whenever those ahead lost possession. When the closest of this trio attempted to slow down whichever Madrid midfielder was instigating a counter, the home side had space in behind to attack. Rodrygo and Vinícius exploited beyond with their pace (below), while their 1v1 dribbling threat allowed them to attack down both sides. They offered a consistent transitional threat in the first half.

Breaking Madrid’s block

Manchester City’s in-possession shape focused on central numbers, with Foden moving high in the right inside channel. His movements were closely followed by Kroos, allowing Madrid’s centre-backs to create a 2v1 with Erling Haaland (below). The Norwegian was starved of service in the final third, partly due to this constant overload against him. Madrid’s full-backs, meanwhile, were happy to remain 1v1 against Jack Grealish and Silva. In midfield, Stones joined Rodri and Mateo Kovacic in attempting to break Madrid’s dropping block.

City were frustrated in the first half, as Madrid’s 4-4-2 diamond block (below) covered the central areas that Guardiola’s team loves to dominate. Their inside-channel runs were well covered by Valverde, Kroos and, when needed, one of the centre-backs. Access around the closest pivot was also aggressively marked by Madrid’s number 10, Bellingham.

Subsequent switches of play, attempting to get Silva and Grealish in more wide 1v1 moments, were well managed by Carvajal and Mendy. The close defensive positioning of Rodrygo and Vinícius (above) also limited City’s central access, but still allowed them to counter-attack with purpose.

Manchester City’s subtle tweaks

In the second half, City made some slight tweaks to their right side. Silva and Foden swapped roles, with the latter attacking more from the wide areas than he did in the first half. The rotations and timing of movements between these two were excellent, making Kroos’ defensive role much harder. The pair were closely supported by a much higher and more aggressive Stones, with Manuel Akanji also moving higher in support, underneath the ball.

Haaland often pulled away from Antonio Rüdiger, threatening towards the back post during City’s right-side build-up, with Grealish maintaining the width on City’s left. These subtle tweaks (below) enabled the visitors to threaten the Madrid goal with more purpose, resulting in a 3-2 lead.

Guardiola’s adjustments also had the effect of almost totally nullifying the threat of Rodrygo and Vinícius. In possession, City’s numbers and enhanced positioning on their right side enabled them to better counter-press, work back, delay and stop Madrid’s counter-attacks (below).

When Madrid attempted to build, City were also happy to go with player-oriented marking on their left side. Their numbers and aggressive running superbly managed Madrid’s two most dangerous attackers, with both Rodrygo and Vinícius substituted in the second half.

Although Valverde equalised with a fantastic volleyed effort, City more than earned parity to take back to Manchester. The second leg should be another fascinating tactical battle between two of the most successful coaches in football history.

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